Storm Field's MGB GT V8 Race Car, Number 428
Owner: Storm FieldCity: White Plains, NY
Model: 1972 MGB GT V8
Engine: Rover 3.5L V8
Built by: Mike Agnifilo at Stonebridge Sports and Classics
Features and Specifications
| Engine: | Rover 4.0L block, re-sleeved down to 3.5" bore to comply with class rules.
Rover 4.0L cylinder heads.
Edelbrock Performer 2198 dual plane intake manifold.
Holley 450cfm 4-barrel carburetor.
Mallory Unilite distributor.
MSD6AL capacitive discharge ignition controller.
Mallory Promaster "Street and Strip" ignition coil.
Accel SuperStock Hi-Temp 8mm black spark plug wires.
Wet sump lubrication system.
Accusump accumulator, with 3qt. reservoir. |
| Cooling: | custom aluminum crossflow radiator.
Spal electric cooling fan.
Canton Racing Products 1.25qt aluminum header tank.
Mocal oil cooler. |
| Exhaust: | D&D Fabrications RV8-style headers installed with thermal header wrap. |
| Transmission: | Rover LT77 five speed transmission. |
| Rear Axle: | General Motors 10-bolt rear axle (as used on Chevy S10, etc.) with limited slip differential. |
| Front Susp.: | original right-hand-steering.
Uprated springs.
Polyurethane bushes.
Oversized anti-sway bar on aluminum pillow blocks. |
| Rear Susp.: | lowered leaf springs (5 leafs).
KONI adjustable aluminum telescoping shock absorbers.
Anti-tramp bars.
Fab-tek anti-sway bar. |
| Brakes: | (master) dual Tilton 75 series compact master cylinders with bias bar and remote reservoirs. (front) Wilwood calipers and vented rotors. (rear) Chevy drum brakes. |
| Wheels/Tires: | Minilite MagStyle aluminum 8J15 wheels with Hoosier "Street T.D."
P245/45D15 bias-ply racing tires. |
| Electrical: | Delco-Remy single-wire alternator.
Lead/acid battery. |
| Instruments: | SunPro Super Tach II tachometer (0-8000rpm).
Stewart Warner oil pressure gauge (5-100psi) and water temperature gauge (100-265F). |
| Fuel System: | Fuel Safe fuel cell. Holley fuel pressure regulator and VDO fuel pressure gauge (0-15psi). |
| Safety Eqmt: | Kirkey Intermediate Road Race layback seat.
Sabelt six-point cam-lock safety harness.
SafeQuip window net.
Wink rearview mirror.
Centralized fire suppression system. |
| Racing Class: | SVRA 8AP. |
Engine Installation
Rover 4.0L engine, reduced to 3.5L displacement (3.50" bore by 2.80" stroke) to comply with class rules.
Mallory Unilite distributor with Accel SuperStock 8mm black spark plug wires.
Oil is supplied to the timing chain by an Aeroquip line to the top of the timing cover.
Holley fuel pressure regulator and VDO fuel pressure gauge (0-15psi).
Canton Racing Products 1.25qt aluminum header tank and Mallory Promaster "Street and Strip" ignition coil.
The car has been converted to right hand steering. The steering shaft can be seen here.
Holley 450cfm 4-barrel carburetor.
Edelbrock Performer 2198 dual plane intake manifold.
D&D Fabrications RV8-style headers.
Header wrap is used to keep exhaust gases hot and keep heat down in the engine compartment.
The roll cage extends forward to the front of the car through the wheel wells.
Slip joints provide an easy way to de-couple the headers from the exhaust pipes.
Alternator mounting brackets.
Delco-Remy single-wire alternator.
Custom fabricated breather tank.
Billet aluminum pulleys.
Suspension
Shorter and stiffer front springs have been installed.
The upgraded front anti-roll bar is mounted on aluminum pillow blocks.
Rubber suspension bushes have been replaced with polyurethane bushes.
The rear spring rate has been reduced by removing two leafs, which also has the effect of lowering the car.
Aluminum lowering blocks have been installed on the opposite side of the spring pack from where they're
usually installed. If they're not being used to lower the car, what are they there for? Perhaps the shock
absorbers are a little on the long side, and the blocks are protecting them from bottoming-out in bump. At
the same time, the aluminum blocks have relocated the rearward end of the traction bars lower by about
1.25", which builds anti-squat into the suspension and also slightly alters its roll steer behavior.
General Motors 10-bolt rear axle.
Koni adjustable telescoping shock absorbers.
Fab-tek adjustable rear anti-sway bar (installed at its softest setting).
Fab-tek anti-tramp bars. (Editor's note: that we're showing Heim joints in a vehicle's suspension mounted in
single shear and also without safety washers shouldn't be interpreted as endorsements of these practices.)
Interior
Storm's car is one of ~2600 MGB GT V8s built by MG in their Abingdon factory between late 1972 and
autumn 1976. Except for eleven prototypes, all factory-built MGB GT V8 have right hand drive steering.
This is the original steel dashboard. For the U.S. market, MGBs of this era had padded dashboards.
SunPro Super Tach II tachometer (0-8000rpm). Stewart Warner water temperature gauge (100-265F).
Sweet Manufacturing steering universal joint, installed on the cool side of the firewall.
The Rover LT77 5-speed transmission is physically "tall" (compared to the original MG transmission, the
popular Borg-Warner T5 transmission, etc.), so the top of the tunnel has been modified to make room.
Pull-cable control and plumbing for the centralized fire suppression system.
Cool Shirt, laying on top of the icebox that contains its cooling fluid and pump.
Accusump 3qt reservoir and MSD6AL capacitive discharge ignition controller.
SVRA's supplemental rules for the MGB GT V8 model specify that the engine's cylinder heads must be
at least six inches forward of the firewall. Mounting the engine further forward would be a competitive
disadvantage. Here, the top inboard corners of the footboxes have been elaborately modified to make
room for the cylinder heads.
Wink rearview mirror.
Rollcage construction details...
This rollcage is fabricated out of chrome-moly steel tubing instead of mild steel tubing. "Don't try this
at home." Brittle martensitic grains inevitably form in the cooling zone of chrome-moly welds, resulting in
crack-prone joints. The problem is worst with TIG welds, but all chrome-moly welds should be heat treated
to correct their grain structure. Obviously, it's rarely feasible to bake a rollcage in a heat treatment oven.
An oxyacetylene torch can be used for heat treatment, but that requires a fair bit of skill and a lot of
patience - especially where access to welds is obstructed by bodywork.
SafeQuip window net.
Window net attachment detail.
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Sabelt six-point cam-lock safety harness.
Kirkey Intermediate Road Race layback seat. In this view it's hard to gauge the installation angle of
the shoulder straps, but the mounting points appear to be a little too low. To avoid spinal compression
injury in the event of an accident, shoulder straps shouldn't come downward toward their attachment point.
Typical guidelines for mounting angle: between five degrees below to thirty degrees above horizontal.
(With a "layback" seat, the angle is arguably a little less critical than with a more upright seat.)
Elbow room and side impact protection were both considerably improved cutting away the inner door
panel and extending the rollcage outward.
The driver-side door release latch is worked by a simple pull cable.
The passenger-side door is retained by a pip pin.
Passenger-side rollcage details.
Braces to the rollcage's main hoop.
Rollcages provide an excellent means of improving the torsional stiffness of a race car.
Optimally, the cage should extend to mounting points of both front and rear suspensions.
(Shown here: rollcage extension inside the front righthand wheel well.)
The X-shaped rollcage brace can be unbolted to facilitate removal of the fuel cell.
Exterior
Storm's car lined up with three other MGB GT V8 racecars at Virginia International Raceway in 2009.
This paint job must surely be one of the car's most effective safety features.
MGB GT "Sebring" fender flares.
MGC bonnet.
Lucas headlamp decal, seen through Sebring-style headlight fairings.
"V8" grille badge.
Hood pin clevis.
Hood pin.
Cowl vent blanking plate.
Replacing the rear hatch glass with polyurethane is a big weight reduction.
Rubber draw latch.
MGB GT V8 rear hatch spoiler.
Minilite MagStyle aluminum 8J15 wheels with Hoosier "Street T.D." P245/45D15 bias-ply racing tires.
All photos shown here are from June 2009, when we viewed the car at The Heacock Classic Gold Cup at
Virginia International Raceway. All photos by Curtis Jacobson for BritishRaceCar.com, copyright 2009.
All rights reserved.
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