I'm more worried about the back plate at this point - I can mock up some motor mounts with the info we gathered last week. I doubt there's a good way to make a plate on this - pictures of the front of the engine don't look promising for that.
FB's buddy, Mike Hart, races a Spridget in Vintage. He came up with a really cool driveshaft tunnel, which I'm in the process of replicating . . .
DSCN5660 by
Chris Conrad, on Flickr
14 gauge steel, and I'll be doing some reinforcement work inside the tunnel to compensate for some of the structure I lost cutting out the top of the tunnel. Top cover will eventually be 2 piece and attached with bolts, in case I need to access something.
Driveshaft loop was relocated back about 4 inches inside the tunnel - it needs a little tidying up, but it's located for the moment . . .
DSCN5661 by
Chris Conrad, on Flickr
Working in AV, you tend to deal with some items that have a specific purpose. The EIA standard for rack mounted audio and computer systems is 19" - coincidentally, the distance between the passenger side floor and the footwell in a Midget . . .
DSCN5664 by
Chris Conrad, on Flickr
I had some scrapped rack rails at work, so this will let me essentially build all of the electronic panel on the bench, solder up Amphenol connectors, and bolt the entire central nervous system into the car with 8 screws.
Trust me - it beats the hell out of working under a dash - especially in the tight confines of an MG.
One last AV related solution to a racing issue - the pedal box.
I backdated the pedal box to an early Bugeye arrangement. Both the clutch and brakes share a common reservoir, and seeing as I'm not running front brakes, the necessity of a dual brake circuit master cylinder is made redundant.
The problem is that on the early Sprites, there is a slot through which the pedals hang down from the engine compartment into the cockpit. I don't want to create a potential fire hazard, so I need to isolate the pedals pivot area from the engine compartment.
Pelco makes an extruded component box for outdoor use with security camera installations, and it has an access panel on top - which lets me check fluid level . . .
DSCN5662 by
Chris Conrad, on Flickr
I'll be able to make this work to completely isolate the pedal box opening, yet still give me access to the reservoir . . .
DSCN5663 by
Chris Conrad, on Flickr