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In an attempt to stay up to date, here's what been happening in the last few weeks since Phil last wrote about his GTK.
If you have been reading the site, you will have noted that the main areas of focus to date on Phil's car have been his Fiero seats, suspension modifications and, of course, the supercharger (aka Kompressor, hence GTK).
However, Phil left his GTK with me last year when he decided to follow an ambition to further his studies in Australia. Suffice to say, it was not a smooth start with the HGF it suffered in April 2005. A bit later in August 2005, the battery died, so a new one was fitted.
Then, whilst in the middle of fitting a new indicator stalk with combined hooter in November 2005, it got featured in MG Enthusiast magazine whilst they were covering an article on the EDIS. The article probably did not do the car justice, especially considering the effort that Phil has put into sorting the suspension. However, spurred on, I fitted a new recessed grille to smarten up the front with a modern MG badge.
Not much happened over Winter, the intention being to keep the car off the salty roads to maintain the reasonably good body work for Phil's eventual return.
However, Phil planned on having a short break in the UK and emailed me with his thoughts on what we should attempt to achieve work wise on the GTK during his short stay in Chester. The list was ambitious, and not helped by the fact that the car needed a fresh MOT, which with my recent travels meant that it went last week on Tuesday for the test and duly failed! So, by the time Phil arrived on the Wednesday evening we were looking at a partial front end re-build - given the failure on the track rod ends and n/s kingpin and tyre.
Having brought up most of the components the job was fairly straight forward, apart from a few hiccups. Phil decided to also add a new brake m/c on the list along with a new steering rack.
The new brake m/c is a plastic reservoir type which should make checking the fluid level a doddle. However, Welsh MG did not have new pedal bushes available so these will get done at a later stage, but we took the opportunity to smarten up the pedal box cover again with a fresh lick of paint.
In addition, given the state of the brake back plates, new stainless steel ones were sourced to smarten up the suspension.
The car received its new MOT on Friday, along with the tracking being reset.
Then the fun began, with the fitment of the EDIS system!
However, once the EDIS was installed, a few other small jobs were done such as tidying up the engine bay and wiring, and relocating the thermostat switch.
Before...
After
At the moment, Phil is using the car during his short stay, so fingers crossed it all goes well!
Check back soon!
Phil returned his car about a week ago before heading back to Australia. During this time, the original distributor was used as without a lap-top fine-tuning the map was impossible, added to which several wires snapped on the TPS. However, Matthew Kimmins and I had figured the cause of the poor timing - a result (no blame apportioned!) of positioning the VR sensor one tooth out on the trigger wheel!
However, it was not completely smooth sailing! Although the car definitely rode better thanks to the new kingpins and steering rack, it had been stood or just used for short journeys for >12 months, so it certainly didn't give of its best until towards the end of Phil's stay. However, a major concern was the o/d wire getting hot and causing a breakdown of the insulation. Phil by-passed this but the problem needs further investigation. Phil also managed to get some brackets stamped for his catch tank, so that's another item on the "to-fit" list.
So, what with work and travel etc, and some much needed servicing of my own car, it may be a while before another update.
By Phil.
Well, its been a while since I last updated on the GTK; despite a trip back to the UK during May 2006. Truth is it was a little disappointing on the MG front, although the main reason for lack of text from me is simply getting straight into the work cycle as soon as I landed back in Aus. On the plus side I have now finally bought the laptop I have been threatening to get since I came out here, and we are soon to be hooked up to the internet at home so I should get more time to pen some thoughts in future. So, what's been going on with the GTK..?
MOT Failure
Martin was good enough to send it for an MOT just before I came home, which the little minx duly failed - the first in my ownership! To be fair (particularly to Martin!), the items that it failed on were first pulled up at an MOT three years ago, but which have not subsequently been mentioned so I've quietly ignored them. However I always felt they were affecting the performance of the car but was avoiding my conscious… Therefore I was quite philosophical about the failures and decided that it was about time these parts were changed anyway.
So, what did it fail on..? The list as far as I can remember was as follows:
- Kingpins
- Front Bearings
- Steering Rack
- Track Rod Ends (TRE)
- Brakes (advisory)
- Front Tyres (advisory limit)
All of these items were noticeably in poor condition from just driving the car and not at all in keeping with the rest of the car's set up. Over harsh road conditions, the car would crash and jolt, sending a metallic jolt through the steering column. There was also that mysterious negative camber issues - could it be the kingpins/bearings..?
Arriving at Martin's, he convinced me I should take it for a spin, although I can admit to feeling somewhat apprehensive. It is fair to say that when I had left the UK for Aus I was pretty much MG'd out and the stress of trying to sort the nagging issues of the GTK conversion at the time as well as trying to get my life in order to get to Aus had taken its toll. It was almost a relief to hand over the keys! That said, over the course of the 15months I had been in Aus to that point, with regular updates on the car's performance from Martin and others who had been in it with him, I had started to miss the little champ. So it was nice to be back really.
Pleasingly, slipping back in to the Fieros was like putting on an old pair of driving gloves! The leather soft and the side bolsters hugging me tight, the GTK fired first time and we pulled out of the driveway. Martin has a 'private test-track' (nudge, wink) close to his house that I know relatively well, so I took that road, flung the beast sideways off of the chosen exit to the roundabout and booted the throttle! Holy mother of devilish acceleration - we were back! On one stretch where the roads' kinks can be taken as a straight line, the GTK powered through 3rd, 3rd OD, 4th, 4th OD hitting licence spanking figures without much sweat. I had forgotten how this car goes. Its weird, it feels so unstressed - almost boring. The exhaust never gets excited, yet you look down and the needle has hit triple figures faster than an MGB really ought to have done. I closed down, turned around, and in true heretic style - did the very same carpet pile squashing antics with the right-foot on the way back to the garage!
By this time my brother (who had driven me to Martin's in his new toy - a mk1 Astra set up for hill climbing and fitted with an XE!) mentioned overly loudly that as yet, HE of all people, had not been in the car since it had earned its 'K' badge. So, well to cut along story short, read the above paragraph again! Hehe…
With that aside, the strip down began. Nothing really to report there, all changed without too much fuss, except Phil bodging one of the wheel bearings (having never done it before!) and having one of those annoying waits for morning to go back down the specialist to buy another part! The MOT came and went without too much fuss, but something didn't feel right. I don't know, but this wasn't my GTK - ok so the suspension was noticeably smoother with no crashing on bumps despite the heavy rated front springs and dampers, the steering was heavy with no feel. I felt a little bit upset…
To cheer me up Martin took me for a spin in his car, where he gunned it to within an inch of its life through North Wales. I had so much fun - I never knew that a B series could sound so willing to pick up it's skirt and motor! We put it down to the fact it runs synthetic Mobil 1 oil, Optimax, and has its engine knowledgeably set up with of course EDIS. That system allows Martin to fly through the 5500rpm limit that the points system held him to, and he sees 7000rpm without so much as a tappet rattle!
It was about this time that somehow we broke our promises and instead of just enjoying the GTK on my break - we went and pulled the radiator out to fit an EDIS system… <sigh>
Again, surprisingly this too passed without too much fuss. I was beginning to get suspicious… Sure enough something bad did happen. I machined the centre of the EDIS wheel using Martin's pillar drill. On the last hole, before I could punch the centre out, the drill snagged and wheel spun around on the bit. I lifted my arm to hit the emergency stop button, when the drill bit snapped and spun the toothed wheel across the garage; passing under my arm, skimming my freshly painted nearside wing, smacking the bonnet strut and zipping down the garage to land in a pile of rags. Feck it! I guess the bonnet strut saved my windscreen, but it was the paintwork I was more furious about - if I hadn't have moved my arm, sure it would have been broken by the wheel, but that was a lot easier to swallow than the buggered paintwork right in the centre of the panel!
Get Together
Still to ease the pain (or maybe rub it in, I'm not sure), unbeknownst to me Martin had organised a bit of an MG get-together in my honour! Nice! The chaps were mostly from the MGOC BBS and I have to say I had a great evening, although I have to apologise for spending most of it in the garage working hard under the bonnet. I didn't mean to be rude, but somehow we just started to get on with fitting the EDIS that evening and have it fired for everyone to see.
EDIS Rush
We managed it, but in true form, whenever anything is rushed, mistakes happen. Over the course of the evening we made a fair few, including flooding the garage with fresh engine oil due to a miscommunication who was reconnecting the oil pipes and getting the EDIS sensor 20 degrees or so out (this wasn't found out until after I left for Australia again).
We still hadn't ironed out the EDIS problems beyond the deadline of Sunday lunchtime and by early evening my girlfriend had said in no uncertain terms enough was enough. Being on a strict visiting schedule whilst in the UK, we were due elsewhere, so had to down-bonnet and leave Martin's with the GTK running the old ignition set up.
Further EDIS Teething Troubles
Two days later the GTK was used for a run to Cardiff. I had decided by then that it was silly having the EDIS and not using it, so despite the ignition settings not being fully optimised, I decided to plug it all back in and run to Cardiff using it.
Unfortunately when I lifted the bonnet, the throttle positioning sensor wires had snapped! This meant that we had obviously fastened them to the throttle cable too tight and that the engine movement severed the connections. Without the TPS unit, the EDIS system can only work in "2D", rather than the mapped "3D" set up it usually would. Therefore I saw no benefit of running it and hence made the journey (and subsequent ones during my stay) just on the standard ignition set up.
This aside the GTK behaved itself quite well, but the steering was still pig awful and the brakes woeful…
Fire!
Running back across the country to my Mums later that week, however, disaster struck! When I fitted the Austin Healey Replica Gearknob, I had fitted a fuse to the Yellow OD wiring. I didn't, for some reason, protect the white OD wiring with a fuse as well. It was the white wire that disintegrated itself in a smouldering mess… Bugger! I guess it was just old. Who knows? The wiring of the GTK is actually very good, although it looks messy so I was particularly gutted to have this happen. The flames happened a second time a few days later when I was foolish enough to reconnect the same wire. I checked the cable for temperature; it was fine; two miles later I couldn't see out of the windscreen for smoke!
Return to Martin's
By now we were out of time and the UK trip had come to a close. So, feeling somewhat p'd off with MG ownership again, I fired up for the last time and my brother steered the Astra in tow to follow me back to Martins after I fitted a new, albeit temporary, OD wire running from the white terminal of the fusebox with a connection by the gearstick ready to pull apart if it needed (and not before a concerned mate of my brother handed me a fire extinguisher to keep handy in the cab!).
Well now, funny things happen when you least expect it. Despite the journey starting with the worst torrential rain on the M6 that my brother and I had ever seen, we got a blistering run up the A41 in beautiful sunshine and a drying road. By then my apprehension about the OD wire catching alight again had sort of removed (I was only feeling the wire for heat every 2 miles or so now) and I started to slip back into the fieros. The steering had loosened up beautifully and felt better than ever, I had lightened up about the tappety engine noise and on the whole, just really relaxed into having a great drive along a well-known and favourite road of my brother and I.
The GTK was firing so well that we even managed to lose the astra for about 10 miles (that car can do a 14 second quarter mile, so that is no mean feat!).
Thus I arrived at Martins with a long awaited grin on my face. I am glad we got a good run eventually; I just don't see why it had to be my last one. Not wanting to spoil it, not even Martin's jibing could get me back in the drivers seat for one last jaunt on the 'test track'. I felt I had my moment and I didn't want to spoil it…
Rounding It Up
So, I went back to Aus a little disappointed again, but really I guess we just bit off more than we could chew.
The EDIS was a big ask, I think, although theoretically possible to have done in the time available. The actual fitment of everything, including the bespoke timing wheel (different to most Bs, due to the different bottom pulley design for the supercharger and subsequent clearance to the steering rack) took very little time at all. I personally feel that we did a very agreeable job too, as the installation (particularly the solution regarding the toothed wheel) seems to work very well. Once solved, I am convinced that EDIS will bring a benefit to the supercharger set up, in a similar way to Martin has found with his car. The power of the GTK at present plateaus at around 4900-5500rpm, it will be interesting to see if this is just related to the larger engine configuration, or if the worn distributor is causing this. EDIS should pin-point it. Also, whilst fiddling with different engine set ups, EDIS will mean that a decent tune will always be achievable without having to fiddle with bob-weights in the dizzy!
The items replaced for the MOT make the car better handling and safer - no arguments. They should have been done yonks ago!! That said I had not appreciated that they would need to bed themselves in and therefore it was a shock to find that the car was completely different in character until this had occurred.
What's Left Then?
Well, there is the EDIS to fix (most of which has theoretically been solved by Matt and Martin, but has yet to be implicated on the car), the OD wire is pretty high on the list, I have to sort the paintwork out on the front wing, and I have to have a bit of a tidy up of the wiring in general.
Also the brakes and tyres need a solution. However I can't decide what to do here. I bought on ebay, before I came home, a set of Triumph TR6 wheels. They are 15" and fit the stud pattern of the B, however their offset requires a bit of dressing of the panelwork on the rear wings, which we did not have time to do. I cannot decide whether to get this done and fit these wheels, or simply replace the two knackered front tyres using the 14" rostyles…
The brakes sort of follow this. 15" wheels allow fancy brake callipers; 14" rostyles do not. However the B brakes in theory are fine enough for the job and I don't think really warrant bigger callipers etc just yet; but I do need new discs and pads. What to buy though?
Also one of the things that I really wanted to do (above fitting the EDIS really) was fit an oil catch tank and modify the engine breathing such that both tappet chests breathed into the tank. The EDIS fitment put paid to that, but I got as far as having a bracket stamped out for the catch tank. I can still smell oil vapour as the boost of the supercharger getting the best of the breathing system occasionally and want to see if this solution works. If it does, I will use it on the better engine block planned for the future (more boost).
Well, not much since the last update when Phil left the car with me before heading back to Perth! At least I thought not. An A4 page list was left with me of jobs that might be nice to do...suffice to say that with wanting to spend time on my own car, not much got done. The car was used regularly and seemed to be ok, and even made it down to Hinckley for an evening meet-up with the BBS members of the MGOC. It did however disgrace itself by electrically dying on me in the outside lane of the M54, but after five minutes of tugging wires and battery cables etc, it fired up and never gave a problem again, that is, until this last week when I was coming home and the oil pressure dropped to nil! Despite only being about 1/2 a mile from home, I called the AA, who came quickly and got me back on the drive, where it has sat ever since Monday evening! The nature of the sudden loss suggests a pump problem or a relief valve issue, either way it's going to need pulling out, and following last year's HGF, another chance to see how it is all holding together.