MG MGB and MGB GT Tech Talk
Gday guys.
I am very new to the MG thing and was just wondering what the easiest ways of gaining more power out of the B's engine for better acceleration. I have read about tuning the carbs, but what about exhaust mods and better breathing?
cheers. Aled
Aled,
The VERY BEST and most cost effective thing that you can do is perform a COMMPLETE and accurate tune procedure, top to bottom, side to side and front to back. Bring EVERYTHING up to dead-on factory spec and after that you can go on a tangent here or there.
The next thing would be to carefully consider just what it is that you want out of the car and research the fool out of available bits and services that would be appropriate to get you there. A good starting point for information beyond the Bentley factory manual would be Peter Burgess' book, Power Tuning MGB Four Cylinder Engines, many from Veloce Press, and follow that up with several other more specific system books. Don't forget that your new power will have to get to the road in some way and when it is there you will have to control it, so you should also consider gathering more information on suspension tuning too.
None of this has to be extremely expensive and lots of it can be done by yourself if you plan wisely.
Welcome to this board. We are ALL here to help each other and further the MG experience.
Jack
Mostly I agree with Jack.
That said, 75 and later US market Bs really benefit by tossing the OEM carb, intake manifold, exhaust manifold, and advancing the timing a bit from the factory spec.
The best single improvement I ever had that was cheap was replacing the ignition harness.
Don't know about the down under machines. In the USA I'd benchmark a 5 main block with an early cylinder head. Many improvements are really just trying to get what BLC had in mind except for Uncle Sam's interventions.
'75 & later Bs really benefit from this performance enhancement:
:D Okay, I'll go back over the the other forum now.
The best way to improve the performance of your car is to go to a performance driving school. Theer are many out there, some cost big bucks, many are put on by clubs at very reasonable cost.
You will shave more off your lap times doing this than almost anything you can do to your car, and the perfromance increase transfers free from car to car!
I agree completely with Jack, get it running correctly first and the Burgess book is classic.
One thing to be careful about is that some exhaust, cam and carb mods start really making a lot of noise and some tuning makes power up at high RPM, but actually loses some of the low end torque that characterizes the B. Then you can end up with a noisy car that when you flog it, it can almost keep up with a modern econo-box. It can quickly lose the MGB charm.
It is very pricey, but many posts on this forum really praise the Moss supercharger kit. It looks like you nearly double the street-friendly low end torque and it wouldn't have to add much noise. I hope to be trying one of those someday, but first I need to get the budget mutually agreed upon with my wife...
Aled - The answer depends on your starting point. As a follow-up to Jack's post, the best $70 I've ever spent to improve the performance of my stock '74 is to have Jeff Schlemmer rebuild my distributor.
Paul
That goes without saying on the "ditch the Stromberg" idea. I realize that some folks have to live under repressive laws concerning that improvement and I extend my heartfelt condolences to them, but THAT is in fact the single most important thing that one might do to improve their later car performance. With that said, I would also counsel such folks to take the OEM stuff off gently and store it carefully as sometime some where Big Brother might come calling and force you to re-fit all of it. :-)
BTW: It has been my opinion and direct observation that a properly tuned dual SU car can easily be brought into the same compliance levels as one with a single Stromberg and a gutted converter. I do not feel any guilt at all about the very low levels of trash coming out of my exhaust pipe. I KNOW that it is WAY below that of MANY of the late model cars that I see going down the road in poor states of tune.
Jack
I'm solidly with Carl on this one, of course...
but - if you're on a tight budget and committed to keeping MGB's heavy little engine - IMHO the smartest thing to do is leave the car basically stock, give it a good tune-up (maybe re-curve dizzy), AND SPEND YOUR MONEY ON TIRES!
BritishV8 Wrote:
Roost Wrote:
well, I'm one of the lucky ones who live in the "People's Republic of California" so carb swap is not an option. Emissions are not the issue. The issue, is...."If it's stock, it has to stay stock, even if it's a lousy design". So, that said, Pertronix, better exhaust system, braided brake lines, brakes that WORK, and a set of V8 suspension bushings. Wider tires help too. It's not about acceleration, it's about handling. That's what makes it fun. Going in a straight line in a dragster might sound cool, but it will never beat the feeling of the wind in your hair, summer MG experience. At least, in my HUMBLE opinion, to which everyone is entitled!
I LOVE these little cars!