Introduce Yourself Here!

[Ecco Motors]

Hey, I'm Scott
Originally a Japanese motorcycle tech then a German car tech and again to a Japanese car tech and owner of a couple of Auto Service Center businesses of 25 years. 15 years ago I took a sharp turn and opened a Golf Car dealership that was inspired from building an electric car in 1997 that would do 110 mph and a 14.2 Quarter Mile.

I thought i was done with real cars until recently where the itch for something new to do came back. After 40 years of twisting wrenches and owning various businesses. I thought it would be slightly insane and enjoyable to finally have my private hobby shop and rebuild a car or two. Thus became the birth of the OFRC (Old Farts Restoration Club) or OFC or OFR for short, of which there are only two members. Myself and another insane car guy.

To start up the OFC my buddy and I bought a couple of nice Spitfires, under the influence of his history with Mini's, MG's, TR6's etc. From there I was quickly introduced to the British car consortium of equally insane gear-heads. Now I'm finding there are just as many British car fanatics as there is creative minds. So we're in the process frame off restoring these beautiful but powerless cars. But as power nut, I need to tap into the depths of veteran British car enthusiast minds to assist me in keeping it real. What i'm finding is that putting a small V8 into a Spitfire is not as insane as I thought, and other gear-heads have succeeded. Can't wait to go beyond the ho hum and build this rockin Spit.

Hope to meet some of your guys!
Scott

[Tac-D]

Hello all.

My TR story begins in 1988.  I was 15 years old.  My father picked me up at the bus stop in a 1975 mimosa yellow TR6.
I was so excited!  Dad bought me a car!

He drove me home, and quickly let me know this was HIS car.  He'd had MG's growing up, but always liked the TR series, and now he'd finally had enough time and money to make his dream a reality.

But this was no ordinary TR6.  The fellow he'd bought it from was midway through a V8 conversion.  Ford 302, Holley 4 barrel, side pipes, etc.

I never found out why the previous owner gave up on it, but dad was thrilled that he had.

So, the car ran well enough, but dad loved to tinker.  He was always good at engine repair and brake jobs, so he tore it completely down, and rebuilt it back up.  That motor sounded so nice.

He went nuts on catalog stuff (no internet then) and we got packages weekly with TR badges and shift knobs and the like.

Shortly after, he ordered a kit car, fashioned after an early model Austin Healey, for when he was done with the TR.  I guess the bug had bitten him hard.

It was a fun summer.  Then life got in the way.  For the next few years, he'd go into his detached garage and work on something.  He never had the patience to teach me how or why, and in truth, I wouldn't have been a good student then.

Then he just stopped.  Too many other things to do. Wouldn't have time to drive it, let alone work on it.

I tried many times through my mid-twenties to have the heavy lifting done for him.  We knew lots of mechanics and body work guys, some even concourse quality.  All of them offered to work on for free or close to it, just to work on something unusual.

"Let these guys work on the transmission, bang out the dents, upholster it, rewire it.  I'll handle it all, and you can work on the parts you like!"

Nah, they won't do it right, then I'll have to re-do it anyhow.

"Ok, dad.  If you change your mind..."

"I won't."

He didn't.

So, I moved away, finished college and got a job 5 hours from home.  I saw dad several times a year and occasionally asked about it.  Project creep had sunk in, and after tearing the wiring and interior out of the car, he didn't have the time or patience to put it back together.

He could get the engine running, if he ran a fuel line to a gas can, but that was about it.

And that's how she sat for another 10 years.

Then mom got sick.  Any chance of that TR6 coming to life were put on the back burner, permanently.

Mom held on for about 8 years, with dad working so hard to take care of his business, the house and her.  Too much for two people, but dad managed to hold it together by himself.  Too proud to ask for help, or accept it, if given unsolicited.

At this point, I'm married with 2 kids, and had moved back to town to help dad transition out of the business and begin running it myself.

More than once I tried to sneak the car out to those friends who could have restored that TR6 for him, but he would always find out and stop me.

After mom died, and he entered semi-retirement, I tried one last time to have the heavy lifting done for him.  One last no.

He traded in mom's car and bought a Corvette.  I guess his TR dream ended that day.

Dad died August 15, 2018.

I'm an only child, so everything after that fell to me.

I now had a 1 year old Corvette with less than 4,000 miles on it.

But it was never dad's car.  The TR6 was dad's car.

I decided that day that I would fix dad's car.  The way he wanted it.  The way I wanted it for him.

I sold that Corvette, and I will use the proceeds to return that TR6 to better than new condition.

That's what brought me here today.

Thanks for reading.

[ex-tyke]

A powerful story - glad that you had the tenacity to stick with your dream!

[Dan B]

Submit that story to Moss Motoring, Jim. Do you think you can make it to Wytheville for this year's meet?  You don't have to bring the car.

[Tac-D]

Thanks for the kind words.

In regards to Wytheville, my wife has been really good about my new obsession hobby, but it may be a bit hard to convince her to let me come to a car show sans car.  Rain check for next summer?  Should be done well before then.

[BlownMGB-V8]

Well, see that's just the thing. If you come to the meet (it really isn't a show btw) then you get the chance to look at all the different ways owners have dealt with every detail of their conversions. There is simply no way you can acquire so much specialized knowledge so fast as to come. And there will be plenty of owners willing to take you and your wife along on drives. One or two may even be driving sedans so you won't have to split up. Believe me, you'd be far from the only ones to attend one of these meets that way, and to my knowledge nobody has ever regretted it. I'm in that group as well. First meet I ever went to was the Champaign meet with my wife and infant son and my car was in pieces in the garage in the middle of getting its 3rd V8. (or was it the 4th?)

Jim

[rficalora]

That's exactly what I did before I started my project.  Invaluable learnings and have developed great friendships too.  I highly recommend it.  

And, even some of us who's cars are on the road* sometimes still come without them.  I'm one of those this year because a good buddy's daughter is getting married in TX on the 1st day of the meet. The meet would be over by the time I got there if I tried driving this year.

*No Ralph, it's still not "finished", but it is still a hoot every time I drive it!!

[Tac-D]

Well, I'm sold.  Let's see if that works on the boss.  

Here's some pictures of the car as it was around 1986.  Forgive the picture quality.

[MGBV8]

I drove a stock 4 cylinder MGB to to first 3 Meets I attended starting in 1998.  Wasn't a whole lot of internet info back then.  The Meets are an accelerated crash course in all things conversion.

[kstevusa]

Yes Jim, come on down and join us!   The car is not a requirement.  My B was a 4 cyl, also.  Went to Townsend Tn to a meet and got started by looking at various cars and meeting people.  Drove to 1st meet in 2005 in Terra Haute, Ind.  Made LIFETIME Friends.

[johnsfolly]

Howdy.
My names John and I live in SE Michigan. when I was about 3 years old, I got a cast Hubbly MGTD toy car. At that time, I could already identify cars at night by the shape of their glowing tail lights. Itvwas the 1950's and every car was unique. I got the bug pretty early. Later, I got to fiddling with a friend's TD that he bought for $300 back in high school but it was more like a junker buckboard compared to the 396 Chevelles I lusted for.

I drove a VW beetle with a stinger exhaust through college but it just didn't make the right sound. Then a '65 Dodge Dart GT with a 273. The sound was there but the handling was stink. So, in 1971, I bought a '66 MGB for $700 and put over 110,000 miles on it before having a brief affair with god-awful '68 Porsche 912 Targa. A '71 B soon got me out of that jam and led me to a '74 Jensen Healy. Despite what some said at the time, it was a terrific car but marriage and kids put me in a series of old Japanese pick-ups and used VW Rabbits.

In 1981, I bought a partially restored '53 MGTD right-hand drive, got it squared away, won a few car show awards, including one at a NEMGTR GoF. Then I drove the hell out of it. Come the 1990's, I got into vintage racing with a '68 Midget and for awhile a MGBGT. Somewhere after the turn of the century, I started "window shopping" for a factory BGTV8. I looked at a few conversions and occasionally lurked on this forum. I had a British friend who moved to the U.S. and brought his  V8 BGT with him. It was fairly unimpressive but it was a factory V8 and I was smitten. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford to buy the ones I liked and my wife, SheWhoMustBeObeyed, stated in no uncertain terms, one has to go before one comes in. Oh, I forgot to mention the five motorcycles, only one of which runs. (She's a sweety, isn't she?).

Life moved on and I was driving my TD across the country on the Rally to Reno when I had a minor setback in Dodge City. I abandoned the car with a newly-found friend there and hitched a ride the rest of the way with PJ Lenihan in his V6 MGBGT...with airconditioning! Since it was 106 out, that was pretty good. I had to have one! I race in the same club that Don Munoz raced his competition BGTV8 in. When it came up on Bring-a-Trailer, I almost mortgaged my house to buy it. I didn't. I stayed married.

A few weeks ago, I went to the NAMGBR meet in Traverse City, MI to help out my friend PJ who has been having some health problems. Once again, I hung around the V8s like a teenager at a pole dance bar. Drove a couple of them. My hands were trembled. My wallet started feeling smaller and smaller. I dreamed of burbling sounds coming from the back of an MG. Things were getting out of hand.

A couple of weeks ago, Eric Kent called me and accepted an offer I could afford and I found myself needing to explain this predicament to my Chief Financial Officer and computer Quiken jockey. This morning, I made arrangements to drive down to where Eric lives and pick up the car. As I was pulling out the driveway, a fellow I met in Traverse City phoned and said he wanted to buy my '05 Honda S2000! Wow! One goes. One comes. Everyone's happy. Ain't life grand?!

[kstevusa]

Welcome John,  Happy TO Have Your Here!   Keep us informed of your new journey.

[TR8Driver]

I've read stuff from this site/forum for quite some time, but I'm starting a new project on my TR8 that I'm sure I can get some support/help from this esteemed group!

First a quick introduction.  I own two British cars, both Triumphs.  My first TR is a 1966 TR-4A that I've had since 1981 (high school).  This car has the original wet liner engine, but I installed the Moss supercharger kit a few years ago.  

My other TR is a 1981 TR8, which was built right around the time I got my TR-4A.  I got this car about 8 years ago, it was from California, so was completely stock.  I spent the first few years just learning the L-Jetronic injection system, then slowly tried to add more power.  The first step was a slightly upgraded cam and headers, but still using the Federal intake and ECU.  That gave a welcome bump, but I wanted more, so off came the stock system, in went a bigger cam, Edelbrock intake, 390 Holley, higher compression pistons, etc.  I liked the power, but never felt I could nail the tune on the carb.  Perhaps just unrealistic expectations on my part, or more likely lack to skill.  Probably also a bit because I put in a wide-band O2 sensor, which probably focused my attention on the A/F ratio too much.

Anyway, a few years ago I put a FiTech TBI system on.  I've been pretty happy with that, certainly much easier to dial in.  But I still think it could be better, and the FiTech settings are quite dumbed-down.  Great at first, but now it seems limiting.  And of course, TBI has some inherent limitations compared to port injection.  So my new project is putting on an intake/plenum from a Rover hotwire system, controlled with a MegaSquirt, including sequential injection and spark control.

I'm just getting started on this project, and have already found lots of good information here.  But I'm sure I'll have many more questions!

[Black Tiger]

Well can't post pictures

[MGBV8]

Well can't post pictures

http://forum.britishv8.org/read.php?1,23602

[ChapLen]

Writing from North Idaho, happy to get plugged into this forum. I've had a lot of classics through the years, all American cars and trucks. Acquired a 1969 MGBGT about a year ago, my first British car. Solid, but it hasn't been fired up in over a decade, and needs a thorough going over. I've started, however, with the hopes to eventually swap in a small V8 or possibly a V6 and a T-5. First order of business is to fire it up, then on to brakes and electrical stuff. It will need bodywork and paint down the road, but mechanicals will come first. Interior isn't bad, did rip out the carpets. I'm looking forward to getting lots of ideas and advice as I go along.

[PTBHVAC]

Coming to you from Westchester County in New York.

I recently purchased this Nasty boy on BAT and wanted to get plugged in to these forums.

i ma also trying to get a little history on the car so if anyone knows anything about it I would appreciate it.

I have added a couple of pictures from how it was supposedly originally built and how it looks now.

[rficalora]

Philip, welcome!  I don't see the pics, did you post them somewhere else?

[MGBV8]

Luv the Nasty Healeys.

We need the pics!

[Benzme]

Hi everyone, Don here from down under. My car is a 1975 Jag XJ6 LWB with a 307 SBC and a GM 700R with overdrive and original diff.

I have since replaced the series 3 wheel trims with the lovely original series 2 caps and chrome trims. It rides on 215 x 70 x 15 Pirellis which I feel are too big and are more suited to the V12. Will probably change to 215 x 65 x 15s.

Anyway, love the car and generally prefer it to wife's Merc E500

[kstevusa]

Great looking car and SLICK* install.

Slang for custom.

[rficalora]

Welcome Don.  Nice looking car!!  Have always liked them.

[PhilT]

Greetings from Nashville Tn.
Guess I am the classic lurker. Owned LBC's since 1968. My football buddy and I needed transport to practice so we collected our earnings and had his older brother buy a very tired Bugeye Sprite. Retired as a aero engineer and pilot who spent the last decades as an air safety investigator.
Current or recent cars included a 73 MGB GT, 67 Alpine, Jag, Tiger, another Alpine, MGB, several Lotus. and recently a brace of classic Thunderbird's.  I consider myself a capable wrench but as you age you face limitations and motivations. Sometimes it is worth the money to just shop it out. May have seen my last restoration project.
The reason for taking your time is I recently bought a fresh, nicely restored 73 MGB GT. The Gt was important for the added head room and it was equipt with overdrive and a a/c system for her comfort. Drove it 700 miles home an it was a pleasure. A few weeks ago, was returning from a visit to a car buddy when a freeze plug departed. By the time I realized there was trouble the car was very hot and missing badly. A few superficial repairs and it runs but knocks. Compression is still good, kept its oil and pressure.
Looks like at least a wrist pin and maybe pushrods and hope the bottom end survived. But if the engine needs to be pulled then seriously thinking a V8 swap might be a viable choice. Rover engine with a 5 speed. Not looking to race, ( her Mazdaspeed Miata is a great Solo II car). If I am in for a couple of thousand for a fresh engine, maybe an opportunity something more interesting.
Is a budget of 6-8 k reasonable for the Rover 5 speed exchange in a already very nice 73 GT? Anyone recommend a kit ?
Phil
pwtrusty@yahoo.com

[rficalora]

Hi Phil & welcome!  Sounds like you'll fit right in.  If you go with a Rover that doesn't need to be rebuilt same with the T5,  do the work yourself, and you shop for deals, you should be able to do the project for $6-8k.  Most likely the upper end of that range.  The big items are pretty easy to estimate.  Little things like hoses, clamps, hardware, etc is where you'll spend more than you think.  No matter what, you'll be happy with the result!!

[kstevusa]

Welcome Phil,  from a bit further souht than Nashville.  You can google the subject and get tons of info.  This site plus others can provide all info you need.  The Rover was not my cup of tea, but a tired and true conversion.  Use the MG Sports link and post your questions there.  Others will chime in.  Rob & I did the Blue Oval thing. :-)