Jaysen's V12 -- 'Lil Bit' of everything fun

[Jaysen]

At lunch I mixed straight fast with silica and tried to polish the turds I'm calling rubrails. They aren't perfect. Partially due to the fact that there was a lot to fill and partly due to the fact that it got to the point I was making it worse the more I played with it.








Over all I'm calling it a success.

It isn't hard enough to sand and needs at least one round of touch up. I'll work on that tomorrow.

I did work on sanding the transom and a few spots on the sides. No more fairing applied since I need to sand the rails before the next round. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe.

[Jaysen]

Got a bunch of sanding.

More hull sanding done. Still ugly as a toadfish so I'll put another coat of micro balloons on her.

Rub rails aren't picture worthy yet. At least one more pass of silica thickened epoxy and my rub tail tool followed by more sanding.

Should be able to get epoxy down lunch time tomorrow. If all goes well sanding tomorrow evening with pictures.

That has me fiddling with primer Sunday.

Fuzz, keep Murphy up here with you.

[Fuzz]

What do you say we be fair and let Mr. Murphy spend some time with somebody else instead of me and you hogging all his time

[Jaysen]

I looked at his 3 year plan... only two names.

And just to prove it's your turn, I just flatbedded the '75 MG Midget to a shop and sourced a new engine. I need to plan it so my saturdays are "watch things cure" so I can get the swap completed. You keep him a while longer please.

[terrulian]

Jeesh, Jaysen, somehow I missed out on the MG story. That's an addiction almost as debilitating as boat building. I bought a trashed out 69 B in 1981 and re-did everything myself like the body work, upholstery, rebuilt the engine, etc. I had a friend spray it.
Oddly, the SU's and the electrical system never gave me any problems, and the car was very reliable except for one thing: It was for some reason a magnet for disaster. My previous wife let the clutch slip and ran it right into the house, tearing a door off the hinges and severing the main waterline somehow in the process. Then it was vandalized by neighborhood kids who cut the top and spray painted the inside. They didn't even know me so had no reason for a grudge. Then an uninsured guy ran into it so hard when it was parked, minding its own business, that it ended up on the sidewalk. Two of those three ended up being totaled by the insurance company and it was labeled "salvaged" on the pink slip. I felt bad for it because it was always good to me.
Then around 2005 I decided it was time to restore it once again but I didn't want to do it myself this time and by the time I priced everything out, I realized that I couldn't even buy a car that was that crappy for that kind of money anymore. I mean, a $10,000 car that has no airbags, a very marginal heater/defroster, leaks in the winter, has a tractor engine, etc. I took a ride in a Mazda and thought I was hallucinating. The car handled like the MG always wanted to handle. I thought about it and then Mazda came out with a folding hardtop and I was whipped. The B went to a good home, though, and got a thorough restoration. And I can drive more like a hooligan now.
Back to boat building....

[Jaysen]

Madge (that's her name, the MG, not the wife...) has been a great car for me. Been a daily driver since I've been here. Everything about her just makes me smile. I did discover that you can NOT let the smile travel to your right foot though. I was heading to Savannah with the boss. The top was down. Mrs was decked out in her "Jackie O" sunglasses, hat and scarf. The sea wind in our hair. The sunlight in our eyes. Huge smiles on our faces. Right foot... too close to the floor. On the way home I noticed "she's just ... not happy, did the timing shift?" I looked down and notice the oil pressure at 20psi. Doing 5500 rpm. Limped her home without doing more than a few dings on the main bearings.

For the record, you can drive a 40yr old car 85 MPH. It's just not smart.

I bought a new tuned engine since I'm not ready to do a rebuild on my own. Yet. Got the exact engine I wanted to build... the '76 high compression block, flat top pistons .04 overbore, .01 over on bearings (allows for the best bearings available), good head with ridges decked and hardened valves/seals, block top decked .005 and cam ground a tad forward. Brings my compression up to 9.3 and sets me up to stop using marine fuel. Also changes the power plant from 68hp to 93hp. I will still have the serial matched engine to rebuild once I have the time and tools. I won't build the original quite so aggressive and keep it more stock.

I have every original part (including the opus) that came on Madge from the factory. I am making her a little happier for the local heat and for running on ethanol fuels. For now she's our little sports car that i need to drive less like a sports car and more like a classic car.

If I ever lose her, I'll go with a z4 or a 300z. Both will result in jail time, so the boss is encouraging me to be careful with Madge. I do have my eye on a '47 chevy load master (2.5 ton, dual speed rear, original stove bolt engine) but I need that like a I need another boat... which is the exact excuse I plan to use to acquire said truck... "But we need to pull this SB18 with something... why not something with class and style?"

I expect a couple weeks on the couch after that...

[terrulian]

I left my engine stock. I was able to scare myself well enough with that.

[Jaysen]

I left my engine stock. I was able to scare myself well enough with that.

B had a little more spank than the rubber bumper A's. Even though mine's a 1500cc block, it actually generates less speed since it red lines at 7K vs 9k. The only advantage to the 1500 (actually a triumph spitfire motor (which is a GM block)) is a bit more bottom end torque. One of popular upgrades is to pull the 1275s from a pre '74 A and then balance to get a 10K redline. Then these rubber bumpers move like a bat out of hell with it's a$$ on fire.

Got fairing compound on entire bottom, port side and most of the starboard side. will get a few pics when i go out to sand later tonight.

[Jaysen]

Pre sanding fairing application. Did not cure enough for sanding. As you can see I have a few touch ups on the chimes. Should be ready for graphite Friday night or Saturday morning.






The splotches on the port side (middle pic) are were the stuff started to kick so I quit working it. Figured I'd only make it worse if I didn't move on.

[Jeff]

Jaysen, you have really made good progress on "Lil Bit"!! Can't wait to see her splashed!! Hope your son is doing well in the Army!! Jeff