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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - Learning from NASCAR

I don't know much about stock car racing but I did read with interest many of the recent articles about NASCAR. Too bad about this great guy. Anyhow, one thing I read was that a very common cause of crashes -- which killed two people last year just on the track by themselves qualifying -- is stuck throttles. The guys mash the pedal to the floor and break the springs. So, some of the teams have made redundant springs that mount to different places on the motor, so that if one breaks, the throttle will not simply stick open. Seems like a darned good idea for us V8ers, so I thought I would mention it. Also the NASCAR cars are a good place to study how to locate live axles -- I gather they all use adjustable Panhard bars that allow for vertical adjustment of the joint with which they are attached to the axle assembly; it sounds like adjusting that joint even slightly has a massive effect on the car's oversteer/understeer tendencies.
Terrence

Good point. A long time ago my throttle return spring broke and scared the hell out of me when the car continued to move, but I put it in neutral and coasted to side of road to fix it. Redundat springs are a good idea, just remember not to overstress the throttle shaft/bracket.
Joaquin

When I had the throttle stick open on a high performance car I had to speed shift to a higher gear to avoid over-revving, as that gave me more time to kill the ignition. It was scatalogically exciting.
George B.

That is just one more reason to drive a manual transmission car, worst case you pop clutch and blow an engine.

This may sound foolish, but from that accident I have realised it is more important to enjoy life everyday. Dale lived his life as he wanted, he was driving in a vehicle DESIGNED to take impacts much harder than his and yet he did no survive. That tells me that no matter what precaustions you take, sometimes it is just time. That doesn't mean to go crazy tempting fate, but LIVE your life and enjoy it, I know I will be. SAFETY FAST!
Larry Embrey

I used the early Ford trotle cable unit, it has the spring built in the cable a can be adapted to the MG very easily. It uses the same type of mounting on the firewall but it’s a bit bigger, just drill an extra hole and adapt accordingly, about two hours of your time.

Just read that the harness broke on Dale's car.
Bill Guzman

Bill, what is your site address again?
Michael Willis

Micheal my web page is going to be updated in the next two weeks. http://hometown.aol.com/jgu1744/Guzmanhomepageindex.html
Bill Guzman

BILL,
By harnes you mean his 5 point restraint, or some other harness? I will assume that if that is what you mean they made sure the rescue crew did not cut them?
Larry Embrey


"I gather they all use adjustable Panhard bars that allow for vertical adjustment of the joint with which they are attached to the axle assembly; it sounds like adjusting that joint even slightly has a massive effect on the car's oversteer/understeer tendencies."

They are changing the roll center when they move the pivot piont of the panhard bar vertically. This can be used to tune the over/under steer. Here is a link for an adjustable panhard bar mount to the center section of a Ford 9" rear. The 4 large holes are the mounting locations for the panhard bar.

http://www.afcoracing.com/products/getproduct.cfm?CategoryID=14&ClassID=184&SubclassID=878&ProductID=945
Brian Kraus

Sorry the link did not work. got to this link and type in product #20220.

http://www.afcoracing.com/products/index.cfm
Brian Kraus

Brian, what does it mean to change the roll center? Don't exactly follow -- it's hard to visualize.

I clicked through to your link ... do those guys use Panhard bars that are only half the width of the axle? ... all of the MGs I have seen with them have bars that are almost as long as the distance between the leaf springs.
Terrence

Yeah, the links are short on the race cars, but they only have a limited amount of suspension deflection anyway, much less than we do on a street car.

The roll center is calculated using the suspensions geometry and is basically an imaginary point about which the car will roll (lean). Typically, the higher the roll center, the looser the rear of the car and vice-versa. I loaned out my good suspension book last week, but if I remember correctly, the roll center height for the rear suspension with a panhard rod is the exact height where the rod attaches to the rear axle. That is why they adjust it up and down as needed.

A much better way of location (my $.02) is a watts link. I does not induce any strange side movement like the panhard rod does (as it scribes and arc through its range of travel). However, it is harder to make and heavier.
Brian Kraus

This thread was discussed between 23/02/2001 and 27/02/2001

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