Milwaukee Midget

[Milwaukee Midget]

Sent off the entry fee and forms for WOS today. I'll confess, until we got the K to run right, I was holding back on the financial commitment. But now that's it's sorted rather than sordid, I'm confident we'll have a competitor on the trailer this year.

The fire suppression system is in place, and the switch-up from wasted spark to direct fire coils helps tidy up the electronics a bit.
DSCN0111[1] by Chris Conrad, on Flickr

It's not nearly as elegant as I had hoped, but here's a before-and-after photo pairing - so I'll call it an improvement:

Before -

20210505_115338 by Chris Conrad, on Flickr

After -

DSCN0120[1] by Chris Conrad, on Flickr

As I mentioned yesterday, the MGT class lets me use a non-factory air dam. A good thing, too, because MG never thought to offer a chin spoiler.

Part of the "charm" of this build is that I've been able to maintain a fairly stock appearance of the car. As a brand loyalist, it's important to me personally. But I also recognize I'll need to make some modifications in order to be competitive.

I was able to build a new front bumper mount that removes the old "buggy spring" attachment and replaces it with t 1 1/2 x 3 piece of rectangular tubing. Below that, I'll be attaching a 2 x 3 piece of angle iron, and to that I'll be attaching a pair of mounts for the tow bar and covering it with a piece of ABS plastic to extend it down to just 3" off the ground.

DSCN0121[1] by Chris Conrad, on Flickr

New driveshaft is done and I'll be picking it up tomorrow. Still waiting to hear from the holder of the battleship keys regarding my shaved tires.

[fordboy628]

Nice!

It is tight though.

 

[Milwaukee Midget]

My rev limiter arrived today. 2" vs 1 3/4", solid U-joints - a really nice bit of fabrication.

DSCN0122 by Chris Conrad, on Flickr

And while my welding skills are always a bit sub par, I'm giving myself an "attaboy" on this one. Combination bumper bracket, air dam and tow bar attachments. And given that the K weighs less than the A, a few extra pounds hanging over the front end at 130 mph is probably a good thing.

Heck, I can throw snow tires on it this winter and plow the alley!

DSCN0123 by Chris Conrad, on Flickr

[wheelrdealer]

Chris:

From one sub-par welder to another... looks good. I really like a tow bar versus a tow strap.

See you at WOS.

BR

[Stan Back]

Tow-Bar Tip -- Motorhome "whiskers" on the back of the tow vehicle keep the front of the race car clean.  You can keep them on all week with no service.

You can put it on at home -- it also keeps the trailer cleaner on the way to the pits.

[Milwaukee Midget]

Tow-Bar Tip -- Motorhome "whiskers" on the back of the tow vehicle keep the front of the race car clean.  You can keep them on all week with no service.

You can put it on at home -- it also keeps the trailer cleaner on the way to the pits.

We are on the same page, Stan. 2013, I used a tow strap and had to swing out from the tow vehicle to avoid peppering the windshield. 2014 - World of Speed - a month after the rain-out of Speedweek - I had the tow bar, but it plastered the front of the car pretty heavily, despite a magnetic car cover my Mom made for it.

I like the whiskers idea.

Earlier, I'd jumped in on a discussion of drip rails. I can remove them in MGT, so . . . I did  -

DSCN0129 by Chris Conrad, on Flickr
DSCN0128 by Chris Conrad, on Flickr

Hanging around MG guys, one tends to acquire the oddest things. I'll likely never own an MGA, but I do have a verifiable MG Twin-Cam - so I adorned the boot -

DSCN0127 by Chris Conrad, on Flickr

New harness installed. I had a side pull arrangement, but it was unwieldy, so I replaced it with an pull-up arrangement.  When it's tight like this, ease of seat belt adjustment is a concern.

I also shortened the shifter by a couple of inches - it was ridiculous with the transmission in the original position. 1st gear pounded one's knuckles into the dash, and you'd get tennis elbow finishing out the pattern. With the transmission 2" back in the chassis, the shifter falls right to hand and allowed me to re-position the fire controls under the dash rather than on top of the transmission tunnel.

DSCN0125 by Chris Conrad, on Flickr

I was going to extend the edge of the air dam a little further down, but I still need some suspension compliance, so this is the compromise I settled on -

DSCN0124 by Chris Conrad, on Flickr

I'll figure out some sort of fill outside the bumperettes, but straight on, the lower edge of the dam is 3" below the lowest edge of the fender and still provides me enough clearance to prevent us from accidentally grooming the track.

[Stan Back]

How 'bout losing the bumper guards?  Is it legal?  Sure look cleaner without them.

[Stan Back]

. . . and, as I remember, I mounted the "whiskers" with two 5/16" bolts thru a crossmember.  The hardest part of that job was shortening the whiskers so they didn't drag the ground.  Whatever that black plastic was, it was damn tough to trim.  They lasted for about 20 years, so the investment was surely cheaply amortized.  They went to Texas with the roadster -- still in working order.

[jacksoni]

Looks like the rules for MGT are similar to Altered. Bumpers can be removed and lights covered BUT radiator may NOT be blocked. Lose the bumper entirely and cover from the radiator opening down with air dam?

[Milwaukee Midget]

This year's goal is to get the car back in fighting form. Any further body alterations will come when I can afford to get it repainted.

The bumperettes have a captured nut that hold the rest of the bumper in place, but I suppose I could get a couple of chrome bolts and draw it up on the back side? I'll give it some thought.

This last week, I went through the transmission, installed the uprated driveshaft and serviced the clutch, brakes and hydraulics. The new throttle pedal is in place and nothing is leaking.

Thinking I'll fire it up this afternoon - this would be the first time since the engine came back from the dyno. I'll be able to check clutch engagement, which may or may not be an issue. I replaced the master cylinder with a smaller diameter Bugeye unit, but I also changed out the slave with the appropriate sized cylinder.  No reason it shouldn't work, but if it doesn't, I'll want to catch it now.

And yes, Mark - the tranny's topped off so I won't burn up the input bearings.

Some of that stuff you've taught me is starting to stick. 

[handyguy]

     I  LIKE BEING PUSHED AROUND , BETTER TRAFFIC CONTROL , WAVE TO PIT PEOPLE  ,  IT'S A ROADSTER !!   MY  TRANS IS ENGLISH AUSTIN 1937 CLOSE RATIO  , 3RD GEAR IS A 1.27 RATIO , SO SHIFT FROM 3 TO 4  IS SO SWEET .  i AM USING ORIGINAL BALL AND TRUNION  TYPE U JOINT DRIVESHAFT .  MY DIFF.  IS MG MIDGET 4.22 ,  I HAVE A  3.90  IN CASE I EVER NEED IT ..   HOPE TO SEE YOU AT SALT ..    STEVE

[handyguy]

  ITS 107+ DEGREES HERE IN TUCSON  ,  JUST LIKE ELMO , MORE TOMORROW  ..

[Rex Schimmer]

Chris,
Combo tow bar/air dam from a nice piece of "angle iron" very agricultural! Would have been a perfect combo with the original engine.

See you at the salt in Sept!

Rex

[racergeo]

   And a John Deere green race stripe and Bob's your uncle

[Stan Back]

"I  LIKE BEING PUSHED AROUND , BETTER TRAFFIC CONTROL , WAVE TO PIT PEOPLE."

There ain't many to wave at from past the 6 back to the pits.  One year they had Impound at the 11.  You could go to lunch in Salt Lake City quicker than going all the way back to the Starting Line and around to the pits.  Queen Liz would be weary on that journey.  (Fortunately the race car ran back by itself to the Line.)