Congratulations, that is no doubt a phenomenal car.
Congratulations, that is no doubt a phenomenal car.
Kickass man. Keep it up.
https://youtube.com/shorts/7dyHosdV7Sk?feature=share
https://youtube.com/shorts/V3gKsDxq6hI?feature=share
Non baffled tank is an issue with only 3 gallons in it. And I have a small oil leak at the filter adaptor under the fender. Otherwise a success. Only other thing I noticed is the rear is spring way too stiff, which makes little sense. Yes, there is no glass in the back, and a nearly empty fuel tank, but still. Its hard to push down, and a quick drive, yeah springs are too stiff. They look totally stock too. So not sure whats up with that. Its possible the last owner did something to em as it had that 9 inch in it. But the car sits totally level with the new front springs. So not sure yet....ill deal with that once all the glass is in it.
Also had to do some more heat shields around that drivers header. Came out pretty good. After siting and idling for 10 minutes the firewall was bearly warm, just how it should be.
Been moving along pretty smooth. Next on the list is get it to AAA for a VIN verification, and to the muffler shop for obvious reasons. To do that, I need a windshield. To do that I needed to get the material glued onto the roof rails. And If im gonna do that I needed to just glue everything on that will end up sitting under a window seal. I was pretty intimidated by the thought of doing this. I had no templates, no patterns. I was worried about the glue getting everywhere, not sticking etc etc. Then the windshield itself. Its aftermarket glass, is it gonna be too big? Too small? Will it be a disaster to install?
This car has rewarded me in all the places I thought it would kick my ass. First off I got a 3M neoprene high performance contact cement. With high performance in the name it has to be good right? 3M 1357. Stuff isnt cheep. But holy crap it works great! Easy to apply, sticks really well. No issues there. I cut pieces big enough to allow me enough excess to trim slowly. Marked the center of the first piece and started at the front roof rail. Glued on a few inches, then worked my way around. No issues what so ever. It went on really nicely. The sides folded over well, glued down well...overall it was a cinch. Front windshield went in, took about 45 minutes with my dad helping glide it in, and keeping the seal in place as I worked it around with a bone tool. No issues what so ever. The lock strip even went in pretty easily. I also reglazed the vent windows finally, now that I got all that stuff back from chrome. Got a different glazing this time, from Moss. Glass went right in, no issues at all. Soapy water for all of this, no silicone spray at all.
Ordered retractable seat belts, bumper bolts etc etc. So next Im gonna concentrate on getting the floor covering done, and the carpet, then the seats, windows etc. The throttle tube adaptor is out at powder coating so it will be a few weeks before I get that back. And the polisher missed a dent in the drip rail molding, so that has to go back.
Then deal with the oil leak at the filter housing. I used liquid PTFE, might just use teflon tape this time. I hope its not leaking at the oil filter adaptor on the block, cause there are 4 fittings there, and there is no room to work in that corner. The fuel tank, I need to make some calls. It will need a baffle installed around the fuel pump big enough to hold enough fuel not to starve, and with very small openings on the bottom to make sure it always is able to get fuel into it. Probably something round im thinking. Basically making a swirl pot inside the tank. I dunno If I wanna try and weld this tank myself, or take it somewhere to do it. A custom tank is probably around 700-1000, an EFI tank which I did find is 3 months out from date of order and $800. And Id have to redo plumbing. A separate surge tank is more plumbing, requires space to actually put it for which I have very very little, and still requires a pump in tank to feed it. And thats still 400-500$. And again, space! I dont want use fuel cell foam, because it falls apart eventually. And finally there is Holley hydromat, which is awesome stuff. But for the big piece I need we are talking 400$-700$ For a pick up mat, seriously?? So yeah, for now the tank will be topped off, and Ill find out how low it can get before it becomes an issue. Dash is still an unknown ETA. Frustrating, but the guy that has it is good, and he is one guy with a huge back log. Sounds familiar ;) So for now, it will get an oil pressure and water temp gauge zip tied in, or something. The oil pressure gauge I have is square lol. Maybe ill get a cheep mechanical one for temporary.
Looking good!
what did you use to cover the roof rails? is it just brown vinyl?
It's a marine vynal. I went to a local upholstery supply shopbwith a sample of the seat and door card material and just picked a color. But it's a decently thick vynal. Easy to work with. I sanded down the rails first to be sure they were smooth as imperfections/bumps would have shown up easily.
More great work and attention to detail. Header wrap looks good w/ the SS clamps.
They say a project car takes two years to finish (the few that actually do get done) so your right on schedule...
Effin hell, i just spent 30 minutes typing this up and accidentally clicked on another part of the page loosing everything I just typed...
So the quick update. I got COVID, it slowed me down. Get vaccinated, wear your masks, and be smart about things....
Been doing mostly interior stuff, waiting on other people for polishing, the dash, etc etc. Mechanical stuff has been on the back burner, but its moving along. Ill do more of a write up (again) when im not so tired.
Ok, proper update. Got seats in, and well they are 3 inches taller now than they were when I drove the car around the block the first time. So I took the extra padding out on the floor under the seat, put the stock spacers back in, (i had made like 7/8" spacers to clear the extra fluff under the carpet) gained about 5/8 inch, that helped. With the stock 15 inch wheel though, which I really like its tight. (pic is with the too small 13" wheel) So Im gonna have to pull the bottom foam and take probably 1-1.5 inches off the bottom to get it lower. Got the bumpers on the back and restored these sweet license plate lamps. im so glad this stuff wasnt missing on this car. These things are so cool. Got the defroster nizzled shortened up a lot so they fit properly too.
Fixed the oil leaks so far as I can tell. Ended up spending $$ on AN8 swivel 90 degree fittings for the adaptor plate side. Also found the old oil filter flange I used had some bad pitting in the threads, so that was replaced with a new one. Oil line ran into the car, but I still need to figure out how to deal with the smiths BSPP threads. BSPP not an issue so much, but Smiths gauges ran a flat seal thats usually leather. Ive found the fittings to put on my braided line, but I wanted an adaptor from AN3 to BSPP with the flat seal, havent found one yet. Shorter blower belt installed too getting that tensioner arrow right where it should be.
Car went to exhaust today, I drove it. Exhaust came out good, everything where I want it, has a great tone, not noisy when your driving normally, and no drone inside, at least as far as I can tell having only a windshield in the car.
Now, lets talk about the drive. This is the first Ive really driven it, more than around the block. Which it only did 3 times before, and it didnt go well. I picked up a proper big tanks inc pump hanger with the big basket. I will probably buy a new tank to fit it. But for now, I just ended up putting 10 gallons in it. Dude, this car....no complaints. Ive been let down by the initial test drives of my projects the last few years. The AMG engine swap in my Benz W124 wagon. Took a while to get it to run right. Shouldnt have taken a while, but it did. The corvair rampside I did. Ran like crap after going through the engine and it had a compression leak. Easy things to fix in the end, but so many things have just been underwhelming and disappointing. Even this car, first time around the block, ran like crap cause of the fuel starvation issue. But got some gas in it and it is fantastic. Like, holy crap. Ive never driven an MGB. Didnt know how it would feel. Handling, the ride, the engine trans combo...I mean this car was completely disassembled, 15 inch tires so the sidewall is shorter. No idea how it would feel. Its fantastic. Engine is snappy, throttle response is awesome, this is all without an O2 sensor and only getting 2/3 throttle right now. Gearbox isnt noisy, shifts are crisp and notchy and just how I expect a T5 to shift with a proper pro 5.0 shifter. I love how a T5 feels. I pryed some of the leafs open on the rear springs to get some grease in there hoping that would soften the ride in the back and it defiantly helped. Need to really get in there and get it lubed right. Thing has been sat up for over 20 years with no movement on those springs and there is not much weight back there really.
Only thing I may consider after the fuel tank is fixed, car is tuned and mostly together is a set of rear end gears. Depends on how it is window up ac on and cruising. Its got 3.90 and 195/60 15s. The T5 5th is somewhere between .7 and .8 which is where I like it. But to do gears in this means id also do a limited slip. Im lookin at a grand, period. What ratio would be right? I dunno, probably a 3.31. Pushed my interior guy so hopefully Ill have the dash back soon and I can really start wrapping this thing up.
So yeah, finally. Im not even mad that the pressure fitting on the fuel pump sender starting dumping fuel everywhere when I got back. Stupid NPT fittings. Why are there npt fittings for fuel, seriously! I gotta pick up some Gasiola E-seal to get that handled. But man, sooo happy. And of course, a quick vid of ripping it around.
Welp, that was short lived haha. My bro is in town and he really wanted to drive it. So we took it out. Had a bad vibration, came back, driveshaft bolts were loose. Odd, but what ever, snug em down (grade 8 bolts iwth lock washers) ill keep an eye on em. Take off again, hmm...down on power. Almost dont make it back to the house. Check voltage at battery, 11.4. Awesome alternator is toast (it was a junk yard piece, and I had forgot to tighten a battery cable at one point which may have helped to smoke it). Check fuel pressure, 30psi, falls when you snap the throttle...well I figured that was an issue. Sometimes the fuel pump started screaming too. So I yanked the pump and well my suspensions were confirmed. Whats crazy here is the sock is gone too. The ring that holds it is there, but the sock is floating around in the completely full fuel tank. New piece of hose and we were able to rip it around.
So, I have a new delco alternator coming and a new fuel tank to cut up for the big Tanks inc pump hanger with the big basket. That should take care of the low fuel starvation issues. New pump because I dont trust a pump that was screaming. Im sure it picked up the most tiny bit of anything will stop an intank pump with no strainer. Then continue on.
I will say its more comfy this time around. I was gonna carve an inch off the bottom of the seat foams to get a bit more room, but they are setteling in a bit so I think ill leave it for now. Bummed Im probably gonna miss a local show on saturday but thats ok, plenty more to hit. And last thing I need is to rush this and had to call a tow truck. Kinda glad my bro was in town so all this crap happened while he was here.
Great video.
You have officially passed the status of 99% of projects. A car that run and drives.
We, who procrastinate, salute you...
Very cool! If you are ever down in San Diego I'd love to see it!
I'm bumping this thread!! How is the MGBeast, and will it be showing up at any C&Cs in the near future?
Just got a car with a 3800 Series II and I'm liking this engine way more than I thought I would. Yours sounds great in the video.
any updates on this thing?
Updates?
Hoping all is well.
Anyone know whats up with this one?
It was a favorite...
OP is too busy driving his finished project to post an update. I hope.
Definitely one of my favorites, was great to see how far it came.
In reply to dr_strangeland :
Agreed.
It was a comprehensive build, and done quite well.
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