340 upgrade

MGBV8 · May 05, 2010, 09:42:33 PM

Keep it up, pretty soon the whole car will be "built from scratch"!

MG four six eight · May 05, 2010, 09:44:23 PM

Looking good Jim! Is that a Ford IAC motor on the back of the intercooler box?

Bill

BlownMGB-V8 · May 07, 2010, 10:18:20 AM

Yep, it's one of the newer fat body ones so I'm hoping it will have a nice fast response time. It will get a K&N style breather filter on the tube sticking up from it for the idle air.

JB

BlownMGB-V8 · May 11, 2010, 03:35:10 PM

Water pump pulley is finished.

JB

Bill Young · May 11, 2010, 04:40:26 PM

Jim, that is just too neat. Great workmanship on the entire engine package, can't wait to see in "in the flesh" at Indy, running or not. Your earlier blower setup was great, but this one is far better.

ex-tyke · May 11, 2010, 07:20:22 PM

Is there a backside idler planned in the alternator drive or does the alt mount have an adjusting strap?

BlownMGB-V8 · May 12, 2010, 08:26:05 AM

Thanks Bill. Next is the pan spacer/girdle and then the tranny adapter and once that is done it can go in the car so I think there's time to get it ready enough to bring to Indy. I need to find out which Camaro the fans we used in the Roadmaster came out of though. Graham, the alternator is on an adjustable mount but I haven't made the adjustment link yet as it will very likely attach to an idler pulley bracket. The main blower belt will drive the water pump and the A/C pump which I don't have yet, so there's a bit more of the belt routing to sort out. I may not get that part done until after the engine is in the car though so the main drive belt may not be in place by July.

There are a number of expensive parts yet to buy and I've broken the bank buying the transmission and it will likely take me the rest of the summer to cover that. But I've probably got enough work to do on the car to keep me busy until winter at least so it should all work out eventually. I'm planning for a roll-out next spring as the most likely scenario.

JB

74ls1tr6 · May 12, 2010, 09:20:17 AM

Jim,

The dual fan setup came out of a 2002 Z28. You could probably find the same setup in years 1998 to 2002 Camaros.

BlownMGB-V8 · May 14, 2010, 08:32:19 PM

Thanks Calvin. Looks like new ones can be had for about $150. Not bad.

More parts:

Need to make some spacers and washers and I'll be able to button up the engine.

JB

mgb260 · May 14, 2010, 10:43:28 PM

Jim, Are you going to put straps across the main studs to tie them in ?

BlownMGB-V8 · May 16, 2010, 08:49:14 AM

No Jim, if I planned to do that I'd make up another plate and use the first one as a spacer to clear the main caps. It would need that for the longer studs I'm pretty sure. It's not a bad idea but would raise the engine. Anyway I don't think something like that is even helpful until you go over 500 hp which I'm not planning to do.

JB

MGBV8 · May 16, 2010, 09:37:24 AM

"...until you go over 500 hp which I'm not planning to do"

Oh?

Let's see 340 CI + supercharger = <500Hp? I'd be real disappointed!

BlownMGB-V8 · May 18, 2010, 12:34:15 PM

Just to be on the safe side and not guilty of making inflated claims, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say the car will make 300 hp. The stock 4bbl 340 engine was 260 hp so I should be pretty safe with that number, and anything over 300 hp in an MGB is, well, just a little insane. Stock torque though was 365, and that's a pretty big number. Mine runs the '64 300 heads which have smaller ports and numbers for the 300 were 210 hp and 310 torque, so I'll be relying on the blower mainly to boost flow through the ports. Now if I had a set of the new TA heads on it I'd be right there with 'ya, but as it is, I'm only looking for a good reliable 300 with an extended redline.

JB

BlownMGB-V8 · June 22, 2010, 01:28:11 PM

Today was the day for bolting the engine and tranny together and setting them in the engine bay. Assembly went smoothly without a hitch, but unfortunately fitting the engine in did not. The stock 340 motor mounts will not work, no surprise there as they are considerably larger than their 215 counterparts, and the steering shaft and heater box all cleared, but I had to cut a fixturing lug off the block just like we did on the 455. The motor sat too high so I unbolted the steering rack. It will have to be moved down just like in the Roadmaster, although I believe moving the cone can be avoided, and I'll have to make up a set of front engine mounts like what we used there. So the good news is that there is progress, the bad is that the car will not be coming to the show this year. There is just too much to get done in time to even be able to trailer it. Motor mounts, transmission crossmember, rack mounts, crossmember notch, rack pinion extension, new rack boots, and waiting on parts. Well, those are the breaks sometimes.

Here's a shot of the setup I used for dialing in the adapter ring to mark the bellhousing holes:

And here is a shot of the completed adapter including the converter disc, which was cut from 1/2" plate and has helicoils for the flex plate bolts:

The next shot is of the engine and 8 speed automatic assembled and ready to go in the car:

And then a shot of it sitting in the engine bay.

JB

mgb260 · June 22, 2010, 01:43:51 PM

Wow! Great work Jim.

Dan B · June 22, 2010, 02:06:33 PM

How is Matthew getting along with his ankle?

BlownMGB-V8 · June 22, 2010, 03:20:13 PM

Still hobbled a bit, but there's a real good chance he'll be out of the boot by the V8 meet. He was quite a bit of help despite that.

A few more photos:

Also you may wonder how the blower will affect vision out the front? Not that much.

JB

Bill Young · June 23, 2010, 08:10:48 AM

Outstanding Jim, great fit and good packaging. I can see how your car and the Roadmaster match up in the radiator area. Your work on the intake is just amazing.

Citron · June 23, 2010, 03:55:45 PM

Jim,

what happened to Mahtew?
You and Edith into child abuse now? LOL.

Steve

BlownMGB-V8 · June 23, 2010, 09:42:55 PM

Yeah, the little punk got uppity ;-)

No, really it was a baseball accident, sliding into 3rd base. He was safe, but had to get a pinch runner. He's walking on it pretty good now. Really just a nasty sprain with some mild damage to the growth plate. He's been a good sport about it but is getting pretty tired of it by now.
JB

Citron · June 23, 2010, 10:03:38 PM

Sorry to hear about the accident. Glad he was safe though.

Steve

Dan B · June 24, 2010, 09:11:12 AM

Remember when Dave Concepcion slid into third and pulled the bag out of the ground? He was out for most of the season I think. Maybe Matthew can learn to slide like Pete Rose ..Head First.

Cool pool cue cane.

flitner · June 24, 2010, 11:01:47 PM

Great work!
Seeing your knowledge in machine work I was wondering if you ever went onto Practical Machinist forum. Great bunch of info there if ever needed, from antiquated to present moshinery and many articles/ manuals/ parts lists/ links. Again, Great Work, I hope to see a video of that beast tearing up the asphalt soon!
John

BlownMGB-V8 · July 13, 2010, 06:10:19 PM

Half way done with the engine mounts:

They are 10 ga. stainless, this is before doing any polishing. The frame rails need to be modified for the attachment points and then on to the tranny mount. The driveshaft coupler came in but I haven't taken a photo of it. It's a large and very beefy rubber coupler connected to a tube. I can probably slide a cut off driveshaft over it and weld the two together. No worries about phasing, neither end moves.

JB

BlownMGB-V8 · July 15, 2010, 05:50:26 PM

Below are progress photos on the engine and rack mounts. As mentioned the rack had to be lowered, and the same process will be used as on the MGB-Roadmaster but with some discrete improvements. The cutout in the crossmember is wider to ease rack placement. Motor mounts are a stock off the shelf item, and the upper brackets are made from thinner material, stainless being used instead of steel.

Looking then at the first photo the old mounts have been removed and cuts made with two different sized holesaws to begin the cutout.

In the second photo connecting cuts have been made with the angle grinder and zip blade and the cutout removed. The zip blade is a very handy tool but it must be used cautiously. For a zip blade, you might as well be made of butter. Accept that going in and never forget it.

In the third shot the cuts and remains of old mounts have been cleaned up,

and finally, in the last shot the new parts have been fitted and are ready to be welded into place as soon as the paint has been stripped from the weld bead areas. In the past I have done a lot of welding over paint, rust and scale and some processes such as stick and gas weld are tolerant of those practices. However, MIG and TIG are not tolerant in the least, and recognizing that I now have a greater appreciation for clean weld prep for any process. Stick will be used for the crossmember, simply because it is an easy process with superior penetration. I haven't decided on the other parts yet.

JB