Milwaukee Midget

[Milwaukee Midget]

Plenty of room on our salt lake for you
G

The car doesn't take up too much room. 

Gairdner has always been in the cards, but given the questionability of Bonneville these last two years, it may well turn out to be sooner than later. 

Of course, Gairdner has had a checkered history of weather related hit-or-miss events as well. 

What's been stuck in my mind is Garry Orton and the Kiwi Cooper team who came over last year and had to board the horse for lack of a track.  They were fortunate enough to find storage, which is a contingency I would want to have in place before I'd put it on a boat.  God only knows what will happen if they can't run this year. 

But first things first - can't race without an engine.

[fordboy628]

midget,

Any plan/timetable to work out the final engine parts dimensions?

Did you ever send the combustion chamber mold to Wossner?

All the relevant data is on my laptop, and archived on the external backup drive.

I'll need some advance warning, as I am as busier than I wanted to be and June carries a lot of commitments for me.

[Milwaukee Midget]

10-4 on the busy thing.

I've had 2 days off in the last 20, we're rehersing up a show for Summerfest (Flogging Molly Hatchet - a Spooffest production, featuring Bubbas in Kilts, an Irish Southern Rock send up complete with too many Les Pauls, crummy sounding Peavey amplifiers and Bagpipes - July 3rd, 2:30 PM at the Briggs and Stratton Stage) http://summerfest.com/2016-lineup/

But in my spare time . . .

Terry - for the first time in 36 years, the Bugeye has awoken . . .

https://youtu.be/yMJGaJIJ9I4

Podunk had the faith in my ability to get his thing going.  Most of the heavy lifting was done.  I'm planning to take it to the British Car Field Day this weekend, but as soon as I'm convinced it will make the trip to Indiana, and I get a genuine weekend off, I'll bring it down, and Terry, you can pizz off YOUR neighbors as well.

[fordboy628]

Uhhmm,

The cam with bumps on it?

[Podunk]

Chris,
THANK YOU!!!!!!!
Terry

[jacksoni]

Sweet!!! 

I put one of them in a Vega in 1972. Really nice swap as well. No need to change front springs or anything.

[Dr Goggles]

Plenty of room on our salt lake for you
G

The car doesn't take up too much room. 

Gairdner has always been in the cards, but given the questionability of Bonneville these last two years, it may well turn out to be sooner than later. 

Of course, Gairdner has had a checkered history of weather related hit-or-miss events as well. 

What's been stuck in my mind is Garry Orton and the Kiwi Cooper team who came over last year and had to board the horse for lack of a track.  They were fortunate enough to find storage, which is a contingency I would want to have in place before I'd put it on a boat.  God only knows what will happen if they can't run this year. 

But first things first - can't race without an engine.

Any number of car museums that would happily display it for a year, once word got out I'm sure something/where could be found.

[Milwaukee Midget]

Any number of car museums that would happily display it for a year, once word got out I'm sure something/where could be found.

Free parking in the merry old land of Oz?  Not a bad thought.  I'd want to also chat with Steve Pike in Bacchus Marsh who was here in 2009 with the Healey streamliner reproduction.  They know the Gairdner drill, and might be able to steer me to a tow/trailer hire by a sympathetic sucker MG enthusiast.

And seeing as MG is reopening in the Australian market, maybe I can twist their arm into some sort of support.

We had some Aussies come through Milwaukee last week in their MGs - boated them over and have been touring the states.  They've done the Cape Town to Cairo run, Europe, Central America.  I missed chatting with them, but two members of the MG3 club here in Beerhaven shared some time with them.  They were headed to the EAA museum in Oshkosh and down to Chicago.

Doesn't look like I'll make the show this weekend.  Finally got the Frankensprite up to temp, and it just kept spitting coolant.  Maybe it's overfilled, but that will need to be sorted before I take it anywhere.  But I will say this - when it finally gets up to temp and settles into an idle, it sure sounds sweet.

[fordboy628]

Doesn't look like I'll make the show this weekend.  Finally got the Frankensprite up to temp, and it just kept spitting coolant.  Maybe it's overfilled, but that will need to be sorted before I take it anywhere.  But I will say this - when it finally gets up to temp and settles into an idle, it sure sounds sweet.

If the engine is regurgitating large amounts of coolant, you MAY need to run a "pressure bleed system" since the radiator is lower than the cylinder heads.

Without a pressure bleed system, any air trapped in the cooling system parks in the system at the highest point, usually the cylinder heads.

This is a recipe for disaster, AND, a HUGE towing bill . . . . . . . .

Caveat emptor

[Dr Goggles]

Doesn't look like I'll make the show this weekend.  Finally got the Frankensprite up to temp, and it just kept spitting coolant.  Maybe it's overfilled, but that will need to be sorted before I take it anywhere.  But I will say this - when it finally gets up to temp and settles into an idle, it sure sounds sweet.

If the engine is regurgitating large amounts of coolant, you MAY need to run a "pressure bleed system" since the radiator is lower than the cylinder heads.

Without a pressure bleed system, any air trapped in the cooling system parks in the system at the highest point, usually the cylinder heads.

This is a recipe for disaster, AND, a HUGE towing bill . . . . . . . .

Caveat emptor

The V6 Commodores here, the car our Hlden V6's came from had just this situation and have a bleeder on top of the thermostat housing, trap for young players there.......

[jacksoni]

I may not know the exact meaning of Fordboys "pressure bleed system" but Dr Goggles solution is one. I believe some early (maybe most) vintage corvettes had similar issue and in my streamliner the water tank in the front of the car was significantly lower than the top of the head. Cured with a small pressure tank mounted on the firewall above the head. Had a small tube that I plumbed to the heater port on the water pump and thermostat housing so there was flow through the tank. Kept the head clear of bubbles and never had heating problem with the closed system in blown 2L engine. Maybe this sort of arrangement is what Mark is talking about.

[salt27]

A thermostat housing with a radiator cap/filler on top has worked for me in a similar situation.

Dormam 902-863 may work, the one I used was made my Moroso.

Don

[Milwaukee Midget]

Actually, the highest point in the cooling system is the filler/catch can.  It's located on the firewall, the top of which is about 6 inches above the outlet on the back of the manifold.  It's plumbed to the front and back of the manifold, so in theory, once water is circulating and pressure is built up, any air should be heading there.

You can see it at the end of the video.

I'll dick with it tonight.

[fordboy628]

Doesn't look like I'll make the show this weekend.  Finally got the Frankensprite up to temp, and it just kept spitting coolant.  Maybe it's overfilled, but that will need to be sorted before I take it anywhere.  But I will say this - when it finally gets up to temp and settles into an idle, it sure sounds sweet.

If the engine is regurgitating large amounts of coolant, you MAY need to run a "pressure bleed system" since the radiator is lower than the cylinder heads.

Without a pressure bleed system, any air trapped in the cooling system parks in the system at the highest point, usually the cylinder heads.

This is a recipe for disaster, AND, a HUGE towing bill . . . . . . . .

Caveat emptor

I may not know the exact meaning of Fordboys "pressure bleed system" but Dr Goggles solution is one. I believe some early (maybe most) vintage corvettes had similar issue and in my streamliner the water tank in the front of the car was significantly lower than the top of the head. Cured with a small pressure tank mounted on the firewall above the head. Had a small tube that I plumbed to the heater port on the water pump and thermostat housing so there was flow through the tank. Kept the head clear of bubbles and never had heating problem with the closed system in blown 2L engine. Maybe this sort of arrangement is what Mark is talking about.

midget, et all,

The inlet manifold flow for "bleed" is a "iffey" proposition.   "Iffey" cooling systems cost you peace of mind and MONEY.    Why create another 'K' series cooling system/potential disaster?    Overly complicated cooling system procedures using simplified componentry are cheaper, but inherently unreliable.    This is another example of where a slightly more complicated system with extra components is actually simpler in operation AND more reliable.

You know me, I want positive pressure differential between the radiator, high point of the engine, and a "coolant differential pressure" (surge) tank.   The ONLY way to do this is with bleed lines from the aforementioned components, coupled with a suction line to the inlet side of the water pump, and using a tank mounted higher than the other components.

This is a Cosworth diagram specifically for BD series engines.    Similar flow setups can be created for any power plant/cooling system.



Just my 2¢ since it's your engine . . . . . .

Caveat BOP/BMC enthusiast . . . . . . .

[Milwaukee Midget]

Mark, Happy Father's Day!

The inlet manifold flow for "bleed" is a "iffey" proposition.   "Iffey" cooling systems cost you peace of mind and MONEY.    Why create another 'K' series cooling system/potential disaster?   

Tutorial time -

Of course, I don't want to create a headache.  But what makes the intake manifold water flow - which is plumbed to the heads though fairly large passages at the top of both the front and the back of the heads - an "iffey" situation?

The top of the head(s) are currently sitting about 1 1/2" below the top of the radiator -



The top of the filler can - or header can - is 4 1/2" above the top of the intake manifold - which is well above the top of the heads and manifold, as well as the radiator -



A shot of the plumbing from above -



The top of the radiator sits slightly above the heads, and the - okay, let's call it a "header tank" - I think I referred to it previously as a "catch can" - sits above everything else in the system. 

Since I last reported on it, it hasn't been spitting, causing me to think that any air in the system has worked its way out, and seeing as I filled it while not running, expansion of the fluid may have occurred.  Nevertheless, it seems to be running on the warm side. 

How warm?   

Kate's shopping, so I can borrow her candy thermometer . . .