Thread: Hello from an old member

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Some nice passes Perry, Consistency is the name of the game!!!!

Congrats on great times, getting under 10 seconds is quite the achievement. That's one nice MG you've built!

Thankyou Steve.
All the little tweaks over the last several years have finally come together.

WooHoo!! 9.96 and you did it! Congrats!! And thanks for sharing your accomplishments with us too.... are you're feet back on solid ground yet? rofl..

Well done and congratulations Perry on all accounts, PB and a great build. Now I will freely admit here that I have never been really into drag racing my car as I am a bit afraid of all the things that can go wrong when one starts pushing a car you lovely build to the extreme limits but watching your videos has me thinking I would like to try that now. I watched how you get the car away cleanly and straight and think , maybe I am a big sulk , and I'm see to much into it.

Hey Mark!
I hear that so many time from my MGB buddies. But eventually I get them to have a go after a good talking to.
A lot of folk are worried that there car isnt going to be quick, and most of the time they arent, but they are consistent which is why I pair up similar MGB's for racing. This way we have some good heads up fun on the track and I cheer my buddies on as they race. We often bet for a round of coffee's from the site cafe.

A lot of the guys have realised that its no different than going out for a cruise on a Sunday afternoon and not being able to resist that quiet stretch of road where they can gun it flat out for a short while. Maybe 20 seconds max, but thats all you need for a run on the 1/4 mile.

I do give them lots of tips about how to stage the car and launch it. The most important one being "just do it how you do it on the road" Dont go giving it huge rpm and then dump the clutch? Just get it rolling and then pile on the power. The first few times most of them stall it off the line and always miss a gear on track because they are trying to do something different from how they nomally gun the car on the road. Thers no need for big smoky burnouts on your road tyres, just drive around the water patch to keep the tyres dry and get to the line for a run.

I've done bracket racing in my tow truck and have done very well because the thing is consistent.

You should try bracket racing. Its such a lot of fun even with a 20 second car. But its not as easy as it looks because you have to hone your driving skill to be very consistent and not quick. Thats the art of bracket racing. I won the final on my first bracket race event with my 19 second truck against an 11 second sprint car?

When I first started I just went with a bunch of friends and we stuck together to race and had great fun.

You should give it a try one day Mark..

Hey Mark!
I hear that so many time from my MGB buddies. But eventually I get them to have a go after a good talking to.
A lot of folk are worried that there car isnt going to be quick, and most of the time they arent, but they are consistent which is why I pair up similar MGB's for racing. This way we have some good heads up fun on the track and I cheer my buddies on as they race. We often bet for a round of coffee's from the site cafe.

A lot of the guys have realised that its no different than going out for a cruise on a Sunday afternoon and not being able to resist that quiet stretch of road where they can gun it flat out for a short while. Maybe 20 seconds max, but thats all you need for a run on the 1/4 mile.

I do give them lots of tips about how to stage the car and launch it. The most important one being "just do it how you do it on the road" Dont go giving it huge rpm and then dump the clutch? Just get it rolling and then pile on the power. The first few times most of them stall it off the line and always miss a gear on track because they are trying to do something different from how they nomally gun the car on the road. Thers no need for big smoky burnouts on your road tyres, just drive around the water patch to keep the tyres dry and get to the line for a run.

I've done bracket racing in my tow truck and have done very well because the thing is consistent.

You should try bracket racing. Its such a lot of fun even with a 20 second car. But its not as easy as it looks because you have to hone your driving skill to be very consistent and not quick. Thats the art of bracket racing. I won the final on my first bracket race event with my 19 second truck against an 11 second sprint car?

When I first started I just went with a bunch of friends and we stuck together to race and had great fun.

You should give it a try one day Mark..

Thanks Perry and yes, drag strip time is on my " bucket list " in the bucket and yes, the burn out etc was one of the major hurdles in my head but you have given me some good advice thanks. I honestly don't know how quick the T would be and it is something that I will try. I run aTH400 trans with a normal converter so would you recommend manual shifting the thing or just leave it in say 2nd and give it death ? Yes, I told you that I'm a dumb used to be blond gone grey person .

That is one bada$$ MG, Perry.

I'm a Triumph man myself. Owned several TR4-4As and a TR7 that I dropped a Buick V6 in.
However, I have owned a couple MGBs over the years. Had a neighbor, who grew up in the UK, who regaled me with stories about his former MG. He said it would run on almost anything. After running out of petrol in the countryside he once sat on the fender pouring lighter fluid directly into the carburetor while his buddy drove them 5 miles to a station. They were afraid that if they pour it in the tank, the lighter fluid would dissolve the rubber gas lines.

Gotta love British ingenuity...

It gets better

9.81 @ 138mph


Perry Stephenson New PB for the MGB at Retro Show 2013 Santa Pod - YouTube

And you're camera crew is improving also! Hee Hee Hee.... That's an awesome ride you have there!

Wow way to go! your really improving your times!

I had a word with my camera crew tonight (Son in law) and told him to keep the camera rolling for at least 5 seconds after the finish or to wait until the other guy had crossed the line. I'm going to buy pole for him to make sure he rests it on the ground to stop his shaky stuff

Last weekend was a real blast. We did a few shakedown runs at 10.0 and then 9.90 and then 9.95 @138mph.
I was happy with the slight PB of 9.95 @ 138mph but my Son told me that we still had another hour to go and the pairing lane was empty. I refused to move until I had a cup of tea and a sit down with my buddies. So my Son prepped the car and showed me the timing tickets. My 60 foot times were slow at 1.6's. So I increased the nitrous start power from 30hp to 50hp and reduced the ramp time from 1.8 seconds to 1.2 seconds. I was thinking that if the track was still ok that this should surely get me the 9.89 that I wanted. As I drove back to my pit area my friends were waiting, and as I saw them clapping me i guessed I had done ok. But when they told me I had run a 9.81 I fell out of the car
This means that there may be a 9.7 on the cards by the end of the year ??

Originally Posted by pel

I had a word with my camera crew tonight (Son in law) and told him to keep the camera rolling for at least 5 seconds after the finish or to wait until the other guy had crossed the line. I'm going to buy pole for him to make sure he rests it on the ground to stop his shaky stuff

This means that there may be a 9.7 on the cards by the end of the year ??

The camera crew has improved 100% over that first video! LOL..

So now it's 9.7's "we're" chasing??? HAH!! Seems like only yesterday a 9.99 was the goal.. it's like an addiction isn't it!?!?! ROFLMAO..

Originally Posted by 34_40

The camera crew has improved 100% over that first video! LOL..

So now it's 9.7's "we're" chasing??? HAH!! Seems like only yesterday a 9.99 was the goal.. it's like an addiction isn't it!?!?! ROFLMAO..

Its funny how we can get addicted to spending hours and hours tinkering and adjusting to see if we can make our cars go just a few 100th's of a second quicker isnt it ?
With a 9.81 under my belt I feel that a 9.79 should be doable!
Possibly just by a change in the weather on the next day out? Or maybe just adding a few more hp to the launch settings from the nos controller? We are only talking 2/100ths of a second here!! That could even be had from a day when there is no head wind at Santapod.

My race buddies and I have been talking about what the car has been doing for the last two years. And what it has done since I rolled out the new engine several weeks ago. Suggestions have been flowing along with beer and BBQ. And the conclusion is that for 2014 we may be able to squeeze a 9.5 out of the car.
This will involve fitting some fibreglass doors and tailgate + lexan windows to drop about 60lbs off the car. Fitting solid engine mounts and fitting stronger rear springs + maybe a home made Caltrac style anti tramp setup. Remove the exhausts and fit 2" Zoomies straight up from the hood either side of the blower. And fit Lambda bungs on each Zoomie so i can swap the probes around for more data logging.
Find some skinny front wheels or have some narrowed to fit proper front tyres as I'm above the speed rating for the ones I have fitted at the moment.. The list of suggestions gets longer each day.

But for the time being I'm happy to leave it just as it its so i can have some fun this summer. I will only make adjustments to the nitrous contoller to see if I can get better 60 foot times. If these adjustments improve things I'll be very happy. if they dont, I'll spend the rest of this season still running 9's and being very happy.

Then as winter draws in i will look at the wish list and see what I can afford I'm thinking the weight saving mods should be first. And my friends also suggest that i could help by reducing my bulk down from the 230lbs i weigh now. That means Beer and BBQ to be replaced by mineral water and salads. Yeah right !!

I'm thinking too far ahead now eh?
I should be concentrating on next weekend for the Dragstalgia event. Its a fantastic weekend out where I get to do RWYB at a proper race event featuring some cool cars running in competition.

Santa Pod Raceway - Dragstalgia