Chappy's Build

[erictharg]

For a UK car use the Metro rad. As Matthew says they're cheap and very effective. I run the older copper brass type that was used in the A Series Metro's, but either type will work OK. As Jan says, use the thermostat to regulate temperature. I use a blanking ring in place of the thermostat on mine because I want it to run at mid 70's, which is best for absolute A Series power, plus it's one less thing to go wrong when racing. But for road use stick with the 'stat. I tape over about 1/3 of the inlet to the rad when on the road to get the temp up to 80'ish.

[adamwilkinson]

ther-mo-stat... ahh yes i remember those, threw that away many many years ago.
Ok, I'm talking about our race engines that i doubt will ever see road use again but it'll happily sit at 80 degrees in 35degree ambiant air temp for a 100mins at race speeds. We are of the opinion that less restirctions in the cooling circuit the better, this includes convaluted piping.

Oil temps on the other hand... thats the one gauge you should NEVER fit!! Ignorance is bliss!!

[jonclancy]

Mknight702 wrote:
> Should get a good amount back from breaking a car that looks as good as
> that one. I certainly did and my donor was a very, very, long way from
> good.

Almost OT, but will be relevant to Chappy as well, I think...

Just to pick your brains please Matt and Brian:

What method did you use to dispose of the non-XI midget parts? eBay auctions, Buy It Now, Spridget ads etc? How did you set you pricing - Completed Auctions, previous ads?

It's time to start recovering some of my Midget purchase cost and I was wondering how it would be best tackled. The relevant parts will be retained in storage and refurbed as required (I would like the ww axle/hubs on No42 eventually). How would I retain the title (I have V5 etc) while disposing of the (rotten) shell? Keep the chassis plate / bulkhead (as was done with the Spits, GT6, Herald etc) or just the plate and V5 with photograpic evidence.

ATB

Jon

[Westfield 129]

I have run a blanking plate. It works, but you need to remove the bypass hose and plug the head and water pump for it to be effective. My thermostats have been pretty reliable in all my cars, though I did replace an 18 year old one in my Mercedes late last year to fix a hot running problem that cropped up.

I use a thermostat on my cars, especially as it promotes a quick warm up, which really saves the engine as it gets up to temperature much quicker. This is really important if you like to drive the car nearly daily, as I do.

Here in the US, I found Craig's List to be useful, along with Bugeyeparts.com.

I kept the engine, rear axle, and sold off everything else (my steering rack came from the UK, as my car is RHD, and my US Midget was LHD). I paid $1000 for the car (£700), and sold what was left for around $1,500. Among the parts that went quickly were the carburetors, exhaust manifold, cylinder head, transmission, steering rack... A couple of restorers came with a sawzall and cut off the tips of the rear wings as they were not rusted. Eventually I was down to the rusty hull, and was about to call the metal scavengers, when a guy called me and offered me another $250 for whatever I had left. He hauled it away in a rusty brown cloud, happy to have it.

And I still have the spline hubs standard rear axles with splines, rear hubs, and a 4.22 diff and case. I guess those will go soon.

My car has a majority of new parts, with only the old axle housing and the engine block from the donor car.

I was really surprised about how much I received that I was able to put back into the car. About a TranX diff's worth, with a professional setup and fresh gear. Not bad.

You might be able to net a set of Protech double adjustable dampers, which would be a good idea.

[jonclancy]

Any updates, Steve?