1974 Turbocharged MGB GT (MX5 Swap)

Afternoon.

With the Gathering looming I have been spending time going over the car to give it the biggest chance possible to get there.
The Radiator was my main concern it was as old as the car and rather rusty inside, with the increased water pressure I had visions of this giving up on the road....So a new one was purchased.

A simple job of changing a like for like component too all blooming day! Basically these re-manufactured are slightly bigger and overall rubbish in construction, needless to say they feel cheap (Yet the price is NOT). Also when I first put it into the car it blooming leaked from the inlet joint!...I could not return the item as that particular vesion is in limited supply so I needed to fix a NEW part.



Honestly I'm not happy with it, the rad itself sits proud on the right hand side but its holding water so I can sort the niggles after the gathering.
You can just about make out what I mean in this next image, to sort it I need to grind to gap a little more that the rad sits down in to.


I mentioned the timing before? Well it was waaaaaaaaaaaaay out on the inlet side, so no wonder it felt like it was bogging down slightly.
This has been reset and it feels more responsive and a lot quicker (I guess it was a little out in the MX before I changed the belt the first time).

That's about it, the passenger seat is removed so I can assist in the masses of camping gear we take.
Here she is waiting for Friday afternoon.



See you at the Gathering!

I think that bonnet looks great, it suits the overall style of the car perfectly.

So summers over, but that doesn’t mean the fun should stop.

I’ve had an excellent time finally using the GT, and along the way some small changes have been made. Since installing the motor I have been running on an “Adapted” MGB speedo cable, but this proved to be risky as the registered speed was around 10mph out!

This needed sorting before I was caught unknowingly speeding, but how?

My first idea was the get the existing gauge recalibrated and a custom cable made to length, however that was scrapped after the quotes I got were quite frankly eye watering! Instead I stripped the gauge down and measured it against the MX5 dial etc, it was practically bang on so making a hybrid Gauge was the way forward. The only problem I had to overcome was tacho reset, on the Smiths gauge this comprises of a bar at the bottom that spins to reset, whereas the MX is the modern press type. To get around this I had to make a small plastic arm that would mount vertically to the reset. Seems to work, so I’m happy.

I do need to take it to bit’s again and reset the overall mileage as it should correspond to the Smith’s last reading.

Now that the car is not in regular use I plan to go over all the fabricated mounting to check to stress or fracture. I’d deliberately given the whole running gear a hard time that way I can improve things if/when they break…up to yet nothing has.

Next up, and let’s be honest the only reason why you clicked this thread…..FORCED INDUCTION!
Personally the standard 1.8 power from the MX5 lump is perfect for an MGB, its power delivery feels right with regards to the standard items on the car (brakes etc).

The reason for going FI is probably just because I can, and I love to fabricate……not to mention the MX5 lump is suited to it.
So at the moment I am collecting the relevant Supercharger parts, the “Done” method seems to be Eaton M45 or MP62 but after speaking to Blown_Imp I may go the traditional Mazda route….We will see if one comes up though. ECU wise I am going with a Piggy Back solution that has the capability to grow, in terms of eventual removal of the AFM etc.

I'm interested to see what power you get from the charger setup, should be pretty brisk I imagine! Is it an Eaton m45?

Cheers :-)

Well most of the bits have arrived now, apart from the ECU but I don't need that yet.
As of last weekend the Charger was mounted and the leftover stainless I had kicking about was mocked up, however we could not go any further due to the Intercooler not arriving and being unsure of it's location.
The space in front of the RAD is very limited due to height and the slam panel, the first idea was the route the pipework down and mount the IC low down (Think MK4 Golf type). This would mean you could see it through the valence hole, and to be honest I prefer it behind the grill.

I purchased a short but wide IC and sent the other item back, I guess this may impact overall effectiveness and total power but I don't mind really.

Cheers.

;-)
I'll just leave this here:

Just read this from the start,awesome job mate.

Nice work that man. Looks a right eyeful.

Cheers guys.
Yeah I hope so, should find out this weekend.

It's certainly got a very distinctive whine to it now.