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billspohn
Jedi Knight
Offline
I just got back from Namgar GT-32 in Whistler BC.
I took my Mk 2 Deluxe MGA Coupe as well as the Jamaican, which predictably gave rise to a few WTF is that questions. Rain coming up was less than fun. I did discover that the defroster in the Jamaican worked passably well – on the passenger side. With the larger expanse of a Corvette windshield to clear I will have to partially block the passenger duct to get anything useful on my side, but that was a small inconvenience.
The Coupe had a problem with a wheel that had just been straightened but I was able to fix that (pegs not allowing it to seat properly), and so we took the untested Jamaican, on its maiden voyage, on the trek from Whistler to Lillooet, a fairly long trip over steep narrow winding roads with single lane bridges and randomly pot-holed pavement, in other words a real test of the car, and no gas stations for 100 km.
I am happy to say that the car worked without a single problem. It ran hotter than an MG engine would, but nothing that was a problem given the large alloy radiator and electric fan (and 25 lb. cap). It was also the first time I was really able to run the car hard on the road as I had been breaking the engine in up to then.
I had built it purposely giving away something down low for some power high up, as torque was the last thing I was looking for, and the Crane 272 cam in the 3.4 V6 really starts to work at around 3000 RPM. In fact imagine an MGA or MGB with double the power and torque and you get an idea of what fun it is. I’d tuned the suspension as I always do for the street with a bit more negative camber on the front, stiffer front springs and a ¾” sway bar, and the handling was all I could have asked. The V8 gearbox with closer ratios was also just what I had wanted. A first gear that was not a bull low, and the rest of the ratios more or less what an MGB would deal with, although a bit longer legged as the tires are Yokohama 215 – 60 x 15 on 6” Dayton wires.
The exhaust is straight through 2 ½” (Magnaflow muffler and Pacesetter tip) and it is the perfect combination of fairly quiet at low RPM, but pretty nasty if you give it full throttle from 3000 or so – in fact it sounds unlike a straight 6 or a V8, but has its own sound. At perhaps 200 BHP and 200 ft.lbs., the acceleration is impressive, and with that gearbox you have the choice of leaving it in 4th and running at 2500 – 3000 RPM, ready to pass, or popping it in 5th and running at around 1200 RPM – at which it will happily loaf along and climb hills without downshifting – just don’t ask for instant hard acceleration from there without down shifting.
The car was fast, tight, handled well, and nothing fell off or spewed fluids or did anything untoward on the whole trip. I wish the race cars were always as accommodating.
The chance to see EX-186 and Steve Woodyard’s Sebring Twincam topped the experience off nicely!
I took my Mk 2 Deluxe MGA Coupe as well as the Jamaican, which predictably gave rise to a few WTF is that questions. Rain coming up was less than fun. I did discover that the defroster in the Jamaican worked passably well – on the passenger side. With the larger expanse of a Corvette windshield to clear I will have to partially block the passenger duct to get anything useful on my side, but that was a small inconvenience.
The Coupe had a problem with a wheel that had just been straightened but I was able to fix that (pegs not allowing it to seat properly), and so we took the untested Jamaican, on its maiden voyage, on the trek from Whistler to Lillooet, a fairly long trip over steep narrow winding roads with single lane bridges and randomly pot-holed pavement, in other words a real test of the car, and no gas stations for 100 km.
I am happy to say that the car worked without a single problem. It ran hotter than an MG engine would, but nothing that was a problem given the large alloy radiator and electric fan (and 25 lb. cap). It was also the first time I was really able to run the car hard on the road as I had been breaking the engine in up to then.
I had built it purposely giving away something down low for some power high up, as torque was the last thing I was looking for, and the Crane 272 cam in the 3.4 V6 really starts to work at around 3000 RPM. In fact imagine an MGA or MGB with double the power and torque and you get an idea of what fun it is. I’d tuned the suspension as I always do for the street with a bit more negative camber on the front, stiffer front springs and a ¾” sway bar, and the handling was all I could have asked. The V8 gearbox with closer ratios was also just what I had wanted. A first gear that was not a bull low, and the rest of the ratios more or less what an MGB would deal with, although a bit longer legged as the tires are Yokohama 215 – 60 x 15 on 6” Dayton wires.
The exhaust is straight through 2 ½” (Magnaflow muffler and Pacesetter tip) and it is the perfect combination of fairly quiet at low RPM, but pretty nasty if you give it full throttle from 3000 or so – in fact it sounds unlike a straight 6 or a V8, but has its own sound. At perhaps 200 BHP and 200 ft.lbs., the acceleration is impressive, and with that gearbox you have the choice of leaving it in 4th and running at 2500 – 3000 RPM, ready to pass, or popping it in 5th and running at around 1200 RPM – at which it will happily loaf along and climb hills without downshifting – just don’t ask for instant hard acceleration from there without down shifting.
The car was fast, tight, handled well, and nothing fell off or spewed fluids or did anything untoward on the whole trip. I wish the race cars were always as accommodating.
The chance to see EX-186 and Steve Woodyard’s Sebring Twincam topped the experience off nicely!
