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Copy of the monthly V8 Column published in Safety Fast! This month we have news of the continuing flow of new V8 registrations,
confirmation that the new V8 Register website at www.v8register.net
has been launched and is receiving an enthusiastic response from
many members, a report from Brian Field (Harvest Gold 0097) from
Cardiff on his rally prepared V8 which he has decided must be sold,
the release of several workshop notes, news that both series of
workshop notes are now available on CD, and a report on the V8 Gathering
at Hazeley Heath in Hampshire in May.
Brian Moyse with the RV8 he had acquired in the week before the V8 Gathering at the Shoulder of Mutton on Hazeley Heath in May. (Photo: Victor Smith) Member news New V8 website Do pop into the website and browse the 45 webpages where
you will find full details of the V8 technical support offered by
the V8 Register through the two series of workshop notes for the
BGTV8 and the RV8, spares updates provided by Clive Wheatley and
other V8 specialists, a copy of the listing of V8 specialists known
as the V8 LIFELINE, a copy of the Rolling V8 Calendar of events
and details of the V8 Regalia range. There is also an online feedback
and registration form which sends the data entered through to the
V8 Registrar as an automated email from the webhost. So visitors
can join the V8 Register online and members can update their details
online too - for example changes of address! We also have a bulletin
board which is gradually being used by members as a forum where
messages with news of social events can be left or technical queries
can be raised so other members can respond with their ideas or advice.
Already some of the contributions to the workshop notes series have
been posted there before being checked by our technical team and
then put in the working drafts of the latest volume of either the
V8 or RV8 Workshop Notes series. V8 and RV8 Workshop Notes on CD The RV8 Workshop Notes CD with the first four volumes taking the series to note 125 plus a free copy of the current working draft of Volume 5 is £20.00 including post and packaging for UK members and £22.00 overseas. The Swedish V8 enthusiast, Stephen Muskantor (BRG 0416 and Damask 0326), was one of the first members to order his CD. The V8 Workshop Notes CD with Volume 5 & 6 taking the series to note 250 plus a copy of the current working draft of Volume 7 is £10.00 including post and packaging for UK members and £12.00 overseas. All cheques payable to "V8 Register - MG Car Club" and mailed to Victor Smith. See the website at www.v8register.net for full details of
the contents of each series and the availability and costs of each
volume, including a discount for members seeking the latest volume
who have previously purchased the earlier volumes of a series as
email attachments. The website also has details of how overseas
members can make their payments for the CDs which are sent out by
airmail. RV8 price trends V8 enthusiasts interested in getting a reimported RV8 whilst the
good prices last, should contact one of the specialist reimporters
soon - just pop into the new V8 Register website at www.v8register.net
and you will find a listing of the RV8 Reimporters there with all
their contacts. See also a report from
Chris Watkins sent in on 19th June 2002 on RV8 Price Trends.
Steve Thorning and Bryan Ditchman at the bar of the Shoulder of Mutton in May for the Sunday lunchtime V8 gathering at Hazeley Heath. (Photo: Victor Smith) V8 Gathering at Hazeley Heath
Colin McKerrow, a longstanding member of the V8 Register, with Christine at Hazeley Heath. (Photo: Victor Smith)
David Shattock from Sussex a regular at the V8 Gatherings at Hazeley Heath. (Photo: Victor Smith) Successful rallying MGBGTV8 up for sale - good
home essential!
Brian Field and Mike Sutcliffe on their way to a class win on the Welsh Rally retrospective in 1994. (Photo: Speedsports Ruthin) Harvest Gold 0097 is well prepared for rallying. Originally
a works LHD V8 prototype fitted with the North American emission
equipment, it was purchased by Brian and converted to RHD. It was
converted for rallying and modifications included fitting the stronger
SD1 gearbox, an uprated backaxle with a Salisbury limited slip differential
with Watts linkages, 14 inch Minilites for 185 x 6 inch rubber,
a dual circuit braking system uprated with DS11 pads upfront and
VG95 linings at the back, the V8 engine with a Holley, a stainless
steel exhaust system and a protective shield for the fuel tank.
It has a fully plumbed in fire extinguishing system. There are twelve
Minilites shod with various rally and road tyres. Inside, it is
fitted with a Halda twin meter, hi-back rally seats and four point
full harness, and a roll over cage. The car comes with some of the
original parts as spares - the original engine in the same state
of tune, V8 gearbox, six original V8 wheels and the original back
axle. The car is registered with the RAC MSA for Post Historic Rallying. Brian casually mentioned one rally took them to the MIRA test circuit and whilst circulating with his wife Margaret as passenger, she casually asked Brian what speed they were trundling round at, only to receive the reply - "top of the red in fifth" which Brian estimates was 140mph. Brian noted "it was as steady as a rock!".
"It's a flyer" on the Harry Platter Eppynt with a 1st in Historic. (Photo: Brian Field) Sadly Brian has now decided it is time for the V8 to go
as he is 86 and no longer feels he can exercise the machine in the
style it is used to! In recent years he has appeared in the V8 at
the various V8 Tours and other events, having given up rallying
in the late 1990s at 80! He has been known for his penchant for
getting airborne over humped bridges! The car has meant a great
deal to Brian and he very much wants Harvest Gold 0097 to go to
a good home. So V8 enthusiasts interested in an historic MG should
get in touch with Brian on 02920 623710 without delay. Brian says "Harvest Gold 0097 was one of two prototypes
I bought from Bill Price at Abingdon with Special Tuning parts
from the USA - Holley, Isky cam and lifters, flowed heads with sodium
filled valves, a Stag distributor with twin contact breakers, and
much more. I undertook develop the car for competition to keep the
name of MG prominent. I converted it to RHD." Brian mentioned
that the car has now got a Crane cam which he feels is better and
a "double-pumper" Holley. Clearly the car has had an active
life and Brian acquired a crashed V8 shell a while ago from which
floor sections and elsewhere have been repaired, so the body is
surprising as the rust has been kept down and the body much stiffened.
The competition history is extraordinary for an amateur entrant
- "successful runs in the RAC, Scottish, Welsh, Irish and Manx
rallies were followed by historic events. We were first overall
in the 1990 Mike Spence (against a top field) and had many class
wins in Ireland, Prescott, Wiscombe (fastest MG), Harry Slatter's
rally on Eppynt, the Coronation, Bridgend stages and Silverstone.
Yes we did racing and hillclimbs as well as rallies."
"At the end of the day" - Denis Cordell and Brian Field with HUD 577 N. (Photo: Margaret Field) In his modest way, Brian thanks his friends who have worked with
him over the years - "thanks to co-driver/navigators Denis
and Stuart Cordell, Colin Francis, Mal Stuart and others - still
best friends! All the work on the V8 was carried out in my garage
at home by Mercedes trained mechanic, Frank Ferris, with valuable
advice from Special Tuning at Abingdon, Lucas Comps, Salisbury and
Aldon Engineering." How to improve on success - that was the 2003 challenge for Pier Luigi Fusaroli who organised this event from 26th April to 4th May for the Italian MG Car Club. Previously the Club had organised events around the northern part of Italy, but here they ventured into the deep south. The theme of the event was to visit as many of the wonderful Baroque churches and other buildings as possible in the week, and this appealed to an international entry with 8 cars from Germany, 8 from Switzerland, 5 from Spain, 3 each from Denmark and the UK plus 2 each from France and Belgium. Adding in the 40 cars from all parts of Italy gave us a happy and international bunch of enthusiasts. The oldest cars were the 1932 F2 of Urs & Sonia Langen
from Switzerland, the 1933 L2 of Michele & Rosario Dal Grande
from Germany and the 1933 J2 of Armaud & Martine Jacobs from
Belgium, whilst at the other end of the scale were two 2002 cars,
the TF of Francesco & Maria-Theresa Ricciardi from Rome and
the TF 160 of José & Dolores Oriola from Barcelona, so
that the cars neatly spanned 70 years of MG history, with virtually
every model except the SVW cars represented. Only three cars came
from England. The first was the 1952 TD of Malcolm & Linda Sayers
from Newbury - they have completed several Coupe Des Alpes so being
true T-typers had a spare half-shaft ready strapped to the chassis
and a second petrol pump plumbed in. Don & Pat Lord brought
their 1957 ZB from Whitely Bay, this also being much modified for
long-distance work with disc brakes and many others improve-ments;
the ZB has a huge capacity for carrying spares and tools - including
even a stroboscope - so Don could often be seen repairing all sorts
of cars. Gordon & Jennifer Hesketh-Jones came from Penzance
in their 1974 BGTV8 in which they have covered over 200,000 miles
in 15 years. |
Clever organising touches included name badges showing the
entrant's first name with a stylised version of their national flag
so these eased communication and quickly lead to friendships; a
comprehensive road book for the whole week, sometimes by tulip diagram,
sometimes by route description, kept us on the right roads, and
there were two service vehicles plus a motor-cycle escort from MG
d'Italia, as well as a van with a pair of mechanics kindly provided
by Nissan. Add to this sometimes up to a dozen Carabineri escorts
and we made a long and multi-coloured convoy as we criss-crossed
Sicily, to the great enthusiasm of the Sicilians who really love
classic cars and would wave and applaud from their cars or the street
corners etc. Piero stressed to us in the first briefing that we
must not stop if we saw one of our convoy broken down; this gave
us all a problem as MG drivers are conditioned from birth to stop
to assist stricken MGs, but we could see the sense of this instruction
in view of the arrangements made for service vehicles. The first of a whole series of incredible Baroque buildings
we were to visit were in Palermo, but as that city has what
seems to be a 24 hour traffic jam, Piero arranged for us to go by
coach, with multi-lingual guides to look after us; having seen the
traffic chaos from inside the air-conditioned coaches, we approved
of his decision! The following day we drove to Erice, a classical
Italian town perched on the top of a steep mountain as so often
seen in films and dating back to 241BC; the ancient stone sets in
the narrow streets had been worn so shiny with the passing of millions
of shoes, hooves and wheels that, as we drove through, our tyres
squeaked at every turn. The road up the mountain went around innumerable
hairpins and a gang of some 20 workers were stationed all the way
to the top, cutting the grass verges etc; they all stopped to applaud
and this encouraged the schoolboys driving the MGs to attack the
hairpins with vigour, to the great delight of the workers. The weather
was a gentle 30°C !! and Tunisia could just be seen in the distance;
the town had an incredible aura of peace and tranquillity, possibly
why it was chosen to be the headquarters of the International Centre
for Scientific Culture. Later that day we moved to Segesta to see
the remains of a 5th century Doric Temple on Mount Barbaro, and
much higher up the mountain the even older amphitheatre with 20
levels of seating, again with wonderful views, and with, for the
Northerners, some relief from the heat. With Sicily so far South, it was no surprise for our convoy next
day to start off yet again in real heat, our first destination
being the impressive and aptly named Valley of the Temples at Agrigento,
where there was so much to see that it was worth a day's visit in
itself, but we moved on to the town of Gela where all of the town
centre car parks had been emptied to make way for our MGs. The towns-people
leant out of their windows to wave as we passed, and enthusiastic
crowds came to see our cars whilst we had lunch - the Sicilian love
of cars knows no bounds! As usual, our cars were guarded by numbers
of armed and fierce looking but equally enthusiastic Carabineri,
who also shepherded us out of the town as we headed off to Ragusa,
another town built on the top of a mountain, and with an incredible
Baroque Cathedral as well as several Baroque churches. The Cathedral
contained several statues and paintings of what the English would
call "St George & the Dragon", so obviously this legend
is as international as an MG. This day ended with a long drive in
the dark to the next hotel, and the convoy soon became split up,
but the excellent road-books saw us all arrive safely at the next
hotel. With the collection of MGs probably being worth over £1,000,000
the organisers had again arranged for our cars to be in yet another
closely-guarded compound. The following day we went to see the Bronze Age settlement near
Ispica - these people lived in caves in the sides of a narrow
gorge some 13km long and 150m deep - but later a more modern town
was built there, only for it to be destroyed in the earthquake of
1693 - one of many to affect the island; later in the week we visited
the "new" Ispica and by this time we had become blasé
about the idea of driving into a town and taking over all of the
best town-centre car parks, but here the police and the Mayor actually
closed all of the town-centre streets for several hours so that
we could indulge in autotest and gymkana activities, to the great
joy of the townsfolk. Having enjoyed so much culture, motor sport
activities came next with some laps of the Syracuse motor racing
circuit which used to be on the Formula 1 Grand Prix calendar, then
over to the Pergusa circuit (still used for F2 and F3) near the
historic town of Enna where the circuit owners let us have far more
laps at whatever speed we chose.... A trip to Sicily would not be complete without a drive on the
Targa Florio circuit, and Piero did not disappoint us, with
his route taking in roughly half of a lap. The week in Sicily was a week of contrasts - wonderful scenery
- intriguing civil engineering solutions to the topography of an
island so subject in the past to volcanoes and earthquakes - incredible
buildings - enthusiastic Sicilians - excellent food and wine - hot
weather - the company of some 150 MG enthusiasts - all this and
superb organisation by Piero Fusaroli and his team. Not an event
to miss next year. Now for some workshop notes from the working drafts of the two latest volumes. RV8 Workshop Note 128 Our problem was an inoperative heater control. The knob turned
but did not turn on the hot water valve in the engine bay. You could
see the cable trying to push the tap but it would not operate the
valve properly. With the cable disconnected (at the tap), the tap
could be operated manually without much effort but the cable was
not doing its job. We had made a decision to fit a remote cable
and a suitable tap to overcome the problem. But after investigating
the lack of accessibility to do this and the availability of the
parts, we decided to try and fix the existing set up. First we needed to get access to the control in the dash to see
if it could be repaired or replaced. After stripping out some of
the centre console and dismantling the dash and woodwork around
the controls, we were left with a large plastic control box that
has three controls on it. The far right hand was the heater. We
could see the cable from the heater tap entering a groove in the
box. The cable outer had come out and was just moving along the
wire inner every time you moved the control knob. Closer examination
proved that this was the only problem with the box and it seemed
that re-securing the cable would cure the problem. The cable was
supposed to be secured to the box with a plastic U shaped clip.
We prized it off with a screwdriver, relocated the cable and attached
the clip. This seemed to do the job perfectly but we were concerned that
it might push the cable off again after refitting it. The best way
to secure it was to undo the clip and put some polyurethane glue/sealer
on the cable at the clip and reattach the clip. Polyurethane is
really rubbery and strong w hen it sets so it should bond it in
place securely. We did all this without removing the box from the
dash, just manoeuvring it to gain access where needed. This is a
bit fiddly but works well. We then screwed the box in place in the
dash and went into the engine bay to the heater tap assembly. Minor
adjustment here to the outer cable clamp had the tap working perfectly. We would have liked to remove the cable completely to lubricate
it but it would have been almost impossible because the end of the
inner wire is bent in loops to attach to the tap. I am not sure
at the box end because it is internal and you cannot see it unless
you dismantle it - if you can. The last thing to do was to refit
the woodwork and console section etc. This proved to be very fiddly,
just getting the woodwork straight seemed impossible but it all
came together well. With the job completed the last minute test proved it worked well, maybe a little stiff but not difficult to use and we did not have to buy a new control box or fit a remote tap and cable. RV8 Workshop Note 130 I am not quite sure how you might make this "experience"
into a workshop note, but I think it has merit and might help other
members. A couple of weeks ago, I began to experience an intermittent
problem with hesitation, first under acceleration but then on deceleration.
My local MG expert went for the electrics as the cause and proposed
changing the HT leads, which I did. The problem appeared to go away
for a couple of days and then reappeared. My local MG experts don't
have much in the way of specialist electronic diagnostics and so
I went to a local garage I have used previously who do have that
equipment. They also went for the electrics but could not get far
enough into the diagnostics because the MG Rover "chip"
seems to have blocks in it which stop non-dealer intervention. By
this time the car was running quite badly and the mixture was running
very rich - too rich in fact. I have a copy of an MG World article on the RV8 and noticed
the comment about the engine fluffing out due to blocked fuel filters
and this was suggested as a potential problem, along with dirty
fuel. I began to wonder who to trust and where to start. I then
found a V8 specialist, JE Engineering in Coventry. This is where this note crosses between the RV8 and MGBV8 sections of the V8 Register. JE Engineering have a full range of diagnostic equipment, indeed they have the technology to re-map such systems and Roy Burrell there has worked on RV8s. They have some serious kit in their factory and I understand they have done some development work for Land Rover on the V8. They determined, within about ten minutes, that there were three faults - on the air intake sensor and on two sensors connected to the mixture settings that were opposite to each other and thus could be assumed to cancel each other out. Whilst running the engine, Roy lightly touched the air filter, primarily to tell me he hated the design and to suggest an alternative, and the engine fluffed. When constant pressure was applied the engine stalled. Out came the spanners and he found that the wiring loom
which attaches to the underside of the air filter unit takes a very
sharp 90 degree turn and is in fact too tight. Whilst the connections
were all satisfactory, it was clear the tightness of the wiring
was probably causing the lack on connectivity when the car was travelling
over uneven road surfaces and the air filter is bushed to the bodywork.
By bushed I mean the air filter is attached to the inner wing on
rubber bushes which allow the unit to vibrate and move with the
flexing of the bodyshell. Had those bushes not been in place, one
could assume that the problem could have been worse! When the wiring
loom was loosened up a little and everything reset and the faults
cancelled on the ECU and retested, the engine ran, and continues
to run, perfectly. So problem solved. JE Engineering have the original programme for the RV8 (not
just the RV8 engine) and offer a complete remapping service for
around £350.00. This is an expensive option but takes the
car out of the MG Rover network for diagnostic servicing. JE Engineering
are at Siskin Drive, Coventry CV3 4FJ and Roy Burrell can be contacted
on 02476 305018. One part reference that came up during this process
was for the HT leads for the RV8 (part number is GHT275)
which costs £43.13 as a Factory spare which can be replaced
by a Land Rover part (RTC6551) at £25.96. Footnote: Roger Parker mentioned he knows JE Engineering well and pops in to see them frequently. They have dealer level diagnostic and access equipment plus much, much more including a very, very comprehensive computer controlled dyno cell test facilities. They do prototype work and are involved in many other "interesting" areas including engine and gearbox management software programming and applications for serious conversions for wealthy overseas buyers. RV8 Workshop Note 132 Since buying my immaculate RV8 in December 2001, I have cleaned
here comprehensively and had the body treated with Tefseal, the
underside waxoyled, changed the advance and retard tube (£1.59),
installed an RPI chip (just over £300 and well worth it!!)
and added an extended to the radio aerial imput to get more than
Radio 2! And of course I have driven the RV8! What a drive and an
eye catcher! But there has been one problem. In a recent V8 Column, Victor Smith mentioned that my car was
one known to have been warehoused for a couple of years by a chap
hoping to make a profit from increased prices for the model.
In that time the tyres had perished in eight places. Along each
side of the tyre there were very small cracks which I had not noticed
when purchasing the car. An eagle-eyed waxoyler noticed these fine
cracks and a tyre specialist confirmed it. So whilst the tyres had
only done about 6,000 miles, they are being replaced by Z rated
tyres for speed or, if they are not available, the newer W rating.
So my tip is look closely at the tyres on reimported RV8s before
trying out the capabilities of the beautiful beast! Editor: We should mention here that the RV8 Reimporters recommended and set out in the listings at the back of each volume of the RV8 Workshop Notes (and published on the V8 website) do make thorough checks of their cars before delivery. It seems that similar high standards may not have been followed by the speculator with his warehoused stock. Any member purchasing an RV8 from what appears to be warehoused stock can check the VIN numbers of the RV8s offered for sale with the V8 Registrar, Victor Smith, to check if they are known to have been part of a particular "warehoused stock" exercise in the UK. V8 Workshop Note 251 As part of a full rebuild, I recently had to replace the starter motor on my 74 MGBGTV8 - not something I was looking forward to. I was getting quotes around £155 exchange from most dealers and then at one of the shows I met John Benton who is trading out of Stockport as "Mr B". He was offering V8 starter motors at £60.00 exchange and to cut a long story short, he even delivered it to a relative's house near my own to avoid delivery charges. I knew there was no way I could split the stainless steel manifold from the downpipe at home so had a local garage fit it for me. I was dreading the bill but they managed to fit the starter motor and a new heat shield from underneath and the only thing they had to remove was a clamp. Time taken one hour and cost £20. You can see why I am happy! This note was first posted on the Bulletin Board of the V8 Register website at www.v8register.net as a very useful tip. V8 Workshop Note 252 I have just had a problem with the performance of my 74 V8. At
low speeds the pick-up was very poor. Having read an early workshop
note, the first thing I checked was the distributor vacuum unit
but that was working fine when I connected a pipe to it and sucked!
The next thing I checked was the rubber connectors at each end of
the vacuum pipe which I have had fail before, but again they were
OK. However when I sucked on the carburettor end of the pipe I was
drawing air and the vacuum unit didn't work. The pipe looked fine
but was obviously leaking. I finally traced the leak to the rubber
grommet inside the 'p' clip holding the pipe to the inlet manifold.
The pipe had fractured inside the grommet which was still holding
it solidly in place. I suspect the damage had been caused over time
by repeated removal of the distributor head without disconnecting
the vacuum pipe. I hope this information is of some use.
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