New to the gallery: Henk-Jan Vonk's cleverly engineered MGB V8

Moderator · January 28, 2011, 08:25:09 PM

Check out this very nifty car: <a href="http://www.britishv8.org/MG/HenkJanVonk.htm">Henk-Jan Vonk's Rover V8 Powered, Fuel Injected 1977 MGB</a>!

My personal favorite detail:

MGBV8 · January 28, 2011, 08:41:55 PM

Pretty cool front coilover!

djw090 · January 30, 2011, 05:45:00 AM

Could we have more details as to how the MGF seats were modified to fit.

Popular wisdom is that MGF seats do not fit in a B (but do in a Midget) because of the inner step sill, with its taper towards the back, and the transmission tunnel, with its taper towards the front, make the usable floor widthe too narrow.

There is a good supply of MGF seats over here as early cars are being broken. So I would be interested to know what Henk-Jan did.

ex-tyke · January 30, 2011, 10:14:12 AM

Sure makes a job easier when one has access to a machine shop. Well done!

undertowrocks · January 30, 2011, 05:04:47 PM

What size coil overs did he use? I mean in lbs.

chimes · January 31, 2011, 05:03:14 AM

Hi, any information on the Gaz coilovers? Spring rate, damper model, lengths etc, Many thanks

Moderator · January 31, 2011, 10:31:27 AM

I hope to have more details on the car in general and to have a follow-up article on the front suspension in particular... but I don't have the technical details from Henk-Jan yet - and yes, of course, I did ask him the same questions! His design is especially interesting to me because it appears to meet the letter of SVRA's rules for MG V8 race cars. SVRA mandates that the original shock with its upper control arm geometry be used, but they don't forbid an auxiliary shock absorber. Of course a key advantage of coilovers is that it's easy and relatively cheap to change springs. You could for example run the (soft!) stock MGB chrome-bumper spring rate for street use, and then swap to a much stiffer spring for driving an autocross or a track day. They generally come in lengths from 4 to 9 inches in one inch increments, and stiffness can be selected in 50#/inch increments - sometimes even 25#/inch increments!

G.E. · January 31, 2011, 02:12:12 PM

Hi
@ djw090 David Witham
David do you know this page? http://www.kewengineering.co.uk/upgrades4mgs/Interior/index.htm
there is some information how to fit MGF and MG ZR (fitting low cost seats) Seats. Hope that helps.
Bye
Guido

djw090 · February 01, 2011, 09:04:48 AM

Thanks Guido, I am already familiar with that site. Their seat is very much a hybrid of an F and a ZR seat. I was hoping this might more pure F.