how can i increase the bhp of my mgb gt 1800?
Discussion
Another vote for Peter, he did my engines and my race engines. Very good they were too. But no need to go mad straight away: book it in with Peter for scrolling road session. You'll find out how down on power it is and Peter will sort the carbs/ignition etc or at least give you an honest answer at what is needed. Updated brakes are not needed just decent pads - I raced on stand disks and drums with hawk pads and you can get the weight down. My gt was a measured 840kg. Handled spot on as well - loved that car.
tcmgb92 said:
Hi I no that your blog is old but I was wondering how did you achieve 870 kgs What did you do to the car to lighten it ? TC
I too would like to see how a GT is lightened to 840kg [as stated] whilst retaining structural integrity with the additional weight of a full cage.Originally, CB GT's gross weight is 1206 kg...that's a 366kg reduction which is huge for a steel bodied vehicle...and below most class entry weight limits. It would make no sense lightening a car by over 100kg and then having to add 100kg to comply with regs...unless the driver is a 25 stone fellow. Much more sense to get 40-50kg under, then strategically place ballasts weights to comply and use as weight balancing during corner weight testing.
Most club racing is at circa' 947kg and 1047kg for FIA cars [MSA 2014 regs].
My 1800 mg was a riot to drive the first things i did to it was take the rubber bumpers off and fit spax shocks and uprated rear leafs and front coil springs and lowered the car then i fitted polybushes all round then i fitted uprated arb's front and rear along with a panhard kit and anti tramp bars and fitted ebc fast road pads and discs and ebc rear shoes and some 205 50 r15 pirelli p1000 tyres on superlite 15" wheels on the engine i bolted on twin hs6 su carbs with k&n filters a 3into1 manifold and straight through exhaust system. Then i fitted a accuspark electronic ignition kit which upgraded the dizzy, leads and coil. Then i fitted a high lift cam 280 piper iirc with piper updated lifters and adjustable pushrods to suit the Peter Burgess ported gasflowed head with uprated larger exhaust and inlet valves ( the top deck of my piston chambers needed notching for that) then i fitted a solid rocker shaft and volvo amazon solid rockers and a knife edged and balanced crankshaft all of this was done on a fresh blue printed rebuild and cost me thousands the car made near 150bhp at the fly and about 120 at the rear wheels but my clutch was starting to slip which is next on the list for a performance upgrade when I've rebuilt her again (coreplug let go lol!!).
As for the standard weight the rubber bumper cars are 1097kg unladen so by removing the bumpers saves a fair bit of weight 82kg iirc and for me ive fitted a full fiberglass sebring kit (wings front and rear, tailgate, bonnet) which actually shed a further 130kg which makes a vast difference and i can honestly say for a MG fan its worth every penny but if you just want a fast classic car then stick a s2000 engine and 6spd box in it as thats actually cheaper and waaaaay fasteror like a guy i know stick a mx5 1.6 with a turbo in there as thats way cheaper still
As for the standard weight the rubber bumper cars are 1097kg unladen so by removing the bumpers saves a fair bit of weight 82kg iirc and for me ive fitted a full fiberglass sebring kit (wings front and rear, tailgate, bonnet) which actually shed a further 130kg which makes a vast difference and i can honestly say for a MG fan its worth every penny but if you just want a fast classic car then stick a s2000 engine and 6spd box in it as thats actually cheaper and waaaaay fasteror like a guy i know stick a mx5 1.6 with a turbo in there as thats way cheaper still
Thanks for the replies everyone. Yes it is 10 years old but hopefully this thread might be helpful to someone out there starting with a standard car so I do think the replies are worth while and I appreciate them.
It wasn't that £100 scared me off, a 10 year younger version of me was asking if my £100 was going to do anything if I spent it on updated filters. Back then it was my daily drive and yeh to be honest £100 was a spend that I did have to give careful thought to. But this thread helped me realise that it wasn't going to do that much on its own. I didn't know loads at the time.
But I do still have the car, it's not my daily but it does get used. I ended up over the years refurbishing (and tuning) a rover 3.5 v8 for it and installing the sebring kit. So this car has taught me a lot, I've done every part of that install, bodywork and painting myself with some help from a friend. So it's been a really good experience. Of course it took years and of course I am already thinking I want more power but i am trying to turn my attention to my first car I ever bought which is a mk1 cortina which will also probably take years and will also probably include an engine swap but everyone's gotta have a hobby.
Anyway thanks again everyone and I hope the tread helps some other novice who bought themselves a b see what's possible and helps them progress.
Cheers
It wasn't that £100 scared me off, a 10 year younger version of me was asking if my £100 was going to do anything if I spent it on updated filters. Back then it was my daily drive and yeh to be honest £100 was a spend that I did have to give careful thought to. But this thread helped me realise that it wasn't going to do that much on its own. I didn't know loads at the time.
But I do still have the car, it's not my daily but it does get used. I ended up over the years refurbishing (and tuning) a rover 3.5 v8 for it and installing the sebring kit. So this car has taught me a lot, I've done every part of that install, bodywork and painting myself with some help from a friend. So it's been a really good experience. Of course it took years and of course I am already thinking I want more power but i am trying to turn my attention to my first car I ever bought which is a mk1 cortina which will also probably take years and will also probably include an engine swap but everyone's gotta have a hobby.
Anyway thanks again everyone and I hope the tread helps some other novice who bought themselves a b see what's possible and helps them progress.
Cheers
Good for you, glad you enjoy it.
To be honest most people removed the air filters and fitted trumpets, then richened up the mix accordingly with different needles. But that's a long time ago now. You would have raised the compression ration too by skimming the head. Lighten the flywheel, swap the cam and all the other stuff mentioned 10 years ago like getting teh ignition tip top and timed properly. The B Series is actually quite tunable.
To be honest most people removed the air filters and fitted trumpets, then richened up the mix accordingly with different needles. But that's a long time ago now. You would have raised the compression ration too by skimming the head. Lighten the flywheel, swap the cam and all the other stuff mentioned 10 years ago like getting teh ignition tip top and timed properly. The B Series is actually quite tunable.
Edited by RichB on Wednesday 8th July 21:49
llohcins said:
Thanks for the replies everyone. Yes it is 10 years old but hopefully this thread might be helpful to someone out there starting with a standard car so I do think the replies are worth while and I appreciate them.
It wasn't that £100 scared me off, a 10 year younger version of me was asking if my £100 was going to do anything if I spent it on updated filters. Back then it was my daily drive and yeh to be honest £100 was a spend that I did have to give careful thought to. But this thread helped me realise that it wasn't going to do that much on its own. I didn't know loads at the time.
But I do still have the car, it's not my daily but it does get used. I ended up over the years refurbishing (and tuning) a rover 3.5 v8 for it and installing the sebring kit. So this car has taught me a lot, I've done every part of that install, bodywork and painting myself with some help from a friend. So it's been a really good experience. Of course it took years and of course I am already thinking I want more power but i am trying to turn my attention to my first car I ever bought which is a mk1 cortina which will also probably take years and will also probably include an engine swap but everyone's gotta have a hobby.
Anyway thanks again everyone and I hope the tread helps some other novice who bought themselves a b see what's possible and helps them progress.
Cheers
Glad to hear its still with you and packing a v8, and kudos on the mk1 tina they are lovey cars It wasn't that £100 scared me off, a 10 year younger version of me was asking if my £100 was going to do anything if I spent it on updated filters. Back then it was my daily drive and yeh to be honest £100 was a spend that I did have to give careful thought to. But this thread helped me realise that it wasn't going to do that much on its own. I didn't know loads at the time.
But I do still have the car, it's not my daily but it does get used. I ended up over the years refurbishing (and tuning) a rover 3.5 v8 for it and installing the sebring kit. So this car has taught me a lot, I've done every part of that install, bodywork and painting myself with some help from a friend. So it's been a really good experience. Of course it took years and of course I am already thinking I want more power but i am trying to turn my attention to my first car I ever bought which is a mk1 cortina which will also probably take years and will also probably include an engine swap but everyone's gotta have a hobby.
Anyway thanks again everyone and I hope the tread helps some other novice who bought themselves a b see what's possible and helps them progress.
Cheers
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