Topic

It is the MG EX181 engine fitted with a Shorrock supercharger. Which on 23rd August 1957 with Stirling Moss at the wheel, running on 86% methanol laced with nitrobenzene, acetone and sulphuric ether reached 245.64mph .



What a great find Andrew, thanks for that. Another part of the story connecting my favorite MG characters, Captain George Edward Thomas Eyston, Goldie Gardner and Stirling Moss.

CRU57Y wrote: wrote:

It's an MG?? D'oh
That's as far as I got without googling(cheating).

Cru5ty googling is not cheating it's finding out about the wonderful world of MG's. The idea of the MG T-Bar Quiz has always been to learn more about the fascinating machines, history and community we are all members of and to have a bit of fun on the way.

I already googled
That last clue is a good one.

Yep, that's the one It went back to Bonneville in 1959 with Phil Hill driving it and managed 254.something mph. I *think* this still stands as a class speed record (that's the link for the last photo - a Mossy Hill). The whole car was built after hours by the engineering team, I recall reading (probably in John Thornley's book Maintaining the Breed) that Syd Enever, the chief engineer, stripped and rebuilt the engine one night not long before leaving, as he was disappointed the engine was only producing 240hp. Result was 300 Another story of Syd Enever and, I think, John Thornley (although it may have been someone else - Syd Cousins perhaps?) spend another long night with a hole saw lightening the whole chassis. Although, it may have been one of the earlier cars, I'm not 100% sure.

And here's the image I borrowed, of the engine in it's current house at Gaydon. The whole story is one of the things that inspired me to become an engineer.



And one of Hill in 1959 with EX181, showing just how small it is.



And alongside EX135 and EX179

http://www.flickr.com/photos/triggerscarstuff/4650567277/lightbox/

What a great story, thanks Andrew.

OK a quick one.

Please post a photo of the MG model which came equipped, as standard, with a four hydraulic ram jacking system to raise the car.

You should have said "designed to raise the car", cos I'm not sure how often it worked...



For the rarer tourer, the YT

Well done again Andrew, the others are going to have to be quick to get in before you.

Yes this is the Smiths Jackall four wheel hydraulic system. Four rams pushed downwards on the ground activated by a hand operated pump unit mounted on the bulkhead. This enabled the driver to raise the whole car off the ground enabling easy wheel changing and other maintenance. The front could be raised independently and vice versa if required.

Here it is in operation, just need to ensure you are on a solid surface before deploying the rams



Here is an 'exploded' view of the Jackall pump


and a diagram of a ram, so as you can see there are a few places seals could deteriorate, but like all MG 'tasks' a thing that can be fixed.




The system, like any other on a car, needed some maintenance but if looked after was very successful at raising the car. It was fitted to some of the larger pre-war MG saloons but was fitted as standard to the Y-Type which had been in development in 1939 but had had to wait until 1947 before it went into production.

I'd forgotten the SVW cars had them as well.

OK, an easy one now that I've borrowed from another forum in the states:

Which was the first production MG to use pushrod operated over-head valves?

you forgot this bit

And the tie breaker if needed:

What's MOWOG stand for? (there is a correct answer for this)

Which was the first production MG to use pushrod operated over-head valves?

Now I don’t really know the difference between all this “complicated” stuff – that’s what Garages are for but wasn’t it the MG TA Midget in 1936 - the MG VA came out in 1937 – both a little before even my time? If I am talking my usual rubbish please excuse an old duffer but it's raining (again) so I might as well get wet inside as out if you catch my drift. .

MOWOG – do we really, really want to go down this route?

Not quite, VA is closer than TA though