Hello from an old member

Hi Ryan!
We had a great summer this year with temps reaching up to 32C or 89 -90 F

I bought the new pool with a solar heater and an electric heater. As the sun was out for long periods I got up for work at 5am and turned the pool pump on via the solar heater panel. When I got home from work around 5-6 pm I could jump in the shower and then straight into a nice warm pool with the family. Our warm UK summer was the perfect run up to me and the wife hitting the Canary Islands for 2 weeks with the princess. Hell! I was already tanned before I got on holiday this year. :) The car is coming along ok. BUT! my work has taken its toll as I have missed so many weekends this year. So I have decided to take the whole of December off work to do home DIY and work on the MGB. My boss was a little flustered when I told him I wanted 4 weeks off. But I had given enough notice for this in line with company rules. Plus I had worked so many weekends that after my 5 weeks annual leave during 2018 I still had 12 weeks in lieu due to me because of weekend works. I will use December wisely to do as much as I can on the car. And I will start next year with at least 5 weeks time in lieu still in hand? The Princess Faith turned 5 years old a few weeks back. Where the hell did those 5 years just go?? She has now left Nursery school and is in infant school / Reception school whatever that is? Mothers estate has now been settled so most of the problems in my life are now gone. I am using this Sunday as a car day at the shop. Me and my mate just bought a 4 post ramp for cheap. He will sort out the hydraulics while I wire the thing up to our 3 phase supply. Another friend is bringing his TH400 so we can drop that into his Land Rover with a 400 CI SBC fitted. The newly refurbed Mopar block will also arrive on Sunday so we can start the rebuild of the power plant for his 1950's Ford Pop. On Sunday I will be removing the last of the wiring I don't need on the MGB. I am pulling all the old wiring from the engine bay and removing all of my old nitrous system so I can start next year with just the 383 on pump gas only. And then move on to C16 or better to max out the new engine via the new Digital 7 MSD thing. I have decided to make a complete new nitrous system for the new engine when I'm ready next year. Im not sure if I'm going twin plate or DP nitrous yet? Best wished to all you guys. Pel x

Hi Pel. Good to hear from you. Now that you're back from your 35 weeks of vacation you can get to the fun stuff right?? LOL.

Nice update glad this posts finds you well. Faith being 5 years old blows my mind too, as it seems she just joined the family such a short time ago.

Welcome back Pel! 5 weeks is very good! I don't get my 5th week for another 6.5yrs. having a month off would make it real hard to go back to work! :LOL: It sounds like you have some good plans and good projects ahead of you. I can relate to how fast time seems to go. My oldest is going to be 8 in January. It still seems like she should be an infant! :LOL:

.

The new Dart based 383 SBC now runs!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ilG37GP5B8

Hey Pel. Good to see your update ( thanks for that) and it sounds great. Can't wait to see it at the track.

wow Nice video!

Pel, that's awesome! Those blue flames looked so cool.....

I have been grabbing the odd hour or two at the shop on my way home from work every few days. The Zoomies are almost ready now. Total cheap home build with me saving a lot of money doing it myself this time around. The stainless steel zoomies on my old Rover V8 ended up costing £600. This time I'm making my own Zoomies in mild steel. So far its only cost £120 all in. I cant wait to hear the engine run with the shorty pipes fitted..

Hey Pel great to hear an update!

More weeks have passed and more has been done :)
I really enjoyed making the Zoomies. It took 7 hours to make the first set. Then once I had learnt by mistakes, the other side took 2 hours !!
Modified prop shaft now fitted.
Exhaust finished (apart from no Lambda bungs yet) and Zoomie wrapped in heat tape.
Today I spent 2 hours making sure that pedal to the metal = 8 fully open flaps.
I have fitted a external battery kill switch now. We bought a cheap Ebay hydraulic crimping tool to make off the battery cables and its great.
Not sure if I mentioned that I have removed the alternator and will run on batteries only now?
I fitted the Lexan rear screen. I fitted the lexan to the drivers door.
Fuel system in the back is all done and I now have an open ended AN10 line in the engine bay ready to adapt to twin 3/8" card lines.
I know AN10 seems too big. But it will eventually feed a 500hp nitrous system up the front end as well when I'm ready ;)
The list of small jobs left to do is now way bigger than the original engine swap list. !!
So far so good and I'm happy with progress right now. But I have to take a break as i'm off to SF on Friday to see family for a couple of days, then off to Vegas for 5 days and then back to SF for a couple of days before we fly home. Then another 2 weekends of bliss in the workshop on the car while I figure out how to fit the wheelie bars ?
Regards to all. Pel

For some reason I cant post a picture from my laptop.

pel Gallery - Club Hot Rod Photo Gallery

SBC engine - Club Hot Rod Photo Gallery

SBC engine - Club Hot Rod Photo Gallery

That's looking really nice Pel!

WOW!!
Another 2 odd months have passed already.

A Quick (as I can) Update.

I got the engine fired up in the workshop.
I then fired it up several more times before taking it to the track for testing.
2 days on track saw me running the 1/4 but very slowly at 11.9 seconds?
Engine would not rev above 5000rpm on track. A video of these runs made the car sound like a twist N Go scooter despite the fact that I WAS changing gears.

I had another week of evenings in the shop with friends figuring out what I was doing with the MSD programming.
The instruction from MSD seem simple, but after talking to fellow racers who run the Digital 7 it became clear that I needed more training on wiring the MSD and programming it.

I had anoter Saturday at the track and we eventually figured out that the engine was stuck on the LAUNCH rev limiter for some reason. There was another 6 hours of debate with the crew and also a lot of re programming done. The problem seemed to point to the use of the trans brake button and the Launch Retard map.

So we arrived at an executive decision and re programmed the rev limits up to 12,000 rpm except the race rev limit / race retard curve.

I could free rev the engine to 7500. I could burnout at 7500. But when I left the line with a foot brake launch I was stuck again at 5000rpm for the whole pass.

So we then reprogrammed the launch retard map to the same as the race / run retard map. Nothing changed on the strip.

I then used the trans brake with the rpm limit set way high. This way I could hold the button in and then use my foot to bring launch rpm to 2000. When the light went green I let the button go and then planted my foot. This dropped the 11.9 down to 10.4 seconds.

So we now had the engine revving out as far as I wanted it to. I then tried again at 2500 rpm launch on the button. This time 10.3 seconds. The last run of the day was 3000rpm launch rpm and this brought in a 10.2 second pass.

I am slowly building up to a full trans brake launch in time. But I need to fit the wheelie bars asap. The new engine does seem to come alive at higher rpm. The timing tickets show a lazy launch but with speed being gained quickly after the 1/8th mile.

I will experiment with launch rpm and also shift rpm next weekend. The best 10.2 second pass was with 130mph so we are getting somewhere now I think?

More to come after next weekends testing. She is starting to look better on track now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwIt...ature=youtu.be

I think I may have found the source of my steering vibration from watching that video again. When I rolled it out a few weeks back I had severe vibes through the steering. It was enough vibration to worry me. I realised that I had not had the new front runner tyres balanced. On this test day it was less severe, but still something there.
I think I will have them balanced again first. Then check the front dampers. Look at the front wheels after the launch ??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pel

I think I may have found the source of my steering vibration from watching that video again. When I rolled it out a few weeks back I had severe vibes through the steering. It was enough vibration to worry me. I realised that I had not had the new front runner tyres balanced. On this test day it was less severe, but still something there.
I think I will have them balanced again first. Then check the front dampers. Look at the front wheels after the launch ??

---

I was just going to ask you if you felt a vibration.. I noticed the right front tire bounce at the 37 second mark in the vid. In any event, it's great to see it on the track again. What happened to the rear bumper?

Lots to tell about last weekend.
But I'm just in from an 18 hour callout and I'm pooped.

Car is off track until next season now. Lots learnt about tuning the SBC at the Mopar Nationals. Lots learnt about how aggressive the trans brake can be even at low rpm launches. Went home with a broken engine mount. And a HUGE list of things to do to the car for next year. I am now confident that this 383 motor on carbs only will give me a sub 9.6 pass next year and better.

My friend the track photographer did what he knows I like. Slo Mo vids from either side and the rear.

See the vids and see what you think?

Pel


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7mvCOKKu04&t=33s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09Ny2h_czQw&t=44s

That's my Baby Boy in the Fire suit next to the Race Director on the start line ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F24pI44Zinc&t=4s

There is a real time vid somewhere of the red light pass. I will try to find it.

I recorded this Red Light pass from on my phone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3Ke...ature=youtu.be

RESULT!

I have found a tuner only 80 miles from home who will be happy to put the car on his Hub Dyno with Zoomies fitted. ??

That will be very helpful for next year when the car is ready to roll again.

I am quite happy with the tune I already have in the engine but the tune is best guessing at this time. Being able to have the engine dyno tuned will be great.

I am backed up with work 7 days a week until the end of October now so I will leave some gaps for November from now on. This guy isn't cheap at around $800 per day. But he is willing to tune me nasp on pump gas and then re tune with another map for 116 octane race fuel. I think this will save me many weekends of self testing on track next year and will give me a jump on time for 2020 to make sure I can be back out as soon as possible next season?

2 thoughts... 800 bucks? OUCH! If saving the time/days is a better value for you, go for it! But think of the many passes you'll miss! LOL...

My other thought is you better get some wheelie bars under her! From the videos I've seen you're going to crush the front end in short order. my point oh two/ imho, fwiw... ymmv! LOL.

Nice to see you making progress with it out on the track. Yeah, wheelie bars or wheels on the roof are in order. :LOL: Have you checked the wheels for run out? Maybe the tires are just out of round for setting for so long? I've had several bias ply tires do that to me when they sat for long periods of time with weight on them and no movement.

Hi Guys!!
The wheelie bars and the Chute have been in the workshop for nearly 2 years I think :)

The tyres seem to have settled down now. The red light pass was the last of I think 12 test passes over 3 weeks. Although the runs weren't as quick as they used to be. Everyone was around 125-130mph with hard braking. As I had fitted new brakes I was on and off the pedal to slow down to bed them in. I cant see any obvious run out on the tyres or rims. But when it comes back into the shop I will put the fronts on the wheel balancer to check properly. I'm lucky to have got away with just a little damage to the engine mount.
Pel

Yo!!
New engine mounts now fitted after many delays :)

Side block mounts now hold / secure the engine to the chassis rails. I am also fitting a mount from the (UK) drivers side head to the chassis. I already have front and rear steady bars from the (UK) passenger side head to the bulkhead and front inner fender. Gearbox tail has been raised 20mm as well.

It has certainly been interesting to get these side motor mounts made and fitted in situ I must say. Very little room to work with from above and below. They are not very pretty. But they are strong and will work just fine. I will get some pics on Sunday hopefully.

Regards to all

Pel

Good to see you Pel. Motor Mounts you say???? On the side you say???? yes, pics will be required! LOL.

Hi Folks!

By side engine mounts, I mean that I have used the three lugs on the side of the block where the stock mounts should be!

I could not remove the engine because I would have no idea where to fit the new mounts to the chassis. So I lifted the engine a little and put timber under the oil pan so the engine would be supported on the crossmember. Then I had to slowly measure up and fettle metal to make the mounts before final fitting. I stole the main triangular plates from my friends Volvo / SBC conversion that is sitting in the back lot behind the shop. I'm sure he wont notice until next year !!

Then I made up a base plate to weld on top of the original chassis rail. Then I made up all of the other parts by measuring and filing and grinding until stuff seemed to fit. Then I tacked it up for many trial fitting sessions until I got it all to fit. It was difficult as I had to work above and below, so the 4 post lift was up and down many, many times over several weeks when I had time to work on the car.

Eventually I got to fully weld all the parts in place. Its not very pretty, but it will do the job for sure.

https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/...psrz4p9q4b.jpg

https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/...psgrnuzs9x.jpg

https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1oy01djo.jpg

Wheelie bar fitting now under way!

Happy New Year to all!
I don't normally say HNY after January. But you guys are a special case :)

I got the wheelie bars fitted after some fettling. I made sure I levelled the ramp and that the floor behind was level. Before I fitted the bars I made changes to the slapper bar rubbers. The videos I have seen show the bars rolling upwards quite a lot. I have now made perches for the rubbers to sit on so they are 2" higher at rest. When the car is on the floor, the rubbers are slightly compressed now. The rear end can be bounced up and down on the springs so it still has suspension. I can also use the safety hoops over the springs to add more tension as required.
These are the hoops / large U bolts that I fitted to limit downward travel of the slapper bars so they could not hit the ground if such a condition occurred. This has also reduced the pinion angle between drive shaft and differential when the car is on the floor under its own weight.

I will say now that I have scanned the internet for any info I can find with regards to wheelie bars on leaf spring rear ends. I wasn't able to find much that was specific to my application, but I did gather enough info to help me on my way.

So I pre tensioned the slapper bars to try and simulate axle wind up on launch and then fitted the wheelie bars set to their lowest setting re wheel height after first raising the front of the car until the front suspension had unloaded with around 4" of air under the front tyres in an attempt to simulate launch conditions before the wheelie bars wheels touch down.
I'm sorry this is going on a little Guys! Please bear with me. I'm finding this part of the work very interesting for sure.

SO! with the wheelie bars now welded to the axle tube I set my rear tyre pressure at 15spi which is my race setting. I slowly lowered the car and noted that the bar wheels touched the ground at the same time as the rear slicks. As I lowered the car another inch or two I saw the rear and settle under the weight of the car and as the rear axle / leaf springs settled under the weight of the car the wheelie bar wheels lifted to 4" off the ground. So I think I now have a starting point to work from when I take it to the track over the next few weeks.

During the course of this work I re inspected the front suspension and found that the hard landings had caused a little damage. The inner wishbone mounts had touched down as I could see graze marks on the bush housings. The damage was not anything to worry about. But I then noticed that the front anti roll bar drop links had been damaged. One of them had the top clamp bent and the other top clamp had snapped the weld. I bought new links and added some tack welds to the top links. I then decided to test my welding of the wheelie bars mounts the only way I could think of ! I placed 10" wooden blocks under the wheelie bar wheels and lowered the 2 post lift onto the blocks. The lift dropped to ground level and the rear of the car was off the ground with front suspension fully loaded. Myself and a friend then sat in the boot and bounced up and down as best we could for several minutes. The wheelie bar springs took some of the load until they locked up. Nothing broke. So I guess the welds should be ok?

I guess I will find out on 23rd Feb IF its not raining at the track. I then have 1st March as the next test day.

I will report back when I have done some testing :)

Regards to all

Pel


https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/...psyqovzyiw.jpg


https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6iweanf3.jpg

https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/...psoizimir1.jpg

https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/...pss6g8wh5b.jpg

Hello Pel. Thanks for the update. Interesting that you kept the anti roll bar in the car. That would be one of the first things I'd be tossing out!

Hi folks!
2020 testing did not go well ?

The first test day this year got rained off.
The second test day got postponed because I was at the hospital with the family to say hello to my second Grand Child. A healthy 8lb 6oz boy who is named Albie. He is a lovely content little boy who was born on March 1st. AND, just as with Faith when she was born, Albie and his parents live with us. :)

We got out for a test day just before our UK full lockdown. It was a good day for gathering data, but the car was slow and I fried the transmission. The fried tranny was my fault for connecting the remote filter and cooler lines the wrong way round as I was using the tranny brake to its full potential. I can get the transmission rebuilt when I am off Furlough leave IF I have a job to go back to after lockdown. The rebuild will be in the region of £1200 I think.

We played with tyre pressures, ign maps and launch rpm's. I had a strange vibration on each launch. We could not even get into the 9's and the 60 foot times were slow at 1.6 seconds?

I will attach some real time vids and some Slo Mo vids. The Slow Motion videos tell the whole story, and I now know what I need to do next before we take her back on track.

Stay safe you guys

Regards
Pel


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twSTQ46BPug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91KG3BKv_00&t=14s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvWq38zZ9tw&t=32s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIfsXpAp3Bc

The tranny deal sucks but.. you got another Grand Child! That's great. Congrats to you all.

videos are always appreciated! Thanks for them.

I am not an old member but I have always been a fan of old cars. Back when I was young I used to help my father in modifying his truck.