This Week in Wheeler's Workshop

[Nick W]

It's always great when you hear an engine run after you've been playing with it's bits 

All we've actually done is take bits off it ; all of the wiring, timing belt, inlet manifold are exactly how somebody else took it out of an MV6 about ten years ago. I bought it like that and am pleased to know it actually works

[dave the builder]

so it's running on new a ecu or still the factory GM 

[Nick W]

so it's running on new a ecu or still the factory GM 

Stock Omega. The whole point of doing this is to keep as many standard parts as possible. We made new exhaust manifolds and alternator mounts simply because there isn't room for stock ones. The radiator will be stock MGB V8; the fuel pump is stock Subaru fitted into an MGB tank; the gearbox mount is stock Omega bolted to the MGB crossmember - you get the idea.

[dave the builder]

so retaining the multi ram etc makes sense ,as the GM ecu would control it all and get the best out of the engine without spending a fortune and faf about ironing out flat spots etc 

[Nick W]

so retaining the multi ram etc makes sense ,as the GM ecu would control it all and get the best out of the engine without spending a fortune and faf about ironing out flat spots etc 

Exactly. It's effective, self-contained and reliable. And it was all included in the £250 he paid me for the engine and gearbox.

[Kevin Wood]

so retaining the multi ram etc makes sense ,as the GM ecu would control it all and get the best out of the engine without spending a fortune and faf about ironing out flat spots etc 

Exactly. It's effective, self-contained and reliable. And it was all included in the £250 he paid me for the engine and gearbox.

.. and it'll be plenty of power for the MGB chassis to be dealing with without any Barry Boy induction mods.

[dave the builder]

no doubt GM spended* a fair few dollars on R&D back in the day
ask if he has a similar budget to redesign the intake 

*spended is not what I typed 

[Nick W]

no doubt GM spended* a fair few dollars on R&D back in the day
ask if he has a similar budget to redesign the intake 

*spended is not what I typed 

We do have to make a new lower box(the plastic part that the multi-rams and AFM sit on) because there's a number of other components that want that space. But we'll try to keep the volume as close as possible.

[Doctor Gollum]

The MGB runs LINK

Nicely done

[Nick W]

Yesterday's job, about 350mm of 25mm bar with M20 threads on each end pictured with the broken part:







Removing the broken off bit took some drilling, milling, filing and 30minutes on the gas stove to break the Loctite before I could finally unwind the remaining thread with some pliers:





And here's the whole assembly stopping the freezer from floating away





thats a 0.75m length of cast steel that fell out of the bell on Monday........








Also done recently was an Omega to standard prop UJ adapter for Ian's MGB





which is now running, idling and capable of moving under its own power. Which is nice
sounds good through the single exhaust system meant for a MGB V8

[Nick W]

Just spent 90 minutes fitting the repaired clapper, most of which involved filing the bolt to fit in a cast slot in ths headstock. I did that by clamping  the bolt to the bell frame and used a bastard file, along with repeated checks. Traditional fitter's job. The clapper itself is bloody heavy to hold up whilst trying to get the gudgeon pin to start. Next step is to adjust the twiddle pins so that the bell strikes evenly, but that will wait until the Loctite has gone off.


While we were in the belfry, we changed a couple of tired ropes, checked the stays for damage(we've a learner that doesn't know his own strength) and did the basic safety checks for this year

[dave the builder]

I thought it was a gear shifter off some sort of heavy plant 
so, a bell clanger then 
on the prop of the MGB ,are you putting the 6 bolt prop donuts in ,as per BMW,Onega etc ?

[Nick W]

I thought it was a gear shifter off some sort of heavy plant 
so, a bell clanger then 
on the prop of the MGB ,are you putting the 6 bolt prop donuts in ,as per BMW,Onega etc ?

you can't use them when the diff moves, as the distance between the flanges changes and the angles are too much for the donuts to accomodate - they just tear apart. That's why traditional props have a UJ at each end, and either slide on the gearbox output shaft or incorporate a sliding joint. That's what the MGB uses so Ian's new prop is basically a brand new MGB prop that's been made slightly longer to take up the difference in gearbox length. UJs are standard parts(British cars normally use one of two common sizes), as is the slider, so  custom props are cheap and easily available. This one was about £170 from the local specialist who normally make them for trucks, heavy plant and other machinery. Just like when you buy bearings, pulleys and drive belts, they don't ask what it's off, but work from your supplied dimensions or the broken parts.


It's called a clapper. Unless the bell isn't tuned very well

[STEMO]

I thought it was a gear shifter off some sort of heavy plant 
so, a bell clanger then 
on the prop of the MGB ,are you putting the 6 bolt prop donuts in ,as per BMW,Onega etc ?

you can't use them when the diff moves, as the distance between the flanges changes and the angles are too much for the donuts to accomodate - they just tear apart. That's why traditional props have a UJ at each end, and either slide on the gearbox output shaft or incorporate a sliding joint. That's what the MGB uses so Ian's new prop is basically a brand new MGB prop that's been made slightly longer to take up the difference in gearbox length. UJs are standard parts(British cars normally use one of two common sizes), as is the slider, so  custom props are cheap and easily available. This one was about £170 from the local specialist who normally make them for trucks, heavy plant and other machinery. Just like when you buy bearings, pulleys and drive belts, they don't ask what it's off, but work from your supplied dimensions or the broken parts.


It's called a clapper. Unless the bell isn't tuned very well

Yep, hence the saying "goes like the clappers". 🙂

[Nick W]

I thought it was a gear shifter off some sort of heavy plant 
so, a bell clanger then 
on the prop of the MGB ,are you putting the 6 bolt prop donuts in ,as per BMW,Onega etc ?

you can't use them when the diff moves, as the distance between the flanges changes and the angles are too much for the donuts to accomodate - they just tear apart. That's why traditional props have a UJ at each end, and either slide on the gearbox output shaft or incorporate a sliding joint. That's what the MGB uses so Ian's new prop is basically a brand new MGB prop that's been made slightly longer to take up the difference in gearbox length. UJs are standard parts(British cars normally use one of two common sizes), as is the slider, so  custom props are cheap and easily available. This one was about £170 from the local specialist who normally make them for trucks, heavy plant and other machinery. Just like when you buy bearings, pulleys and drive belts, they don't ask what it's off, but work from your supplied dimensions or the broken parts.


It's called a clapper. Unless the bell isn't tuned very well

Yep, hence the saying "goes like the clappers". 🙂

which is actually slowly - bells do not turn very quickly, it would be about 40RPM if they travelled a full circle. And that small clapper can't move far as I can't get my shoulders in the mouth of the bell, its weight is what does the work.