BritishV8 Forum

Just a general sort of thing.
I get a little testy sometimes when it'd be better to just let it go. But I'm still learning at least.

Jim

Uh oh. Look Ma no air bags!

http://www.mgexperience.net/phorum/read.php?40,2142452

Thanks for the tag, Carl.  

Yeah, what's up wid Dat?!?   We've had line and valve issues-- now bags?  :-(

Any thoughts as to why?  Jim?  Steve?   Rob (who had it last and longest)?  

IT's not like it's being constantly inflated and deflated....

M

I've been in touch with PJ and it is still too early to know for sure but there is a pretty good chance the air bag was not centered properly on the top spring centering cup up in the crossmember. My fault as likely as not. The last time I had it apart I do remember not feeling fully confident that the cup had centered. No doubt I should have acted on that.

The way it works is that the crossmember has a centering cup that the top of the spring fits around. The airbag has a 2-1/2" freeze plug that is drilled and bolted open end up to the top of the bag. That cup then slips easily into the spring centering cup and centers the top of the airbag. However the freeze plugs come in different heights and that may be one of the shorter ones. Regardless, if the two cups do not nest, the one will sit on the lip of the other and the airbag will shift ( probably outwards) at the top. This would let the bag rub against the crossmember under the bump stop.

I'll look at mine on monday to see if that matches the wear pattern on the photo PJ took.

Steve had some wear on one of his but his crossmember had been bent in a past collision. We subsequently took a bfh to it in order to get clearance but there should not be a problem with an undamaged crossmember.

Jim

Just talked with PJ.  Repair is complete.  He's going to grab some lunch and hit the road.  David, if you're out there, thanks again for handling receipt of the Fed-Ex and courrier service!  You saved the day!

Shoppe in Carthage...


David from Shreveport (must be a little shy)

Jim, from what I could see, not being centered is the likely cause.  Both bags , are now centered.  We did an inspetion of the drivers side and would have replaced both if there was any sign of rubbing on that side.  There is none.  Both side looked good after the repair.  It did take two  trips to the NAPA store to get the air supply line fitted, but no leaks now.  Held 85 psi for 310 miles and 7 hours.  

Just a few little observations for future drivers:

1)  need a GPS with speedometer feature or speedometer app for your smart phone until the Stewart Warner speedometer is calibrated.  Indicated 40 mph on the dash is about 70 mph.  I drove 310 miles today the odometer shows 151.
2)  since the odometer is off and the gas gauge is wonky care must be take to refuel within 150 miles of last fill-up,  will need a quart of 20W-30 Casterol every 150 miles
3)  There is some shake between 62 mph and 68 mph possible wheel balance??
4)  Headlights aimed too low can only see about 3 car lengths, I ran with high beams tonight and that did not seem to bother any other drivers, but still not good.
5)  Tach is eratic at 70 mph it varies between 2000 & 3000 rpms.

PJ

PJ...be sure to write all of this down in the Roadmaster Logbook. See you in a few hours!

One thing you can do is add pressure to the air bags at night to aim the lights higher. Steve felt that worked rather well.

Steve has also identified a potential rub spot, Rick it would be great if you and Pete could take a look. There is a thin plate the factory welded on the bottom of the crossmember which ends at about the middle of the spring cavity. Steve found one of these corners was a little too close for comfort and I think this matches the wear pattern in PJ'S photo. The remedy is to grind the edge back for clearance then blend and smooth it. If there is any sighn of contact after you get the car that should hopefully take care of it.

Jim

I'll take a look on tuesday.

When I ran out of gas today on I-57 N Roadmaster was absolutely empty.  I hit the gas tank with my knuckles and it sounded dead empty.  There is a see thru fuel filter before the carb and it too was empty.  And I was only able to put 9.1 gallons in the tank. That's why Iran out. I thought I had at least 2 gallons left. Oh  well no problem.  It was after that while in stop and go construction traffic ,45 miles up the road,  that it was not getting gas to the carb again.  But this time I new there was gas in the tank.  At that time the car was too hot to be disconnecting fuel lines plus it was not a safe place.  Picture narrow lanes cones, barrels, concrete walls hardly enough room to get out of the way of the 18 wheelers.

 Roadmaster Now has a new fuel pump.  I had to use crimp connectors so next time the car is on a lift it would be good to check them and maybe replace with soldered connections and heat shrink.  Didn't have that available in the Hardees parking lot.
From now on I will get gas every 100 miles just to be safe.

PJ

Roadmaster won't start this am.  It's getting plenty of gas today there is no spark.  Talked to Max.. Used test light from positive side of coil with ignition on, nothing,nada, zilch.
 Called rick he is arranging for a trailer.  I'm chilling at the Comfort Suites, Mt Vernon, IL.

Gerald if you have some time around 1:00pm + or - we may need a little help loading roadmaster on the trailer.

Any luck getting it fired up?

Pretty sure Rick went and got it - towed it the last bit of the trip.  Not sure if it was speculation or confirmed but thinking was MSD ignition box died.

There is no power going to the positive post of the coil.

I've not had time to dealve into this.

Mike Moor said he may have a spare MSD6 box I could use to test.

The air suspension is also dropping withing 4 to 6 hours. Thought I had that one isolated, but no.

Again, all it takes is time.

It ran fine for me with the stock ignition system.  That is what it had when I drove it to Jim's.
Do we really need an MSD box?

Steve

Not really. We wanted a rev limiter but the way the power drops off over 4800 I'm no longer concerned about it. As far as I'm concerned you can hook the Pertronics igniter up to the coil and forget that other stuff. That would get rid of the annoying buzzing too.

Jim

Pressure in the suspension dropped from 90psi to 10psi while the car was stored the past 9 days.

I like the idea of bypassing the MSD.

If you need some help getting RM fixed, I will arrange a time to come out and help.

Progress?

What's happening?  We're almost out of September now, if that car doesn't get running soon it's going to need to go into storage for the winter.  

There sure aren't going to be a whole lot more show dates for the car to attend up north.

Rick has it. There are a couple of minor maintenance issues that need to be looked at, I don't think he's had a chance yet to do anything on it, and there hasn't been anyone local who could do it. I'm not sure what Bill is doing but I think he is distracted with moving maybe so he hasn't been on here much. AFAIK the only thing scheduled is the Buick GS Nationals at Bowling Green, KY next month but it doesn't look very much like we are going to make that at this point. So realistically maybe the car has found it's den for the cold months.

I just renewed the registration and sent the sticker to Rick. Not sure when the insurance comes due.

Jim

I would LOVE to have someone pick the Roadmaster up....I need the space back in my barn....as was  mentioned....winter is approaching and I need to get an MGB out of my garage and back into the barn so that my truck can be cozy in the garage.

Roadmaster:

The insurance should come due mid-November 2012. Anticipate a premium of several hundred dollars.

This car has been a paperweight since August 13th when I rented a trailer to pick it (and P.J.) up in Mount Vernon, IL (about 3 hours south of me.) I got a Speed Camera ticket mailed to me two weeks later. I had to get an attorney to represent me (it also came with a mandatory court appearance....68mph in a 55mph speed zone...I was in the buffer zone of a construction zone but had not reached any construction.....nor any workers. Typical revenue builder for the State of Illinois.

The air bag suspension is leaking; I suspect the new bag on the passenger side. The car will drop overnight to the point where it would not be possible to drive. I have to use my compressor to build pressure back up. In my opinion, the onboard compressor is not up to the task. Jim, you say this is a minor maintenance issue...but I've never dealt with air suspensions, nor do I find anything in the car to assist n learning about the (how and where the lines were run, how they are connected, etc.. The last thing I want to do is dismantle the front suspension and have the car totally disabled to the point that I cannot move it from Point A to Point B in the barn.

There is no power going to the (+) side of the coil. The car sat outside overnight in Mount Vernon in a hell of a rainstorm...something HAD to have gotten wet and zzzzapped when P.J. attempted to start it up the next morning.

Electrics are not a strong point of mine, but I would think that the problem has to lie in either the distributor or the MSD box. Summit has a 6AL box on sale for $175....but my ticket is going to ba a minimum of $375 plus court fees plus my attorney fees. My fun money is pretty well extinguished for the time being....and...how do we KNOW that the MSD box is faulty....I hate to spend the money replacing parts on a wild goose chase.....dizzy...control box....what about the advance control box?

Soccer season is coming to an end so Pete may be able to donate some time within the next few weeks.

I'm beginning to think that we possibly went just a little too high-tech before all of the bugs were worked out of the car. Thankfully, it made the complete Power Tour without too much problem.

All in all, I'm not very happy. I had intended on taking the car up to the University Motors Summer Party to "wow" the purists, as well as up to the All British Car Show near Chicago in September (which draws 500 to 800 cars on an annual basis). We also missed the Saint Louis All British Show in September. Mr.Kirkman was upset that the car was not roadworthy for him to pick up last week as he had some Cars & Coffees in Indianapolis to attend as well as a couple of street rod events lined up.

End of rant.

Someone, maybe Steve D suggested we remove all that MSD stuff and I agreed. (Maybe that was in the other rm thread). Just hook the pertronix up to the coil and see if that doesn't work. The dyno showed we don't need to worry about a rev limiter.

I also posted a proceedure to leak check the air system, almost guaranteed it's the fittings on the new bag. That much of a leak shouldn't be hard to find. Dunking is the best method.

There are better compressors on ebay for around $75-$150 that should do a lot better job but that one works ok as long as the air doesn't leak out. I bought one to use on my car but have not had a chance to try it out yet. But I can get more info if needed.

We could always stick a set of springs back in it.

Jim

Gentlemen, I apologize for being remiss in my duties as President the past couple of months. I was not keeping up on the latest situations and working to resolve these issues. I have been very busy with my move to Wichita and other things such as the Chump Car race, not an excuse, but just things that have occupied my mind and diverted my attention from the Roadmaster problems. Please send me an e-mail directly to bkyoung@kc.rr.com describing the various problems and if anyone has room and time to either store the car or work on it. My new shop in Wichita won't be ready until mid November at least, so I can't take it until then.
We have had some issue with the bank, requiring signatures and a copy of the minutes of the meeting where myself and Bill Davidson were elected, that is being handled and then Bill can write some checks to cover your expenses incurred with the car. Please let us know what and how much those were.
I am so sorry that the car couldn't make it to those people who wanted to drive and show it this fall, we'll certainly figure out how to get it to you next year.
On the plus side, I'm in Omaha this week making arrangements for next years British V8 meet and that is going well. Meet with the management at the race track later this morning and then with the hotel manager this afternoon to tie in the final two big pieces. Well worth our trip up from KC this week.
Again, my apologies for not keeping up lately, I'll try to to a lot better now that I have some of the load off my mind.
Bill