Nocones Rotary MG Midget

Did a trackday at Autobahn Country Club in Joliet with Chicago Region SCCA. We did the full 3+ mile course. It was amazing, it's a great facility, track and organization. We got 1 hour if track time from 5-8pm. I ran with the intermediate group and everyone was very respectful on track and considerate. Overall it was a great experience.

The car did amazing. On a track it was way faster then I expected. The overall nuetral behavior it showed on an autox course translated well to the big track. Braking was very good and stable. Again the chassis balance was good enough that I could trail brake without any bad behavior. The few times I did overcook entry the car just entered a very nice gentle slide. I also was no where near the limits as nearly every corner I was always able to turn in even more at apex. Maybe next time I will push a little harder. I was most suprised with the machinery I was able to keep up with. Autobahn has many 60-70mph corners and some 120+ mph straights so I expected that with 170hp I would get walked by nearly everything but I was able to hold my own with some high speed cars (E46 M3, C5 Z06, C7 GS). The car had no mechanical issues which was great. By the 3rd session it was definitely getting attention in the pits for how fast I was. Overall I just couldn't be more pleased with how well something I built and designed from scratch did. Best lap appears to be in the 2:59.2XX range. I will for sure do more trackdays. This video is my 2nd and 3rd lap from session 3. 3rd lap appears to be the quickest I ran.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/gB8dSrgmNgs

That's gotta be a great feeling. Car sounds wonderful and looks like you did a great job on the suspension design/setup.

What a blast....a true exclamation point on this entire project....two thumbs up dude!

That looks like a lot of fun!

It seems to me like the car would be easier to find the limits with a slightly larger steering wheel.

I don't know exactly why I feel that way, it just struck me as it would be beneficial.

I have a 2" larger wheel that I may try just to see. I don't think the steering has anything to do with hesitance to find the limit. I think it's just the fact that I haven't done to much track driving in a few years so my comfort with pushing hard is lower then it once was.

I am considering slowing the steering ratio some. Total track use was <1/2 turn. For autox I use a bit more lock and get about a whole turn. I may look into adding a 2nd set of holes in the steering arms to make them longer and have a high speed appropriate Ackerman. The steering links just attach with a 1/2" bolt so I can just have multiple holes. I would have to reset the front toe but that wouldn't be to bad. Though the incredibly quick ratio is one of the things that make the car feel truly like a race car. One thing I loved about the FSAE cars and Karts I've driven is the <1 turn lock to lock steering. I have almost 2 for the MG but the total steering angle is huge so practically speaking it is about 1. Effort is amazingly light for the ratio I think because of the fact that the car has nearly 0 offset with relatively low caster angles which was possible because I have low KPI. I'll keep people updated as I mess with it.

Boy 'O Boy, how did I miss this terrific build for so long ? ! ? !

Your car looks (and evidently performs) AMAZING(LY)—

Wonderful work and the vision to carry it through ! ! !

Thanks for the compliments TeamEvil. Not sure how people have missed this build. Maybe I need a catchier title?

This thing is mental!

Damn you Photobucket. I'm going to try to get my pictures back up but I am busy guy. You can read text and then look at the pretty pictures on the Photobucket website...

Anyway. Final nationals preps are under way. Car work is minimal. As you can see from the videos our site is pretty rough and I have the car up around 3 inches of ground clearance to allow full suspension travel. For Nationals I will likely lower it to about 2 inches, adjust the suspension to be stiffer (I love my adjustable bellcranks), and realign it. I need to get numbers figured out and I may finish weld the fenders and spray paint the car 1 color (probably not let's be honest). The biggest thing for the car is the development of an aero kit. For the event this weekend I built a 1/2 inch thick, 6 inch deep splitter. Primarily it was to keep cones off the fenders but it worked well enough I guess. I am planning on adding a spoiler and difusser. I will try to get pictures as I build and post them somewhere else.

The other pre Nationals work is all trailer prep. I need to add brakes and wire a brake controller in my wife's Santa Fe. I'm also going to add a dovetail so I can move the car back 1' on the trailer and then put a tire rack on it. It's going to be a busy 3 weeks.

Here is on board video of my most recent autox. I ended up with FTD by ~1sec however I still have a ways to go as I was 4 seconds back on index. I'm still learning the car and I don't think with the power I have it will ever really be Dmod competitive but I could see a world where I can go 2-3 seconds faster. I analyzed a few other runs and found that I ran two sections faster that I could of put together a mid 52 second run. Car development may pick up some more. Car is still running good and has 100 runs on it plus 1 hour of trackday time with no missed runs due to mechanicals. She might not be the most powerful car on grid but she seems to be running good.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/GKrnXm5hBac

In reply to nocones:

Looks fun! You must not have missed any events to get 100 runs on it already?

Co-drivers at every event. One event it did 6 fun runs with 4 different drivers. It gets 12-15 runs at every event.

I'm glad to see the motor is serving you well! Not a powerhouse but at least seems to be relaible still.

I look forward to meeting you in person at Nationals. I think you are registered in DM? If you see me there and it looks like I'm scrambling to fix something, back away slowly, don't make eye contact, but otherwise I really want to see your car and maybe get a few pics of our beasts together.

Yes I am DM this year. I meet you briefly last year but it will be nice to have the car out there this year. Absolutely want to get some pictures of the cars together. That much MG awesomeness in one spot could break something though.

Whoa! I missed a bunch in the middle! Congratulations on having it up and running, and on apparently doing a bang-up job along the way!

Without any pics and just a few videos of the inside of your car, this has turned into a strange, almost zen-like thread. Any chance of reclaiming the pictures, it seems like it was once a pretty nice and successful documented build.

I'm new here and have been having a terribly frustrating time of it going through everyone's builds and finding nothing but words and explanations. This is one build that I would have just loved to have seen as well as read. Too bad, really.

We are having Perry from Autopix do some professional pictures of the Pink Panther, hopefully you can get in on that. We haven't picked a time yet because we are waiting to see what the weather will be

I'll be onsite from Wed around 11 until Saturday AM. Looking forward to seeing the improvements you've made and getting to know the D/Emod people better.

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https://www.youtube.com/embed/b7WF0tofR-k

Dan, you gotta share your co-drivers blooper video, it's the best!

https://jalopnik.com/cone-hits-autocross-driver-back-at-solo-nationals-1803784968

In reply to Gimp :

Damn! John is usually a fast & smooth driver, but it looked like a drift event by the amount of counter-steering he was doing. 

Got your site from Grassroots.  Very interesting. I also started my RO MG project in Wisconsin in 1991. After I blew the 2nd engine in the F/P  MG. It is now sitting in NW Indiana, still not running . Remaining MG body is good, because back then the fiberglass components were expensive or not available.  I have 13B engine rebuilt and and mounted unknown age and origin. RX7 - 5 speed approx 1980. along with RX7 rear narrowed to match the MG as raced. 

I now have some money, but have difficulty actually doing the work - health issues.  Concerns are brakes, exhaust. generator, and plumbing.

The brakes were adaquate as raced, so I think they will be ok for this on autocross.  The exhaust is fabricated header dumping into a 1.5 in high flat tube that widens to nearly 6 in. as it leaves in front of the PassR wheel.  Radiator is alum and sized for Rotary.  Plumbing is somewhat of an issue. The project has been sitting at this stage since 2008 when I entered forced retirement. The engine has been oil sprayed and turned over at least 2 times per year.  Do you think this is still do able?  Your comments  -  especially on the brakes and exhaust.  Also I was running 13x6 vega rims with race tires.  as that bolt pattern matched MG.  What can I get now since 13 in tires are history. 

I'm back for a little update.  I did barely anything on the car over the winter.  The car has been consuming coolant about a cup at a time.  I think it's due to a strange interaction between the two radiator caps j have to run due to the height of the radiator.  I have one at 14lbs one  at 18 and Occasionally the radiator overflow nipple is wet.  I think I will T it into the overflow tank and see if that fixes it.  

Today I tried something different and took the car to a local cars and coffee.  There were about 60 typical cars and coffee type cars but it was fun to get the car out and have some more people look at it.  Lots of questions and stories from people that had a midget, MG, or LBC in the day.  

I'm registered for a trackday at Grattan in July which I am very excited about.  My goal is to get the seat covers done and do some trailer maintenance by then.  

Only one pressure reference for closed systems. Thats the rule in hydronic heating systems.