Milwaukee Midget

[RichFox]

i didn't see Butch Lattier's blown 392 powered MGA in there. Put him well into the 2 club. Was a pretty nice car, I think.

[Milwaukee Midget]

You could start with (th)is and get it out of my way before I drop a blown sbc in it.

Frank, I might have a spare engine for you.

You could start with is and get it out of my way before I drop a blown sbc in it.

Frank, Don't know if you have this but here is the britishv8.org link for MG conversions:

http://www.britishv8.org/Photos-MG-Conversions.htm

Gregg

Yeah, well . . .

What I’m looking to do is to keep it muscular, but subtle.

Our good friend, Terry Mourer – aka Podunk – is cleaning out his garage.
If you haven’t seen it yet, he’s got a really solid 56 T-bird up for sale . . . and if I had more garage space . . .

http://www.landracing.com/forum/index.php/topic,14379.msg260286.html#msg260286

. . . but I don’t . . .

Much of this will be going up into the attic this weekend, but what you’re seeing is a Bugeye tub that’s been set up and reinforced for a 215 Buick, a 5 speed, and a GM 10 bolt.





There was more in the Dodge – a lot more . . .









I’m thinking going with the narrower 195 60s on the rear - the Goodrichs are just a tad over the top - probably 175s on the front, moon discs, finish off the dash with Marshall tolex –

http://www.parts-express.com/marshall-style-black-elephant-tolex-vinyl-cabinet-covering-yard-54-wide--260-7606?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pla

straighten out the body, and throw some 3M wrap on it –

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_EU/3MGraphics/GraphicSolutions/Products/Catalogue/~/3M-Wrap-Film-1080-G79-Gloss-Light-Ivory-1-52-m-x-25-m-?N=3294576357&rt=d

Terry did a proper job on the reinforcement of the chassis – should easily handle the torque of the 215.  When I get this stuff sorted and put away, I’ll post up a picture or two of the work.

Beyond that, I am stunned as to how complete this is.  What’s not there is in the attic or at the hardware store.  The body's okay - nothing I can't handle.

What’s really interesting is the gears – 2.63 rear end.  With a 5 speed OD,  figuring a 23 “ tire, 100 mph comes up at about 3,000 RPM. 

That’s a long-legged Sprite.

I don’t know what the rest of the ratios are yet, but I’m thinking around town, it’s not likely I’ll see 5th gear.  Or 4th.

Hey, with this much torque,  WHO NEEDS GEARS?


Terry, THANK YOU FOR CALLING ME.  I know you got side tracked on this project, and yes, it has gone to a “good home” – IT WILL BE FINISHED.  I need to stay focused on the Midget, but given I’ll be dealing with foreign suppliers and custom parts for the K-series, I know there will be down time.

It’s my hope to have it running in March, and sorted for a road trip to Bonneville in August.

I’ll be back to the K-series next week.

[gkabbt]

Dang boozle Mr. Midget, that's a LOT of stuff! Looks like a good score. 

Here's something to ponder.....Get it running in March, get the bugs worked out and then drive it down to Wilmington in May!
The ECTA May meet is the Hot Rod Magazine Top Speed Shootout and it's a REALLY good show!
I think you and Mrs. Midget would enjoy!

Now get to turning those wrenches.....LOL! 

Gregg

[Captthundarr]

  what Gregg said......

[fordboy628]

midget,

Atsa lotta Bugeye!!!

 
Fordboy

[Milwaukee Midget]

midget,

Atsa lotta Bugeye!!!

 
Fordboy

Pound for pound, there's more GMC than BMC - more Buick than Bugeye - but that's simply because there's 3 engines, an extra set of heads, a spare manifold . . .

Geez, between spreading it out on the floor of the garage and then moving most of it into the basement and attic, it's been a long weekend.

Hoping to get over to C&S today and pick up the kettle parts.

[Milwaukee Midget]

Okay, week didn't go as I had planned.

The Kettle checked out okay - for the most part.  I wasn't able to pick it up - I'll handle that on Saturday.

Tentative report is that the head is up to snuff, but there was what was described as some "leakage" where the sleeves are pressed into the block.  As we're planning one replacing the sleeves, and I think Fordboy has a remedy at hand for this, I'm not too worried.

As was my fear with trying to gain information via e-mail regarding components only available overseas, I'm still waiting on a couple of questions sent to suppliers in Great Britain. 

I expect dealing with some of these suppliers is going to be akin to operating a marionette via a system of pulleys and rubber bands, and will likely involve an upgrade of my cell phone service to include international dialing.

I've just started to understand Australian - now I've got to learn to speak British.  I'll be trilingual by the time this engine sees the salt.
 

[fordboy628]

Okay, week didn't go as I had planned.

Tentative report is that the head is up to snuff, but there was what was described as some "leakage" where the sleeves are pressed into the block.  As we're planning one replacing the sleeves, and I think Fordboy has a remedy at hand for this, I'm not too worried.
 

midget,

I expected as much.

This damp/wet liner idea is great for fit-up and assembly at a factory cranking out thousands of engines.   Not so great for durability & reliability, or horsepower & rpm.

We are going to have to do what I did on the Renault AxK's/AxL's from the R16's.   Pain in the a**, but it works.

Do not despair, the K block appears to me to be much sturdier than the diecast Renault "morceau de merde" . . . . . .  

Rest assured, this will not be the only hurdle.         Buy some track shoes . . . . . . .

 
Fordboy

[fordboy628]

midget,

Let me know when I can plan another foray to pickup cheese, craft beer and some important engine dimensions.   Call me stupid, I want to get going on the engineering.

Off to visit Honest Abe this weekend.   Last elected official from Illinois not incarcerated . . . . . .

 
Fordboy

[Milwaukee Midget]

I can't begin to tell you how much I prefer working on a clean engine -



Just got it back from Mel at C&S today.  A couple of thou warpage on the head, and a little leaking past where the cylinder liners press into the block, but nothing that can't be remedied.




By the way, I figured out why there are two sets of eyebrows on the piston.  It's the same slug they use in the SOHC 2 valve version of this engine.  I've got one piston in it to set up our valve depth parameters



And I also had an old VU meter mounted on a 19" rack plate, which sacrificed its home to provide a steel attachment to adhere the magnetic base of the dial indicator to.




Additionally, a piece of aluminum angle, to provide a locator for the timing wheel . . .

Mark's coming up with a set of low tension springs and his Lotus valve spring compressor early next week.  We'll get to cyphering, and should be able to start the modeling process after that.

[Crackerman]

It sure looks much better all cleaned up. But that open deck makes me queasy...

[Milwaukee Midget]

It sure looks much better all cleaned up. But that open deck makes me queasy...

Imagine being the poor sap sinking the money into it . . .

I was reading the Sunday funnies, and I'm convinced I've found the design inspiration for the K-series engine . . .



Now that it is cleaned up, I was able to get a better look around the scale and rust that had built up in this thing.



While it is an open deck, the bores that the cylinder liners insert into are actually pretty deep.

The overall length of the liner is ~ 5.135" long, and the bores for the liners into the block are about ~ 3.125".  The liner is then stepped up to about 3.5" in diameter into the coolant passage in the case, and are only exposed for about 1.775". 

So fully 2/3 of the liner is actually held in place by the block, and the bosses that provide the path for the headbolts and oil return help to stabilize the top 1/3.

I'd mentioned earlier that Mel reported leakage around the liners when he pressure checked the block.  Seeing as it's a sandwich design, it's my suspicion that this might be normal for one of these with no clamp load.

[Tman]

The latest advance in craft brewing: http://www.oregonlive.com/beer/index.ssf/2014/10/oregon_beer_to_go_growlerwerks.html#incart_m-rpt-1

You do have growlers there, don't you?

    

Mike

Saw that, fancy but also, my growlers are polished off long before carbonation ends!

[Milwaukee Midget]

Just a quick update.

Mark stopped by on Monday.

We gathered the valve clearance information - this will let us know how much pop-up we can get by with.

As with the Grenade, the Kettle's combustion chambers are intended for larger capacity engines - 1.4, 1.6 and 1.8 liter.  We're taking it down to 1 liter, so we'll need to be looking at some sort of pop-up piston shape in order to get the CR where it needs to be in order to make power normally aspirated.

The head went with Mark, and the intent is to cc the chambers and generate some flow numbers.  Initial thoughts are that seeing as this head can make better than 130 hp per liter in a 1.8 form on crummy Eurospec 100 octane racing gas, it will likely not need a lot of prep work in order to get it to flow sufficiently for a 1 liter.

It also helps that we're optimizing for one venue, rather than trying to build a "do-it-all" engine for a dozen different tracks. 

We also want to remain mindful of keeping the flow speed high, so the initial thought on porting is "less is more", but we need a baseline, and that's what we're on about.

The Bugeye is coming along, but that's just a distraction during the Midget's downtime.  Big cleaning process there, a lot of rags and lacquer thinner, sanding discs and wire brushes.  Picked up a pair of welding tanks and a cart yesterday, and my torch should arrive on Tuesday, so body work on the Pom Rod will start in earnest this week.

[jacksoni]

Recognizing the limitations, what CR would you like to see? Realistically. (yah, yah, as much as you can get etc, I know) 4 valve, pent roof, central plug all help combustion processes but what does Mark think would be nice? Real world?