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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - Bonnet bulges???

Guys, do you have photos of different types of hood (bonnet) bulges that you'd used? I need to put a bulge in mine to accommodate the size air cleaner that I believe necessary. Also, does anyone have a good photo of an RV8 bonnet?
Bill Withum

You can see some photos of my scoop on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/215V8/files
listed under members cars. The scoop was fabricated by Joe Solphy (SP?) in Hacketstown New Jersey. I could provide you with dimensions and better photos if you want or his phone #. The scoop is subtle it is 3 inches high in front 12.5(?) inches wide 22 long tappering to a 0 inch rise close to the rear of the hood. It is all steel and welded into the hood.
Michael S. Domanowski

Michael, can't see it ... do you have to be a member of Yahoo or something?

Man, 3" high sounds immense!
Bill Withum

Bill, I have some scoops for the MGB that are tapered from front to rear, and can be mounted in either direction or cut to fit.
The scoop is 2" to a taper of 3/4" and about 21" long X 14" wide (From memory, very close to actual)
I am also working on an air cleaner for the Carb V6 that will eliminate the need for a scoop or bulge and give you the fresh air needed for the engine without a bulge or scoop. This air cleaner could be adapted to the V8 I would need dimensions since not all V8's are mounted equal.

r/Bill
Bill Guzman

I have the dimentions of RV8 bonnet on my website.

http://www.mgbv8.co.uk/rv8_bulge.htm

Nick
nicholas smallwood

I just had an RV8-style bulge English Wheel'd into a stock MGB aluminum hood. It looks just like an RV8 bulge except I had it pulled forward just a frac (maybe half an inch) so that it clears the 4-barrel air cleaner. It gives you about 3/4" - 1" more height above the air cleaner. I don't have a photo but I'll take one.

It is very light weight and -- surprisingly -- does a much better job than my old steel hood at quieting engine noise. (I had the bottom sprayed with a thin layer of pickup-bed liner, and then I had the voids filled with that black rubberized epoxy-like filler that body shops use.)

The only downside was that this little project turned out to be just ridiculously expensive -- had I known up front what it would cost I'd never have embarked on it. But at least now I can get a real air cleaner under there. It looks good, even on a GT that's otherwise stock-looking.
David

FIND YOURSELF A WRECKED HOOD FROM A EAGLE TALON OR MITUBISHI.(i can't remember the model). CUT THE BUMP OUT AND WELD IT TO YOUR MGB HOOD. IT HAS A SLIGHT RISE AND FITS THE MGB HOOD LIKE IT WAS MADE FOR IT.I HAVE DONE TWO SO FAR AND THEY LOOK GREAT.
JIM

Here are a couple photos of the bulge I had made for the car:

http://home.earthlink.net/~davidd_dt/hood_1.JPG

http://home.earthlink.net/~davidd_dt/hood_7.JPG

and the underside:

http://home.earthlink.net/~davidd_dt/hood_6.JPG


It's great to have this finished, but for sanity's sake I think you'd be better off just using a stock RV8 bonnet if it will fit. Unfortunately I guess RV8 bonnets only come in steel. But a stock unit is probably your best bet, because doing this one-off just took infinite time measuring, drawing, laying it out ... and I didn't even do any of the dirty work. I think one of the keys is to have the rear of the bulge dissolve smoothly into the bonnet, so that it all fairs smoothly into the cowling and the reflections are right. The devil is in the details! To keep things as roomy as possible, I had them fab and heliarc in a whole new crossmember that curves up into the bulge, sort of like I understand they do on the RV8.

(Just for the record, note that if you're going to use the later-style telescoping prop on an alu bonnet you need to have a piece of steel riveted into the lhs support rail to hold that L-shaped bracket without worrying about it tearing out.)
David

Wow. *That* looks like real craftsmanship. From what I know, having only seen them in pictures, that's a dead ringer for a regular RV8 bulge. Thumbs way up.

(Incidentally, around here are the headquarters for most if not all of the big NASCAR teams. By far the highest paid member of the crew is the English Wheel guy, who hangs the aluminum race car bodies on the chassis. As you can guess, the bodies have to be totally custom-made to incredibly fine tolerances. And they have to be ultra-smooth, without any more than a bare, bare minimum of Bondo-type material. The reason these guys are so highly paid is that demand far exceeds supply -- apparently the English Wheel is just exceptionally difficult to master.)
Bill Withum

Bill Withum,
E-mail me and I'll sed you the photos. 3 inches is not much at all and the actual width is 14.5 inches not 12.5 as I stated in my last post. And I yes I guess you have to be a Yahoo member, but it is free to become one. There is a lot of useful information on that site.
Michael S. Domanowski

The Eagle hood bulge looks great. Really a fine job of craftmanship.

I may have found a source for a 'glass repro of the RV8 bonnet, will keep you posted.

My question is why you need a bulge to clear the air cleaner? I am looking at the RV8 bonnet for strictly cosmetic reasons. I have done 4 conversions, helped on a few more, & never had to have a bulge to clear an air cleaner. I have a Buick 300, which is taller than a 215 or Rover, installed in a 1973 GT with a drop base air cleaner & have over an inch of clearance. Is it that you are not moving the engines far enough to the rear? The first generation of motor mount adapters did put the engine farther front than necessary, but Glen Towery & D & D both have adapters that provide additional set back.
Jim Stuart

Jim, thanks; that's not an Eagle bulge though; it's just totally made from scratch (no welding; the hood itself was just reshaped). My motor's just in the stock V8 location, not the Towery "A/C" location. (The only thing I'm not sure I like about the A/C-type location is where the shifter comes out with a Rover 5-spd gearbox, unless of course you have the linkage shortened, in which case you lose the recentering springs.)

Anyhow, I simply couldn't get a reasonable air cleaner in there and when it became clear to me that the car delivered more power at higher rpms with the air cleaner removed, I decided the low low low cleaner with a 13.5x2" filter just mustn't be letting enough air in there (there was just miniscule clearance above the choke tower). I wasn't willing to have the choke tower milled off, because I think the choke really comes in handy in colder weather. Also the car's a CB with a CB x-member, and there's no room for the motor to go any lower. Lastly, if you want an alu hood, they seem to be a little flatter than the steel ones. Anyhow, it is just an experiment as I saved the stock steel hood.

The 'glass RV8-style hood would be killer, I think.
David

Hey Michael,

I looked at your site. There's a photo called "NOSV8" or something like that ... is your car on the bottle!?!?
Bill Withum

Oh is that what that stuff is, I had nooooooooooo idea. I just liked the pretty blue bottle and the extra plumbing looks kinda cool. But seriously, I must confess to using the silly stuff, not only on the BV8 but on one of my bikes as well. Those are some older photos from the begining of this season, I've reworked a few things under the hood, cleaned it up a bit. Right now I'm only hitting her with about an 80 HP shot, but the system is capable of a 300 HP shot. As soon as Dan (D & D) finishes my new stroker engine I'll be able to see what 600 HP will do to my 15 inch 195 50 series Dunlops.
Michael S. Domanowski

This thread was discussed between 12/07/2002 and 19/07/2002

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