In a message dated 96-11-05 15:37:11 EST, william.eastman@medtronic.com
(William Eastman) writes:
<< I would be interested in hearing about your autocross setups- bars, shock
oils, bushings, tires, etc. I would also be interested in hearing what
parts you have broken. Barney has already mentioned wheels as a weak link
but are there others? ..... >>
OK, OK, you win! So you want in on the open net. I swear, a whole bunch of
you guys ought to be on the autox list.
Before anybody else asks, the by now notorious picture of MG58 is supposed to
be in the photo gallery, under the MG section, on the British Parts
Connection web page at http://www.ultranet.com/~4british/photo.html, but I
haven't been able to get it to come up yet, so you may give it a try, but
don't hold your breath waiting.
As to the setup, etc:
MG-58-ES is pretty close to stock, except .......
Front anti-sway bar, 3/4", mounted in polyurethane bushings. (Anything is
legal here)
Forged aluminum wheels with spun aluminum rims (stock dimensions, 15" x
4").
Yokohama road race tires, A008Rs 195-60-15. (Usually no cords showing)
Optional oil cooler. (Not needed for 60 second runs, but good for trailer
towing)
Inverted spin-on oil filter. (passes as "fuzzy dice", or I'd go back to
original under protest)
.030" overbore to rebuild old engine. (.040 allowed in older cars)
No-lead cylinder head, otherwise stock. (Used to fry the valves towing the
tire trailer)
Stock type exhaust, but stainless steel (Falcon).
Coolant recovery system installed. (Save the track)
Wing mirrors. (Good for the road but get in the way racing).
Moto-Lita steering wheel, 1" smaller, black steel with leather grip.
(Legal, and a huge improvement)
Mallory dual points distributor. (Cheaper than a new Lucas unit, and yes
legal)
Lucas 40kv Sport coil. (Plugs opened from .025" to .040" gap)
Trailer hitch. (Legal cheat on weight distribution maybe?)
Cruise control. (Yeah, negative earth and fuzzy dice)
AM-FM-Cassette stereo. (Yeah, negative earth and fuzzy dice)
And sometimes a rally computer. (Yeah, negative earth and fuzzy dice)
Ant then there's those silly bumper snickers.
SCCA major rules concessions to Stock class are any front anti-sway bar, any
wheels of original size, and any street legal tires (DOT approved means they
have some tread). The rest is either optioned on the original car, safety
items, specific minor exemptions, or "fuzzy dice" (appearance items not
materially affecting the performance of the car).
I suppose someday I'm going to get protested over the "MG" crested walnut
gearshift knob, as dealer accessories don't qualify as stock unless factory
supplied or recommended. If I ever loose points of a trophy over it, I could
go back to the little black plastic stock shift knob. Could be a big
argument over wheather it qualifies as fuzzy dice or somehow materially
affects the perfrmance of the car. =8^P*** You may have noticed by my
earlier post about the wheels that it isn't easy staying stock.
Fluids? Nothing special, ethylene-glycol in the cooling system, 10W40 in the
engine and gearbox, EP80W90 in the rear axel, and silicone brake fluid (use
your own opinion, it saves the paint).
Breakage?
Well, I did fry the rod bearings a couple of times recently before I figured
out the oil pan was dented and the pickup tube was too close to the bottom.
The oil pump was cavitating somewhere between 7000 rpm and valve float (7400
rpm or so). Once it ate all four rod bearings in a few seconds, chewed the
crank some. Had to weld and regrind the crank that time, HUGE repair cost of
$240, back on the road the next weekend. Finally figured out the pickup tube
problem, fixed that, no more oil problems.
A few years ago it chipped a few teeth off the lay gear 2nd gear wheel at a
Saturday autocross. I attributed that to a badly worn lay shaft and needle
bearings, allowing excess separation of the gears and loading the teeth too
far out to the end. Had some spares, installed another cluster gear
overnight, gear from stock, $10 for oil and gaskets, took second place in
the Sunday autocross. Thereafter I did a proper gearbox rebuild ($60), have
abused it much worse since, and no more gear problems. Except.....
A year ago it burned out the drive shaft support bushing in the tail of the
gearbox. In case nobody has noticed, those bushings are made out of
Unobtainium. I hedged my bets a few years ago during the rebuild, hoping the
slightly worn one was good enough, and so naturally it crapped out just to
spite me. That happened cruising on the highway on a Saturday afternoon. I
had a spare gearbox, but it also ate the driveshaft front yoke which I didn't
have spare, so it cost me a Sunday race date. First time in four years it
missed a race date due to a mechanical failure, so now I also have a spare
drive shaft, most likely never need it. Used rear gear housing with a good
bearing, driveshaft yoke, oil & seals, $80. BUT, not racing breakage!
Four years ago it dropped a valve on the way home from an autocross, 60 mph,
3600 rpm with the cruise control on. Punched out a piston slightly,
trailered home, new piston, valve, head gasket and $10 at the head shop to
touch up the valve seat. $75 total and back on the road in 2 days. And, not
racing breakage.
Seven years ago it broke the crankshaft, again with the cruise control on,
3600 rpm. No other damage, just a little noisy, drove it gently another 35
miles to town. Grounded on vacation for 4 days, got a used crankshaft from a
club friend ($75), bearings and gaskets from local BAP store, put it all back
together in 12 hours overnight in the Motel-6 parking lot. Another HUGE
repair cost, $200 total. Again, not racing breakage.
Five years ago I got stupid and ignored a starter problem, gave it a push
start and decided to drive it home from Kansas City to Chicago before
checking it out. Bolts were loose, starter fell out, jambed up the flywheel
at 4000 rpm, broke the crankshaft, one piston, two bent rods, smashed oil
pump, bent cam, bent distributer drive gear, gouged cylinder wall. Trailered
home, sleeved the cylinder, got a used crank, cam, drive gear, two rods, new
piston, and oil pump. Running in one week, $420, about equal to the entire
engine rebuild cost at restoration. BUT, NOT RACING BREAKAGE!
I figure tires, break shoes and clutch disks to be operating expense, same as
oil changes and gasoline. If I only look at repair costs due to breakage
while racing, the number is surprisingly small, avaraging less than $300 a
year, even including 6 broken steel wheels at $30 each. This MGA is over 38
years old with over 200,000 miles logged, I say it's cheap and easy to
maintain, and I expect it to run another 38 years, assuming it doesn't get
squashed by a semi truck or such. Meanwhile, it's garaged, and it only goes
out for club events, so it wears antique vehicle licence plates, and gets a
nice break on the insurance ($106/yr full coverage). J C Taylor doesn't have
a specific limit on mileage, just personal mileage (non-club), and they want
an estimate for their records of the annual mileage. For this car that's
around 18.000 miles a year.
Sefety faster,
Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude
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