Hank Ronish's 1974.5 MGB with Ford 3.0L V6
Owner: Hank RonishBritishV8 UserID: HankR
City: Thornton, Colorado
Model: 1974.5 MG MGB
Engine: Ford 3.0L V6
Conversion by: owner
Features and Specifications
| Engine: | Ford Vulcan 3.0L 60-degree V6 engine, sourced from a 2002 Ford Taurus.
1997 Ford Taurus engine computer (pre-VATS).
Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator.
Custom fabricated motor mounts.
Todd Budde 18-gallon aluminum fuel tank.
Walbro 255 fuel pump.
Fram G7333 inline quick-disconnect fuel filter.
Airco adjustable fuel pressure regulator. |
| Cooling: | aluminum radiator (1966 Ford Mustang 6-cylinder size).
14" electric fan, sourced from a 2000 Ford Focus. |
| Exhaust: | custom fabricated tubular headers. |
| Transmission: | Borg Warner T5 five speed, sourced from a 1997 Ford Mustang.
0.72:1 fifth gear.
Ford Thunderbird bellhousing.
9 1/8" pressure plate, sourced from a Ford Ranger.
8 7/8" clutch disc, Ford Thunderbird spec.
Wilwood 5/8" master cylinder.
CNC 7/8" slave cylinder.
Custom prop shaft (2" diameter, 0.120" wall). |
| Rear End: | Chevrolet 10-bolt, sourced from a 1999 Chevrolet S10 Blazer.
Axle housing and driveshafts narrowed from ~59" to 51" wheel-to-wheel, by owner.
3.42:1 ring and pinion. |
| Front Susp.: | stock. (Previous owner may have installed shorter springs.)
1977-1980 MGB front sway bar added. |
| Rear Susp.: | stock leafsprings and shock absorbers.
Red polyurethane bushings and pads.
Later model MGB anti-sway bar. |
| Brakes: | '94-'04 Ford Mustang 10.4" rear disc brakes.
Chevrolet stop light switch. |
| Wheels/Tires: | stock MGB Rostyle steel wheels.
Hankook Optimo H724 tires, size 205/70R14. |
| Interior: | Panasonic stereo radio. |
| Instruments: | AutoMeter tachometer (0-7000rpm) and speedometer (0-120mph).
Smiths fuel level, oil pressure, and coolant temperature gages.
Innovate Motorsports G5 air/fuel ratio gage (8-18:1). |
| Climate System: | stock. |
| Body: | stock. |
| Electrical: | Ford Mustang alternator, on homemade bracket.
Panasonic AM/FM/CD stereo. |
| Completed: | July 2013 |
Engine Installation
Ford Vulcan 3.0L 60-degree V6 engine, sourced from a 2002 Ford Taurus.
Produced from 1986 through 2008, the Vulcan V6 is an iron-block, iron-head, pushrod
engine with 3.50" (89.0mm) bore and 3.15" (80.0mm) stroke. Throughout 22 years of
production, Ford never offered a carbureted version of this engine.
Chevrolet stop light switch.
Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator.
Hank custom fabricated his own tubular exhaust headers.
Hank strongly advises the use of a coolant recovery system. For this car,
he purchased and used a Dorman coolant recovery tank installation kit.
Custom fabricated motor mounts.
This is a Chinese-made aluminum radiator of the popular 1966 Ford Mustang 6-cylinder size.
Note: the 14" electric fan and fan shroud were sourced from a 2000 Ford Focus.
Hank has owned four MGBs, and currently owns a chrome-bumper project car. He's thinking
of moving this V6 drivetrain to the chrome bumper MGB and installing a Buick 3800 V6 in
this rubber bumper MGB. Hank reckons the Buick V6 will fit easier into this bay.
Mass airflow sensor.
Hank used a 1997 model year Ford Taurus engine computer. To use the 2002 computer,
he'd have to fool its Vehicle Anti-Theft System (VATS).
Header installation close-up.
Header construction details.
Ford Mustang alternator, on homemade bracket.
Ford ignition coil pack.
This is Ford's original idle air control solenoid. Hank found it to be a little too tall...
...so Hank finessed its mounting surface with a belt sander.
Crank position sensor and trigger wheel are original Ford parts.
This is a "36-1" trigger wheel. In other words there are 36 tooth positions on ten degree
centers, but one tooth is missing so the crank sensor can easily detect top-dead-center.
Todd Budde 18-gallon aluminum fuel tank.
Suspension and Brakes
The front suspension looks stock, but Hank suspects a previous owner installed shorter springs.
The factory didn't fit sway bars on 1974.5 MGBs, so Hank installed a bar from a 1977-80 MGB.
Chevrolet 10-bolt, sourced from a 1999 Chevrolet S10 Blazer. Note: Neapco universal joint
part number NEA-3-3130 facilitated mating a Ford prop shaft yoke to a Chevy axle yoke.
Red polyurethane bushings and pads.
Later model MGB anti-sway bar.
Hank decided to use 1994-04 Ford Mustang 10.4" rear disc brakes mainly because he preferred
to have the emergency brake feature built right into the caliper.
Rather than try to adapt Ford caliper mounting brackets to Chevy flanges, Hank welded on Ford
flanges. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but weld shrinkage caused bearing bores to
shrink and distort. They needed to be recut by a local machine shop, at a cost of about $70.
Other than that, things went well. Mercury Cougar (circa ~2000) e-brake cables proved just
the right length. The stock MGB master cylinder is adequately sized for good brake pedal feel,
the car stops well, and front-to-rear bias is good even without fitting a proportioning valve.
Tubes on Chevy 10-bolt axles are swaged down where they insert into the cast iron center section.
When Hank shortened the tubes, he left enough of the swaged areas to get an accurate measurement
and also have a good centering reference for his lathe chuck. Rather than weld the tubes into place,
he decided to drill and tap the center section for three 3/8" flush-mount pipe plugs per side. JB Weld
was appied as sealant, and a 1" threaded rod was used to pull the tube sections into place.
Hubs redrilled from GM's 5x4.75" lug pattern to MGB's standard 4x4.5" pattern. "If I do another
swap, for the sake of saving time, I might farm some of this work out and buy custom made axles."
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Interior
Gear shifter sits neatly in the original location.
AutoMeter tachometer (0-7000rpm) and speedometer (0-120mph).
Innovate Motorsports G5 air/fuel ratio gage (8-18:1).
Exterior
Hank bought this MGB in Arizona, but previous owners brought it back from Hawaii.
Zip out rear window.
Stock MGB Rostyle steel wheels.
Hankook Optimo H724 tires, size 205/70R14.
Photos of the completed conversion by Curtis Jacobson for BritishV8.org.
In-process conversion photos provided by Hank Ronish for BritishV8.
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