Jim,
I sent you an e-mail.
Margaret is not coming with me, she will be in Paducah from Wednesday to Sunday.  Separate vacations?
I can bring the engine stand or not.  You tell me if you will need it.  
I have the two Jag wheels and will get the 455 stuff from Dale.
To all concerned we have $449.46 in the account as of the end of March.  Might be a little short to finish the project?
Are there any tools that I should bring to help with the assembly?

Steve

Steve, I don't think we need the engine stand. As far as tools, I believe I should have about everything we need, but if you have a favorite....
Looking forward to seeing you.

Jim

Here's some photos of the machine work in progress, courtesy of Motion Machine in Danville, Va (Dale Spooner)





Jim

Jim,
I should get there in the late afternoon or early evening.  I hope to be in Danville by 9:30.  It is over 500 mile from there to you.

Steve

That will be fine Steve. I sent you an email with my cell phone number, and also mentioned that we have a spare bedroom if you would like to use it. See you tomorrow.

Jim

V6 Midget Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Jim, the flares look good. I never realized how
> well they fit the profile of the MGB body until I
> saw these photos.

Yes Sir! Makes me want a set! And some super sticky 225/50-15s.

Y'all have fun this weekend. I'm leaving tomorrow for sunny Florida. Shucks, gotta go to my Cuz'  Disney wedding.

More photos: First, more of Dale's shop.





Steve got here around 5 or so and we unloaded and laid out the engine parts for assembly. Dale is one very fine individual for sure. He put all new valves in the heads, bought us a set of rod bearings and rings, did all that machine work and cleaned everything up nice and even installed the galley and freeze plugs.

Tomorrow we will pick up a set of main bearings, head gaskets, rear seal and timing gears and begin assembly, and we hope to have the heads on by evening. Saturday we plan to inventory our parts.





Jim

It looks great, all laid out on that table in your shop.  Wish I was there!!!

Jim, kudos to Dale for his fine work. That's going to be one beautiful BADASS big block Buick! (Try to say that several times quickly) I think we ought to paint it in a nice MG maroon engine paint so it looks "stock" don't want to lose any coucours points do we?

Oh lordy no Bill! Everything must be factory original!! So we're going with the original Buick Red for the engine.

Steve and I took care of the main bearings, head gaskets, timing gears and neoprene crank seals. Steve bought the wire wheel axle for $100 and I bought 1-1/2 300 heads for $100 and then spent about another $40 on the seals. We should be bumping up the treasury a few bucks, maybe enough to get some better springs for the heads if we end up using them. The bearings and head gaskets should be here tomorrow. So we took inventory today and then put the front suspension together.



Sorry about the wobbly pictures.




We also marked the cut lines for the flares


Jim

We did some measurements for the IRS too and determined that the differential needed to be spaced down a couple inches from the body. I had bought some 1 x 2 tubing for a cross brace but the new measurement meant we needed (or could use) 2 x 3 tubing and I happen to have some on hand from another project so I cut a length to fit. This is a hefty piece of steel and will easily control torque from the differential. It also moves the pivot points for the LCA's just below the corners of the battery boxes, which is a quite significant design improvement.

Jim

Hey that front suspension looks pretty sweet.  All these great components....

BMH should look at this thing and donate a new body shell.

Yeah, Arthur really set us up good with that. I'll get the steering rack put on in a few days and check on getting some used tires for the front. Rob and Carl, what size of commonly available 15" tires do you think I can find to use for this summer's show?

Today we picked up parts and began engine assembly. The short block is assembled and one head in place but a number of details remain. The cam has a chipped tooth on the front gear and it would be best if we can find a new one for it. We bought engine paint, lug nuts, and another head gasket, I guess Steve will give a treasurer's  report as soon as he can. We also took accurate measurements and worked out more of the details on the IRS.

It seems like suddenly we are a lot closer. For the show we only need to get the rear done, install the engine and tranny, and stick the doors and fenders back on. While it is true that we only have two Roadmaster weekends between now and the summer show, I see no real problems in our way.



Jim

Jim, 225/50/15 for the rear & either 205/55/15 or 215/50/15 up front is what I'd suggest... but since they're just temporary, the best sizes are probably what you can find at the local salvage yard.  Also, if you're going to use larger diameter tires in the end, be sure to allow for that when putting the flares on.

What we'll do is fit the rear up with my wheels and tires for the roadster (315/35-17) which will give us an extra 3/4" on each side when we go to the 275's on the back as we;d discussed earlier, my wheels/tires being on loan for the show. The for the front we just need something to fit Steve's 15" Jag rims, again just for the show. I was wondering what would be the most commonly available sizes that might compliment the rears, which I could find used. Should I be looking for 50 series or something else entirely?

The second head is now on the engine, as well as the rocker arms:


And the engine is bagged while waiting for tin and an intake to be cleaned:


Also the steering rack is mounted:


And some more layout is done on the IRS, more details in the 340 thread:


Jim

Jim,

If you need a stiffer set of springs in the roadmaster up front for the engine weight, I will donate the TR6 comp springs that are not cut on one end, I will probably never use them and I'm sure they are strong enough for the application.



The red pair on the left are the competition springs.

When the time comes of need just let me know and their yours for the project.


Calvin

Thanks Calvin, we'll know more as we get closer to the summer meet. We have a set of stock TR springs that might do the trick, or yours may work better, but hopefully we will still be getting the aluminum heads. I very much appreciate you giving us that option.

Today I picked up some 1/4 x 1" steel strap and some 4140 heat treated 5/8" round bar to use in making the mounts and long bolts for the LCA attachments. Steve, I have the receipt for that, $48.11 to Fastenal using check number 1026. I will have to buy some 1-1/4 ID tubing for the axle shafts and I'm trying to find some bonded rubber bushings. Hopefully by the first of the week I will have the final axle position set and can start measuring for the axle and LCA cuts. I'm going to try to have that work about done by the end of the month so that we can concentrate on prepping the car for show-n-tell.

By the way, does anybody have an objection to moving Roadmaster Weekend to the 31st/1st rather than Memorial Day weekend?

Jim

Hey Jim, have you looked at the inner wheel wells any more?  I noticed when I started messing with my flares the other day that the inner fenders appear to tie into the end of the rockers.  That made me wonder if I really want to do it the way I mentioned I was planning to a few weeks ago.  It was getting dark so I didn't spend much time looking at it to decide.  When i get a chance I'll let you know if it looks like there's a better answer.  That'll likely be next week sometime (cub scout camping trip this weekend) so If you get to this first, let me know what you think.

Rob

Jim, don't forget to allow for pinion offset.

Jim N, thanks for the tip and I will certainly keep that in mind. Looks like 1-1/8" offset I believe. How do you like that setup? Looks like quite a few miles on it and I see there are no rub lines on the driveshaft. I'm guessing your radius rods attach at the cross braces? I'm trying to decide how far I can move the axle to the rear and get away with it, but inclined to think much more than 1/4" will be noticeable. Looks like either the battery boxes will need some trimming or perhaps an aftermarket caliper that is more compact could be found. Time to call Bill G I guess.

Rob, I'd have to look at it again but I think you are right about that. On our car the rockers are pretty well eaten away so we have to do a sill and rocker replacement anyway and right now we've removed most of the rust so there's really no good reference points right now to look at but I believe the inner fenderwells are sound. We have patch panels for the lower outer fender and I'm thinking those should go on before the flares do. I think you had mentioned that you wanted to extend your flares out another inch or so, but I'm wondering if you could use a wheel with less offset instead? Seems like getting that extra inch in sheet metal might be a little tricky. How wide do you plan to go on the tires?

I got the tin back from the shop:


The rocker covers are pretty beat up:


Some scarring by the crank:


So I did what I could for them. Far from perfect but they'll serve to keep the dirt out. Hopefully we'll find something better and not have to use these. The pan should be fine though.


Jim

I was lucky enough to get paint on the parts before it rained:





I think they came out fairly decent. The 430 pan (center sump) is pretty bashed in on the bottom, I haven't done anything with it yet. It and the valve covers make me wonder just what they did to that engine. Let the dog roll it around the shop floor, or what?

Jim

Also, I started a thread in the parts for sale forum to list the extra parts we can sell to raise cash. I'm doing my best to suggest prices but  would welcome recommendations either way.

Jim

I took more measurements at the rear accurate within 1/64":



Sorry about the blurry photo. What I found was that I was too far forward with the differential by 3/4".  The proper position of the differential results in a clearance from the rotor to the gas tank of only about 3/4" but it maximizes the space to the front where the calipers are mounted. Very close quarters in there, but with a slightly modified caliper I do believe the MG engineers could have fit it in. There is not adequate clearance above the rotors for the parking brake unless the crossmember is notched about 3/4". (Odd how that fraction keeps popping up.) The front mount bolts will center 3/8" behind the forward edge of the crossmember, meaning that an access notch may be adequate on that side, along with a chunk of angle iron on the back side. Getting the calipers off still may require a notch in one battery box  but we'll see.

So the question must be asked, " is the hub on the same centerline as the differential?" Ordinarily you would expect that it would be, but as Calvin experienced with his Datsun differential conversion to his TR6, sometimes it is expedient to have the differential centered slightly in front or behind the hubs. I sincerely hope that is not the case here but I may have some difficulty in actually measuring it before assembly of the rear suspension, and then it'll be a little late to change it.

The 4140 bar stock turned out .003" oversize which means a lot of polishing. I may see if I can get some TGP stock (turned, ground and polished) at the same time that I order tubing for the axle shafts. The tubing will have to be 1-3/16 ID x 1/4 wall so not the most common size.

The crank seals came in. I'll try to button up the bottom end in a few days when I get the intakes and the front covers back.

Jim

The picture of the pinion offser is not my car,just a picture I found doing research on IRS. I actually have a Nissan R230 I picked up on Ebay. The offset to the pinion on it is 2.5".

<<So the question must be asked, " is the hub on the same centerline as the differential?">>

It really doesn't matter as long as the hub centerlines are parallel to the diff centerline and concentric with each other. Being forward or behind is no different than being above or below, which they will be, and changing, as the car goes down the road bouncing over bumps.