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Brynmor LLoyd-Griffiths' 1978 BGT Running Diary
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29th May 2006 - Catching up on the last few years and the car's specifications:
Suspension came
first.
Rear
After the first rebuild the suspension was almost a standard set up throughout, except for the inclusion of rear lowering blocks and shorter front springs (which had no effect on ride height). It was then swapped to stiffer lever arm dampers and blue poly bushes on the rear shackles.
Old set up.
Standard rear springs and 30% stiffer rear lever arms with lowering
blocks and blue poly bushes with rubber pads.
Current set up. Parabolic, lowered rear springs with Koni dampers and yellow poly bushes and pads.
The ride is transformed by swapping to parabolic springs. I don’t have the experience to say which set up generates more grip on a track but on the bumpy, poorly surfaced roads we are faced with these days, the back end smoothes the bumps out (instead of bouncing over them) and feels far less unsettled in bumpy corners than it ever did on standard leaf springs.
Standard rear anti roll bar remained in place on both set ups but it is now going to be removed before the car is back on the road having suffered the effects of snap over steer.
Front
Where do
I begin? I’ll try and keep this
brief. It started with a slightly
modified set up using 30% stiffer dampers and shorter springs to lower the ride
height to CB, which they didn’t. Then
it went to 600lbs springs, which lowered the car to about an inch (maybe a
little more) lower than CB height. Excellent
handling but very harsh ride. Not
for the feint hearted. It was then
changed to 550lbs springs and ¾ inch anti-roll bar, which gave similar
cornering ability with less bump steer and kinder on passengers.
Even though I eventually fitted the shortened bump stops, with the 600lbs
springs, the bottom rubber was still knocking against the spring pan on bumpy
roads. Not a problem now.
So briefly, current set up: Reconditioned 30% stiffer lever arm dampers with 550lbs springs and blue poly bushes with ¾ inch anti-roll bar with yellow poly bushes in the mounts.
Having
tried various set ups I would recommend 2 things to change.
Number 1 has to be the front anti-roll bar.
It did the most to keep the car level through corners without drastically
changing the ride. Secondly,
depending upon their condition, change the bushes.
Blue poly bushes are all that’s needed.
I used yellow poly bushes on the anti-roll bar mounts because I thought
they may minimise any compression in the mount as the anti-roll bar takes
effect. I have no idea if this is
effective or necessary. I already
had the yellow bushes for a ¾ inch bar so used them from the beginning.
Replacing the bushes made the steering feel more positive and I
shouldn’t need to replace them for some time.
Brakes
Current set up. Reconditioned standard callipers, new flexi hoses, green stuff discs and pads, new rear brake adjusters and new handbrake cable assembly.
The original
callipers were just that. Original
to the car, never been touched and after 28 years of use more than just a little
tired. Once bedded in, the new green stuff discs and pads were a
huge improvement but then again they would be!
A word of caution though. After
2500 miles the discs started to warp. One
was replaced under warranty. Not
something I’d recommend. Some of
the vibration under braking went away but soon returned and now I see that 25%
thicker discs are available, which makes me question the strength of the thinner
grooved and dimpled discs as fitted to my car, but many report no problems with
them what so ever.
Currently I’m
not sure which way to go with brake upgrades.
Vented discs with 4 pot callipers are available with conversion kits but
out of my price range for the time being. I’m
also unsure as to how this would affect the brake balance of the car front to
rear. Even with the current set up
the rear wheels lock before the front as the weight of the car is thrown
forwards under heavy braking. More
questions need to be asked and hopefully answered, by those more knowledgeable
than myself.
Engine
Until recently this has remained an untouched area of the car since an essentially standard, reconditioned unit was fitted during the first rebuild. A constant misfire developed several months ago but I limped the poor old lump along for as long as I could. Weather or not this has done any further damage to the engine is yet to be investigated. With the head off I’ve started thinking about the potential gains offered from a modified head.
The engine is currently fitted with Twin HS6 carbs K and N’s and a free flow stainless steel manifold and exhaust system all of which were bought as a job lot from the club 8 years ago as a special offer. It made sense at the time as the engine was a recon unit from Moss but the old carbs had been refitted, which were in a very bad way. According to the info at the time a net gain of 5 BHP could be expected. Whoop!
Anyway I’m
now thinking that this has put me in a good position for developing a little
more power. The carbs are still in
good condition as is the exhaust so since the head needs sorting I’m thinking
it’s stage 2 time! This way I get the car back on the road with a performance
boost. (It’s meant to be a daily
driver by the way) Being optimistic
and assuming the rest of the engine is still in good condition (66,000 miles
since rebuild with 40-50psi oil pressure at tick over and 70-75psi under load)
this also leads onto a hotter cam and EDIS in the (hopefully) not to distant
future. In the meantime the head is
at Bradbury’s Engineering being fettled.
Quick
update. I started writing this
ramble in early April and I’m finally getting round to finishing it off.
The timing of which coincides with the collection of the up rated head
from Bradbury’s. Things are
coming together.
Bodywork and
Interior
In terms of styling modifications I’m not sure my car fits in this category. The only deviation from standard is the ST Spoiler and Minilite replica wheels, which are fairly common mods on a rubber bumpered B. I’m keeping the bumpers for now as I have found they do the job of impact absorption remarkably well. How many modern car bumpers I wonder, would survive snapping a telegraph pole off at the base and levelling nine more timber posts with only a 2 inch section of rubber (beneath the indicator) being removed and leaving the rest of the car without a single dent? (Not including the spoiler)
The interior
was completely re-trimmed by me during the original rebuild.
The seats were stripped down to their frames, which were painted, new
foams, webbing and backing fitted and new leather covers squeezed on. The carpets, and all the panels were also new and the
dashboard was stripped and repainted in crinkle finish paint.
About 8 months ago I installed a new radio with MP3 and CD Player capabilities, speakers behind the seats in the rear side panels and two more are yet to go under the dash once I’ve made up and fitted new panels for around the bulkhead.
Electrics
I fitted a 65
amp alternator about a year ago as the recon unit fitted lasted all of twelve
months, Luminition electronic ignition was fitted during the original
restoration and swapped to a reconditioned distributor around 8 months ago.
Yet to be completed jobs include a rewire for the head lights via a relay
and a look into the world of alternate illumination techniques for the dials.
Since the last instalment on my running diary I have been busy lying on my back.
I decided to take the opportunity to paint the underside of the car whilst it is still bone dry before returning it back to the road. After a good clean up I've been rust killing, priming, stone guarding, enamelling and joint sealing in an attempt to slow down the corrosion. The underneath is now a shiny, black gloss finish, which if nothing else looks better than the contents of a field!! I've made sure the new rear wings get chance to survive by using Silkaflex, to bond them to the inner arches and then painted over the top of that with chassis black enamel. Should do the trick.
Progress continues in between building work...a few pictures to be going on with! The engine is running, following some poor quality stud issues - Bryn recommends buying from Chris Betson if you need new studs.
Bryn's been hard at work, doing DIY at home and in the office, but the headlights are now fitted with relays, and the car is looking very good! There's some work to be done on the carbs and the K&N back plate but hopefully it will be on the road again soon.
Bryn and I spend an awful lot of time on Skype discussing modifications to the interior, and here's his first one!
Well since I last wrote an update (thanks Martin for filling in the blanks) a fair bit of time has passed. I've been DIY'ing and working hard, which has slowed progress on the MG but I have managed a couple of improvements. It's all been wiring lately. First of all came the headlight relays. As a daily driver I thought headlights I could actually use at night were important! Then, sense and the idea of sticking only to fixing or updating what was necessary to get it on the road, left me.
For as long as I can remember I've always wanted a starter button. Now I have one. Oh yes! A small and pointless feature some may think. Especially since the keys are still needed at this point. I say it's the best fun you can have starting a car! The housing was is simple affair. It's made from a chrome ashtray with the lid removed; a small piece of plywood with a hole drilled in it and cut to fit the ashtray, covered with a section of vinyl to finish the effect. It took 1 hour from start to finish to complete. The starter button is from Moss, which operates the starter via a relay and took a lot longer to fit. Mainly because of routing wires!!
Last weekend sense returned and I got on with the task of making the car a little more user friendly and to a small extent safer, as a daily driver. I fitted the Smartscreen system, which gives classic cars variable intermittent wipers. I won't bore you with the details but basically it uses the standard wiper switch and allows for a delay of 3 to 30 seconds each time you use the wipe once feature. Now the dash and column are back in place there is no visible evidence of it even being fitted.
On a more general note, as I've continued down the path of improving the car I've realised something. I want to make each upgrade or improvement, call them what you will, to appear as if they were there when it left the factory. I've even, where possible, wrapped all the new wiring in traditional wiring loom tape. What I think I'm aiming at is quality of finish with new components and technology behind more period looking fixtures and fittings. After all, I spent all that time restoring the car to basically original because I loved it for what it was and the way it looked.
So what next? Get it back on the road, that's what. Then more interior updates. First on the list is panel the front under dash area and install two more speakers for the CD player. After that interior lights with delayed dimmers including foot well lights and since the keys are still needed to start the car, fit some illumination around the ignition switch. More soon I hope!
Smartscreen wired in.
Notice
anything?
Looking
nice! (But where's the blue LED lighting?)
By the way, Bryn has inherited one of these, if you know how to use one, please get in touch!
