MAIN
Racing
Next Page
Jim, I might share with you the start up procedure my dad taught me. I think it works well for older rebuilt motors, not the new crate motors of today etc. When ready to start, add regular oil, 30w or even 20w single weight out of the ground oil. Pull plugs after static timing, a squirt of oil in the cylinders, crank engine with plugs out and ignition off until you see oil pressure. Even better to have the valve cover off to make sure oil reaches the rockers. Put in plugs and valve cover. Put pans of tap... MORE
I got some racing 13x6s made by Aero for $40 a piece - the good news/bad news was that I had to replace my studs with 7/16" ones so I could run the correct lug nuts (1"). I had to find a dealer willing to call the factory for them. Bart makes some as well, but they were out of them right now. Jackie Cooper "Jackie Cooper" 37976... MORE
G'day Jim Joe's correct when he says :"A good many new cars come with Mobil 1 as the original factory fill" However, these cars were/are designed for light weight synthetic oils. For example, often you will find overhead camshafts running directly in aluminium cylinder heads, with no intervening bearing material. Your car was designed with larger tolerances, and required a heavier grade oil. Rebuilding it doesn't change that. We use a standard mineral based oil (Penrite HPR30 which is 20W60 weight) in both road and race engines, and never have a problem with it. About 12 months ago we... MORE
I run what the original manufacturer recommends: Castrol 20w50, in my `79 Midget. Cheesy, I know. However, I may put in either 1 or 2 quarts of Castrol Syntec 5/50, depending on the season. For example, in the Winter I run 2 quarts Syntec, also when I know I am going on a 1,000 rally or something. The lighter weight synthetic helps with starting in the Winter (especially when it gets around 10 degrees); and for long drives, I just feel more confident in the Synthetic as far as keeping things clean and maybe a bit cooler than traditional.... MORE
Hello all, I have a running MG Midget convertible, in excellent condition, that I love to death but am really needing to sell. I bought this car on Ebay last year, but have never driven it openly (by which I mean on public roads), had it insured, or had the title put in my name (I suffer from lack of funds). My brother has driven it, and says it handles quite well... the only defects we know of are: a minor hole in the exhaust pipe, a broken parking brake, and a leak in the braking system near the... MORE
I recently bought a truck bed from a 60-66 Chevy longbed pickup. The truck bed had been converted to a general purpose trailer, in fact I towed it home from AZ. I am only interested in the side panels which I will be removing soon. That leaves a very solid 8'-9' chassis for a heavy duty trailer. You just need to add flat base (plywood?). If someone is interested in making themselves a solid (and very cheap!) trailer for towing (race car, trailer queen, motorcycles, etc) now is their chance. First person interested & picking it up can have... MORE
FW: photosG'day guys Here is a great site with some fantastic motor racing photos. Oz biassed, but great stuff. avagoodday Colin http://www.aussieroadracing.homestead.com "Colin Dodds" 37769... MORE
I'm selling my AH Sprite MKII and all the bits I've built up over the 45 years of ownership. Spare 948cc spare smooth case gearbox etc. Spare Diff (long ratio) etc. The car is in Chester UK and fully taxed & MOT'd rallied two weeks ago and came 3rd in class on the HRCR Leukaemia rally. All metal, no rust, sensible money. Pictures available. "gerald_r_simpson" 37765... MORE
G'day Joe The standard trick Down Under is to turn up the radio. Or fit one. Or take a nagging wife with you. If you don't have a nagging wife, borrow one from a friend - he will be grateful. My 1380cc race engine is a little worn. It was worn with rust marks in the bores when I first used it 12 years ago, and it hasn't improved by use. I'm not prepared to bore it to 74mm just yet, and so pistons are a little sloppy. Even new pistons aren't much tighter than the old used ones,... MORE
WEll, Hell, Alan. Mario was a US citizen, and had spent virtually all of his career in racing in the USA prior to his F1 world championship. So you're calling him The Italian F1 Champ??? I guess that makes Henry Kissinger the German Sec of State, eh? And George 1 was the King of Hanover, eh? And, at the Race of Two Worlds, didn't American drivers, in American cars, kick all the European's butts? Hell, Wilbur Shaw ran with the Nazi Silver Arrows in a freakin Miller Indy car, and Roger Ward did the same thing in a 91... MORE
HELPHOS (dymo label on dashboard) Apparantlly it was a powerfull spotlamp that fixed to the inside of your windscreen , used by the works rally teams in the 50's and 60's for night road rallying. Now all I've got to do is get over to Gaydon and find out which car the dashboard came from - there is a build # in yellow wax crayon on the back. Alan EJ ( HELPHOS - ain't Google wunnerfull, - images of them too.) "Alan" 37570... MORE
I bed to differ, the flywheen on the 948 is IIRC much deeper, and it hits the back of the bell housing with the ribcase gearbox or it did when I tried to do it (I eneded up taking the flywheel and back plate off the blown 1098) The 948 that was in my frogeye (which also has a ribcase geabox) that I repeleced with a 1275 also had a 1098 flywheel As for the later gearboxes allgedely superior blauk ring syncro, wears out just as quickly. There are only two reasons to fit the ribcase, you are fitting... MORE
G'day all Let's start with a definition. Those non-standard tubular pipes that bolt onto your cylinder head to let the exhaust gas out, and eventually join into one "collector" for the exhaust pipe, are called "extractors" or in some languages "headers". "Exhaust" includes these plus everything down the line, past the muffler to the chrome tip on the tail pipe. I guess we are talking here about insulating the extractors, not the entire exhaust system. We run in all our engines on a calibrated engine dyno. It lives in a 10ft x 15ft brick room with a huge fan... MORE
G'day guys For your bidding pleasure, tonight we have: 1) a boot (trunk?) badge for a Mk IV Sprite, very rare, same as the Bugeye bonnet badge but almost twice the size. Now I think of it, you guys with foreign or blown engines should but this on the bonnet (OK, hood) just to brag about the size! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=27376&item=4554652340&rd=1 2) a competition roll bar, looks very substantial if a little agricultural, and I'm not happy about the bends in the main legs, but still if it keeps the wife happy..... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4554619598&category=34204 3) Bugeye Scalextric slot car - what more... MORE
Well for what it's worth 32 years ago I flipped a 62 sprite by running off the road skidding sideways. Front wheels were in the ditch rear wheels were up in a yard ended up hitting a rock on the passenger side rocker panel which in turn put as airborne and we ended up in the middle of the road upside down. No roll bar I was sore without a scratch my friend ended up with seven stitches to the back of his head from the support bar for the top. I personally think in this case a roll... MORE
New to the Yahoo group, hello and thanks in advance... Has anyone out there had experience with 7 or 8 port cylinder heads? Vizard's guide has a whole 3 paragraphs on the subject, Stapleton has one! I came across an old issue of Retro Cars (May '04) that reviewed A series engine tuning and and turned me onto this option. I've gone to Mini-Spares UK website and priced the unit ($$$- but cheaper than the K-series engine swap, which would be way too hard to do living Stateside). I've viewed Bill Richards Racing website and read about how he... MORE
I the case of the 18 wheel you are stuffed, roll bar or not, As for T boned, roll bar is no use here either, but the spike in the steeing wheel would probbaly make the errant driver pay more attention and thus avoid the situation, ditto most of the other situations you are refering to. Stewart "Ford Prefect" 37406... MORE
Will the perception of safeness added by a roll bar, regardless of how you feel it looks, make you a more reckless operator? Let's talk about perception for a moment. I was pulled over on Friday by a Washington State Patrolman who contended I made an unsafe pass while on my motorcycle. He was traveling opposite of me, behind another car. I was in a legal passing zone and had more than sufficient room to pass. He accomplished a U-turn and I simply pulled to the side of the road. I removed my helmet and stepped toward his car... MORE
Another thought on the roll bar is its possible benefit in a T-bone collision. It would offer at least a little more protection from someone who crashes a stop sign and nails you in the side. I have yet to see a spridget with side air bags. Nelson "Nelson Wittstock" 37391... MORE
LOL - Colin, I really appreciate your "picks" from ebay to post to the group since I don't have alot of time to search for them myself...which brings me to my question...Don't you work? Are you married or have you a girlfriend? Man, you have got to get out more! ;) I'm kidding, of course, though I wish I hadn't looked at that racing bugeye (frogeye) you posted the other day - under $5K and reserve has been met with about 12 hours to go...if it doesn't climb through the roof near the end, I might try to be... MORE
G'day guys Sprite and Midgets had 7" front drum brakes. But you knew that didn't you. Austin A40 ("A40 Farina" for us Down Under and in the UK) had 8" front drum brakes fitted to an identical stub axle. So yes, it's as complicated as undoing the 4 bolts that hold the brake backing plate to the stub axle, and swapping over the backing plates and everything attached to them. It's a common mod down here as our vintage racers must retain drum brakes - discs not allowed. Also good for the part-time Concourse entrant as few judges notice... MORE
Just some off the wall thoughts. $3000 is a lot of money, and unless your engine is already in perfect condition, you would probably want to do an engine rebuild too, so you're at maybe $4500 ready to rock 'n roll. You could do a reworked head, cam, bigger carb, overbore, have less money in the job, just as much HP, and probably better bottom end torque. It like like a stock engine with the Moss SC should produce something like 90 HP. Lot of money for that, say $180 per HP, and that's without any clutch or rear... MORE
Can anyone help ??? I am putting a new clutch on my spridget and purchased a clutch kit. All was ok until I compared the old and new thrust bearing. The new one seems to be missing what looks like a Race/bearing. (I have pictures if anyone thinks they can help) Thanks Kevin "bty388504" 37235... MORE
"I'm sorry, that wasn't meant to go the list at all...." Welcome to the human race Elizabeth...being a human is tough! :):) Cap'n Bob Basic Frog "Robert E. Shlafer" 37231... MORE
G'day all The thin sheet of ally will do nothing to stop conducted heat - but then the original heat shield will not either. In fact, unless you put an electric cool suit around the float bowls, NOTHING will stop the conducted heat. There might be things that will slow it down, but nothing will stop it. Like rust and Kroil, it creeps. The ally will however reflect the radiant heat. Try it, it works. We have done it a few times, mostly on race cars at the circuit when there wasn't anything else around. And Jim, I would... MORE
