BritishV8 Forum

Amazing work Jim!!!!

Thanks Chris, but it's nothing anyone couldn't do with the right tools and know how. Bad thing is, it tends to take years if not decades to get either. But I've paid my dues, so now occasionally I get to play. That's the payoff for all the fixing and making mentioned above.

Today's work is done, tomorrow will be spent with family. Somewhere along the line I'll try to finish the rigging and measurements and then maybe I'll see if Steve would like to assist in the bending. Wouldn't hurt a bit to have an extra set of eyes and ears and he should be here by mid-afternoon on Sunday. We'll see what happens when you intentionally try to bend an MGB bodyshell. I dare say that it's unlikely anybody has ever tried it before.

JB

Well what a surprise. I knew the MGB body tub was stout, but I really had no idea. By my calculations we applied something in excess of 11,000 lbs to the inner sill on the passenger's side and the door opening flexed less than 1/4", and then sprang back when the pressure was removed. I even tried jumping up and down on the opposite sill to apply leverage across the body but it wasn't giving in the least, and felt as solid as if it were under no pressure at all.Sort of a bitter-sweet moment to realize just how strong that structure is, but that I'm stuck with the shape it is in until the next paint job. That could be a very long time. Oh well, on to more important matters.

JB

Did you take pictures of the rig you used when you were bendinng the car?

Yes Jim B., could you ? I'll need to do this several times on the Healey, but I need a good plan on the rigging. Thanks, roverman.

I'm sorry guys I didn't even think to take a photo. Steve came in and I wanted to do the deed and get it off the lift so we could change the oil in the Roadmaster. But it was a pretty simple rig so I'll try to explain it.

I put the car on the 2 post lift in the normal fashion except that I used 1 ft long 2x4 blocking between the pads and the car, under the frame rails at the front and under the spring hangers at the rear. Then blocking up with 3x3x12" blocks on the inside sills so that a 3x3 square tube across the sills cleared the tunnel by an inch or so. On the off side I placed another square tube under the lift arms parallel with the car and chained it to the cross tube using an axle strap and on the side to be bent used a second strap and chained the end of the beam to two 5/8 x 6" large tapcons embedded in the shop floor, using 2" x 1/8" strap folded up around the head to even the pull with a 1/2" bolt through the ends and the chain in the center.

I used the lift to apply force to the sill by raising it in the usual manner and taking measurements as force was applied. We had about 1/4" of initial deflection at the top of the door opening front to rear but then upon attempting to lift further the deflection stopped and the pressure relief bypassed the hydraulic fluid. At that point I went around to the off side and figuring the distance from the lift points to the anchor point and from the lift points to the opposite sill would give me some significant force multiplication, I jumped up and down on the off side sill. It just laughed at me.

Because there is a healthy steel cable in tension equalizing lift force in the lift from side to side, the force of the cylinder on the off side transferred across to the working side, applying the full force of the lift which has a 9000 lb capacity (Rotary brand lift from a Ford dealership). I figured about a 10:1 ratio for jumping on the opposite sill so added another ton or so.

JB

Here's a shot of the Idle Air Control valve and mounting:



The IAC is late M'tang and is a large diameter valve compared to earlier units so I'm hoping it is also quicker reacting. We'll see.The mount includes a stainless breather screen to keep out bugs and large debris. Flow is then through the standard air inlet filter. I had to move it up here because the earlier location on the plenum is subject to positive pressure which would have really complicated tuning. This location, nicely tucked away under the inlet scoop, is much better.

JB

A bit more eye candy:



This PCV system uses the British format with an orifice breather on the opposite corner of the engine. The stainless line was sand packed and formed using a custom fabricated bender. It draws filtered air through the engine via the orifice and then into the blower inlet under vacuum under normal conditions (also assisting in sealing small oil seepages) and vents blowby directly to the inlet under WOT. The inner diameter of the tube is about 9/16". The large canister below the tube is the stock Rover flame trap which prevents crankcase explosion in the event of a backfire and also separates oil vapors and droplets and returns them to the rocker box.

JB

Beautiful work Jim, you continue to impress me with your fabrication skills on this project.

Jim, where did you get the rubber connections for your PCV lines, especially the one that connects to the valve cover breather? I think I would like do to the same thing with mine and do away with the ugly rubber hoses that I have right now.

Looks fantastic!!!!

Chris, you can pick those up at any chain store, look in their "help" parts display.

JB

Thanks Jim. I'll take a look next time I'm in the parts store.

Made a little more progress finally. For Christmas this year I must have been a good little boy because I got, not coal, not switches, but a brand spanking new A/C compressor for the B! So I've been a busy B making up a mount for it, which you can see in the not so great photos below. (what can I say, the light was bad on account of the snowstorm) Made from 7ga. stainless (.160", 4mm or just under 3/16" for the dimensionally challenged) and triple gusseted, two bolts give 3 point rigid attachment, with just enough clearance all around, once I bashed the inner fender a little with a bfh. What the heck, it'd already been "tweaked" a bit anyway. The compressor is a Sanden 1027S2, which is used on semi trucks, hence the 8 groove serpentine pulley. I HOPE it'll be enough to keep the roadster cool. Guess it's time to shop seriously for a condenser and an evaporator.









Jim

Wow, that looks tight!

Nice bling skills!

That's pretty cool Jim, (pun intended)
It also has the required "raccoon factor" as the lovely Lynne puts it.
If it's shiny you gotta have it!
That's pretty close to AHITH though. (another hole in the hood)
Cheers
Fred

Naw, a MBITB (mere bump in the bonnet).  

"Racoon Factor". I like that, it explains a lot. Anyway I'm not planning on either AHITH or MBITB. It'll clear. Shirley it will. The breather now, that I'm not so sure of but I'll change that if I have to.

I did consider removing some of the mounting lugs from the compressor, and may consider it again. It would make for a cleaner look. It would also mean this one could never be used for a core should the need arise. But I want it to be workable without doing that, again in case the need should arise. Rob is right, it is a tight fit, something which I imagine Calvin can appreciate. I need a little more clearance around the pulley, that will bump out pretty easily. Otherwise it's good.

This car has tight clearances all the way around, yet it's better in many regards than before when it was really close at the steering knuckle, driveshaft-to-ebrake pivot bolt and other places. Better mounts mean everything is more tightly controlled for less movement and that will help a lot. I've not noticed the engine of the Roadmaster moving around very much at all. It wobbles a bit at idle. If that's all this one does it'll be fine, and if needed I do have stiffer isolators.

Racoon factor, hmmm,...  maybe I could buff out the compressor body... Ooooh,.... Shiny,....

Made some progress on the throttle body over the past few days, I'll try to get a photo soon but there really isn't that much to see. Still it is a complex piece to manufacture using the tools available to a small shop and presents some formidable challenges, one of which is the bore for the shaft bearings. Now the throttle shaft on this piece is unusually large, as the throttle body itself is 10 inches wide and will contain 3 butterflies in line, each of which is 2-1/2 inches in diameter and will have no trouble flowing enough air to feed the Eaton M-112 blower. However that means there has to be a hole straight down the middle of a 10" long block of aluminum, and the bore must be quite straight or the shaft will bind. I'm using four precision sealed ball bearings with an OD of 23mm and I do not have a 23mm long reamer or long drill (either of which is quite expensive) and none of my machines has more than 6" of quill travel.

Despite those difficulties I found a way but I'm afraid the details would not be that interesting. The important thing is that it is done and I can move on. So now I have this block with a hole through it, have test fitted the shaft and bearings and am ready to move on to the throttle bores, and once I have determined the spacing I can cut those. They will be fitted with trumpets going through the body and those in turn will house the butterflies. Then the body will get the outside contoured and an o-ring groove to mate to the body of the scoop and other details. As it gets closer to being finished it will get more interesting to look at and I'll be sure to post photos.

In the meantime the stock came in for the serpentine idler pulleys and I have some recycled bearings that will work very well for those. So after I have accurized the 3 jaw chuck for the lathe I can get started on  those as well. Because they are back side idlers they will be simple pieces, requiring only concentricity and accuracy in the bearing bores.

Jim

Awesome Jim, keep getting all those small details done, before long we will all see a youtube video of your first start up! I can't wait to see and hear your fire breathing 340 on video.

"Yes" I can appreciate tight tolerances, that's where our wifes can help with small hands... to get that damn bolt in there so we can tighen it up. The BFH does work for last alternative :-).... My hands are big enough, that everything needed to go together in a certain way, to reach those 2 or 3 very hard unabtainable bolts. Specialty tools can be made.

Jim, it is close in there!  Any concerns about the closeness of the back of the compressor to the header heat-wise?

A little Phil. The discharge line will have to have a "U" bend in it to go up and around the compressor and can be hard-line until it gets forward of the drive belt. I'll try first to find a hose with that end. The line from the condenser to the evaporator can be down on the frame rail, and that leaves the suction line which will have to go straight back to the firewall over the header. For that one I do have a new OEM hose with heat shield and insulation and I think a section of that will work pretty well although I'm also considering running it inside a stainless tube. I have some time to think about it. That is the line most likely to pick up heat.

Well, the stock for the pulleys came in but I'm not quite ready to start on those yet. I have finished giving the lathe a tune up but I'm working on the trumpets for the throttle body instead. My 3 jaw chuck had some runout so I mounted the 4-jaw, centered up a short piece of 2" chromed hydraulic cylinder piston rod that I had lying around and then clamped the 3-jaw to the end of it. That let me true up the mounting surfaces on the back and then I re-cut the backing plate to match. After all that, when I re-mounted the 3-jaw the runout was between 1/2 and 1 thousandth and that's about as good as it gets for an older machine with a cheap chuck.

That means that for most work I'll be able to remove the part and re-position it without losing my centerline, which is a big plus in lathe work, and it is certainly close enough for things like pulleys and trumpets.

So I parted off the blanks for the trumpets, about twice the finished length. Now I can swap the 3 parts in and out for roughing, finish, bore cuts, tapers and chamfers and get near perfect uniformity between the three. In fact, I can leave the finish cut on the OD until after I have cut and bored the mating holes in the throttle body block, and get just the fit I am looking for, then part them off and finish the inlet ends. (it is sort of important to map out the steps in advance) Once I get to that point it'll be a good time for pictures.

In the meantime I'll be thinking about the pulleys, and how I'm going to hold them while cutting the pulley grooves.

Jim

Thought I'd post some more bling:



Those are 2-1/2" throttle bores, the shaft is 7/16. The trumpets will get sunk into the block and then all rounded, smoothed and polished with brass butterflies and a stainless or aluminum actuator arm depending on what materials I have on hand. Next step, bore the holes for them, precisely to size and precisely 3.000" apart.

Doc

Looking good Jim, the racoons would be proud of you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF6Nx8Yq3Ik

New sig video for ya, Doc