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J2 Racing Parts

as published in BritishV8 Magazine, Volume XXIII Issue 1, December 2017

B15, nissan sentra, spec-v, racing, se-r, NASA, brakes, tires, wheels, suspension, watts link, coilovers, bc racing, shocks, joe ippolito, b14, b13, 240sx, SCCA, b15u.

Owner: Brian Laine

City: Arlington, Washington
J2 racing engines chesapeake va

Model: 1933 MG J2 Midget Engines

Engine: Ford 60 flathead V8
Built by: owner

J2 Racing Engines

Introduction and Historical Context

J2 Racing Engines

This website traces its history to 'The MG V-8 Newsletter', which was first published in 1993. In ensuing years, we've featured over 350 'How It Was Done' articles about installations of American V8 engines into classic MG sports cars. This is the oldest car we've featured to date. And this car features the earliest V8 engine we've shown too. But it's a newly completed engine swap, and we're delighted to show it in great detail because it's an exceptional example.
We anticipate some readers may like a bit of context. So, for starters... the MG marque dates to 1923. William Morris, proprietor of Morris Motors Limited, conceived MG as a 'skunk works' to build exciting sports cars and racecars using off-the-shelf and modified parts from mass-produced automobiles. By 1932, 'The M.G. Car Company, Ltd.' was producing sports cars in significant numbers at a small factory in Abingdon, in Oxfordshire, in England. (If you're curious to dive deeper into MG's early history, we'd recommend starting with this article: Abingdon For MG Enthusiasts.)
The name 'Midget' historically described many different MG cars before becoming an official model designation (in 1961). MG differentiated between early Midgets by assigning alphabetic series designations. Between 1932 and 1934, four versions of 'J-Type' Midgets were produced. Of J-Types, the most numerous is the 'J2': 2083 MG J2 Midgets were built. Approximately 450 are thought to survive, worldwide. The concurrent J1 model is similar, except with a modest back seat. Just 380 J1's were produced. J3 and J4 variants were built specifically for racing. Both of those models feature de-stroked and supercharged engines and larger brakes. (22 and 9 were built, respectively.) J4's are distinguishable from J3's by their special, lightweight bodies.
Although MG didn't export J-Types to North America, the MMM Register reckons at least 76 reached these shores. Famously, some were brought home by American airmen at the close of World War II. Though built in the depths of The Great Depression, in some ways the J-Type Midgets better represent the roaring twenties. Butterfly hoods, cycle fenders, tall narrow tires, cable operated brakes, and friction shock absorbers were just some of their anachronistic features. But they differ in a crucial way from American automobiles of the 1920s - or any era - they're much lighter! That's what makes them so fun to drive.
On the other hand, they weren't powerful by any objective standard. In pre-war England, annual automobile taxes were based on piston surface area, and most engines were designed accordingly. The MG engine was closely derived from the Wolseley-developed Morris Minor 847cc engine. As in the Minor, a regular J-Type MG engine had four tiny little 57mm pistons which traveled 83mm up and then 83mm back down for every rotation of the crank. That's a bore-to-stroke ratio of just 0.69:1. Which is terrible. Once you comprehend that, it's easier to understand how they only produced 36 horsepower. Now, you might expect J3 and J4 racing engines would have a larger bore diameter for more displacement, bigger valves, better porting, etc. Evidently that wasn't feasible. So, surprisingly, MG reduced stroke on J3 and J4 racing engines to just 73mm to make them eligible for competition in 750cc class racing. (Supercharging and exotic fuel cocktails were also part of the 750cc recipe.) In retrospect, choosing to compete in a smaller engine class made sense. Supported by just two main bearings, all J-Type crankshafts were fragile, and a shorter stroke would help avoid failures. Top ends were more of a mixed bag. On one hand, an overhead cam driven via bevel gears provided admirably precise valve timing. Devotees report that cam timing is reliably accurate to less than 1/2 degree of crankshaft revolution, even at speeds as high as 5500rpm. On the other hand, setting these engines' rocker arm geometry is notoriously difficult and time consuming. Also, seal failures between camshafts and cam-driven generators resulted in oil leaks and subsequent engine fires. Bottom line: many J-Types have benefitted from engine swaps.
We don't know what failure destroyed this particular J-Type's original MG engine, but it's had two very different engine swaps. A previous owner installed a British Ford 'Prefect' side-valve, four-cylinder engine. 'Where', 'when', and 'by whom' are unknown. We're left to wonder: What American would choose a Prefect engine? Indeed, where would they even find one? Yet somehow this J2 made its way to Washington state and then sat derelict with a Prefect engine between its frame rails from about 1972 onward until Brian found and purchased it.
Without the original MG engine to work with, Brian considered alternatives and the Ford 'V8-60' model engine easily won out. They're almost contemporary to the J2 and many thousands were manufactured. In North America, Ford produced V8-60 engines from 1937 through 1940, but after WWII V8-60 production continued in other parts of the world. (In particular, Simca produced V8-60 engines under license until 1960.) These little engines are compact, relatively easy to source, affordable, and are still well supported with aftermarket hop-up and dress-up parts.
It's difficult to say who built the very first V8-60 powered MG sportscar, but it's pretty easy to associate some famous people to this combination.
In 1950, Bill Stroppe¹ built an MG TC V8-60 racecar for William Cramer of Los Angeles. Although Cramer sometimes drove, more often than not he shared his MG-V8 with Cal Club friends including Arnold Stubbs, Phil Hill², and Richie Ginther³. Humorously, Cramer's MG-V8 usually wore racing number '2Jr' whilst Phil Hill's Jaguar XK120 was entered as racecar '2'. When Phil Hill won the 1950 Pebble Beach Cup, de facto teammate Arnold Stubbs was chasing him valiantly in 2Jr. Phil Hill got his own chances to drive 2Jr at Carrell Speedway on February 25, 1951 (where he finished 4th), at Torrey Pines in September, and at Stockton in August of the following year. Phil Hill's close friend and sometimes riding mechanic, young Richie Ginther tried out 2Jr at Pebble Beach on May 27, 1951. Ginther placed 3rd overall in a preliminary sprint race, but failed to finish the Pebble Beach Cup main event. (Incidentally, another MG TC V8-60 was entered in the 1951 Pebble Beach races by one Dick Jones.)
Famous hot-rod builder Doane Spencer of So-Cal Speed Shop fame built an MG TC V8-60 racecar for Paul W. Trousdale, who recruited driver Paul Pedigro to pilot it at many race meetings starting from the March 23, 1952 event at Palm Springs.
At approximately the same time, T. Noah 'Tiny' Smith of Smith Import Motors in San Antonio installed a V8-60 in his daughter Sugar's MG. Sugar's MG impressed customers and led to more orders: an untold number of conversions and possibly some engine swap kits too. BritishV8 readers may recall Tiny Smith's more famous venture: his 'Jiggler' cylinder head conversion kits added overhead exhaust to flathead racing engines as described and photographed in our extensive Speedway Motors Museum Tour article. Specific details of Smith's MG V8-60 conversions are somewhat hard to confirm, but we can easily document a bit of their racing success. At the 'Guardsman's Trophy Races' at Eagle Mountain National Guard Base near Fort Worth in August 1954, Stuart Harvey drove a Tiny Smith owned MG TC V8-60 racecar