Shaun Holmes' 1969 MGC-GT Vintage Racecar
Owner: Shaun Holmes
City: Lowestoft, England
Model: 1969 MGC-GT
Engine: inline six cylinder
Race prepared by: Shaun and Connor Holmes
Features and Specifications
| Engine: | rebuilt and balanced MGC engine prepared by Damico Race Engines. (3003cc, up from 2912cc.)
CP forged pistons (custom).
Forged connecting rods.
Peter Burgess prepared aluminum cylinder head.
Piper 641 (104°, 0.5" lift) camshaft.
High ratio (1.50:1 versus 1.42:1 ratio) roller rockers.
Vernier cam gear.
ATI Super Damper harmonic balancer.
Specialist Components "Typhoon" engine control module.
AT Power (UK) throttle bodies.
MGM (Weber DCOE style) intake manifolds.
440cc injectors.
Electronic crank-fired ignition.
Ford Mondeo V6 ignition coil pack.
Girdle plate.
Baffled oil sump.
K&N HP-2009 oil filter.
Millers CSS 20/50 engine oil.
Lucas alternator.
Gear reduction starter.
|
| Cooling: | ProAlloy aluminum radiator.
Thermostatically-controlled Kenlowe electric fan.
Remote oil cooler. |
| Exhaust: | Maniflow (Downton style) header and 2" twin pipe exhaust system. |
| Transmission: | MGC SCCR ("straight cut close ratio") 4-speed with competition overdrive.
Lightened flywheel and uprated pressure plate and clutch. |
| Rear Axle: | rebuilt MGC Salisbury axle.
Quaife limited slip differential.
Stock 3.07:1 final drive ratio. |
| Front Susp.: | uprated torsion bars.
Spax adjustable shock absorbers.
1" anti-roll bar. High ratio steering rack (2.9 turns lock-to-lock). |
| Rear Susp.: | uprated leaf springs.
Adjustable lever shock absorbers.
Antitramp bars. |
| Brakes: | (master) stock master cylinder and servo. (front) Wilwood 4-pot aluminum calipers and vented rotors. Braided stainless steel hoses. (rear) stock drum brakes. |
| Wheels/Tires: | Compomotive ML 15x8 wheels.
Yokohama Advan AO48 205/60 tires. |
| Body Mods: | Sebring style fiberglass fender flares.
Hand-rolled aluminum front valance.
Flush fiberglass rear valance.
Finished in British Racing Green (GN29) with Snowberry White roundels.
Sebring headlamp fairings.
100/80 Watt H4 bulbs.
New laminated windscreen. (Safety glass in other windows.)
Monza style 3.5" fuel filler on C-pillar. |
| Interior: | Rollcentre 6-point roll cage.
Ridgard RS9 racing seats.
Willans four-point 3" harnesses.
Zero 2000 plumbed fire suppression system.
FIA external kill switch and extinguisher control.
Moto-Lita 15" steering wheel with quick release hub.
Paddy Hopkirk accelerator pedal (helps with heel-and-toe driving).
Later model MGB stalk switch (with headlamp dip, etc.). |
| Instruments: | (left to right)
? oil temperature gauge,
Smiths dual oil pressure (0-100psi) and water temperature (80-220F) gauge,
Smiths speedometer (0-200mph),
CAi tachometer (0-8000rpm), and
Smiths fuel level (E-F) gauge. |
| Weight: | 1076kg (2372lb) wet, with driver. |
| Comments: | "This 1969 MGC-GT was originally built with an automatic transmission. Before I found this
car, I had owned several MGB's but I'd always fancied an MGC despite their bad reputation.
When I purchased her in 1982, she looked good and was very solid. There had only been one
previous owner. I decided to take the plunge, and my dad and I traveled to Bristol to
complete the sale and arrange delivery. Life got in the way, and this MGC ended up in
storage from 1986 to November 2006 when it was moved again to "MG Motorsport" for rebuilding
into a track day car. Since 2006 the engine has been completely rebuilt to an entirely
different, more developed specification. Horsepower has gone from around 170bhp to over
285bhp with the new fuel injection and crank-triggered ignition systems." |
Engine Installation
Prepared by Damico Race Engines, this MGB race engine produces approximately ~285 horsepower.
AT Power (UK) throttle bodies mounted on MGM (Weber DCOE style) intake manifolds.
440cc fuel injectors.
ATI Super Damper harmonic balancer.
Ford Mondeo V6 wasted-spark ignition coil pack.
Modified coolant thermostat housing.
K&N HP-2009 oil filter and sandwich plate for a remote oil cooler.
Previous set-up: triple Weber 45DCOE carburetors on cast aluminum manifolds, mounted to
an original Peter Burgess flowed iron cylinder head. MG Motorsport modified Lucas
distributor. Lumenition Optronic breakerless ignition module.
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Front Suspension
This photo shows the torsion bar front suspension as it was being rebuilt.
However, the brakes were later uprated with Wilwood 4-pot aluminum calipers.
High ratio steering rack: 2.9 turns lock-to-lock.
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Rear Suspension
Rebuilt MGC Salisbury axle with Quaife limited slip differential and stock 3.07:1 gears.
Stock drum brakes. Note: the MGC model featured five-lug wheels as standard equipment.
Anti-tramp bars were added after this photo was taken.
Interior
This is a road legal car. Shaun Holmes first prepared it for track day use,
but he has subsequently begun entering it in full-fledged races.
Ridgard RS9 racing seats. Willans four-point 3" harnesses.
Rollcentre 6-point roll cage.
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Moto-Lita 15" steering wheel with quick release hub.
Specialist Components "Typhoon" engine control module.
Zero 2000 ozone friendly, plumbed fire suppression system.
Battery box.
This aluminum cover protects the top of a fuel swirl pot. The fuel
injection system includes both a low pressure pump from the fuel cell
to the swirl pot and a high pressure pump to supply the injectors.
Exterior
We enjoyed watching Shaun contest the Peter Best Insurace Challenge at Snetterton
on 5-6 October 2013. Snetterton is a challenging course built on an old WWII
bomber base, near the city of Norwich. The course is 1.9840 miles long.
Based on Saturday's Qualifying Race results, Shaun started second of seventeen cars
entered in Sunday's race. He maintained that position to finish second place overall,
whilst recording the race's fastest lap! (1:30.610 equates to 78.91mph average speed.)
The Peter Best Insurance Challenge is part of the MG Car Club's slate of amateur
races. It's unique in that it's open to any model that has ever worn an MG badge.
The 2013 series visited six of England's finest racetracks over six weekends.
Forthcoming changes? "I will put a fiberglass tailgate on, but I'm loth
to spoil the car too much with holes cut everywhere."
MG Car Club Championship / Peter Best Insurace Challenge sticker.
Sebring style fender flares.
Compomotive ML 15x8 wheels. Yokohama Advan AO48 205/60 tires.
The yellow square with black cross indicates a rookie driver.
Shaun Holmes. Connor Holmes. MG Motorsport sticker. Rollcentre.com roll cage.
Sports Racing and GT Challenge sticker.
MGC GT tail hatch badges.
Twenty-four of the 32 photos above are from October 2013 when we viewed Shaun's MGC GT at
The MG Car Club's Autumn Race Meeting at Snetterton, near Norwich England.
Photos by Curtis Jacobson for BritishRaceCar.com, copyright 2013. All rights reserved.
The remaining eight photos - specifically the final photo in the engine section, the
four photos of suspension details, and the first three photos of the car's interior -
are by Shaun Holmes and were supplied for BritishRaceCar.com's exclusive use.
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