Pro Street Style MGB GT

[Fleckers]

I remember you mg from the pod and also the manta in the pic as I used to go to the RV8 challenges lost

Good luck with the build

[Flying Phil]

Fleckers said:

I remember you mg from the pod and also the manta in the pic as I used to go to the RV8 challenges lost

Good luck with the build

Thanks Fleckers
Progress has been non existent recently as I have been building a Ronart - and moving house! but 2015 will be the year of the "B" so watch this space......

[v8250]

Flying Phil said:

Thanks Fleckers Progress has been non existent recently as I have been building a Ronart - and moving house! but 2015 will be the year of the "B" so watch this space......

Building a Ronart...a W152 with straight six XK/XJ unit? If so, they're very fine pieces of kit. I came to within a gnats cock of buying one of these to build from Arthur W about 15 years ago. Had a great time at his old site. Still have no idea why I didn't go ahead with the project. It would be great if you could share pics' here for us...they are superb toys.

[Flying Phil]

v8250 said:

Building a Ronart...a W152 with straight six XK/XJ unit? If so, they're very fine pieces of kit. I came to within a gnats cock of buying one of these to build from Arthur W about 15 years ago. Had a great time at his old site. Still have no idea why I didn't go ahead with the project. It would be great if you could share pics' here for us...they are superb toys.

Yes it has the XJ 3.4 straight six - with triple 45DCOEs! There is a build thread on RnS and Retro Rides.

[v8250]

Flying Phil said:

Yes it has the XJ 3.4 straight six - with triple 45DCOEs! There is a build thread on RnS and Retro Rides.

Pls post links to the build thread

[Flying Phil]

v8250 said:

Pls post links to the build thread

This is the title on the Rods n Sods Readers Rides section "Ronart build - XK engine 1950's inspired Grand Prix Style" but I'm sorry I don't see how to put a proper link in.....I'm better with spanners than a keyboard!

[Flying Phil]

A little bit more progress as I have bought an old V12 cylinder head so that the inlet manifolds can be held in place all together and lined up correctly - when I finally get them to a welder!

[Flying Phil]

.I needed a bit of lighter work so I finished off 6 of the ram pipes, bonding the flanges and flared tops to the tubes, then a bit of polish.
The inlet welding should be done soon so things are only resting in place hence the uneven spacing of the carbs.

Edited by Flying Phil on Saturday 28th February 09:35

[Flying Phil]

Back to the welder!
I finally got hold of the welder yesterday so was able to fabricate the front chassis rails which will support the radiator, oil cooler and front of the bonnet. It goes down from 2" box section to 1" box to give a bit more room for the XJS radiator.
I strength tested by standing and bouncing on each one!


Then I completed the boxing and bracing of the steering rack support cross member stubs (the centre of this had been cut out to give room for the front pulley on the V12.).
MG did a similar modification on the 1500 Midgets to clear the longer Triumph unit.

[Flying Phil]

A bit more stripping as I have now taken off the old cast iron exhaust manifolds - there were two studs hidden underneath the manifolds which were really difficult to get to- so the starter motor had to come off as well! I have a kit of tubes to make up a new system which will need much cutting and welding.

[Flying Phil]

Here is the block without the exhaust manifolds and starter - after the cleaning commenced!

[Flying Phil]

Recent work has concentrated on the inlet manifolds. I had hoped that the welder could effectively butt weld the aluminium tubes to the cut off flanges, however he said it would be better if the tubes went into the flanges slightly........So I had to buy some slightly smaller dia tubing 40mm (instead of the original 42mm). Then all the flanges needed chamfers filing to accept the tube stubs - which also had to be cut at an angle to get the spacing between the carb flanges and the head flanges correct. Thus with 12 to do it has all taken longer than expected!
But here is the result - ready to go to the welder. They will be lined up and tacked on the head, then taken off for proper welding. Then tidied up with lumps, bumps and edges blended.

Edited by Flying Phil on Friday 24th April 12:49

[Flying Phil]

The manifold parts are now at Webster Race Engineering to be welded together and Yes - Jon Webster said they would need bolting down to prevent too much movement when welding.
I'm not sure if this is still of interest on this forum as there has been no feedback recently.....?

[ATE399J]

Flying Phil said:

I'm not sure if this is still of interest on this forum as there has been no feedback recently.....?

We're still here mate, keep it coming!!

What you are doing is a long way from my area of knowledge so I can't really comment on detail but it looks like an amazing project.

Phil

[Flying Phil]

Thanks Phil - here is an update for us!
There has been a slight change of plan as Websters now have a lot of work on race cars at present, and my job would have been put way back, so I have now found another, local, Welder to take on the inlet manifold.

[lucebayjack]

Yes, please keep posting Phil! I lurk on here purely for updates on this mental project.

[Flying Phil]

lucebayjack said:

Yes, please keep posting Phil! I lurk on here purely for updates on this mental project.

Thanks Lucebay - as long as my ramblings are being enjoyed I will carry on posting.

[Flying Phil]

I was able to help the welder today and all 6 of the inlet manifolds are now tacked together. It was a very fiddly job as they all needed to be positioned on the cylinder head to get the positions correct but needed tacking to get them to stay together in position....

.....so four hands were a big advantage! They should be finished early next week:bigsmile:

[Flying Phil]

I hope to get a fair bit done this year and I now have the first lot of manifolds welded - Thanks to Manton Engineering - I will be removing all the lumps and bumps.

[Flying Phil]

All the flanges are welded and I will be tidying them up - but I couldn't resist putting them all on the block with the carbs and ram pipes........