Milwaukee Midget

[jacksoni]

I am not at all familiar with the rear suspension but tube shock conversion seems not too hard:  http://www.mgexp.com/article/rear-shock.html  Assuming this is proper car etc. This would allow air shocks or coil overs that would allow easy rear ride height adjustment. Quick looking there are front conversions as well I think. Would these be doable?

[Milwaukee Midget]

I've actually done the tube shock conversion on my MGB - it's not tough, and the Midget rear suspension is quite similar.  Winners circle makes a front conversion kit that I could load with Airlifts as short as 9".

I don't weld anymore, so anything I can do that is closer to a bolt in or a swap out is a plus.

[Milwaukee Midget]

Well, I’m not sure if this is a check-up or a post mortem . . .

The #2 exhaust valve was popped open for the last month – thus, the rust accumulating around the exhaust seat –

Using the goose neck inspection camera, the lifters looked great, and the cam lobes pass the fingernail test – not bad, considering the abuse they’ve seen –


The pistons – well, hmm . . . As is often the case on an engine with a shared port head, the insides appear to have run a bit leaner than the outsides –


Just a smidgen of burn-through between the #2 and #3.  I’m afraid I’m looking at O-rings –

A clean-up of the #3 piston showed wear, but the reflection from the overhead lights still showed signs of the concentric circles cut by the lathe.  It got hot, but if it threw off any aluminum, it probably wasn't much.

The heat issue was confirmed by the bottom end inspection –


The red is likely assembly lube which cooked to the bottom.  The oil did get warm under here, though – the Brad Penn is usually green.  I was able to wipe the discoloration off with my finger.

I sent an oil sample to Blackstone last week.  I’ll post up their findings when I receive them.

I’m thinking I might have gone a little lean on the last run.  I WAS able to get a 118 with the richer jets, but if I’m pushing this a bit far, best to know now, while the rotating assembly still rotates.

I need to pull the front and the back off of the crank to check it, but I’m going to wait until I get the oil test results back. 

[Jack Gifford]

... I’m afraid I’m looking at O-rings...

No reason to be "afraid" of O-rings; they are your friend.

[Milwaukee Midget]

... I’m afraid I’m looking at O-rings...

No reason to be "afraid" of O-rings; they are your friend.

Yeah, I know, it's just that I had high hopes for the Cometic MLS gasket holding up.  It's just that the process is going to require a complete tear-down - I was hoping to save a buck or two, and spend my Christmas vacation doing something other than working on an engine.

The upside is that if it's all tore down anyway, I can get a deck plate fabbed up and do a proper honing, and possibly get better leak-down results.  Seeing as I'm looking for every pony can find, it's probably for the best.

[wheelrdealer]

Chris:

Can you run a vacuum pump in your class? We made an instant 20HP on the dyno on my 302 D motor. Not sure what the trade-off would be on an engine your size but it may be worth looking into if it is allowed.

Also look at your oil temp and make sure it is operating at the manufacturers' optimum temperature. We found a few horsepower by letting the oil temp get up a few degrees to manf. spec.

BR

[Milwaukee Midget]

Sure, Bill - a vac pump, a dry sump - there IS a ton of latitude.  When Mark set up the water pump drive, he did so anticipating a dry sump system which would hang about where the alternator used to live.

Off of the head, I'm seeing some evidence of pressure under the valve cover, but I have a huge vent that exits the block - it used to be the distributor hole, over which I built a vent attachment.  The filter is attached to the firewall, and makes a climb of ~ 8" from the block. 

So while I don't have vacuum, it's pretty well vented.

[Crackerman]

That large vent can be plumbed into a moroso crank case evac type setup, using exhaust gas to pull out vapors instead of pressure pushing them out.

Also, i have never once had any luck using a cometic mls in any if the applications i used them on ( mostly high hp 4 cylinders). In those particular applications the factory had an mls that cost almost double, but had a zero failure rate in my applications.

Does felpro make a permatorque fire ring gasket for your application? I have heard great things about those without having to cut grooves.

If you do cut grooves, check out the isky groove-o-matic tool. Fairly cheap and useable on any engine.

[Milwaukee Midget]

That large vent can be plumbed into a moroso crank case evac type setup, using exhaust gas to pull out vapors instead of pressure pushing them out.

Also, i have never once had any luck using a cometic mls in any if the applications i used them on ( mostly high hp 4 cylinders). In those particular applications the factory had an mls that cost almost double, but had a zero failure rate in my applications.

Does felpro make a permatorque fire ring gasket for your application? I have heard great things about those without having to cut grooves.

If you do cut grooves, check out the isky groove-o-matic tool. Fairly cheap and useable on any engine.

Checked the Felpro catalogue - didn't see anything HP for the BMC.

The Isky tool  - 3.125 is as small as it goes.  My cylinders are 2.815, and very tight between the cylinder walls. 

Is anyone aware of a similar tool that would be typically used on motorcycle engines? 

[Peter Jack]

Chris, have a good machine shop cut the grooves in the block and corresponding grooves in the head. When you fit the wire ring and use a solid copper head gasket I guarantee you won't have any combustion leaks. We used the system on a couple of high compression alcohol engines with great success. Don't forget to anneal the head gasket every once in a while.

Pete

[jacksoni]

Not worth a lot but electric water pump? I am running one on mine. Range of 300hp being cooled and never an issue (so far).  You want hot oil, cold engine relatively speaking. Recently have been running without alternator, two batteries that are providing some ballast though still nose heavy by design. Charge off truck or generator/charger between rounds. I have a lot of electronics-ECU, CDI, Water pumps for engine, cool suit and intercooler plus a tiny one for trans bearing lube, radiator fan (get engine/oil hot, cool down water). Never felt a voltage issue.

I use one of these: http://www.stewartcomponents.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=ElectPump

[wheelrdealer]

The vacuum pump is probably a cheaper alternative to a dry sump plus a lot simpler. It really helps by reducing the power lost pumping out the crank case ventilation as well as ring seal. You can use a little less tension on the rings too. If you get on the phone with aeromotive or moroso and ask them to keep an eye open for a blemished pump. So what if the anodized is nicked, as long as it functions. I got mine that way and paid about 60% of best price I could fine. You can build a breather tank on the cheap and use the filter from your vent. When you dyno your motor next time, base line it then install the pump belt...you might be surprised. Like they say...it is just a big pump!

Some lighter weight oil, get some coated main bearings, drop the suspension 1", some good salt and a blessed tail wind and the 996 is in the window of opportunity. Sounds so simple on the forum!

BR

Sure, Bill - a vac pump, a dry sump - there IS a ton of latitude.  When Mark set up the water pump drive, he did so anticipating a dry sump system which would hang about where the alternator used to live.

Off of the head, I'm seeing some evidence of pressure under the valve cover, but I have a huge vent that exits the block - it used to be the distributor hole, over which I built a vent attachment.  The filter is attached to the firewall, and makes a climb of ~ 8" from the block. 

So while I don't have vacuum, it's pretty well vented.

[Milwaukee Midget]

Well - this just in from Blackstone Oil Testing Service -

CHRIS:  If you're using leaded fuel, that might explain most of the lead. Lead can also be a bearing metal
though, we won't know what's a normal level for your MG until we have trends to look at. The universal
averages show typical wear for this engine type after about 2,000 miles on the oil, but we're not sure how
that equates to hours in this case. Plus, this engine is still relatively new, so it's likely that some of the
aluminum, iron, copper, lead, and silicon are from wear-in. Low insolubles shows effective oil filtration, and
no contamination was found.

There's a full list of numbers, all of which look good, with the exception of one -

Sodium  - 411  Universal average - 24

Wonder where that came from . . .  

Feel free to download the attachment.  This is the kind of information Blackstone provides.  It's $25.00.

[Dr Goggles]

The moment I read the above "it's all tore down" I started singing this to myself,killer. ...........      http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RTK4ojdTSHM

[Tman]

Oil test numbers don't look bad. I dig that kind of data!