SCCA EMod MGB GT V12 Build

The heat under the hood was rather high so I added some vents on the fenders to evacuate some hot air.

emodspitfire wrote: Guys, Sorry for the snarky remarks. Could have stated my opinion/beliefs better: Jag V12 in an MG coupe for the street = FUN. Jag V12 in any Emod car = Slow and frustrating. Rog

Apparently you've not seen the Spridget with the V12 in it. Awesome build, but I wouldn't try it.

Pics of the V12 Spridget?

Hmmm...I never saw emodspitfire's snarky remarks but I'm not so sure the car will be slow and frustrating. I have 55% of the weight on the back tires, am 500 lbs lighter than the car which placed 2nd in EM last year and it makes more torque than many of the trophy winning cars in EM, with even more power to be made with some tuning. As long as my experimental motorcycle shock suspension works, I should do just fine.

I stripped the car in preparation for bodywork and painting and weighed the engine by itself-669 lbs!!! I attached a picture of the rad and you can see that West-End rad on Logan did a great job of fixing it and the Dr.Hook driver came by today with cash to pay for it.

emodspitfire wrote: Pics of the V12 Spridget?

OK possibly a brain fart. I think it was a jag in line six that went in the Spridget. Classic Motorsports had an article on it. Not sure where else I would see such a thing. It was incredibly well done.

But, there was a guy he was doing a V12 into a Spitfire. He called it the Spitcat and it was written in in the Spitfire-GT6 magazine. I don't recall it ever being finished, but I let my subscription lapse a good while back. He had built a custom frame and was splitting the car laterally and longitudinally. Much more work than Ric Gibson's rotary Spitfire

Since starting this project, I discovered these V12 powered british cars: http://www.britishv8.org/MG/MGB-V12.htm http://www.britishv8.org/Other/MartinJansen.htm

All this extra hole cutting equals only 32 lbs-frustrating!

Curmudgeon wrote: Cool how the first camera got blown over early in the dyno vid. I think Jag used those 'sink traps' on the intake for E type hood clearance. Putting the Strombergs sticking straight off the manifold will definitely be an improvement! On EFI: I'm sure you thought of this already but if you start with a late V12 EFI manifold and injectors that will put you well ahead, probably for cheap. Megasquirts aren't expensive, I bet you could put together a pretty workable EFI for under a grand.

That is actually a pretty good idea.

Using an OEM manifold with a MegaSquirt and proper injectors for your needs (Ford 42lb units maybe) I bet it could be done for $725.00

Bodywork and paint started today. I am using glaze to smooth out the spots where I have welded trim holes, door handle holes and button holes shut. The car was hit in the hood and rear passenger side as well and I'm not going to add 10 lbs of bondo to make it look perfect. Some ripples are just going to have to be accepted.

this is a really super cool build, and Im really excited to see the results on the track! Please keep the updates coming.

Went in early again and did more bodywork. While waiting for glaze to cure, I counted how many lightening holes I have cut or drilled into the car-418 holes!! And every one of them has to be smoothed out with a die grinder. I ground an incredible amount of filler off the passenger rear fender, it was at least 1/4" thick from taillight to door and 3/4" thick in places. I also found a giant rusty area that had to be cut out and a new piece welded in. I also cut out both wheelwells because I had made them out of steel and I am going to re-make them out of aluminum to save a bunch of weight.

Keep these updates coming. I know we don't always say something when you post, but I guarantee you a bunch of people (like myself) read it and love it.

More glaze, more sanding, some primer to reveal the flaws then sand some more.

I went in this morning and worked on it for 4 hours. Getting the final bumps and scrapes smoothed out and I welded the mail roll hoop to the body to stiffen the whole structure.

While priming the inside, I discovered to my horror that primer will not cover marks made by Sharpie, and I used a Sharpie a lot. Check out the first pic which is after several coats of primer over a Sharpie. I have the inside and outside all primed and ready for sealer.

What kind of primer are you using - it kinda looks like etching primer, but that may just be the tint of the photos

Sharpie will do that. Primer is porous and the solvents will dissolve Sharpie ink, a perfect one-two bleed through punch. The topcoat might show some through the first coat but the second should cover it up. If not, hey they are all memories.

It's looking good!

oldtin wrote: What kind of primer are you using - it kinda looks like etching primer, but that may just be the tint of the photos

Dupont etching primer. It wasn't all dry when I took the pictures. I will be using Dupont sealant then shooting the whole car with white paint. Building the car didn't scare me at all, painting has me nervous to the point of sleeplessness.

Yeah, paint will screw with your head the first couple of times. At least white covers a multitude of sins.

As long as the paint is all mixed well white is uberforgiving.

I did a green car for my first spray starting with a hanging hood and fenders then moving around the car. The next day I noticed I had a blue body and green fenders and hood... shake and stir, shake and stir.

Sealer is a wonderful thing. Had a slight bit of resin creeping through on my flares on the mg until the sealer. I'm about a year and a half past paint and no evidence.

Briget has been building a perfect fiberglass replica of an MGB front bumper and today it got put on the car for the first time. I built lightweight mounts out of aluminum and they are suprisingly sturdy. It's a shame the bumper ends will have to be trimmed for tire clearance.

I started painting the car at midnight, once the karts stopped racing and it took until 2:30 am to get it painted inside and out. The rubber dust in the air did a number of the finish but it is what it is and I didn't have the time or money to get the car painted anywhere else. Here's a time lapse video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnG31_rA--4

You'll be surprised how much of that will 'flow out' over the next few days.

Cool vid!