One of the first things I ever did to my '76 B (I think this was
during my junior year of high school) was to replace the aged,
sagging front suspension bushings. I replaced the A-arm bushings
with stock. It wasn't three or four months later that they were
sagging again (maybe just Arkansas's back roads :). I then replaced
them with the 'B-V8 bushings and these are still fine after four years.
Two years ago my B's engine died. Just too many miles. Its rings
were gone, and the bores were worn. I decided I wanted a *real*
MGB. My guide to the adventure of rebuilding my first engine was
"Special Tuning (1800 cc Engine) MGB" manual AKD4034.
My block was bored .020 over. I installed earlier pistons, part number
18802 (AE hepolites). The cam is a Kent copy of an original BL S/T
cam, with new lifters, and correct valve springs. I uprated the
clutch and had the engine balanced. This engine is fed by an SK
Weber DCOE copy.Exhaust is a header and a Monza muffler (a trifle
loud). This car runs. One thing I didn't add initially but should have:
and adjustable cam sprocket (and dual row timing chain).
I also added an oil cooler and stainless hoses.
A very important thing I learned: performance is not a single
part. A high performance engine is many parts, that must be matched
in order to have any real horsepower gain. I keep remembering
mods. My distributor has been curved to match the compression and
camshaft I'm running. I also got a little more compression than
I bargained for--my head have to be milled, which leads to...
My leaky cylinder head gasket was a leaky head. It appears that
I've got a crack somewhere around #3. My machinist (owns a TR-6)
repaired a couple of cracks in #2. I guess these in 3 were forming,
and were aggravated by the extra umph. This machinist is great.
He answers all high performance questions with "well, it depends..."
(Why didn't they make a better head for this car? #2 & #3 always
have this cracking problem due to their being siamesed)
Oh well. The head comes off. Anybody got a good MGB cyl head?
I've got a question about an ad in Hemmings. I don't think it is
appropriate to say the name of the outfit. They offer some things
at very low prices like Rover 215 V-8 for $395. Too good to be true?
Keith
|