326 replies to this topic

[apbellamy]

on my MGB i have 3 Mg owners club stickers... if they are the type you can re-use, ill send you one, as i dont need 3 and i think it would look good on the van!

Thanks for the offer, but we've actually striped most of the stickers of the van. We're trying for a more 'tidy' look

There will be some 'subtle' changes to the body in due course, so keep checking back.

[apbellamy]

We've had a busy weekend.

We started of at John's on Saturday. He finished striping the block and gave it a good degrease and preasure washed it.

I've given the new crank a quick polish as there where some slight marks on the journals.

Then we set about John's mini's future engine and pulled it apart. It has donated a nice set of Metro Turbo pistons and this:



A nice Tran X 4 pin diff. Which means big burn outs are back on the cards

Today I've been busy getting engine bits ready to go back together.

The block is fully degreased, striped, primed and painted a nice shade of red.







That fresh red will add 10 bhp.

I also got a pile of ancilories cleaned up and painted ready to go back on.



Then I took the new old diff back out of the gearbox.

Feels like we're getting somewhere now.

[John H]

Mmmmm Shiny.

[apbellamy]

Mmmmm Shiny.

My garage floor has a nice matt finish now. The tin of primer 'jumped' of the bench....

[apbellamy]

After 2 weeks waiting, the intercooler has finally showed up! It looks a lot bigger in person.



So I got busy and lopped of the bottom rad bracket. It fits like a glove and the aim of the pipes couldn't be any better.



Just mocked up with cable ties at this point, but everything still fits.



The rad fits much closer with one of the extra mounting lugs cut of the i/c



One of the problems with fitting an RS Intercoller is that it gets fowled by the bonnet catch, so you have to remove it. No problems like that here



It came with one of the factory mounting brackets, so I hacked it up and welded it to the body.



It's a nice snug fit, but the rubber bungs allow a litle bit of movement. I also chopped of all the mountings that we aren't using. There's no point carrying all that extra weight around!

I'm going to put brackets on for the original radiator tomorrow, but I think we will look for another rad that will sit along side the i/c. There's just enough clearance for everything, but I would be happier with the rad sat in the recess.

[tedmcedd]

looking good! that IC has seen alot of stones!!

i really want forced induction... i want a SC on my mini or my mg... you're not helping me push the idea out of my mind!!!

[apbellamy]

looking good! that IC has seen alot of stones!!

i really want forced induction... i want a SC on my mini or my mg... you're not helping me push the idea out of my mind!!!

That's the inside of the intercooler. Had a fan there from the factory. Just needs a bit of time spending straightenting the fins and cleaning up my cut's and it'll be as good as new.

Forced induction is the future! I'm supercharging my clubman . That is if I can ever find any time to work on it...

[apbellamy]

After a long search we found that no readily available factory radiator for a car would fit in the space we had. So we've ended up turning to motorbikes

We've gota used rad from a Kawazaki GPX 750:



It fit's well:



It will be mounted the other way up and flushish with the front of the intercooler. We'll be junking the bikes fan and fitting a bigger kenlowe style fan to the front. Should leave more space in the engine bay.

By my dodgy maths it's actually got slightly more core than the metro rad:

Metro - 2cm * 25cm * 50cm = 2500 cm3
Bike - 3.5cm * 35cm * 21cm = 2572.5 cm3

I don't know if it will be any better or worse than the metro rad, but I guess we'll find out at some point....

The only other problem is finding a fan switch with 2 wires and M10 thread, the one in it only has 1 wire.

[Pitcrew6464]

looking goooood:)

[apbellamy]

Got the crank back from balancing.



The crown wheel is fitted to the diff (with the bearings cleaned up) and installed in the gearbox



Then we picked up all the engine parts, including some genuine metro turbo pistons with ARP rod bolts:



and headed over to our local engine builder's workshop for some engine building leasons.

With his guidance, the oil gallaries where drilled, tapped, cleaned and fitted with grub screws. The bores where cleaned and the lip's removed. The block was thouroughly cleaned, dried and oiled. We put in new crank bearings, fitted the crank, new thrusts and a centre main strap.



Then the pistons went in with new shells and I lapped the flywheel onto the crank tail.



Then the cam followers, cam, timing back plate and duplex timing gear went on. All timed in at 107 degrees.



So the short block is almost ready to go

[apbellamy]

Got a new rear bit welded onto the down pipe



Damn, my welding looks crap...

Then clamped the middle section down and chopped the middle box out.



And welded in a straight section of tube.



Aparently the peko exhausts don't flow very well. Should be a little better now.

Then John showed up. So we stripped the interior and started the wiring for the fuel pump. We're following an early MK 2 wiring diagram so it gets power when the starter is turning and/or when there is oil preasure. Just need a new starter solenoid and an extra relay. We're also wiring in an inertia cut of switch, for when John crashes it.



Getting there. Should be able to use the pump to drain the old fuel out of the tank soon.

[John H]

I've had my accident in it! It's your turn next.

Edited by minimadmotorman, 02 November 2009 - 10:26 AM.

[apbellamy]

I've had my accident in it! It's your turn next.

You've had far more accidents than me...

I rolled it into the garage door yesterday so it's not my turn.

Now that you mention it. I changed the light lense yesterday that you smashed when you reversed it into that hotel in Prague!

[apbellamy]

We've changed the Rad for a MPi Mini radiator.



It's a snug fit, but with the top pipe trimmed down a bit it will clear nicely.



I can easily take 1" of that which should give plenty of clearance. It will be getting an inline fan switch as close to the top inlet as possible and a 9" fan on the front.



We've also replaced all the fuel hose clips for some propper ones.



With that done we've tested the fuel circuit and draind a load of old fuel out of the tank into a gerry can. We gave the turbo carb a try and watch petrol spill out of all the seals. That will be getting rebuild in the near future...

[apbellamy]

The rad fit's like a glove. Loads more room than with the factory rad





You'll never know what's lurking once the grille is back on!