Buying a classic race car, a practical example 

Interesting car and video. Back in the 1980s I had some customers that raced their MGBs at Sears Point in Marin County California. Sometimes I would pit for them. Some were very fancy, whatever-the-cost, cars and some were raced on a shoestring. You may know all this already but for others that may be interested... The hood on that car is from an MGC (the 6 cylinder MG) and was made from aluminum originally. The Armstrong lever-arm shock absorbers are very sturdy and some were available with externally adjustable valves. Simply turn the knob to a the desired setting. The cylinder head looks like an earlier model (pre-air injection) head. The Cannon intake manifold was a common aftermarket intake for MGBs with the Weber DCOE carbs. Cannon made both a "long runner" and "short runner" version of the intake for the MGB 1800 engines. You have the "long runner" version. Redline Weber in the USA is the major outlet for everything Weber in the USA. They also sell the Cannon manifolds. Pierce Manifolds in the USA also sells the Cannon manifolds. The "puke can" looks like it takes cooling system overflow AND crankcase breather overflow. There is either some interesting plumbing inside that plastic container or a real mess! Robert Bentley Publications has a factory manual for the MGB with a detailed and complete section on the special tuning for how the works cars were set up for competition. It is at the back of the manual. The rear brake drums look stock. In the 20 years I worked on MGAs, MGBs, and MGCs (and Sprites and Midgets) the only time I ever had to replace front brake rotors was when they had run the pads all the way down to bare metal. Otherwise the brake rotors hold up very very well. Check the front engine mounts also.

Well done. I really have enjoyed your videos as they have helped me sort out my own MG. I do find it interesting that specific mechanical updates and repairs were absent from all the other exacting documentation that you received with this race car, yet nothing is more conclusive than finding out what is what on your own.

The carburetor setup looks like what I had on my Mini 1275GT back in the 80s. The central instrument had to make room for it 😊

Very well done video, super informative, good sound, lighting etc. Looking forward to see the next video!

That was a fun tour of your car - looking forward to seeing the details of your efforts in future videos!

Look at this car ! And this engine ! Simplicity and pleasure. Ive been waiting for a vidéo like this since forever 🤩

I once owned a 1970 Triumph GT 6 + it was White with red and black houndstooth interior. After opening it for 2 years a mechanic offered me twice what I paid for it. When I asked him why? He said it was one of 500 made for the race team. Those that were left over were exported to the USA. It ended up in an accident and totaled. Great ,fun car.

just love your sense of style..in cars, your farm..and art, decorations in your castle..and editing too...

Steve, congratulations on the new project, look forward to more excellent videos 👍

I'm totally agree with you regarding the Spanish Weber carbs. Don't ask how I found! A video about how to remove ignition advance and modify ignition curve for Weber will help me alot. I'm stuck for an year in this issue. Beautiful video and precious info as usual! 🤘

An interesting tour clear and concise as always, most likely the next one will be too. Looking forward to it..

Great detailed video Steve I am looking forward to seeing the fire extinguisher being plumbed in

Another fun project Steve. I like the race car themes both this and the single seater. I would think the big red dash light is low oil pressure warning light. I have fitted one to my TR3a that I sprint and hill climb. Keep up with the videos 👍

The quality of your video's is just perfect, no matter what the subject is.

Enjoyed the video. Look forward to the follow up videos.

Thanks for walking us over your B racer. Great video.

Hi Steve the word you are looking for in describing the cars race history is Provenance which your car has in spades .It looks like a beautiful car ,I personally think a.race car always looks better with a few battle scar's , but of course that is personal choice .Great content as usual Steve , really looking forward to your exploits in it.PS ,great English Oxford dictionary description of the welding Steve ,Ha Ha .

Hi, I used to work as a technician prepping and supporting various types of single seat, open wheel cars. I now own a small company building maintaining and restoring classic motorcycles. Sadly here in the UK racing is incredibly expensive. I have a Norton Domiracer Lowboy replica but I'm afraid I'm feeling like I'd bounce as well as I did in my younger days. Good luck with your new car. As an aside, it's okay to remove the auto advance on an engine that is going to be used only within a limited rev range, usually high rpm as the retarded range is to produce more torque at lower rpm during normal driving. A close ratio gearbox will come into it's own in this state of tune along with a well designed cam. One word of advice I would give is to learn to read Dyno reports. Maximum power is of course important but, in my experience drivability is a very important factor ie good power needs to be produced throughout the proposed usable rpm range. Finally, do you know how to make a small fortune from motor racing.... Start with a large fortune 😁

Awesome video Steve - have fitted a 123 and Weber plus other mods to mine this year, but would love to learn some tips on setting up both from you when you get to that stage with this machine - 150BHP is pretty impressive for the B series!

Cool car, Steve. The comment on the Spanish Webers was funny 😄. I believe Italian made carburetors are almost impossible to find. I know Dellorto doesn’t make them anymore, not sure if Weber does.

i love this kind of video on older race car. Though i am not sure on your car but, usually a big red light is the low oil pressure light or aka the "dummy light". Nice car mate

G'day Steve I'll will be looking forward to some racing videos .cheers

Bravo, you inspect a car as I do. I will add check for missing cotter pins, seems it a favorite trick to leave off cotter pins on castle nuts. Found a nail used on my TR3, and missing cotter pins on my MGA when I was doing my inspections. +1 on a aluminum fly wheel, I have one on my TR6. I do not race these cars, well the TR6 is a autocross car. My son races a Miata and the same rules apply. I as you do my own work, only way you can afford this this much fun.

Looks like you have found another gem to work on !

I used to be involved with building and racing MGBs in the UK. Looking forward to watching this project.

Optimal intake manifold`s runners length is a much more complex thing you gave to understand. There are different harmonic pulses to which the length can be dimensioned. I have seen similar racing engines (4 cylinders and 1 DCOE) equipped with really long intake manifolds.

Interesting comment regarding Weber carbs made in Spain - yes the early ones with the 3 progression holes had tuning issues but I understood the newer 4 hole DCOE carbs were as good as the Italian made ones?

Looks like some great videos to come on this 👍

Fantastic

Great job, Steve 👍

Great video!

Alweer een mooi project, je hebt misschien ook al naar het RU-vid kanaal gekeken van David Russel wilks, hij heeft ook een mooie race prepped MGB roadster hardtop. Bij hem zijn de Armstrong shocks instelbaar...blijkbaar moeilijk te vinden. Veel succes !

Great new project. Already looking forward to some new videos here. You emphasis on checking this and that for past crashes. How important is it to have a crash-free race car? Even if you buy a car for personal use on the street I still prefer a crash free car. Though honestly... if you get something that is decent fixed and you have financial reductionwhy not go for such a car?

Lots of interesting information. I would have thought that moving the fuel tank inside the car would raise the centre of gravity. Fuel can be quite heavy, but maybe race cars don't need as large a tank as a street car?

Great video and the car seems to be in a very good shape. It will give you tons of fun. I might have missed it in the video but what was the approximate purchase price for the car?

Very well produced video, great presentation also. Is it just you who edits and puts it all together?

If you want to race under FIA appendix K rules get the homologation papers for the car you want to buy and have a look if all the modifications of the car are are in the homologation or permitted by the rules. I think you can have some problems to get a HTP for your car. I think the Sebring kit was only homologated for the MGC, and they had no rear spoiler. Aluminium cooler only allowed if "period correct". Also electronic ignition (123 ignition) is not permitted. Historic racing can be a lot of fun to reasonable costs, but only if you don't want to compete on the top end.

Prachtige bak ! Geweldige sound ! Racen..... een dure aangelegenheid want het blijft niet bij deze kosten om de wagen in orde te zetten. Maar tja, af en toe een pleziertje moet kunnen vind ik... ! ;-)

I've dreamt about a MGB-GT race car since I was a kid... Still working on that dream...

Hey Steve Happy Sunday from🇨🇦

Steve have you thought about a short throw gear shift to speed up your gear shifting

put a bit of oil in each cylinder and then do another compression test and compare to what the first test figures are.

no problem with Spanish Weber DCOE's........running perfecty for 30.000km and i have 3 of them

This is going to be fun, I have a GT i am hoping to autocross

Shouldn't a DCOE have an enrichment circuit rather than a choke?

Hi, great video. I do not agree with your conclusion about manifold lenght and rpm cibled. ( David vizard, and others, tell the inverse)

Sorry mate, straight cut gears are NOT stronger! They use less horse power, that's why there used in racing!

👍💯

I guess you mean polycarbonate, not plexiglas ?

I used to go Autocross racing .I was cheap far cheaper than circuit racing ,

... again, too long to watch !

You really can’t include the words practical and race car in the same sentence. Race cars are inherently impractical. A complete waste of money.