MGB Roadmaster

ex-tyke · September 13, 2010, 03:29:59 PM

Thanks for that Blackwoodian type summary......sounds like you had an interesting trip.

MGBV8 · September 13, 2010, 09:32:02 PM

Awesome update, Jim. Not sure how you managed it, since you just landed a few hours ago!

mowog1 · September 13, 2010, 09:50:27 PM

Thanks for the update.

Wish I could have made it...it would have been fun. Alas, I was in St.Louis at a corporate meeting.

Have we discussed final colour of the Roadmaster yet?

As for wiring install....I would trust Jack Austin with this task; he's a VERY capable mechanic.

Dan B · September 14, 2010, 09:28:59 AM

I think Ferrari Red would be a good color.

Bill Young · September 14, 2010, 11:27:08 AM

I'll let Terry pick it out, he'll make a good selection. As long as it isn't pink or plaid! ;-)

mowog1 · September 14, 2010, 03:44:03 PM

I think this needs to be a joint decision.

You guys already know how I feel about red.

Dan B · September 14, 2010, 04:23:01 PM

I only said that because Terry likes Ferrari red, and he is painting it.

BlownMGB-V8 · September 14, 2010, 04:43:22 PM

I don't think we are going to get a joint decision Rick. Last time around everybody wanted the car painted the same color as their own car, so the votes, such as they were, followed that order almost exactly. If we got two votes for the same color it was because we had two owners with the same color car. Like Steve and Pete with white and a blue stripe or me, Carl and Joe with Burgundy, or you Mike and Steve with purple. There was no consensus anywhere. Anyway, as far as I'm concerned it's pretty much out of our hands anyway. I can't see accepting the donation of a free paint job and body work and then laying down terms about how the job is going to be done. Personally I'll be happy if he doesn't paint it metallic blue and gold like the WRX on his lot (a suggestion he did make, in jest I hope) or bright yellow, another color he likes if his cars are any indication. Far as I'm concerned Ferrari red will be just fine. Not my pick by any means, but one I can live with, and a choice I think more of our members can get behind.

Red is a predominant color for good reasons. It has a strong association with fast cars and I think that is a good thing. It draws attention, and for promotional purposes that is what we want. Let's not forget that promotion was a large part of the incentive for our biggest sponsors to put up valuable assets so that we could build this car in the first place. Now is not the time to start getting conservative.

JB

mowog1 · September 14, 2010, 08:00:14 PM

I didn't suggest purple.

I sugggested a lighter colour such as white or silver in order to keep things a little cooler in the cockpit.

BlownMGB-V8 · September 15, 2010, 08:53:15 AM

I see, and I generally agree with you (I only assumed you like purple because of your other car, plus it made for an easy counterpoint to burgundy), but then, I generally agree with most reasons for selecting any given color so I'm sort of glad it's out of my hands. But I think it's safe to assume it's going to be Terry's favorite color. I guess it has to be someone's. As a practical matter, if anyone hates Ferrari red enough, I suppose they could go get the car and paint it a different color. But it'd have to be done right now, before they start working on the car, and there's the finish bodywork to be done also. I'd have no problem with that, but Terry might not especially like it so it'd be a good idea to call him right away.

Should I hold off on sending out the promotional T-shirts I was going to send to Terry, Mike, and the 5 guys on his crew who will be working on the car? I mean, if someone else is going to step up and do it I really need to know this morning because that's going to put a real dent in our stock of t-shirts and I might not be able to do that twice. Those guys need the incentive to feel a part of the team and they need it now. I can't wait on fence-sitting.

JB

mowog1 · September 15, 2010, 09:30:04 AM

Did Terry actually say that he was going to paint the Roadmaster red, or has this been assumed?

BlownMGB-V8 · September 15, 2010, 10:50:59 AM

We talked about it. He offered me three choices. Ferrari red, a very bright yellow, and a bright metallic blue/gold which I don't think he was serious about. (it might not look bad actually) A racing stripe was agreed upon as well. Color undetermined but if I had to guess I suspect he may have been thinking of white. If we want to change the color choice we'd better present a united front. I don't think that is going to happen. I did mention to him that if the color was my choice it'd be a metallic burgundy. He didn't seem too interested in that.

Oddly enough, I talked to Steve D this morning and he reported on an article that claimed that in testing, body color had minimal impact on interior heat, citing glass area and interior color as being much more determinative. We both found that surprising.

JB

kstevusa · September 15, 2010, 04:12:38 PM

My vote is same as Jim's. I DO NOT think it would look good BLUE.

. Let Terry do his thing, I'm sure it will look great

BlownMGB-V8 · September 25, 2010, 01:08:38 PM

Good News Everyone!

I talked to Terry (Schulte Management Co, Sioux Falls) a day or two ago and he is organizing after-hours work parties to finish up the bodywork and paint the GT. He hopes to get about 7 or 8 volunteers to work on it a couple times a month and thinks that could result in the car being painted by the end of the year. Nothing radical in the approach, just straighten, smooth, fill, correct any obvious defects, and paint. So we're moving along nicely. It won't be as nice as his full-on resto/custom jobs but it'll still be very good and much better than what we'd hoped for.

A week or so ago I sent him the hood struts, a tank floor cutout and a rear valence section that he needed. At that time he expected to have about 5 guys working on the car so I sent him some T-shirts including one for him and one for Mike. A small price to pay for the work they are doing, and a productive use of our surplus. At present I think we have 7 shirts left, in M, L and XL. Also the bill has come in for the gasoline burned up in delivering the car. We spent $441.31 on the trip, and accounting for a $100 donation from Bill Young we now have about four hundred dollars in our account I also have someone interested in the fiberglass hood at a price of $200. So much for the financials, I hope that meets with everyone's approval.

I told Terry that it would be reasonable to try to get the car to the V8 meet this May with the paint completed and he was optimistic that it would be finished by January. He may be able to help in transport. The next step will be the wiring. Steve Carrick (Advanced Auto Wire) will provide the wiring kit, and Jack Austin, before he crashed the Morgan, mentioned some willingness to do the install. Now obviously that changes things and it was never a confirmed promise anyway so we wouldn't want to try to hold him to it. So Steve D has been asked to meet with him when convenient and broach the topic. If he is going to be too backed up to do anything, I know Max is expecting to assist on the job and we have others who can help. So all those considerations will affect where we are by spring, but I think it's safe to say that we can have the car operational sometime next summer.

JB

BlownMGB-V8 · September 25, 2010, 01:08:41 PM

.

MGBV8 · September 25, 2010, 01:20:45 PM

If Jack is able to do the wiring, I am only about an hour & a half away.

A maroonish red would look AWESOME!

ex-tyke · September 25, 2010, 02:23:03 PM

QuoteA maroonish red would look AWESOME!

Ya mean like yours!
Personally, I think a reddish Maroon might be a better colour.

MGBV8 · September 26, 2010, 12:47:28 AM

Actually, as opposed to Fire Engine Red.

Just for kicks, pick a red:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Shades_of_red

BlownMGB-V8 · September 26, 2010, 10:12:20 AM

Carl, you know that isn't going to work. Even if we could agree on a color online it wouldn't look the same on the car. Actually though I think that probably you, Graham, Joe and I could be unanimous about one particular shade, and that might be the largest block of votes that we're going to get. And then after all that, Terry will probably paint it Ferrari Red.

Of course I'd have to go with DuPont RM222K.

JB

BlownMGB-V8 · October 18, 2010, 05:19:00 PM

Good News Everyone! (I just love saying that.)

Bill Conrad bought the fiberglass MGC hood (it's like Kelly Stevenson's hood) for $200, which I deposited in the account so that will help when we get ready to buy window seals and things like that.

Max contacted Tim Duhammel and after digging through his parts bin he sent us a thermostat neck similar to the one he had on his car at the meet. I think it will work quite a bit better than the existing one.

If anyone is interested in the APC seats (NOS) that Bill Young donated it'd be a good idea for us to turn those into cash also. Black with subtle blue highlights, they're just sitting here collecting dust. Tight fit in an MGB but...

I shipped the carb to Mike Moore, but haven't heard if Richard has had a chance to do anything with it yet or not.

No news currently on the paint job. After the elections are over I'll get in touch with Terry to see how it's coming along. (Reckon I are now a politician, just trying to do my part to help.)

That's all for now. I've been sidetracked with building an office in the Lab and will be busy with that for awhile yet, but it will be complete well before the GT comes back from paint.

Also, last I checked Steve D was going to check with Jack Austin and see how his recovery is coming along, I imagine he has some catching up to do. As things stand I would think we'll get the car back about the first of the year, reinstall the driveline and a few other bits and then decide how to tackle the wiring. It may or may not be driveable at the next meet, I think we will need to decide if that is a priority.

JB

BlownMGB-V8 · October 20, 2010, 11:49:09 AM

Every now and then it occurs to me that it might be a good idea to go back and read this thread from the beginning. I'm up to page 4, including Curtis' link to the first progress report and I'm amazed at how much I'd forgotten. For instance, do you remember that we originally intended to have the car completed and out on rotations a year ago? What an ambitious lot we were, yet even so the car will probably be there sometime next summer. And we might have actually pulled it off too but I think what is more important is that we created a focal point to bring more unity to British V8 enthusiasts as a whole. Not only did we create a new concept in custom car building, and one which so far has been amazingly successful, combining the assets and skills of many many participants, not only did we envision a new plan for sharing the fruits of our labors, but we embarked upon a rather unique method of actual construction as well. The car is currently at it's 3rd home at this point in the process, and may have yet another before we are through. In a sense it has already begun the "rotation" process while still in the build stage. Happily, I now have some news about how the present stage of construction is progressing.

Terry called me up yesterday wanting to send some photos. Perhaps reflecting on how we've built the car so far, he has managed to get together a crew of volunteers to work after hours at Schulte Subaru during scheduled build days to complete the body work in preparation for paint. As I understand it, this is a rather informal arrangement very much like the way we did the mechanical construction here at Blackwood Labs and over at Mantell Motorsports. The biggest difference in this case is that we don't know any of the new guys other than Terry, and he doesn't seem familiar enough with our website here to post the progress photos for us on this thread, so he had Shelly email them to me. How do you guys feel about it? Is it just me, or do you also think these guys who are coming in and working on the project should be encouraged to join us here and at our meets? If the spirit of what we are doing means anything, it seems to me to mean that these are our brothers, every bit as much as anyone else who has contributed or helped. With that in mind, I intend to write back to Shelly (she simply transferred the photos for Terry) and encourage her to take a more active role in establishing communications between us and the members of the work crew so that in the very least they will be able to find this link and get some feedback from us on the work they are doing on the car, and in the end, also get to play a bit with the new toy.

Here are three of the photos. I have some more but will need to resize before I can post them due to the 600kb file size limit:

JB

MGBV8 · October 20, 2010, 05:50:16 PM

I can hear 'em....."Who in the heck installed these flares?!"

mowog1 · October 21, 2010, 10:27:36 PM

Thanks for the update!

Bill Young · October 22, 2010, 07:50:50 AM

I think they each need a Roadmaster T shirt at least for their efforts if we have enough left over. Glad we got the photos. It would be good to get their names to add to the contributors list as well.

BlownMGB-V8 · October 22, 2010, 08:57:11 AM

I sent Terry the shirts. He's the gateway for these guys and I have no idea how he persuaded them to be a part of the effort but I applaud him on the results. However, if they are to find their way into our group it'll have to be through him, as it's likely our only contact with them might be if they can deliver the car to us on one of their pick-up runs. That is, unless someone decides to go by for a visit and it happens to coincide with a work session or they recognize one of the shop guys or something like that. Of course eventually the car will make it's way back up there on rotations, but it'd be nice to know who these guys are, wouldn't it? I'll try to remember to mention it next time Terry and I talk. (and they're probably also saying, "*&%#$ that, who the heck MADE these flares!!??!")

They want the radiator and the air dam so I boxed up the radiator and as soon as I can come up with their shipping address I will send that and also order the air dam from Vicky, PN 19-798. The center will have to be trimmed to match up to the radiator and a strip may have to be added at the top but otherwise I think it will match up OK. It's the same one I've used on my car for a couple decades now and being plastic it is a little more resistant to curb damage than glass. I should have the address around here somewhere, if I was a little more organized it'd make things easier. But that'd be going against a lifetime of bad habits and why start now?

I'm starting to see what it feels like sitting on the sidelines. Watching, waiting, maybe every now and then getting a chance at a t-shirt shot from guns. It's a humbling experience and I appreciate you guys all the more for sticking with this project all the way through. It hasn't been easy and it hasn't been quick and I know there have been some who have sort of lost interest because it's taking so long. I can't blame them. But seriously, the worst is behind us. (I know Terry might not agree with that thought but it's still true.) And before long the fun will begin, when we'll all get to hop in and drive it. Insurance might have something to say about how, when and where, but they'll not keep us off the autocross course at the very least and I for one have more ambitious plans and I've not been known to listen very well when the word 'no' has been used. Don't worry, we'll find a way.

JB