Race Petrol?

I'm a newbie here and I wish I had found this great site earlier.

After almost 4 decades since my first and only British sports car, I'm about to probably buy a 59 MGA. I am looking for a car that I could use both on the road and for vintage racing. Unfortunately, I'm not at all knowledgeable and I think that my purchasing any MGA will involve a descent into a sort of mechanical and welding Alice-In-Wonderland.

The owner of the car I'm considering has had it since the early '90s and recently he has used it for vintage racing. He describes the engine as "a 3/4 race engine that is not a grenade but should be run on race petrol". I'm told it has a 290 camshaft. The number plate is off the engine, but the owner says it's a rebuilt B engine. I suppose I should have looked more carefully to see what size the block was. In any event, when I looked at the car several months ago, the rear end was apart and I was unable to drive it. The owner reports that the car is now back together and ready to be purchased if I want it. I will have to replace the clutch, but generally all of the mechanicals and the body seem pretty good. I'm not really sure why the engine would require racing fuel or why it couldn't be run on a premium grade. The owner didn't really give me a clear answer - or at least an answer that I understood. I asked if the engine timing had been advanced or retarded but he reports that the timing is the standard setup. Any thoughts on my running the car on premium grade unleaded without damaging the engine? Any thoughts on whether a change in the engine timing might be appropriate? Thanks for your help. Jeff

Ask him what the compression ratio is, that is mostly what really determines what fuel it needs. You can retard engine timming, and use lower octane than optimal, but you really need more info about how the motor was put together.
Posting your question in the motorsports section shoud get you more responses, and the guys that hang out there can really help you out on this one.

Hi Jeff -
I would be very happy to talk to you about your potential A purchase. I've restored and built a number of MGAs for street and track.
Would be much easier than dueling emails.

Best - Scott
MGA #41- The Pile

Jeff, If he means 'MGB' engine, don't bother, as it is not a legal engine for racing.... In any case, the engine will be low on the list of things to consider when purchasing a race car, or converting a street car for racing purposes (as Scott will no doubt advise). Also, consider joining the MG Vintage Racers, a bunch of lying bastards, and fun. Lots of good events. RZ

I believe some vintage race groups allow "B" engines in MGA's, perhaps with a weight penalty and/or a race class change. The MGVR is a good place to find out.

RE: fuel requirements, these cars love C/R and many racers build them to 12-13:1 and they require race fuel. You will need to know!

Thanks everybody for your comments.

When I went to look at the car, I asked if the seller had modified the head to change the compression ratio. He said no, and I understood that the engine has the stock ratio. The car has non-stock pistons, but I can't remember the name - have it written down at home.

I recently joined a vintage racing group (of "lying bastards"??) and the car has a log book with that group. I was worried about the engine but was told by a club official that if the car has a log book it should remain eligible to race. I worked at one of the corners at an event in September. I don't understand how the race classes are determined, but it looked like several MGAs were running in an under 1800cc class while two others were running "balls to the wall" in what I understood to be an under 2,000cc class. (The latter cars were both fast but had a huge difference in how they handled coming through the corner. One came around nice and flat, while the other came around with a very high - and seemingly unstable - inside rear quarter.) So I'm not too worried about the car not being able to race (with this club). I have the impression that I will be grouped based on my lap times and driving ability rather than the size of the car's engine.

And I'm not too concerned about running on racing fuel during the race events. I was more interested in the fuel requirements, however, in the event that I wanted to register the car for street use.

Scott, thanks for the offer of a phone consult. Can you send me a PM with your phone number and suggest a time that might be convenient for me to call (keeping in mind that I'm on the east coast). Thanks. Jeff