BritishV8 Forum

I'm remembering what it was like to be a kid on Christmas eve!

Still waiting....but not so patiently......

Hi guys. Yes, we're back. And yes the body and paint job is everything we could have possibly hoped for. The car is drop dead gorgeous. I'll get a 'teaser' photo posted later today but before I post a full frontal I'd like to bolt up the carb so that the air cleaner can be properly mounted. I'm hoping that will come in today or tomorrow, I sent Cap'n More-Gone my shipping address before we left. He said Carb-n-Fiber had completed it and it was better than new. The car just doesn't look right without the air cleaner.

What a trip! Terry showed us the utmost in hospitality, inviting us into his home and feeding us, even insisting on going to a specialty shop down the street to pick up some completely outrageous deserts for us while we waited at his house. Now that right there is rolling out the red carpet, guys. I'm not sure what we did to deserve the royal treatment but I'd sure like to let everyone know it was appreciated. He lives in a nice old neighborhood just a few blocks from his dealership, amongst an interesting mix of a fair proportion of very expensive houses interspersed among more moderate homes. This seems to fit their personalities just fine. His wife Trish made us pancakes for breakfast, and their daughter and about 3 or 4 girlfriends were in from college, providing a little entertainment that went well with the down-to-the-last-second local high school championship basketball game on TV, a photo finish in which the favorites won it at the buzzer. Their house, though not ostentatious had enough space that we all had private rooms, though Steve had to use the bathroom down the hall. Rumors aside, I personally do not believe he walked to the bathroom naked, shocking and horrifying the innocent youth of the household. Somebody probably made that up just for the excitement of it. Who though, I cannot say. We had a wonderful time sitting around the table swapping stories and talking about cars. Terry is a true car guy and I have no doubt he drives Mike, his son, a little crazy with it. Turns out that like me, Terry is a "serial parent", his son and daughter being about 20 years apart. For my part, one at a time was all I could handle. Terry has retired, handing Mike the reigns of the dealership while reserving the privilege of hijacking his technicians every now and then. And let's be honest about it, what car guy wouldn't jump at the chance to work on an exotic sports car instead of ma's grocery wagon? Mike had to make some very real sacrifices to see this part of the project through and we owe him every bit as much as Terry for the beautiful results which we will all soon be admiring at Townsend. In fact my very next duty after I get this posted is to write up a suitable thank-you email to Mike.

I'd love to say that the drive up and back was uneventful. The weather was perfect and except for certain events it was, but we had oddly coincidental happenstances that we'd just as gladly done without. The first of these occurred right after fueling up near Champaign on the way up. I was half asleep as Steve drove when rudely awakened by an instantly recognizable powerful vibration and cowl shake. Deja-Vu, all over again!! How could this be? Same place, same circumstances, same problem! More bad gas? We will never know for sure, but we soldiered on same as on the last trip and carried with us a nagging reminder that disaster could strike at any moment. Somewhere in Wisconsin the intermittent cowl shake changed into a steady persistent misfire, which worsened somewhere on the first part of the trip back and we made the return trip driving a 6 cylinder instead of a V8. Apparently by the time we were an hour or so from Indy a connection somewhere had had enough of the vibration and the alternator failed, so at 10:30 pm we found a Wal-Mart, I went in and bought two new 12v batteries and that was enough to make the trip in the rest of the way. It was the best solution available. Irritating to be sure, but at least there is a known consistent problem to solve now and hopefully the fix won't be extreme.

So after a reasonable night's sleep we unloaded and decided to install the engine. Along with that we did the radiator fan, the exhaust pipes (but not headers just yet), made up a new slave bracket for the clutch and installed the driveshaft. Then I noticed an odd thing, the rear suspension is very stiff. That is something we will have to look at next time it goes on the lift. Nothing looks out of place but it is as if the car was very stiffly sprung. Mine has identical shocks and springs and is right so it is a real puzzle, but one we can easily solve by unbolting one end of the shocks so that goes on the to-do list. The other big item is installing glass, hood struts, and door latches. I will leave the struts to Rick. Steve D is ordering the rubber seals for the windshield and hatch glass. I will order a new exhaust manifold gasket for the one that tore on removal as well as a spherical rod end for the slave cylinder. We need to set up a work party to do these things, set the dashboard in place, install taillights and get the car ready for wiring. Also the IRS will have to be unbolted so that the gas tank can be fitted into place, and the fuel pump needs to be mounted.

We need to revisit the front marker lights. As there are no body openings or provisions for them the two best options are probably either in-the-headlight or surface mount.

So the car currently rests peacefully inside the lab, concealed within it's cloak of invisibility. Once the carb gets here I will unshroud it, bolt on the carb and get some proper photos and then back it will go until the next Roadmaster Weekend, to be scheduled as soon as I can take a look at it.

JB

Jim, I just saw Bill Davidson's new V6 powered GT. He put some headlights in it that had a halogen main bulb but also a LED section in the lower area which acted as a turn signal and parking lamp. Nothing else needed on the front with those. I'll find out where he got them. That would solve our problem beautifully and not have to do anything to Terry's body and paint work.

Are those headlights 7"round. I think Bill is talking about these in the link below>>

http://www.itsasnapwireandcable.com/7_halogen_headlights.htm

$175.00 a pair.  Ouch!

Those are pretty cool.

If they were more like $75-100, I'd buy a set for my MG.

Those are the same headlights I have on my car.  I got them from Chev's of the '40's I if I recall.  But, I got them a few years ago when they were about $125 for the pair.  I first bought a pair from AutoLoc but they were junk.

Those are the ones Bill used. Not cheap, but he says the light is very good and I've seen the turn signals in the daytime and they are bright even in sunlight. Still considering that we don't have to mess with the  front sheet metal/fiberglass or paint it might be worth the money.  The only downside I could see is that the outer lens has a distinct blueish tint to it and looks more modern than traditional lights. The light is nice and white, the blue isn't enough to cause a really blue light, just a hue to the plastic you can see with the light off. Perhops they would consider a bit of sponsorship to help with the cost?

Jim, nice photo! What a tease you are. At least it's the first time I've seen the front spoiler on the car, that looks good!

When the time is right you need to get it out in the sunlight and do a video to the music of a stripper, take it off, take it all off! ;-)

Is that new rubber on those wheels?

For the headlights with integrated led turn/park.

You might try yogi's and see if they'll cut you a deal in return for promotion (since this car is touring).  Worth a try.
http://www.yogisinc.com

Now, now Bill, this is a family oriented site. I'll not be responsible for the posting of any strip-tease videos!

What a sharp eye you have Carl! Brand new Continental Extreme Contact 225/45 ZR17, courtesy of Terry and Mike at Executive Touch Restoration and Customization Services (banner ad on this site). Now what we need to do is see if Max can score us another pair of XJ8 wheels that we can put some cheap tires on (and I happen to have 4 of them we can burn up, donated by my sister) for playing in the parking lot.

I like the idea of the headlight/turn signals a lot, is there any possibility one of you can get someone to donate them or cut us a deal?

Steve has ordered the windshield and hatch glass seals and they should be here in a few days. I will try to order the exhaust gasket today. I also just threw that car cover in the washing machine, it was getting pretty nasty.

I'm not entirely satisfied with the front spoiler so if time allows I may see if there is anything I can do with it. I can see the challenges Terry faced in trying to make it work and it won't be real easy but I'd like to at least change the angle of it a bit and add some grillework between it and the bumper.

I think I should be able to get another photo of the car posted a little later on today.

JB

Hey Jim,

I have ordered a set of headlights for the car.
They have the amber light in the top, H4 main and dipped in the center and a H3 driving lamp on the bottom.
The whole thing looks like a Bosch 7" quartz headlight.
It does take some mods to fit into the headlamp bucket. But what doesn't?
I will send you a picture when I get home tonight.
ETA to me is 3 days then shipped to you.

Cheers
Fred

Wow, thanks Fred on behalf of all the guys involved with this project.
With that taken care of we're getting really close.

That is great Fred! Thank you very much. The carb came in today so the unveiling is not far away. In the mean time, here's another teaser:



On a more sober note, the Blackwood is officially dead. Zero compression in No. 6, not even a whiff. So getting the MG-Roadmaster to Townsend could be something of an issue.

JB

No Jim, you wouldn't post a strip tease video, instead you tease us with a little ankle shot and then a bit of calf ! That skin looks soooo smooth compared to what we had in Champaign last year, the guys up in the great white north did a wonderful job!  And I like that color, rich and yet sporty. What a Grand Touring car this will be.

does look great.  Can't wait to see the whole thing!  Jim, just thrash on the roadmaster and drive it  A tall order for one month but could be done.

"Zero compression in No. 6"

Put the spark plug back in.  

Bill, I'm sure I have no idea what you mean. But just the same this next one is just for you! (Sweetie pie!)

Um, Wow,.........honey I need help with something.......

You guys are killing me!

That IS Bill's quarter, isn't it?  He did a much better job than I rmembered...

Ahh, a little glimpse of thigh. ;-)

Yeah Dan,that's the quarter I was working on when I suffered my terrible injury and fell off the lift onto my butt!  I have to commend Jim on finishing the job after I was wounded, his flares look great. I predict that there will be some folks we asked for support that will regret not getting on board after they see the car finished and tourning around the country. This one will be a hit anywhere it goes.