New Addition

I have been looking at a number of cars for opportunities to buy, strip and sell so as to afford my hobby. In addition, I really wanted another GT, especially having crushed Pricilla last year. She was beyond restoration, so I don't regret that decision, but of all MGs, my favorite are the GTs.

My buddy Kevin has a former business partner that has three GTs in various conditions located in Advance, NC. Of those three was this one. A white '69 MG BGT.

This car has a solid body - rust exists in the normal locations - but serves as a strong starting point. The bonus is that it has a highly coveted overdrive transmission. Sale of the overdrive will nearly fund the entire purchase price of the automobile.

I don't anticipate restoring this car anytime soon, but when I am ready, I'll have a great place to begin.

Sweet metal fabrication

Another problem I had at CMP was extremely high oil temperatures. One of the culprits, we believed to be very poor air flow through the oil cooler.

I relocated mine to below the shelf from its stock position. But I did not provide any air deflection, so most likely the air went the path of least resistance, passing around the cooler and not through it.

I was at my parents house in Northern Virginia last week and Saturday was play in the garage day, so dad and I made this.

He has a slightly shorter one for his 10 row cooler. Mine is 1 3/4" taller with 16 rows. It is a sturdy aluminum and is designed to connect to the oil cooler in the back using the stock mounting points and there is a bracket for the front.

Once I get home, I will mount it and do a few other things to ensure an air tight fit, but this is a great beginning. I'm real pleased with how it turned out.

Dad gave me the patterns that he made, so I am going to make a few more to sell for some extra money.

NC Mountain Drive in a MGB

A first for me since the 90s

Highway 66 and 89 are some fine roads if you ever want to take your sports car out for a spirited drive. Lots of fast swooping turns and tight switch backs. Plenty of people along the way to wave at and a few quirky General Stores to stop off and grab a cold drink.

That is what about five of us did this morning as part of the regular meet up of Winston-Salem area MG owners. It was a blast and the first outing of that kind for me since the 90s. Man oh man was it fun and the whole time I imagined that, "if only I had a BGT, then the whole family could be with me right now."

It was a good time, with good people. I made a movie about it. Pretty funny, but I tapped into this muvee software that is on my computer. It's really cool. The quality is a bit poor, but what can you expect with a cheap digital still camera. Enjoy!!

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=38815994

Oh, and as a special bonus, I picked up a special package on the way back to get my car - my son.

Going off-topic

I just realized that this is an incredibly boring blog, but since no one reads it, it really doesn't matter. However, tomorrow morning has given me a great reason to go slightly off topic.

There is a good friend of mine who owns MGs who is making a great effort at getting local Triad area MG owners together on a regular basis. Nothing organized, like a club, but simply a, "hey let's meet up and go for a drive, have breakfast, or share some tips" everynow and then.

Anyhow, tomorrow we are meeting up at 9 a.m. for a group drive into the mountains. Now, I am attending these gatherings, but I don't own a street MG, so I am that one random guy that shows up in a Ford. And, though I miss not having a street car, I still enjoy hanging out with like minded people and their beautiful cars.

So going back to my buddy - he owns two MGs and asked me earlier this week if I wanted to drive his blue '75 MGB during tomorrow's drive. I said yes - of course - but what is really cool about it, is that I have not driven a street stock MG since the 90s.

I am really looking forward to it. I'll get some pictures and post a follow up tomorrow.

A Slow Lap around Carolina Motorsports Park

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=38449732

I did get some video of my first of only three laps. Little did I know what the day held for me, but this particular lap was plaqued with a stuck accelerator pedal. So I eased my way around, went into the pits, got it unstuck and then completed my other two laps.

On another positive note, the exhaust has been fixed. I picked it up from the professionals yesterday. So, no more homemade exhausts from me for a while. It turned out to be much cheaper to have it done by someone who knows what they are doing.

Successfully unsuccessful

Well, to avoid a lot of the nasty details, this past weekend I did my scheduled test day to ensure that we worked out the bugs prior to our July SCCA race.

It did not go very well. Well, actually depending on how you look at it, it also went very well. But what I thought was going to be simple arrive and drive, turned out to be a three lap fiasco, followed by a full morning and afternoon of tuning, tweaking and then ultimately throwing in the towel.

One very important issue was solved - tire rub. However, three issues popped up - distributor or coil is shot (being sent off to Jeff S. for repair as I type and I don't currently have a spare), exhaust needs to be tweaked (I cooked the pain off part of the rear valence because of a poor design on my part) and engine oil cooling (the oil temp gauge is pegged at 300 degrees - should be around 210 - thanks to poor air venting). All easily fixable, but requires time.

The end result is that I in no way can solve for all of these issues in the 1 1/2 weeks leading up to the Road Atlanta race and to try would most certainly result in a complete waste of resources. I know that this is not uncommon, but because I am new, I am learning this along the way. It is a brand new car that requires tweaking and adjusting until the sweet spot is found. At that point, it will run. Unfortunately, we are just not there yet.

I did have a great time though despite the disappointment and have to say thanks to a number of forum member's from http://www.mgexperience.net/ who were there to help and offer support.

Thanks to Hap, Kevin Hart and Torsten for your efforts, expertise and time. We all wanted to see the car run and for one of those three laps, it did pretty darn good. Also thanks to Jeff Schlemmer who took our call on the weekend for ignition advice.

I have since withdrawn from the Road Atlanta race and will circle up with the calendar to determine next steps. I have a few people thinking through fixes and next steps including my dad who is already designing a box to provide the air needed to the cooler.

The development continues - and so will the posts.

Test Day this Saturday

I had been struggling a bit with whether I wanted to do a test day or not. Do I want to spend the money and go to the effort, not to mention the wear and tear on the equipment, tires, etc.?

But then I quickly remember my Daytona experience (the car had issues) and I think -this is my first race and the sponsor and his employees are going to be there - it makes sense to schedule the day to ensure a better showing later this month at Road Atlanta.

So this Saturday, July 5, my father-in-law and I are going to be at Carolina Motorsports Park (CMP) for a Turn One test-n-tune day. It should be fun. We are going to go down Friday night and camp, so we will already be there come Saturday morning - man having a motorhome is nice. The AC will be an added bonus in the South Carolina summer heat. Not to mention a private place to change into my fire proof underwear.

The main priorities - See if we solved for the tire rub, get some time on the motor and scrub in a new set of tires, all the while tightening the nuts and bolts along the way.

I have not been to CMP since September 2006, but I did enjoy the track and have been watching YouTube footage recently to study the track's new configuration. Attached pictures are of the SCCA Performance Driving Experience (PDX) that I did in Sept. 2006. It was a blast and as you can see, the car was still in full street regalia.

Hap will be there, my friend Kevin, as well as the car's previous owner may drop by. Another competitior is participating with me - Dick May, who drives an SCCA HP Bugeye Sprite. Dick has a new rear suspension and is sorting it out. He needs to make sure he has not lost his mojo given that he is in contention for the SCCA Southeast Region's (SARRC) Championship.

On another note, we are registered and paid up for the July SARRC event at Road Atlanta. Registering for my first race was an exciting moment. Two years and 1.75 months later, the dream is coming true.

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

Where is the time going? I am getting excited about the upcoming SARRC race at Road Atlanta this July. It will be the team's first real race.

The car is on jack stands and I have been going over each nut and bolt in preparation. We pulled the motor again and inspected the bottom end following the school. It looks good, so it went back in the car. Rebuilt the rear suspension - installing new lever shocks from Peter Caldwell and 2" dropped springs. In addition, I cleaned and painted all of the suspension components such as the roll and traction bars.

I also shaved off the metal along the rear fender wells to give the tires more room to prevent rubbing. I reoccuring issue that I hoped to have solved.

What else are we doing - installed a oil temp gauge and sensor, as well as a fuel sender and gauge. Still need to do the electrical wiring for these two gauges. I took care of a few oil leaks where I did a poor job of applying plumbers tape and had to clean up that mess. Oh yeah, something real exciting - Third Wave Advertising - my sponsor - funded a new set of Hoosier Street TD racing tires. They are mounted and sitting in my garage.

On the support side, we had the Camper's - a.k.a the Cramper - roof re-sealed and my wife bought me a generator as an early Father's Day gift. So, now we will have power and be fully self-sustained at the track. That AC will be down right nice in the hot Georgia sun this July.

Shooting for a test day at Carolina Motorsports Park - http://www.carolinamotorsportspark.com/ - on July 5 to get a few more miles on the motor, shake down the rear suspension and see if we cured the tire rub issue. Should be a good time.

It's official, I'm a racecar driver!!

Everyone says, this is just a school, get your time in and pass. And I absolutely agree, but I have to tell you, I want to race. The Daytona school was a blast. It was full of drama, both my fault and not my fault. All the way up to the end, but when the steward of the meet said, congratulations, you can now go racing, you could not wipe the grin off my face.

We had a few teething issues with the new car, so we parked it and I rented a Neon from an owner that was there with another student. Since I was sharing the Neon with another guy my agreement was don't rev it over 4,000 rpm, drive it safe, put your time in and pass the school.

The best thing about that part was that it truly taught me that slow is smooth and smooth is fast. By my second session, in a car that I had never driven, I was lapping faster than the other guy who had been driving it all weekend. And, who did not have the restrictions that I did. Slow was smooth and smooth was fast.

Because we were sharing the car, I got bumped from Group 3 (HP, FP, SM and other small bore cars) to Group 2 (Large bore cars). This meant that yet again, I was going to be doing more driving in my mirrors as I was engulfed in faster cars. This bothered me, because I knew that in the B, I would have been a contender and more importantly been in a position to truly race other cars. Now, it would seem that I would be out there doing laps waiting to get lapped. The best part of the weekend was during the third practice start which kicked off my five lap race. I was already familiar with how poorly a particular RX-7 was driving, as well as an ITA Neon. And this was confirmed during the two practice starts. So when the final start came, I had already figured out how I was going to get passed those two guys. I went outside knowing they would brake too early. After all, speeds at that point were nothing compared to the race, because we had just got the green. By going deep, I was then able to take the line going through the International horseshoe and complete my pass of two cars. For the next three laps it was a blast. I swapped positions with the RX-7 about four times. A few mistakes on both he and the other Neon's end and I had the space I needed to keep my position. I crossed the finish line in my SSC Neon having gained two positions. It was the best.

As for the B. It hauls. For the 1.2 mile course 3/4 is flat out in my car. With my suspension and Hap's motor I was posting times that were faster than Group 2. There is some work to do, but I learned a lot about the car, including some changes I need to make. The problems also gave me a chance to learn from Hap as he instructed me on paddock rituals related to the care of the car and how to work through a problem using its symptoms as a guide.

The garages at Daytona will spoil you, the people were great, weather amazing and I made some new friends. The car drew some attention and there was always a crowd in our space talking with Hap. This weekend was an eye opener for me in that Hap and Dwight - my "car owner" - are pros. These guys have won championships and competed at the highest levels as contenders. I just soaked it all up. I know that I won't sit on the grid at the runoffs, but that does not mean that I can't take the discipline and knowledge with me to the vintage circuit. Oh well, I could go on. Thanks for the well wishes. I passed and am official. A dream come true. Now its time to see what it is like for real.

The women were not with us this weekend and normally I ask them to own the pictures, so I don't have many, but I will post some. Also, not many of the car since it only completed about 10 laps :)

This is it!! The last post until after the Daytona School

I would love to post pictures of the car on the trailer, packed and ready to go, but the truth is, the week ahead is a hectic one.

Work is very busy right now and I am leaving on Wednesday for a trip to Chicago. So, the car has to be done, on the trailer and the Explorer packed tomorrow night, so I can leave for Chicago and dad can come down and take the car to Daytona.

So, tonight, I will finish the alignment and make sure that I have my tools, spares, etc. ready, so Tuesday I can load and cover for its Thursday departure to Daytona.

Then Friday, I fly to Daytona direct from O'Hare and meet up with dad and Hap from Acme Speedshop - who also is flying in that morning.

Hopefully "The Biscuit" and I will successfully complete the course and return ready to go racing "officially" in May at VIR.

So, thanks for following along. Wish me luck and I will tell you how it went when I get back. I'll post some video too as I am going to be using a new race cam for the first time.

SHE RUNS!!

I had the distributor in 180 degrees backward, so I was firing the piston at the wrong time. Anyhow, she runs sweet. Loud and quick with the revs.

Now, we are just doing some final things in preparation for the school in about a week and a half.

Not running yet.

She is not running yet. Everything is in order, but it is timing related. I just got some great advice and have a friend coming over tonight to assist. We have it licked this evening.

We are a week and a half away from the driver's school. I really have not thought about it much, nor prepared myself mentally, because I have not gotten the car running yet.

Hopefully, it I get it started, I can move on, start packing and organizing parts and tools and prepare mentally for the school.

Then it is off to the races.

The Engine is in, but the beast has not awakened.

We got the motor in over the weekend, but have yet to fire her up. I am certain it is a combination of issues that I am slowly solving.

At first we had no spark, and then I noticed this evening that the valves needed adjusted again. I will check the initial start up timing tomorrow. If all goes as it should hopefully she will start.

If I can get her started and running smoothly enough to run the first couple of initial heat cycles, it will be good enough for our trip to Daytona in two weeks.

That is the pressure point. Daytona is just around the corner. This baby needs to run.

Engine is at home and waiting for installation this weekend. It looks amazing. I had a great time at Acme Speedshop this past Friday and I cannot wait to get this thing in, primed and started up. The neighbors are excited too, especially when I set the timing while reving the motor at 5,000 rpm :)

Third Wave Advertising MGB

Earlier this month we were able to finally wrap the car in its new livery. Introducing the Third Wave Advertising MGB.

Third Wave and Think Racing are set to compete together in four races in this year's upcoming SCCA SARRC championship.

Yes, we are going club racing in this vintage bodied MGB. Once we obtain the SCCA license, we are going vintage racing. The hybrid approach will allow us to rotate in and out of different series.

Picking up the new motor this Friday!!

I have Good Friday off, so I am traveling to Greenville, SC to Acme Speedshop to pick up my new (and first) race motor. Immediately after my October driver's school, I yanked the old modified street engine and took to Hap Waldrop.

For a few months we worked out my plan. This motor has:

Acme fully ported race head

JE flat top custom Acme pistons, with nitirted low tension top rings with gas ports

Stock rods with ARP rod bolts balanced

Crank is std/std and balanced

David Headley race oil pan

Rollmaster vernier timing set

Comptune CT-295 race cam ( same cam grind Eric Kruger won the runoffs with)

APT CF-04 lifters

ARP hardware thru out

12.2 to 1 compression ratio

Fully blueprinted

David Headly aluminum backplate

Fidanza Aluminum flywheel

Competition heavy duty pressure plate and clutch disc

Durabond cam bearings

As was planned from the beginning, this is a starter motor - probably more motor than some starter motors - but one that can be improved upon as I get more seat time.

Dad is in town at the end of the month and we are going to get this thing mated to the transmission, installed and the oiling system plumbed.

Latest update:

Since my last post we have been busy. I had the new roll cage put in the car and painted it. When my dad was in town, we re-wired the car minimizing the amount of wire and circuitry. It also cleaned up the engine compartment and dash area.

This has been a pretty hectic time with work and travel, so I have had to compact a lot of work into many small points of time on those days that I have time. The car is just about back together. Third Wave Advertising and I are finalizing the graphics package and Hap Waldrop is building my motor and carbs.

I'll post some pictures soon of the progress. I still need to bleed the brakes and connect the brake bias knob. Also I need to align the front wheels, bundle the wiring under the dash, put a bulkhead fitting in for the accusump, drain the fuel tank (replacing the fuel with a higher octane - from 100 to 110), put in the fuel test port, soften the tires and several other smaller things. Once the motor is complete, Dad will drive down and help me with the installation.

There seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. On April 19 & 20, I'll attend my second driver's school at Daytona International Speedway and upon successful completion, I'll be off to the races. But it will be a circus getting to that point all the way up to the actual school itself. I will be in Chicago Friday, April 18 and will have to fly directly to Daytona. So, my dad is going to fly to Greensboro and tow my car to Daytona meeting me there. Hap is also coming along, so I am flying him from Greenville to Daytona. It will be great to have him there to help set up the car and support dad while he takes care of me. These driver's schools are intense. When not on the track, I'm in the classroom. I am totally reliant on my crew to have the car ready and on the grid for each of my sessions. And dad does a great job of also helping me into the car and get my gear on prior to each session.

This is an exciting time. I will be glad to have this build past me. It is very consuming and draining all at the same time. However, finishing these schools, competing in two races and getting my competition license will be an incredible payoff.

What is going on?

When I started this project I never envisioned a number of things that would become a reality:

1) This can be consuming. Obviously, a project like requires a lot of time in the garage just to get things done, but beyond the garage you have to research the rules, sanctioning bodies, safety equipment, vendors, parts, etc. etc. I am tired and am starting to look forward to a maintenance mode that does not require as much time and focus.

2) I have learned a ton. I have driven MGs for years, but never went too deep beyond changing the oil and maybe a few other low hanging fruit type maintenance. Now, I am pulling motors, installing transmissions, rebuilding suspensions, doing electrical work and figuring out innovative ways to make things work that were not necessarily built for my car.

3) I have made a ton of new friends. The racing and MG community are made up of some great people. There are those like myself who love the marquee and others who share that love, but also offer valuable and top-notch services. None of the above could have been accomplished without having had these people in my life.

4) There is a renewed closeness with my family. One of my hopes through going racing was the experience that it would bring to my family. Sharing this experience with them has brought us all closer, because it has been an outlet, or platform, for us all to spend time together.

5) It would be a strange trip that is full of zigs and zags. To go Vintage racing has always been the main objective and that has not changed. It takes a lot of resources to build a competitive car and realistically I knew it could not be done overnight. And then when you combine licensing requirements, etc. it can be daunting if you understand it all in the beginning. I did not, which is good, because I probably never would have started :) However, as the objective remains the same, the road map to get there is always changing. This year is a prime example. I have decided to go SCCA club racing in order to get my license and experience prior to hitting the vintage circuit in '09. This eliminates a lot of complexity as it relates to licensing and will also ensure that I am a better driver.

The car is getting its cage installed as I type this and I have started ordering parts to install the oiling system for when I get the motor back. There is still a formidable amount of work to do, and I have until the middle of April to get it all together.

Then it is off to the Great Lakes Division and Nelson Ledges Road Course in Ohio for my second driver's school. After completing the school requirements, we have four SCCA Southeast Division races scheduled. VIR in May, Lowes Motor Speedway in June, Road Atlanta in July and VIR's production car festival in October.

Going SCCA racing has required a more robust roll cage and a couple of additional safety modifications, but not a large deviation from the car's current design. It will remain in vintage form, so it will be less competitive in SCCA, but ready for '09.

We'll keep you posted as progress continues.

Back from Paint

My daughter and I picked the car up from the painter yesterday. Painted the exterior black. There is some painting still to do as we work past the green elements that still exist. I may keep some of the green, because its accents will look great once the graphics package arrives.

Here are a few pictures. This weekend, we get most of the exterior badging, grille and other bits and pieces back on the car. Next weekend, she goes to get the full SCCA legal roll cage. Then we wait for the new motor.