Pro Street Style MGB GT

[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.....?

[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.

[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........

[Flying Phil]

With all those Webers it was not surprising that one had a seized butterfly spindle so I had to carefully remove the riveted over end piece (at the seized end), then tap the spindle from side to side before I could get it to reluctantly (Very) turn fully open so the butterfly plates could come out, then the roll pin on the accelerator crank had to be drifted out. Finally the spindle was "persuaded" out. The alloy had corroded and so it was all cleaned up and re-assembled......Smooth operation now!

[Flying Phil]

Ye gods - I finally got a bit more done on the BGT!
The Engine mount blocks are now welded onto the chassis rails with the engine in its correct location. The front suspension is getting stripped for refurb ...and I have started on the exhaust manifold welding! Of course, I forgot the camera.......

[Flying Phil]

Here is a pic of a engine mounting block.



And the beginning of the exhaust manifold.



and progress



Plus some brackets for the back end

[Flying Phil]

A bit more fettling to get the front end components in the correct location.

[Flying Phil]

Thanks Benters
Well here is another part made for the Mega B - well actually I have made two of them - but what are they for???

[Flying Phil]

Anyway, to prevent further revelations/suppositions, the blocks are to be part of the engine supports. I had used 50mm box section on its side, which would tend to "lozenge" under load, so these pieces slip inside and are welded to maintain the square shape of the tube.

[Flying Phil]

Anyway I also had a go at mocking up the steering column.
I had a spare Morris Minor one that I thought would be useful........so I cut it in half and, with a temporary extension, it all fits.:bigsmile:

[Flying Phil]

Thanks Hugh
I have been cleaning up and checking the front suspension, then painting and putting it back together and on the car. However I need to do a bit of welding to repair rusty areas on the OS - and the Morris 2 door Minor is back, having been sprayed, so the BGT will be on hold......

[Flying Phil]

I have cut out the rusty gusset by the back of the wishbone rear bush ready to weld in a fresh section. There is also a bit of "lace" where debris had trapped moisture- below the chassis rail.

[Flying Phil]

A bit of variety from lacy bits.........Gauges!
As I have the old ones from the XJ-S I have investigated re using them in the MeGa B. Basically the Rev counter and Speedometer can be taken out of the old binnacle and will fit in the B binnacle....then I looked at the 4 smaller drum type gauges - and I think I can fit them in the rectangular radio? slot in the centre of the B dashboard. However that involves cutting the plastic binnacle into four sections......so out with the trusty hacksaw and voila!