Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Eh? lynx?

@dammit - yep I suspect the costs would have covered more in depth work too.

I'm enjoying being on the steep part of the learning curve. Very rewarding.

I just checked: the stock MGB GT v8 developed 137bhp and the 4 pot one had 95bhp.

But, the man at Sanspeed said that those are "optimistic" marketing figures and he reckons that my one would have had more like 85bhp.

Not too shabby to be getting 112bhp from a 1860cc 4 pot. Nice one @BRM.

Enough figures. It is just nice to drive the wee lad in it and have school children shout "cool car" at us.

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That does indeed look like winning.

He does a great line in saying "vroom vroom car".

Have had issues with block that had a build up of scale on a water way near a piston that caused a hot spot and caused the piston melt.

Stoopid question, it is still running SU? have you checked the diaframs needle, and, jet that they match, seated correctly wear etc. Is it still running the standard distributor or have you gone electronic.

deal with Jason or Martin? that's my neck of the woods Sanspeed, they both worked at BMW with me :)

Top work indeed!

I think the guy was called Peter, nice old fella probably in his early seventies.

I hope he's not reading this.

@lynx all ruled out.

Electronic distributed, SU carbs with AAA needles. Hand selected and bolted together by some ginger tosser.

We're the Pistons old? Could have been an existing flaw in the one that failed? Did a ginger beard hair get dropped into the cylinder at some stage and thus causing chaos?

No, the pistons had less than 8000 miles on them. Ginger beard hair is a working theory.

I am minded toward the defect explanation to be honest. Either a manufacturing defect or a previous spot of lean running that caused a defect.

I then drove it hard and long (ooh errr missus) on a hot day which caused it to let go in relatively catastrophic fashion.

I don't suppose I'll ever know and I also don't think I'll be doing sustained periods of 5k rpm and up anymore. No problem really as I have figured out how to tune the ancient radio into Steve Wright in the afternoon, so 75mph in overdrive should suit me just fine. String backed driving gloves anyone?

Hard and long would have done it. These things are random. Could have been minute flaw or crack in the piston top that caused a hot spot. If there's no vacuum leaks and the air fuel mix is good then it should be good from now on. On the Dyno did they test the mix on light load constant throttle? Might be a lean moment in there?

I can't be sure what he tested on the Dyno as I didn't follow it all. But the tester knew the exact circumstances and I trust him when he said "that isn't running lean at all". As Richie said, that man has forgotten more about tuning engines than we will ever know.

Maybe a bee farted in Patagonia and changed the local air density at that exact moment.... Well at least you're up and running. Car looks good. Enjoy it!

Looks great @mashton! £150 is a great price too. Did they muck about with carb jets and needles too?

We took the dash pots off and removed the needles to have a look at them then put them right back in. All fascinating. I also had an explanation of why one would use 3 in 1 oil in the dash pots as opposed to the engine oil.

Which carbs does it have? Twin SU?

Ummmm, there are two of them, so twin sounds right.

SU I think, based on the pictures in the AA Book of the Car.

I am in mega bluff mode here, how am I doing?

pretty good, in fact.

the needles were changed to suit the engine upgrades and KN filters when the engine was built (by peter at sanspeed - a great guy).

BTW - I've read that the std rubber bumper cars were more like 65 bhp at the wheels, so the jump up to almost 100 is huge.

I have a pair of bigger su and a weber (for the racer), but peter said that we are talking another 5/6bhp right at the top of the rev range, but a big loss of low down driveability. given the lumpy cam, it isn't worth it.

fwiw - I would use then next size down in cam if I was building the engine again. the expensive of the rebuild meant I didn't suggest it this time.

I am really going to miss that car. I've got a real hankering for a bgtv8

the defect/sustained 95mph is the only explanation, in my view. even the machine shop said they haven't seen anything like that. lord knows, I have thrashed that car like a ginger stepchild around some of England's finest racetracks and it didn't let me down

enjoy the jeeb of doom, mashers.

Let's not let drive-ability get in the way of a decent sounding lumpy cam idle!!

Side note, I don't want to fuck with my tune but my tuner set my warm idle at over 1,000 rpm which gets fucking annoying given the amount of time I spend idling in traffic in central London. It also tears through fuel in town.

I'd rather have to use throttle on cold start than have to put up with a fucking high idle all the time.