V8 Midget

shetlandnick · Post by **shetlandnick** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 6:09 pm

Hi all
thought I'd better make a new thread before I get pulled for not posting for a while. Been a bit busy with the family and a house move, but hopefully the end result will be worth it. The axle goes in this week following the delivery of rear suspension nuts and bolts. The prop is already made up, so then I can work out exactly where the engine needs to sit and do the necessary cutting and fabrication. More info on http://journals.aol.co.uk/atconick/mad-midget/ I'll be posting photos of the actual car once she's back on her wheels and able to be rolled out of the shed; maybe later this week. I know of one other V8 midget on the way (got the axle, prop and wheels of that one). Anyone else know of any others being built?
Ta, Nick

kev_the_mole · Post by **kev_the_mole** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 7:34 pm

Nick,

are you going to Goodwood next year and if so you're welcome to join the "UK Nasty Boyz" group with modified Healeys and Spridgets.

If we're all together in our own little ghetto then it allows us to be more efficiently ostracized

Cheers,

Ian

ian.stewart · Post by **ian.stewart** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 7:46 pm

kev_the_mole wrote:Nick,

If we're all together in our own little ghetto then it allows us to be more efficiently ostracized

Cheers,

Ian

Razor wire, Attack dogs and CS gas was on order last year,---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- or was it the Smell of Deep Heat and Stale Wee that got you ostracised down wind of he camp site

shetlandnick · Post by **shetlandnick** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 8:07 pm

Hi
I'm hoping to get the car mechanically sorted and legal (maybe not bodily finished) in time for Spridget 50 next May. Are you all going to that? The other V8 midget builder is hoping to have his ready by then. Be good to have a group of unfeasibly heavily modded cars there.

Wee_chris · Post by **Wee_chris** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 8:11 pm

Any room for a V8 Spitfire?

Mine is starting to look like I'm getting there.

Local Triumph people don't like me now that I have a rover v8 and adding a Lenham front end.

Hopefully going to be roadworth by march or april, not sure about paint though

ian.stewart · Post by **ian.stewart** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 10:56 pm

Come to think of it, If I stick Lotii badges on the car, can I come and play,
--------Ive just looked out the deep heat

kev_the_mole · Post by **kev_the_mole** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 10:10 am

Nick and all,

Have a close look at www.healey-weekend.com. I think some Midgets are going but Spitties and Lotii won't get in as it's a rather select gathering don'tcherknow lol:

I'm not even sure that us 'outcasts' will be allowed out of the car park.

I'm going for the chance to drive the Goodwood circuit (10 minutes track time woo-hoo) and I'm entering a mutant, rule bending rocker box because there's no fun in taking part in a competition unless you can force the rules committee to rewrite the regulations to disqualify you is there? :

shetlandnick · Post by **shetlandnick** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 4:45 pm

Axle's in, back on it's wheels, old engine coming out this weekend. http://journals.aol.co.uk/atconick/mad-midget/

chrismc · Post by **chrismc** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 5:39 pm

Hi nick, have added your blog to my favourites.
Looks like a great project. Does the bonnet need a hump?

I mean to clear the engine!

shetlandnick · Post by **shetlandnick** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 6:28 pm

I'm hoping it won't, but I won't know until the weekend. The plan is to have it looking like just another midget, albeit without bumpers. The other V8 Midget that I know of was using MGBGT V8 twin carbs pointing back toward the bulkhead, and that certainly had clearance problems. I think the owner is going to megasquirt it and try to get the inlet height down to minimum. I am using a JWR dual plane offy inlet and a holley 390 with a low level 14" filter, as recommended by various shops for fitting to MGBs without bonnet bulges. It is about as low as you can go with a carb setup. How it will look in a midget is anyone's guess. I may be able to drop the engine a little lower in the bay, so long as I don't have any clearance probs on the front crossmember. I may have to swap sumps from range rover to P6.
Regards, Nick

mattwrigg · Post by **mattwrigg** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 11:39 pm

Hi all

Just happened to come across this forum while trying to sell Nick's old engine & box and found he had started a thread on his V8. Small world eh?

Turns out he saw a Pitts Special biplane part finished kit, he's always wanted one so rang me up and offered me all his midget stuff to clear his garage.

I acquired a mostly finished V8 midget last year from a bloke in London who had had it in his garage for a few years after buying it from the original builder. I had to build a garage to house it, and have just started proper work on it. I have stripped it and sandblasted the shell, and now just looking for someone to sort the rear end bodywork before painting and reassembly.

The engine is a standard 10.5:1 CR 3.5 Rover with Isky cam and lifters, SD1 heads and P6 manifolds. It has rear facing SU's on (Clive Wheatley manifold) which results in a hole in the bonnet to clear the dashpots. I'm trying to find a complete EFI setup to convert to Megasquirt, I'll have to shave some height of the EFI manifold and lower the trumpet height to get it under a standard bonnet. My pal tells me to get the bloody thing running and MoT'd on SU's first, then we can convert to Megasquirt later (spoilsport).

My website is www.v8midget.com.

I hopefully should be finished this year so will try to get to some events. Definitely won't be finished for Spridget 50 in May though!

Cheers
Matt

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