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1974 Turbocharged MGB GT (MX5 Swapped)

Nathan Club Retro Rides Member Posts: 5,650 Club RR Member Number: 1	1974 Turbocharged MGB GT (MX5 Swapped)Nathan @bgtmidget7476 Club Retro Rides Member 1
	Mar 21, 2023 13:20:52 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	Been nearly a year since this was updated! What's happened in that time? Well two week before the Gathering the GEN1 ME221 I'd been running for the past 8 or so years just packed up. At first I thought it was due to water damage but the ECU was positioned (now moved) in such a way that it couldn't get wet, thankfully my daily ran the ME442 GEN2 so I was able to limp the car to the gathering (out of boost). Fast forward it's still running the GEN2 unit, so I need to get another for my not-so-daily MX5 now! Since the weather has broke a little it was time to get the map sorted, there are a few differences between the GEN1 and GEN2 ME221/ME442 units so my existing setup was no good. Sure it gave a baseline that it wouldnt bore wash the block, but under boost it was holding back. So fire up the laptop, enable logging to get an idea of what needs to be adjusted. Close the lid and shove it behind the seat. Now really you need to go on a drive on various roads to populate the LTT and get an idea of what needs adjusting.... So me and the trusty companion made a day of it. Around 2 hours later we had a good log to begin adjusting....Few adjustments on the road and it already feels more responsive than the setup on the old ECU. I need to adjust the timing map a little but it's getting back to how it was before. Time for a cuppa. MOT is coming up so with the Standard out the way I can get this up in the air to check, cannot see there being much wrong as I've done less than 1000miles but best to check.
	Last Edit: Mar 21, 2023 13:23:29 GMT by Nathan 1976 MG Midget Sprint - 1974 Turbo MX5 powered BGT retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=readersrides&action=display&thread=35121&page=3 www.gfbdevelopments.co.uk/

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Nathan Club Retro Rides Member Posts: 5,650 Club RR Member Number: 1	1974 Turbocharged MGB GT (MX5 Swapped)Nathan @bgtmidget7476 Club Retro Rides Member 1
	Aug 29, 2024 9:40:30 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	It's been a hot minute since this was updated! So back in April we decided to book for Race the Waves in Bridlington so I needed to get an MOT on the old girl (I know it's exempt but it's my choice!). On the run back after a spirited drive I noticed a little puff of smoke on Decel and thought nothing of it, a few weeks later the same thing happened. Seeing as the turbo was ripped out of a scrapyard Saab Viggen with unknown mileage I suspected the core was bad. Upon removal there was a tiny bit of oil and some play in the shaft, new CHRA's are not expensive so I just grabbed a new one. Felt like that was the end of the issue, took the car out for a spin and I did notice that it certainly feels more peppy so the core must have had issues. Sadly though the smoke on Decel was still there :-(, I am hoping it's the valve stem seals but for now I'll just use it until winter sets in. I do have a spare block and head that are good (a few pages back you will see I did a head swap), so it's no big loss. The exhaust manifold I made a few years back has also started to show signs of cracking, so a few weeks back I bought a TacoTaco cast manifold for it. Now these TacoTaco units are slated in the MX5 world and I certainly would not run one on a daily turbo MX5 as they do crack. However with proper support added to the turbo/downpipe they will last, I had to support the whole setup on my own manifold so this shouldnt be an issue. Whilst we are at it I may as well remove the engine and start to tidy up the bay a little more (it's always bugged me and was supposed to be a tempoary measure), also I'd like to lower the engine in the bay a little more so it would make sense to sort all this at the same time.
	1976 MG Midget Sprint - 1974 Turbo MX5 powered BGT retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=readersrides&action=display&thread=35121&page=3 www.gfbdevelopments.co.uk/

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flyingphil Posted a lot Posts: 2,477	1974 Turbocharged MGB GT (MX5 Swapped)flyingphil @flyingphil
	Aug 29, 2024 18:52:19 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	It has been good to catch up on your adventures with the BGT...thanks for keeping us updated.


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Nathan Club Retro Rides Member Posts: 5,650 Club RR Member Number: 1	1974 Turbocharged MGB GT (MX5 Swapped)Nathan @bgtmidget7476 Club Retro Rides Member 1
	Aug 30, 2024 8:39:12 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	Aug 29, 2024 18:52:19 GMT flyingphil said: It has been good to catch up on your adventures with the BGT...thanks for keeping us updated. Cheers Phil.
	1976 MG Midget Sprint - 1974 Turbo MX5 powered BGT retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=readersrides&action=display&thread=35121&page=3 www.gfbdevelopments.co.uk/

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Nathan Club Retro Rides Member Posts: 5,650 Club RR Member Number: 1	1974 Turbocharged MGB GT (MX5 Swapped)Nathan @bgtmidget7476 Club Retro Rides Member 1
	Oct 29, 2024 11:11:24 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	Update time. With summer coming to a close and knowing two of the 3 will be in bits before long we decided to get them all over to Statfolds Road Rail and Ale festival. Used the Landy to drag the standard and got the GF to drive the B. She was under explicit instruction not to decel as the valve seals are pretty much toast now :-p Show was awesome as ever! Back into it I suppose, before taking the head off the B I really need to sort the turbo manifold. What I mentioned in the last post became more of an issue, my DIY manifold cracked again and to be honest it's done well for the amount of time it's been on. So let's finally get the new cast unit on! Clearly see the old one with the heat wrap removed, I must have repaired this about 8 or 9 times now. Sadly as its not an MX5 the Kraken type wont fit due to the inner wings, this is also even so with the TacoTaco type I have. Looks fine her but the oil drain fould the inner wing and the flex hits the engine mount, so my only option is to use a converter (but one in T2 to T2). External WG will be capped with a plate off the CNC This fixed one issue of the turbo drain hitting the engine mount, but it pushes the turbo into the inner wing! The turbo drain needs to be as close as possible to vertical as it's gravity fed, previously I got away with a 70 degree drop so if I can do the same I'll be happy running it. Either way a longer AN drain will need making up for this. First cut was made but the drain (blue fitting in the image) will need to route back in so I needed to remove more metal. Eventually this is where I ended up, I'll have to make a removable blister panel to cover it up etc as to remove the turbo you need the room. I was fully expecting to remake the downpipe but all that I needed to do was clock the 90degree and reweld it to the flange RESULT! Just awaiting gaskets, AN line and it can be tested before removing the head to replace the valve seals. Depending on how I get on I'd like to whip the motor out and re-do the bay as it was only supposed to be temporary when fitting the MX5 engine....10 years or so later :-p
	1976 MG Midget Sprint - 1974 Turbo MX5 powered BGT retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=readersrides&action=display&thread=35121&page=3 www.gfbdevelopments.co.uk/

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