Historic racer: MGB Roadster
A few tweaks are in train for the new season – such as new brakes and a rebuilt gearbox. Oh, and the heavy bit up front. Nick Trott takes up the story…
I think we’re going to be late for the season openers. We were hoping to get on the grid for the Equipe GTS trackday at Goodwood on March 5, then the season opener at Silverstone on the 7th, but we’ve found a few other issues with the MGB that need sorting. One of them is quite a big, heavy issue…
Firstly the good news. The gearbox, traditionally a weak point on MGBs, is rebuilt. It’s easy to destroy the innards with imprecise heel-and-toeing and/or rushing the shifts, and small issues seem to turn into big problems quite quickly. As an MGB driver, you have to remember that in the rush and fury of racing slow is best when shifting cogs – its counter-intuitive but absolutely crucial. We plan to keep the ’box in tip-top condition throughout the season, and into 2019 hopefully, and avoid a mid-season rebuild like last year.
The suspension and brakes are also fitted – two areas that we believe were weak points last year. We’re hoping for better performance and stability all round, with fewer ‘bad habits’. For instance the B was always one of the more, um, sideways cars on the grid but despite the its crowd-pleasing antics we’d really rather it wasn’t quite so drifty.
Roll oversteer was the key problem throughout 2017, and we’re hoping to have this cured with new parabolic leaf springs and general set up changes. Less entertaining for the spectator (and drivers) but faster, we hope.
Finally, the big heavy issue. With the cylinder head removed an inspection of the bores revealed a rather tired block. A new one isn’t criminally expensive, which is the case for pretty much everything on the MGB to be honest, so owner Ed has ordered a new block.
So yes, we’ll be late for the first races of 2018 – but it’ll be worth the wait. BRX 855B will be fitter and faster than ever. Probably about time its drivers were too…
Next month: Removing the dents, tidying up the shell in preparation for the bodywork rebuild
Thanks to: Roy Gillingham of www.chequeredflagclassics.co.uk