Milwaukee Midget

[Stainless1]

Chris, you could also run a push fan from the front, a small one triggered by temp should do the trick.

Years ago when they were working on Parleys they detoured traffic to I84 north to (almost Ogden) UT89, to I15 back to I80.  It is 9 miles farther, no long climbs, no SLC traffic, and usually 20 minutes faster for us.  Now they added the Legacy Parkway beside I15, but both dump you out at the airport and I80.  We haven't gone over the top for 20 years.
 

[manta22]

Chris;

Matt is right about the shrouding- you need to force the air to flow through the radiator, not around it. I don't know if anyone makes a good high-flow water pump for that engine like Stewart & Edelbrock make for the SBC but it might make an improvement if you can find one.

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[Milwaukee Midget]

Years ago when they were working on Parleys they detoured traffic to I84 north to (almost Ogden) UT89, to I15 back to I80.  It is 9 miles farther, no long climbs, no SLC traffic, and usually 20 minutes faster for us.  Now they added the Legacy Parkway beside I15, but both dump you out at the airport and I80.  We haven't gone over the top for 20 years.
 

I should be embarrassed - my degree is in History, and it never occurred to me that the path of least resistance over the Wasatch would be essentially the same route taken by the transcontinental railroad!

 

[MattGuzzetta]

Chris,
If you are not askeerd of mucking about with foam and fiberglass, it may be possible to build a snout that covered the radiator and funneled down to the grill to make a forced air system that should help cool a bunch when moving.  It does look like a tight fit, but maybe not.  Too bad you're not closer to San Diego, that would be a fun project! They force feed air cooled airplane motors by making a close fit housing and with a small opening in the front the air "scrubs" the heat from the fins. That car can work well with the lightweight V8.  We have a national chanpion in SCCA San Diego who runs a "special"  bug-eye sprite with carbon fiber body parts and a Mazda 2 rotor torbocharged beast, they are neat cars! 

Matt Guzzetta

[Speed Limit 1000]

I should be embarrassed - my degree is in History, and it never occurred to me that the path of least resistance over the Wasatch would be essentially the same route taken by the transcontinental railroad!

 
[/quote]

You are correct. The train still goes that way

[Milwaukee Midget]

Chris,
If you are not askeerd of mucking about with foam and fiberglass, it may be possible to build a snout that covered the radiator and funneled down to the grill to make a forced air system that should help cool a bunch when moving.  

I'm not to worried about when I'm moving.  It's when I come home from work before a Milwaukee Brewers game, and I'm sitting in traffic, waiting for the traffic cop to signal me through.

I wish I was in San Diego sometimes - usually about January-March.

I just finished up mounting the front-flip hinges on the bonnet, and it looks like I'll need to do some reinforcement of it.  I'm thinking I can stitch in some steel on either side of the grill opening, form it back to the radiator, and mount the fan between the grill and the radiator brackets.  At that point, glassing it all in would both seal off the opening and reinforce the nose and the air shaft, plus cover up my crummy looking welds.

Heck, I could also use plywood and glass over it.  Works on boats and Altec Lansing outdoor PA speakers.

This would all be done from the underside.

[wisdonm]

I know guys that have made race car bodies and parts out of glassed over cardboard. 

[manta22]

I know guys that have made race car bodies and parts out of glassed over cardboard. 

Glassed-over balsa wood works, too.

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[distributorguy]

The biggest cooling issue with 215 conversions in MGBs is exhaust heat trapped in the engine bay.  All the guys I know who ceramic coated the exhaust don't have heat issues.  Now if you add twin turbos and use the 2 Midget radiators as intercoolers, you may develop heat soak in the radiator that's difficult to shed. 

If you plan too run the vintage Mallory, check phasing.  They are well know for cross firing due to a phasing issue. 

[fordboy628]

Insert Tab 'K' into Slot 'MG'

midget,

The start of the process, courtesy of Wiggle Pin . . . . . . . .





Next step is to ghost in the 'A' series transmission mounting pattern on a different CAD layer.     1/2" thickness is going to be the minimum thickness for the adaptor plate, because of the need to use some metric flat head socket cap screws for the fasteners.     Probably want to use 6061T-6 aluminum tooling plate for the adaptor.

Once everything is laid out, a mockup adaptor made out of 1/2" plywood or MDF will allow an "offer up", into the car.    Layover angle, or lack thereof, can be assessed at that time.   Layover is going to be dictated by space available for various items, injectors/inlet manifold and exhaust headers the most critical.      The wood mockup is a cheap and easy way to research alternative layouts if required.

On another positive note, the starter fitment looks like it will be relatively straightforward using the existing bits.

 
Backfromhawaiiboy

[Rex Schimmer]

Chris,
Aluminum "tooling plate" is usually a fine grained, stress relieved aluminum plate, which is usually cast and is then blanchard ground on both sides to make them parallel and make the thickness dimension within +or- .005. Normal 6061 T651 plate that is 1/2 inch thick has a thickness tolerance of +or- .030 inches but as the 6061 plate is rolled the sides will be parallel, usually within +or- .005. I would suggest going with the standard rolled plate as it will be stronger and much cheaper.

Rex

[Milwaukee Midget]

I wish I were a little quicker on metallurgy.  Every time an alloy pops up in a conversation, I'm off to the bookshelf. 

I know Jahimiak Racing out of La Crosse, WI, has been producing a 6061 plate for Sprites for a number of years, but as to whether it's O, T-4 or T-6, I don't know, but I know they are not threaded, only drilled.

Rex, if the plate needed to be threaded or counter bored to mate up my old tranny to the new engine, would the extra tensile strength of T-6 be an advantage?

[Milwaukee Midget]

Looks like the Pom Rod will not be ready for the Sussex show next weekend.

I found the perfect setup for the clutch actuation -

https://www.novak-adapt.com/catalog/clutch/kit_hcrb.htm

Of course, it's on backorder . . .  

I've got a .70 bore on the Midget master cylinder, going into a .75 slave with a 2/1 ratio on the throwout lever and 1.1" travel of the master, which gives me about 1/2" of throw where 3/8" is required.

It'll probably be a bit stiff, but I have big feet.

I did get the alternator put into place.  It required the removal of a boss off of the back of the casting to clear the head, and a modified Chevy pickup bracket, but a 45" Gates V-belt put everything on the charge -



It DOES come close to the header, which I'm going to have to wrap, and I'm thinking a heat shield attached to the lower bracket bolt would be a prudent addition -



Mel at C&S had some heat resistant material which I attached to the fenderwells by the back two header pipes on both sides -



He also had a good quantity of 1/2" thick heat blanket which will be enough for the interior of the car.

Oil lines and starter are all that's left on the passenger side -



I dropped off the radiator with Harold at All Kool.  He's fixing me up with a 90 degree turnout for clearance, but I asked him to pressure check it first while it's still under warranty.

Warranty . . .

Geez, I've been working with used parts and racing parts for so long, I almost forgot about that word . . .

Proportioning valve is due Saturday, plenty of body work to do.

Putting together the final details for rods and pistons for the K.

Still trying to pension off the grenade.  If it doesn't sell by July 15, I'll tear it down and part it out.

I had a bite on it, but the broker didn't make it clear that it was in the United States, as was the buyer, who thought it was in Europe.  By the time the story was straightened out and he realized I could have gotten it to Texas in 3 days, the buyer had bought a punched out BMC 948 and went racing.

[fordboy628]

OK, first full day of Spring 2015 is over.   ONLY 504 days until Speed Week 2016.   So boys and girls, as promised . . . . . . . . . . . .

ROVERFEST!!!           (like anybody but the 2 of us cares . . . . . .  )

Okay, Fordboy - back to work on the K - which we are now upgrading to an N for political reasons, which I'll explain over the phone.

Specs are looking like this -

56 mm stroke gets us 989 cc, and if we need to overbore by .5, we're at 1003, which is still under the 1015 class limit.

The Honda Acura rods are the best bet as far as size is concerned - 137 mm in a 201 deck height, provided we can get by with a 35mm pin height.  Stock crown height is about 20 on a Rover 1.4 slipper piston.  It's about 36 on an A series non-slipper slug.

This puts us at a 2.43 R/S ratio.

The stock Acura rods, by the way, are rev limited @ 7900 in the factory programming for a 1.8 @ 130 hp and a 89 mm stroke.  Haven't done the math backwards yet, but I'm thinking properly prepped, they might be strong enough?

midget,

I have run some displacement and compression ratio numbers for analysis.    There is some good news and some bad news.     I'll start with the good news:

1)   75mm measured stock bore.   Propose .5mm overbore to utilize existing barrels.   Need to check wear to be sure the barrels will hone up clean.   Bore diameters in
      increments of .5mm provide the best availability for racing ring packages.   If it appears the barrels won't clean up, 76mm bore may be an option.

2)   As you calculated a 56mm stroke, (reduced from 79mm stock) gives a 1003cc displacement, well within the 1015cc limit.    If 76mm bore is required, reducing the stroke
      to 55mm gives a 998cc capacity.   Or 55.25mm  S gives 1003cc's;  55.5mm S gives 1007cc's.

3)   Taking the stock dimensions and calculating the stock deck height results in a dimension of 201.9mm     This is going to need to be verified, as this dimension will no
      doubt remain fixed, within a small tolerance.   This uses a stock piston compression height of 22.5mm, measured off the stock piston.

And that is the end of the good news . . . . . . . . .

4)   Retaining the std deck height and reducing the stroke would increase the rod length to 151.4mm if keeping the std compression height.    If the 137mm con rod length is
      used, that results in a compression height of 36.9mm (1.453").    I'm thinking that a piston forging to fit those dimensions is unlikely, though I could be wrong.    That
      piston would be very heavy though, compromising the plan to use a narrow, low tension ring package.    It would also limit the rpm potential of the piston/pin/rod.

5)   If the piston compression height is increased to 28mm (1.102") the rod length could be reduced to 145.9mm.     30mm (1.181") = 143.9mm rod length.     This is the
      point where a piston mfg needs to be contacted, so the design can actually be produced from an existing forging at reasonable cost.    I've seen guys draw all kinds of
      parts, only to find out that they can only be made in the "Twilight Zone" . . . . . .    Availability of piston forgings will dictate the rod length.

6)   Rod length/stroke ratio is going to be very high with this setup.  No way around it.   Piston dwell at and around TDC, is going to create piston to valve clearance issues,
      and the valve notches in the pistons will need to be pre-planned to be adequate.

7)   Lack of the ability to shorten the deck height is becoming a real "PITA" here.

This is the part where we need to get together and do some serious drinking, er, thinking about the path forward.   You will need some mfg info to make sensible choices.
 
Fordboy

midget,

OK, here are the thoughts, and the dimensions:

75.5mm bore x 56mm stroke = 1002.8cc    Alternatively, new liners could be run @ 75mm bore diameter for a displacement of 989.6cc, if for some reason the existing liners can not be used.
 
Fordboy

[fordboy628]

Deck Height Measurement

midget,

OK, here are the actual measurements.    The nominal listed deck height dimension you supplied was 201mm.

Main housing bore diameter = 2.031"   (avg. spec.)
Main housing bore / 2          = 1.0155"

Front of block measurement:   7.459"  (-.531" dia ball) + 1.0155"  =  7.9435"  (201.76mm)
Rear of block measurement:    7.456"  (-.531" dia ball) + 1.0155"  =  7.9405"  (201.69mm)

So for design and machining purposes finished deck height is going to be 201.50mm (7.933").

This allows a slight amount to be surfaced off the block to "square" it up, unless the block needs to be align honed.   If that is the case we may need to reduce that deck height dimension by a small amount, say an additional .005"/.010"  (.127mm/.254mm)

This is about the point where dimensions can start to be "fixed" and the "build geometry" locked in, so parts can start to be ordered.   Uhh oh!!  

Oboy!! Oboy!! Oboy!!
 
Fordboy

midget,

OK, more thoughts and sizes:

So for design and machining purposes finished deck height is going to be 201.50mm (7.933").   They head is already below the factory minimum, so skimming the block just a bit, will keep us out of trouble on the timing belt length and the timing belt tensioner.    (You REALLY do not want an orphan timing belt length.)   It also keeps us out of trouble with clearance on the water pump drive, although some clever way is going to be needed to reduce pump speed or efficiency, to prevent cavitation.

That minus 1/2 the stroke, leaves 173.5mm for the combined connecting rod C/C length and the piston compression height.   Ask Wossner for the tallest sensible piston compression height they can provide using their normal forging, say 25mm/30mm, using a low tension racing ring package.  Wrist pin diameter should be something like 16mm/18mm, again whatever their normal race forging uses.    Compression height can be taller, if possible, the only critical issue here is that the two dimensions have got to add up to 173.5mm.

That would fix the rod length at 148.5mm/143.5mm, very long, but we are kind of screwed here because of the fixed deck height.

On the connecting rods, I would use Mahle (Vandervell) race bearings for the big ends, sized for small journal BMC. (Nominal 1.625" as in 998 Austin Minis)  This is only ~ .067" smaller than the stock 1.4K rod size, for which, no race bearing exists.   This size also allows room for the rod big ends to use 3/8" diameter SPS/ARP rod bolts, which will be reliable to the point of boredom.   A nice change from the 5/16" rod bolts usual at this size, which need to be changed like socks or underwear . . . . . . .   Big end width and bearing notches should remain at the BMC 998 standard as well, to keep it simple for Greg Rodi.

Don't let them give you any sh** about the rod bolt size, it is going to be a custom billet rod anyway.    A few grams of extra big end weight is a small penalty for the fastener peace of mind.    There are other fasteners that will provide enough worries . . . . . . . .
 
Fordboy