Couldn't help but notice in the pic above....that's some mighty purty country where you live. It also looks to me like the car still sits at the stock rubber bumper ride height. That was a federally mandated lift increase to achieve minimum bumper height standards. Getting back down to "original" ride height might be a cheap way to solve a lot of issues.
In reply to loosecannon:
Yeah, I have about 54% of the weight on the front end. I cant set the engine further back without cutting the firewall up quite a bit which would move me to modified tub I believe. I dont know if its true but I think I could make the car lighter by running modified tub because I could cut a ton sheet metal out that doesnt serve any structural purpose and essentially run a tube chassis like you do. Is modified tub how you get away with your engine placement. I know what you have is legal because you run it on a national level but I would like to understand why so I can build a more competitive car. I think I could make a big difference setting the engine back about six inches and 3 to 4 inches toward the passengers side of the car.
Jerry From LA wrote: Couldn't help but notice in the pic above....that's some mighty purty country where you live. It also looks to me like the car still sits at the stock rubber bumper ride height. That was a federally mandated lift increase to achieve minimum bumper height standards. Getting back down to "original" ride height might be a cheap way to solve a lot of issues.
It is some pretty country, I have traveled a bit and I haven't seen a place as beautiful as Northwest Montana, the Oregon coast might be a close second though.
I think the ride height might be an optical illusion. We cut out the rear arches to clear the tires and with the way the body rolls under the car it looks higher than it is. The front cross member is about 5 inches from the ground, still pretty high for E-mod but low enough that it takes some effort to get it on and off of the trailer I use. I have been told a couple times it might help to lower the car and it may, I modeled the suspension on circle track analyzer set to 0 degree banking and lowering it doesn't notably effect the weight transfer side to side or the roll rate with my suspension. It was frustrating because it sounded like a good idea.
Im actually concerned that I might be at the limit of the cars handling without designing a completely new front and rear suspension other than some tuning here and there. I dont know if I can get enough roll stiffness out of MG leaf springs without using a sway bar in the rear to accompany any stiffness I add to the front end to make it corner a little flatter. The car is pretty neutral, I have a couple of projects to do before the next event September 4th and after October I might reevaluate the car and its direction. Right now its a lot of fun and most of the money is in parts that I can take to a new project, part of me wants to start from the ground up like loosecannon did and transfer my parts over when the time comes.
In reply to MGS10:
I don't remember exactly what the stock tub rules are but the tub is the area between the front and rear bulkheads. Jeff Kiesel's car is still considered a stock tub and his engine is prett far back so I'm not sure how it's interpreted.
Built a Electric Power Steering System with a 2:1 Steering Reducer.
The parts from the old one.
The lower section, I didnt get it totally straight the first time and had to reweld the steering shaft.
The upper section with the steering reducer and EPAS unit.
The massive solenoid to turn the power on. The stock unit calls for an 80 amp fuse. I googled what gauge wire to use and it said 6 gauge which seems big, but if I were an electrician I wouldn't need google, would I?
The new steering column installed. I took the car for a test drive and it seems to steer quick but predictably, I am looking forward to testing it on course to see if it is an improvement.
I decided to do this because I read about "$100 Electric Power Steering" and so far not including hardware for the steering quickener it goes as follows. EPAS unit $130 with shipping. Control Unit $65 Steering couplers $25 Wiring and connectors $27 80 amp relay $45 Total $292 which is still cheaper than kits on the internet. If I had pulled the EPAS directly from a Saturn VUE in a wrecking yard it probably would have been cheaper but the wrecking yards around me dont usually have anything under 20 years old. Corners could be cut here and there, I could have skipped the relay and used my kill switch to turn the EPAS or found a cheaper relay if it hadn't been an oversight but overall I am pretty satisfied with the installation.
In reply to MGS10:
Im doing exactly the same steering setup minus quickener. Look foward to hearing your thoughts on feedback of the wheel.
catapultkid wrote: In reply to MGS10: Im doing exactly the same steering setup minus quickener. Look foward to hearing your thoughts on feedback of the wheel.
I think feedback depends somewhat on how far you have the assist turned up. It goes from no assist all the way up as much as I can ever remember experiencing in a car so some of it depends on how far you turn it up. Honestly I dont feel like an expert on steering feel because my reference is the 2006 Dodge Ram I daily drive so I might not be much help for you there. I did feel as though after a couple runs the steering did what I expected it to do, the car went where I pointed it.
Of course my fastest run wasnt one that was recorded but this is what the car looks like on course. In the morning I really struggled with traction and then in the afternoon I changed my lines a little bit and started getting bit out of the corners. Im linking the changes I made to the steering column and shortening the shifter, fatter tires and a limited slip will both have to happen over the winter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PMC4F7QCvw
Got some new wheels and some used tires. Going from 205 50 R15 to 22.5 10 on a 13 inch rim. The wheels barely clear the brakes. I made the mistake of going with the same backspace without checking the clearance on the Tie rods. They hit by about 1/8", Since the steering arm bolts onto the spindle I am considering spacing it about 1/4" to the inside. The other option would be buying a Heim Joint and hoping it is smaller by enough to clear, but I might try the free option first. From the pictures, you will see that the car already looks cooler, which is a big plus. My dad is obsessive with bodywork, so he will do the bodywork while I do a few other projects on the car. 
The tires have clearance turning all the way in one direction but as you can see, I need to rework the front spoiler and spliter.
After the tires clear my project list is a limited slip differential and I am debating adding sway bars. I have an adjustable Nascar one, I might look for a stock one and use the adjustable one to tune for balance. I think I can gain a little by reducing the sway, but I dont want to make the rear of the car less stable so if I go with a sway bar it will be a light touch. I debated changing the spring rate in the rear and just using a front one, but raising it enough to balance the car would be difficult without going to coilovers. Maybe that will be next winters project, a 3 or 4 link rear.
My dad finished the wheel flairs. Next weekend I am hoping to mount the front sway bar, install a 3J Driveline limited slip in the rear differential and maybe even build the front spoiler.
Those fenders look amazing-props to dad! Car is really looking good, you gotta come to Nationals
In reply to loosecannon:
Thanks, he does really good bodywork. I want to make it to Nationals some day, this summer its not going to happen but I do think I will make it to a couple more regional events.
The Rear Differential going back together with a 3J Driveline LSD.
The rear end put together and waiting for a new set of springs. Raising the rear spring rate and adding a adjustable sway bar in the rear.
The rear sway bar sitting in the trunk. Going to mount it backwards in the trunk for quick fine tuning. Added a 3/4" bar up front. Was a direct fit bar, on a MG that doesnt have a V6 or Ford mustang radiator with an electric fan. My dad spaced the bar down from the frame and shortened the links. I cut out the battery box so we have room for exhaust to exit at the rear rather than dumping out before the axle. Im looking forward to fabing up the new exhaust and building the new spoiler, I think my dad is going to use the old splitter to make a pattern for the new splitter.
+2 on the flares - nice to see dads who do good work!
The new splitter and the end caps.
When we put a alternator in the car last summer I wired it to the power cable of the starter, which is fine for the tires I ran last summer, but not legal with the new Hoosiers so I got some 2 gauge cable, bolted it together and put some shrink wrap over the connection. Now the wire from the alternator goes to the battery side of the kill switch.
Next step, moving the battery from the stock box to a box behind the passenger seat. Its about a foot further forward, but now I have room to run the exhaust out the rear of the car, moving the mufflers under the trunk. This will give me about an inch more ground clearance, or room to lower the car a little bit if I feel it is necessary. This week the rear springs should come so the rear end will go under the car, rear sway bar mounted and the scatter shield built over the next couple weeks.
I have added spacers to drop the rear about an inch, the car sits a bit more level but for no apparent reason I have neglected to take pictures of this.
Welded up mandrel bent exhaust so it doesn't dump out in front of the rear axle. This gives me about a half inch more ground clearance for speed bumps and while I will miss the glass packs the turbo muffler is a big quieter so I can actually hear things happening.
Rear sway bar.
My dad and I are not in agreement as to whether I need to add some pipe to reinforce the struts for the sway bar. I am skeptical, he thinks it should be fine. He might have a point as with the heims it should only face up and down force and the sway bar rate is around 100 pounds. Driving on the terrible county road to break in the rear end so far has not bent them so we will see.
Breaking the rear end in I ran last years smaller tires and the car feels more responsive, but I was on a road with deep ditches so we will see how this translates to steering between the cones. This Sunday weather permitting I am hoping to see what the car drives like with the bigger stickier Hoosiers.
This build gives me the james may fizzy feeling.
Fitzauto wrote: This build gives me the james may fizzy feeling.
Thanks, its a heck of a lot of fun to work on and drive.
First autocross of the season. First lap taking it easy I was right in the middle of the field. Wasn't even pushing it, it was a pretty light run. 
Had no idea what air pressures to use so went in at 30PSI. Kept letting air out and by the end of my run group I had fast time of day. Ate lunch, let out more air and worked the course.
My second run group I started to get a feel for the car and started pushing. The harder I pushed the tighter it seemed the car could take the corners. Every time it seemed like there was one corner where I would mess up until I started getting a bounce in the rear. It was really odd because it didn't affect or upset the car, but I could feel it. I think it was the inside rear tire coming off the ground about mid corner. I asked my dad to take a few pounds of air out of the rear tires and the bouncing stopped. My last couple runs I was close to breaking into 39 seconds but just couldnt do it. Last lap I ran a 40.003. They waived me back around and I ran a 39.7 something. I ended up over two seconds faster than the next car, although I lucked out because a supercharged CRX, a prepared class STI and a quick prepared class Mustang were all gone. I am hoping that I will be right in the mix with these cars.
The balance is good. It might have just the slightest bit of oversteer but its quick to catch but on most of the corners I could just carry the slightest slide really fast. I still have a bit of wheelspin coming out of the slow corners which surprised me, I figured the 4.3 would feel like a pig with all that rubber and an LSD. The limited slip differential engages smooth. I think all that is left for this season is to figure out what air pressures the car likes and learn how to driver it.
I run 16 psi cold locally in my Hoosiers and 20 psi cold in Lincoln. The previous version of my car had a bad rear end bounce when I increased front grip, it turned out to be flex in the frame. As long as I kept front end grip low, the frame wasn't stressed but if I got the bite I needed, it would twist the frame and cause the rear of the car to hop around turns. Karts also do this if grip is too high, they have very flexible frames
loosecannon wrote: I run 16 psi cold locally in my Hoosiers and 20 psi cold in Lincoln. The previous version of my car had a bad rear end bounce when I increased front grip, it turned out to be flex in the frame. As long as I kept front end grip low, the frame wasn't stressed but if I got the bite I needed, it would twist the frame and cause the rear of the car to hop around turns. Karts also do this if grip is too high, they have very flexible frames
That makes a lot of sense and might be the cause of the bounce because it doesn't feel like a suspension problem. The car had the typical cracked doors and putting the cage in stiffened it up a lot, but the more I think about it the more I start to wonder how much rot is in the rectangular tubes that run under the floorboards. I dont imagine its as bad as the Pink Panther was since if I remember right yours almost folded in half when you took the roof off. The doors didn't shut the same after I put a roll bar in, so my guess is the car is twisting quite a bit between the front and rear bulkheads. I'm hoping continuing to drop the tire pressure cures it, but I might be looking for a quick solution to strengthen the tub without rebuilding what looks to be a frame that they just wrapped the car around.
Sounds like you are having the exact problem I did. I trusted those MG rocker boxes and they were just too flexible. The chassis flexes like a spring but there is no damper to slow the motion. Try to figure out how to stiffen up the structure. Manufacturers have been using brackets and braces successfully for a long time and you should be able to figure something out. Be creative.
Been taking care of a few issues. At the first Autocross the guy doing tech mentioned that I should be open lug nuts, his reasoning was sound and I got looking at the studs and figured I would put in some ARP wheel studs. They dont make a direct one for the MGB, but studs for a late model camaro are longer and use the same knurl.
Someone also mentioned that they thought if I turned my steering wheel backwards it would be in a better position. When I put the steering gearbox and EPAs on making the steering shaft longer was unavoidable. It looks funny but it works.
Then on top of things my cousin came into a 1999 Buick with an L67 Supercharged Buick 3.8. The transmission gave up the ghost, so a little bit of a trade and I have a L67 to put in the car. Not sure if it will be a this winter project or a next winter project, but for a little money I could have well over 100 more HP, lose a little bit of weight on the front wheels. I have a 700R4 for a 4wd, not much use but maybe I can trade it for a TH350 or 700R4 for 2wd, or I may find another 5 speed for the car.
I think the plan right now is 1. Drive the car, its running well and I think its only going to get faster as I fine tune what I have.
Pull the 3.8, wiring, and fuel system from the buick
Find the cheapest transmission that should work. I could go for another S10 one for the 60 degree bolt pattern, and reuse my driveshaft and clutch slave cylinder, get a camaro T5, or get an adapter plate and run an auto.
Build an engine stand for it and wire, temporarily plumb it, and get the PCM flashed to run without a lot of factory equipment, and put some idler pulleys where the accessories I wont user are, like the Power steering pump or AC. I also plan on putting on a bit smaller blower pulley.
Get it running on the stand, mostly to make sure I can do it, by this point dropping it in should be a pretty easy thing. In most dimensions the 3.8 should be a bit smaller.
Took the car out to an autocross today. The car is carrying so much speed through the corners. Was picking up the inside rear tire on the hairpin, so I took a couple PSI out of the rear, got better bite out of the corners but a little less stability on entry so I went full soft on the rear sway bar and I think that is the setup for the course today.
The engine falls flat at 4500 RPM so even though I got fast time of day, against nationally competitive cars in my class I would be getting smoked. I need to figure out the power loss, I suspect the valves are floating. It just kind of rolls out of the power. Since there is a kid on the way, the L67 swap may take a while so I might as well put a little more into making the 4.3 pull a little harder.
Heres one of my runs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acEVJ5SOqWo
Can you give some details on tbe flare construction? I love how they turned out.
You'll need to log in to post.
