V8 Newsletter
for December 2006 published in Safety Fast!, the monthly Club magazine

Original shape of elm burr gearknob has a smooth look and is a delight in the hand. (Photo: Terry Starkey)

RV8 replacement elm burr gearknobs
A replacement gearknob in elm burr to match the interior timber trim of an RV8 is now available from RV8 enthusiast Terry Starkey. It is beautifully finished and a delight in the hand for gear changes. The gearknobs from his first batch were snapped up by fellow RV8 enthusiasts from the UK to Australia. Now a new shape is also available, so RV8 enthusiasts can choose which one they would like, although Terry says "that by far the most popular is a new shape which I think looks and feels superb". He adds the original shape has changed slightly since the photo above was taken as the small flange at the base of the knob has now gone so it makes a perfect shape.

The gearknobs are produced by his woodturner from an old burr elm that was felled in his Norfolk village some 25 years ago. A specially shaped aluminium insert is turned and bonded into the knob so that the leather gaiter is properly supported. They are polished and then protected with a two pack varnish. Each knob is unique in grain and pattern and they look stunning. The gearknob can be fixed easily to the gear lever and comes with instructions to reassure even spanner phobics! Delivery depends on his woodturner's workload and mood, but usually takes about two to three weeks.

By popular demand another batch has been produced with a choice of the two styles so orders are welcome at £45.00 each including VAT plus UK post and packaging of £2.50. For overseas inclusive costs, please contact Terry Starkey at terry@starkey.uk.com or on 01508 470354 but as a guide, postage to Japan is around £6.00. Payment by cheque or banker's draft or cash notes by registered post. A transfer by PayPal can be arranged via a fellow RV8 enthusiast and local friend, Stuart Middlemiss - just contact Terry for details.

New shape is now available as an alternative and is proving very popular. (Photo: Terry Starkey)

V8 Tour 2007 - a Saunter in the Shires
The next weekend V8 Tour will take place on 2007 from Friday 28th September until Monday 1st October. It will be based in Northamptonshire and the programme of visits will be in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Warwickshire. The cost will be £395, the same as the V8 Lincolnshire Tour in 2006. More news of this event will be in the next V8 Column and will be posted on the V8 website. Tony Lake has volunteered to organize the event and can provide details of the hotel and an outline itinerary at tonylake134@o2.co.uk or on 01604 589104.

University Motors Jubilee V8 registered again
Robert Grieves from Kent acquired a University Motors Jubilee MGBGTV8 (Black 2788) with only 56,000 miles at the end of October this year and is delighted to see it join his 1969 MGB Roadster (BRG 12999). Clearly Robert has good taste as his MGB Roadster is a particularly desirable model in that series. As the third owner of the V8 he has written verification from its original owner (1976 -2003) that the mileage is genuine and that the only body work carried out by the last owner was a new rear quarter panel, and spring hanger. The interior is still the original Autumn Leaf brushed nylon, but the carpets have been replaced.


Black UM Jubilee2788 with the standard Dunlop composite wheels. (Photo: Robert Grieves)


V8s of Jim Gibson, Frank Morand and Tony Lake parked up at the gîte near le Mans. (Photo: Tony Lake)

Flamenco Red V8s in France
Tony Lake (Flamenco Red 2489) from Northampton enjoyed the MG Event of the Year in the Auvergne this year and recalls the tour.

Planning our trip to France for the MG Event of the Year at Royat near Clermont Ferrand started in November 2005 with confirmation that Jim Gibson and Sue Walker (Flamenco Red 2435) were registered in another Factory V8. Eurotunnel bookings and a hotel in Royat soon followed and we were all set. The old Grand Prix circuit at Charade featured strongly in the programme. That had really tipped the balance as 100 euros for an hour's lappery with a bunch of other V8s looked like good value.

On meeting another V8 enthusiast, Brian Osborne, after his marshalling at the 2005 Rally of the Tests, we discussed my plans over a pint afterwards and he put me in touch with John Hale. Many of you will remember John as the Club's International Manager and not surprisingly he was all booked up for France too. He added a pleasant twist by way of an invitation to stay at his sister's B&B near Brantome in the Dordogne after the MG event in the Auvergne.

We realised we could also fit in the Classic le Mans event

About this time Jim Gibson and I had realised that the Classic Le Mans could also be fitted in our trip if we could somehow persuade our loved ones that this was the perfect way to round off the trip to France. Quite how Jim did it I am not sure, but I have some pretty big jewellery and restaurant bills to show for winning that concession!

The fun then began looking for rooms near Le Mans, we eventually ended up in a gite with more than enough room for the four of us so I asked Frederic Lemaire of MGCC de France if he knew of anybody looking for Le Mans accommodation and this brought an immediate response from Franck Morand (Mirage 0154) who lives in Thailand. He is the Far Eastern Marketing Director for a company based in his home

town of Clermont Ferrand and he was returning for the big French event and needed Le Mans digs as well.
On Monday 26th June our journey to the Chunnel from Northampton was uneventful, as was the blast down to Aumale for a well earned shower and dinner.

The following day we travelled further south to end up in Briare which is where the Gustave Eiffel designed the pont-canal aqueduct that joins the Loire and the Seine. We arrived in Royat by mid afternoon on Wednesday and picked up our welcome pack from the organisers of the MG Event of the Year. We found the little square was buzzing with enthusiasm as MG's of every model, hue and origin came and went. We happily clicked into the park anywhere ethos that pervades French party time.

We found the little square at Royat buzzing with MGs

At our hotel, Le Chatel, we ran into Brian Rainbow's T Register party from both the Kilsby and Arden Octagon natters along with other Old Farts from the Lunch Club. The runs, lunches and gala dinners have been well reported by others, suffice to say we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

The Charade circuit, built in 1958 on the side of an extinct volcano, started out at 8km and was described as a twistier and faster version of the Nurburgring. Many drivers complained of motion sickness so wore open face helmets, just in case. Ivor Bueb, the Jaguar Le Mans winner, was killed at Charade in 1959 whilst driving an F2 BRP Cooper-Borgward. John Frankenheimer filmed 'Grand Prix' there in 1966 using 3,000 locals as extras. It hosted four French F1GPs. In 1965, the late Jim Clark won in a Lotus-Climax, the 1969 winner was Jackie Stewart in a Matra-Ford in 1970 the late Jochen Rindt won in a Lotus-Ford and the last French F1GP to be held there in 1972 which was won by Jackie Stewart in a Tyrrell-Ford. The lap record at that distance stands to Chris Amon in a Matra-Ford at 166.75km/hr.

There were a number of incidents that culminated in the closure of the 8km circuit in 1988. The present circuit is 3.86 km long and hosts Formula 3 races and bike events. Just to calibrate you, a V8 can get round the shorter circuit in about 3.00 and Chris Amon did 2.53 over the old 8km circuit - that was brisk motoring. So with this background it was with some trepidation that Jim, Sue and I arrived for our laps on Saturday morning. The introduction to the circuit was given by Franck Morand who obviously had spent a lot of his youth spectating and lapping. We felt we heeded


V8 line up in the paddock at the Charade circuit. (Photo: Tony Lake)

his advice, although judging by some of the attacks on the scenery not everybody did. Saturday's session was a bit shorter than it should have been because of a noise problem with a Costello V8 Roadster and the organiser's suggestion to come back on Sunday so as to be able to keep to the Saturday schedule was not greeted with much warmth.

Our French hosts put on a superb event - they really do know how to party!

We did get our laps and as a bonus the sessions on Sunday were all free. I fried my brakes, but after cooling down, a top up with some fresh fluid and a good bleed the brake pedal was OK. It is certainly an exhilarating and demanding circuit, we all had a lot of fun and it proved the perfect setting for the parade laps that rounded off the weekend. Our French hosts put on a superb event - they really do know how to party!
On Monday morning we said our farewells and headed off to Chateau des Granges near Brantome in the Dordogne.

The weather was pretty miserable, with heavy rain and
low cloud, but as we left the Auvergne behind it faired up. We had a warm welcome from MG enthusiasts Christine and Geoff Phillips at Brantome. They had moved out there in 2003 to renovate their old
chateau. Their cars include an NGTA, a Midget and an MGCGT. John and Sue Hale from Gloucester were in an MGF, their SA had not cooperated just before departure for Royat. The Luxembourgers included Ton and Fredry Maathuis whose V8 show car took pride of place in the MGCC de France car park at Le Mans, Ron and Ingrid in another Midget, Henk and Tineke Kornelis in a TD, then Albert and Ireen Hagorn from Holland in an RV8 along with Michael and Brigitte from Germany in a Triumph TR3. After Royat Jim and Sue went on to their seaside break in the Charente Maritime. They then spent a couple of days staying in Chinon with Wendy and Richard Packer, MGBGT owners, who we had met at the Royat event.

We met up again for the Classic le Mans weekend

By Friday evening we had all joined up again in our gîte near le Mans. Dinner became an obsession, we could not find any open restaurants until our convoy came across the village of Mayet which was en fete, what joy! We dined at benches on plates of paella washed down by plastic cups of local white wine - we know how to entertain our ladies. Half way through dinner Peter Good, Franck's colleague from the UK turned up in a rather loud TVR, having given a lecture in Paris and then hot footed it south. We were engaged in conversation by two adjacent couples who

clearly had a big interest in the 24 hour race. They were holding an 'exposition' in the mairie and would we come along? Well yes, of course, it turns out that Michel Pommier has a priceless collection of period press cuttings, photographs, film, video and all sorts of artefacts connected with Le Mans since the first race in 1923. He also has over 2,000 models representing almost every car that has ever run at le Mans. This year he was showing a retrospective on the 1955 race in which Pierre Levegh had the big accident in a Mercedes. His friend, Alain Gremillon, is an artist who takes a camera to the race each year and works up cartoons and sketches from the photos in pencil and colour which are exquisite in their detail. I bought a copy of the 2003 book that celebrates the first Bentley win since 1930. This exhibition is held every year so, if you can, get along to the Mairie in Mayet and see it. From le Mans it is due south on the D307 to Pontvaillon then due east on the D15.

Classic Le Mans was great, we had passes for the MGCC de France parking right between the Dunlop Bridge and the Esses and by degrees we all saw what we needed to, the paddock, the village, the starts, the racing, pit stops, and endless parades of exotica that was capped by a magnificent line up of no fewer than 54 GT40's, where did they all come from? Sadly Adrian Newey stuffed his into the banking at the end of the Mulsanne straight when the brakes failed.

We had a fantastic 2,300 mile holiday and apart from my abuse of the brakes our cars ran perfectly, I got 26mpg overall which considering the size of my right boot in France was pretty good. The 2006 French MG Event of the Year was an unqualified success, good luck to the German event at Heidelberg in 2007. Our hosts, Christine and Geoff Phillips in the Dordogne on www.chateaudesgranges.co.uk are ready to welcome more MG enthusiasts to their beautiful chateau. The exhibition at the Mairie in Mayet is a must and Classic Le Mans is unrivalled, roll on 2008.
Adjusting RV8 engine mounts
Stuart Middlemiss (Nightfire Red 1215) from Norfolk provides a useful tip on curing contact between the offside exhaust manifold and the inner wing aperture or steering pinion based on some hard work done by fellow RV8 enthusiast, Max Porter. Note released as RV8NOTE255.

My village RV8 chum, Max Porter - yes, two RV8s in the same village; is this a record? - had found the common occurrence of his offside exhaust manifold touching the edge of the inner wing aperture and almost touching the steering pinion. On some cars, the manifold touches the steering pinion before the edge of the inner wing aperture and causes a lot of vibration and knocking up the steering column.

Assuming that the offside engine mount had begun to collapse, he bought a replacement from Clive Wheatley. However, on examining the original rubber mount, it showed no sign of collapse, over-compression or deterioration whatsoever and was the same dimensions as the new mount (37-38mm including the oval steel plate, for the thicker offside mount). Looking then at the nearside mount (the thinner of the two), Max realised that the hole in the bracket (welded to the chassis) which the single stud bolt of the mount passes through is vertically slotted, to allow for engine positioning when the engine is fitted, of course. He also realised that the nearside exhaust manifold had plenty of clearance to the edge of the inner wing aperture.

The 'Eureka' moment struck; Max supported the engine under the offside of the sump with the trolley jack (with a block of wood to prevent damage), with the car supported on axle stands, and loosened the single bolt fixing each side with an open-ended spanner (access is very constricted on the offside). He noticed that neither nut was very tight, which further confirmed his suspicion that the engine had rotated under torque of acceleration.

The engine was then very slightly raised on the offside, only 3 or 4mm, which of course lowered the nearside by the same amount - the engine was very slightly rotated on its axis. After checking that the clearances between the exhaust manifolds and inner wing aperture edges were now the same each side (about 8mm, with minimum 5mm clearance on the steering pinion, but this may well vary between cars), he then tightened both nuts as much as possible. The restricted access prevents a socket or torque wrench being used, but the nuts were now much tighter than they had been originally. Problem solved, without the need to replace the mounts, which necessitates dropping the steering rack out to access the offside especially.

Checking exhaust manifold clearances should obviously be included on each service and the tightness of all fixing bolts checked, as it's quite likely the large amount of torque produced by the engine will cause slight rotation again in the future. It should also be borne in mind that, in time, the rubber engine mounts will compress and require replacement, and that these mounts (as far as I've been able to check) are quite possibly unique to the RV8, at least in as far as being different sizes.

V8 cooling fan motors
Following a V8BB posting on replacement brushes for a V8 cooling fan motor, Peter Beadle, formerly parts manager with University Motors and later with Moss, provided a brief note. Note released as V8NOTE359.

Peter Beadle responded to a query on what had happened to a good quality replacement fan motor that had appeared as a replacement available through spares suppliers ten or twelve years ago by commenting "boy oh boy you are opening a can of

RV8 engine mounts (39). (Source: RV8 Repair Manual AKM7153ENG)

worms here!". He explained there are at least four different types of motor used in the replacement parts, some good and some where there is some concern over whether the unit provides enough power to be used as a fan motor on a V8. The fans are all of different manufacture and three are branded as Lucas parts.

As for replacement brushes you have to be very careful. So on balance if you do set about doing your own fan repair and a brush change, then it would pay to seek the brushes from an experienced factor or fan motor service provider. Peter believes the improved unit with the ballbearing was made in Yugoslavia and bears a Lucas brand mark.

Finally Peter adds a sequel that the grub screw securing the plastic fan to the motor shaft can be difficult to release as it is bombarded by the elements as it is located just behind the grille. He advises that during reassembly you coat the thread with Coppaslip.

Progress with an RV8 project in the USA

Tom Raddatz (Nightfire 1443) from Chicago Illinois has been restoring an RV8 which on his initial contact with the V8 Register, he jested was "an RV8 first sighted in the US via the Cayman Islands!"
Tom reports "just an update on the progress, or lack there of, on my MG RV8. As of the last email the car was near Iowa being repainted and some minor bodywork due to the lousy packing job done by my X friend in the Cayman Islands. The body is completed, now in Nightfire Red a change from the original Woodcote Green.

The engine needed to be rebuilt, needing to be bored out to 2 over, and new pistons had to be ordered from a company in Germany. Too much salt and sand had got into the engine. The rear differential has been rebuilt, some of the bearings needed replacement due to (you guessed it) salt water corrosion. The electrical system has been sorted out, and we were able to save the wiring harness, so I guess that Land Rover I bought in Nevada will be used for something else. So, at this time we are getting very close to installing the engine and transmission.

The interior is moving much slower than I had hoped. I picked out a Ferrari tan leather, which I think will look great with the Nightfire Red, and I did the wood dash and trim with a darker walnut veneer. All is coming together nicely, maybe it will be done for Christmas.