Keith:
Way the heck cool. Great pictures!!!!!!!!! Congratulations!!!!!
The last rally BGT I saw was from Oklahoma. When my Austin Marina
rally car started to break in two, I was going to build a GT, but lack of
income put the kabash on that. I did enter my 70 MGB in one Pro Rally
event, but it was a little hard on it.
I've got spare oil pans if you want one. I've got lots of spare bits from
that year MGB, so if you have needs, let me know. I'd love to help out.
I don't know of any 4.11 gears for the Saulsbury rear end. I have
not run across that gear set used in anything. Vintage racers use the early
rear end so that 4.30 and 4.55 gear sets can be used. The Saulsbury is
stronger, and probably much better for the abuse you are throwing at it.
From looking at the pickies of the car, if I might suggest a few
things, you have probably thought of already.
1. Driving light upper steady rods. I used a piece of 3/4" aluminium strap
with a slot cut in it to allow adjustment, real cheap and it worked well.
One end bolted to the top of the light, the other slid under the hood with a
securing screw on the latch panel.
2. Take a pair of pliers and crimp the grille slats. This improves cooling
dramatically. Then use an open weave cloth behind the grille to stop rocks
from hitting the oil cooler. When you get passed by a faster car, they will
beat the heck out of you.
3. Build the skid plate from the bumper mounts back. I've been on courses
where the approach angle is such that a low car will smash the front
valance.
4. The rear flaps look like fairly rigid plastic. You may be ok. A
problem I had was that if you roll backwards or slide sideways and hit an
obstruction such as a rock, brush or berm, the flap will be ripped off when
you accelerate forward. The flap gets pushed against the tire. I ended up
putting restraint straps on the back of the flaps to prevent this.
5. I'd suggest drilling and safety wiring the rear lamp surrounds and
lenses. I've got one already done you can have if you want. Drill into the
base, then wire everything. Otherwise, one tap and the lens assembly flies
into pieces.
6. Safety wire the dashpot dampers. Mine had a tendency of working loose
and popping out.
As for the gaskets. In my official capacity, I can let you know
that the problem is noted. With the change to non-asbestos many suppliers
are cutting corners. There is a move here to go to name brand gasket sets,
as quality control on the cheaper sets has really been poor. Even the name
brand sets are getting iffy, but at least then we can offer an alternative.
The rubberized cork valve cover gasket is the one to look for. That
is what we specify, but not always what we are able to get. The cork tstat
gaskets are usually ok, just don't over tighten them. That goes for the
valve covers too. They arn't supposed to squish. A little gasket sealant,
(the rubber cement kind is my preference) on the valve cover. Then a thin
coating of heavy grease on the cylinder head. Snug the gasket down
carefully. It's not a pressure area, so there is no risk of blowout.
Thanks for the comments, and thanks for keeping MG in competition.
Kelvin.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Keith Wheeler [mailto:keithw@sand.net]
> Sent: Monday, May 08, 2000 8:04 PM
> To: mgs@autox.team.net
> Subject: MGB GT Rally Car
>
>
> Hello MGers!
>
> Most of you know about our MGB GT rally car. Well, Rim of the World
> (http://www.rimoftheworldrally.com/), 5-6 May, was our first event.
>
> We had tremendous support, even from people who thought we were crazy
> to rally an old Brit car. So many of the spectators, workers, and
> competitors came to us to talk about how they had (or still have!)
> such and such MG, Healy, or TR. A lot of people were cheering us on!
>
> Some information on the event: Rim of the World is part of the SCCA
> National ProRally Championship (http://www.scca.org) and a part of the
> California Rally Series (http://www.californiarallyseries.com/). We
> were competing in the SCCA ClubRally/CRS rally. Basically us amatuer
> club level guys get to run two rallies where the professional national
> level guys have one rally that is both days.
>
> Rim of the World is run over some really challenging roads in the
> Angeles National Forest north of LA. The rally is based in Palmdale,
> California.
>
> On the Friday night stages, we were losing a lot of coolant due to a
> couple of leaks that developed. We overheated a couple of times, and
> ended up with a seized engine on the last stage. Thanks to
> the wonders
> of cast iron technology, after cooling down the engine restarted, and
> we were on our way! Some work in Parc Expose saturday morning meant
> that the cooling system was at the least better, so we started the
> second event. We took some big rocks, I didn't have time to
> put a skid
> pan under the nose before the event, geeze, Thursday night we
> were still
> mounting the tow hooks and putting the required decals on!
>
> So, with a dent in the sump the size of an orange, a seized engine on
> one stage...we ended up taking first place in our class! Yes, it was
> due to attrition, but that means the old MG survived roads that ate
> a number of better prepared more modern machines!
>
> For all of you guys out there who are potential sponsors (I
> know a number
> of MG business owners are on this list!) some nice points--
> The car drew a lot of attention, at an event with
> worldwide coverage.
> Many of the competitors and workers own MGs.
> It is the only British car in the California Rally Series, one
> of only a handful of LBC's in the entire Rally program.
> Team Sanctuary is currently leading the CRS stock class points!
> Because the car is unique, we've already received special
> invitations
> to other events!
> We've got a lot of space on the car!
>
> We're also looking for some other things -- I believe there are 4.11
> gears for the 'B rear, that'd be wonderful, and a replacement sump,
> and a couple of good used downpipes.
>
> Next event we *will* have skid pans, and some other work done. Maybe
> we'll even have time to put that Union Jack on the roof!
>
> Only one complaint -- gaskets. Yuck!!! We got 'em from Moss (nothing
> personal guys!) and the rocker cover and thermostat gaskets we got
> looked like they were made by 5th graders out of the cheapest
> cork-boards
> anyone could find. I can remember buying much higher quality
> valve cover gaskets...are they still out there? In their defense,
> Moss (hi Kelvin), I can understand a) being competitive, and
> b) selling
> what's available. We have and will continue to buy many of our parts
> from Moss.
>
> Gang, please check out the links above, particularly the "Rim" pages,
> there are pictures of the 'B there!
>
> If you guys are interested, I'll try to write up a more
> complete posting
> telling of the amazing time we had at the rally.
>
> Safety Fast!
>
> -Keith Wheeler
> Team Sanctuary
http://www.TeamSanctuary.com/
SCCA ClubRally MGB GT #359
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