Introduce Yourself Here!

[PhilT]

Hello Kelly
Thanks for responding. Monday the oil pan comes off, remove the caps and look over the bearings. A spun main will mean the engines comes out and I will start collecting numbers about a swap. If the bearings are still good then the head comes off and I pull the pistons, rods, tappets.
Since I have some knowledge about the Ford 5 liter, a modern EFI and HEI motor with tons of aftermarket parts has some appeal.
When you change one system, you always change a couple more so the diffy and probably the rear suspension, motor mounts, some sheet metal mods to firewall. So not a weekend bolt-up even with the Rover iron.
Ever entered the Huntsville British Car Days show? I took a couple of Lotus ( 1 Europa and a Elan +2) several times a few years ago.
Will keep you posted.
Phil in Nashville
pwtrusty@yahoo.com

[kstevusa]

Yes, member of North Al British Motoring Society.  We are inclusive of European and other car.  Maybe see you at a show.  You should plan to attend our V8 gathering in June at St. Louis and 1st weekend in Oct. in Townsend Tn.  at Tally Ho Inn.  You NEED to meet up with our group....  Dream it and generally we got it.
Loved the EFI and Ford Drive Train.  In process of Learning Jaguar now :-)

[PhilT]

Kelly
 My wife's daily driver is a 03 XK8. Prior was a 03 S Type R. We are active with the Nashville British Car Club. Last entry with the Huntsville Show was a Lotus Elan +2. Which I eventually sold to a Martin- Marrietta engineer. Took a trophy or two and met the club pres. ( Dan?) a local independent shop owner. Nice guy.
Excellent show but the "European" part included Ferrari and Lambo which made everyone else look lame.
Just finished rebuilding a second Sunbeam Alpine. Nice enough but I miss the Toyota 5 speed that was in the previous one. Will need to install a Laycock, a 5 speed or just sell the car and make room for the MGB GT. Still grieving over selling the Tiger..one I should have kept.
We relocated to her "forever " retirement house and I lost my lift in the move. Have become a major nuisance to my friends who do have lifts.
Happen to have any pictures of the tranny cross member and engine mounts for your 5.0 conversion ? Dont make a special effort..
Phil
pwtrusty@yahoo.com

[lightblue]

Major newbie here. Am interested in the MGB GT V-8 (factory original). Main question is whether these cars make good daily drivers under todays driving conditions? Are they reliable? Do they handle well? Where would be the best source to find a good one? I live in the Boston area, is there a way to search for members in my area? Thank you.

[Moderator]

Welcome to BritishV8, Garrett!  

The factory MGB GT V8s were reliable and handled great by the standards of their day. You can read a huge archive of articles about them here: http://www.britishv8.org/MG-factory-MGB-GT-V8-model.htm - and if you do, I think you'll see even the least generous reviews criticized only their harsh leaf-spring rear suspension and their high cabin noise levels.

In retrospect, the factory V8s didn't exactly have an excess of cooling capacity - better radiators and fans are readily available now. Conversions often have better fan shrouds, etc.  The factory V8s had weirdly complicated induction systems - obviously a four barrel carburetor is easier to tune or rebuild than a pair of SUs.  The factory iron exhaust manifolds were restrictive and surprisingly fragile.  The factory-installed engines easily could have been tuned to produce more power, but for various reasons the factory chose conservative specifications.  (Example: low compression ratio meant you could run them on very low grade gasoline. MPG was a big concern at the time because the factory V8 was introduced just after the Arab oil embargo.)  If sales had been better, perhaps the factory would have offered higher-spec options later.  

Only eleven left-hand drive factory V8s were produced. (Some might quibble about a 12th or 13th.)  And, I think only one of those eleven is located in North America. FWIW, I personally wouldn't consider any right-hand-drive car suitable for daily use in a North America urban setting.  I'd instead recommend you consider a well-sorted converted MGB V8 complete with electronic fuel injection. If you're patient and lucky, one will come along.

Good luck!

[DaveW]

Hello everyone, I'm Dave from Coventry UK and came across this site purely by accident but it looks really interesting.

Apologies to the Moderators but I completely missed this section when posting "Hello from the UK" in the main pub forum so feel free to delete my post from there!

I've got over 30 years experience in engines and automotive in the UK, having worked for an F1 engine company (Judd), Cosworth, Lotus, JaguarLandrover including SVO and now I reside in a small engineering company in Coventry UK where we specialise in engine conversions - up to now just for Landrovers - but as part of my role I was looking at potential for putting one of our engines into classic british cars such as Marcos, TVR etc and during that search in the UK, your excellent site came to light.
Hopefully I might get a feel for what kind of thing appeals to you guys by reading the forums and will help guide me down the correct route here across the pond.

Anyway, I'm pleased to be here and hopefully I'll get to contribute something of value as well as learning a great deal from people such as yourselves.
Have a great day.
Dave

[MGBV8]

Re: Hello from the UK

Posted by: rficalora
Date: July 08, 2020 10:31AM

Hi Dave, and welcome!

This is a great site with TONS of information sharing. You'll find most of the activity is V8 swaps into MG's & Triumphs, but also some other marques & some other motors. Most of the V8's used are BOPR (Buick, Olds, Pontiac, Rover) 215+ aluminum block variants. Another popular choice is Ford 302. Some Chevy 350. 60* GM V6 is another popular choice and more recently GM LS motors are gaining popularity. Turbo'd I4's are less common but always interesting.

My 2 cents though, if I were building or expanding a business around this topic today, I'd be seriously looking at packaging electric powertrains for classics. I'd do that in addition to gasoline motor swaps -- e.g. a 2nd product line. And, I'd do high end restored turn key but also basic turn key & also kits for DIYers (which this site mostly caters to). I'd pay attention to suspension & convenience upgrades too. I think materially modernized (in terms of handling & comfort) classics whould have a strong enough draw to support a small company. And, sacrilidge, I'd also look at Miata's & other "classics" as the market continues to move!

[DaveW]

Thankyou for the warm welcome.
I agree, an electric alternative does seem to be the most sensible route but then I see websites like this and think "really?"
I'm too much of an age where gasoline engines, and big ones at that, became the staple diet of any motoring enthusiast.

I'm incredibly lucky to be of a generation where we've produced some exceptional engines and cars/bikes in the world. I grew up as a kid reading books about people like Don Garlits, becoming fascinated with the (simply quite mad) powertrains that were being installed into the rails at that time.

In the UK, the older Rover V8 seems to have become the kit car / specialist car (as in TVR/Marcos, Morgan) engine of choice but I'm now looking at where I could shoehorn a Jaguar AJ engine and that was my main reason for looking at excellent sites such as this.
Unfortunately most of those engine bays don't lend themselves to a double overhead cam V8. Doesn't mean to say it's impossible though...

[MG-Chuck]

New member here! My name is Chuck and I am located in the western Chicago burbs. I've had several LBC's on and off for over 40 years. I am currently well into a rustoration/repower on a '69 MGBGT. I also have a '79 roadster in need of some lovin'.

My goal with the GT  is to end up with a highway cruiser (not a corner carver) that will serve me for many years to come. So far, I have taken care of all (?) the rust. I have new floors, new sill assemblies, replaced inner rear fender, the normal dogleg repairs, lower front fenders, front trumpets and much much more. I am currently making the necessary mods to incorporate A/C, EPS, 3.4L GM L32 with 4l60e trans. and cruise.  

I do practically all my own work on a shoestring budget. In the past, I have rebuilt engines, done complete restoration and brought a few cars back to life from the dead and near dead. Fabrication is not new to me. I have built a rotary powered Locost (Lotus 7 homebuilt replica) and did all my own work including some design and fab using mostly an angle grinder, a drill press, a few hand tools and a MIG welder.

I used to be active on the MG BBS back in the day, I've been semi-active on the MGExperieince board over the years, and I am currently a member of the Chicagoland MG Club. This is my first powertrain mod, so I decided to join here. I hope to learn a lot and perhaps share a bit of what I know along the way.

[MGBV8]

Hi Chuck, good to see you over here.

I used to hang out on the MG Enthusiasts BBS back in the day, as well.  Still peruse the archives on occasion.  Your local LBC club has a great website.

[rficalora]

Welcome Chuck.  I'm actually planning to be in Chicago in early/mid August - although we're going to cancel unless our son tests negative for Covid.  He's up there doing an internship for Motorola and his roommate is positive.  Should have son's test result tomorrow.

[MG-Chuck]

Thanks for the warm welcomes guys.

Rob, I would love to meet up and possibly show you my project. What car guy wouldn't? The Motorola campus in Schaumburg is  about 1/2 hour away. Under the current Covid-19 conditions, I think it best we delay that until things are more under control. I hope your son tests negative.

Chuck

[TNV8]

Rob PM sent

[Black Tiger]

Hi everyone
Well trying to post up my new projects but having problem !
Please help.

[rficalora]

Gerald, easiest way I've found to resize pictures is to get them on my phone.  I use Android and there are a bunch of free apps.  I use one called "Photo and Picture Resizer".  If the pics are on my PC, I'll just email them to myself, open and resize them on my phone, and then email the small versions back to myself to get them on my PC.  Don't know for sure, but I'm confident there are similar apps for iphone too.  It's a bit of a hassle but it works.

[MGBV8]

If you have a computer with Windows 10, there are two apps built in that can be used to resize pics, Photo & Paint.

[Workabee]

Good Morning, New member here, After having owned a few MG'S and Bugeye's over the last 25 plus years I now have a 1980 MGB that has had the motor out for maybe 10 years and had lost interest in the original 55hp 4 cylinder, Lately I have been thinking about a 302 Ford swap and saw some really nice swaps at Dillard Georgia last weekend at the show. Question I have is I need an automatic and am looking for suggestions as in C4 or ? but would rather have an overdrive style.
 

Also I see the gathering in Townsend Tenn. next weekend, Is there a schedule at to what is happening when?

Thanks in advance
Ronald Ford
Woodburn, KY.

[Mickey Richaud]

No schedule - that's by design.  Just a time for folks to gather informally, and always a good turnout.  There will be plenty of lots of time to check out some great cars and how they were done, some impromptu drives, and plenty of opportunity for some great one-on-one time with like-minded enthusiasts.

[Workabee]

Sounds like a great time, I was afraid I came over after work on Friday (about 5 hours) and then everyone would be gone out driving all day Saturday with no time to talk and look at the cars. If I come over I'll be in a '15 Miata retractable top. It also puts a smile on my face lol

[MGBV8]

They will be gone & at a cookout Friday evening, Ron.

[Workabee]

Understand about the cookout, It will be about my bedtime by the time I get there after getting off work at 5 pm CST.

Thanks
Ronald

[7_Heaven]

Hi everyone, John here.  I've come across this forum many times while researching engine swap ideas for my 1979 TR7, so I decided to join.

My first car ever was a 1967 MG Midget, with the pre-smog A series motor pushing out 65 hp, allegedly.  That car taught me a lot of things but I had to sell it when I went to college.  Nearly 40 years later, I bought a TR7 convertible to work on with my car-loving 16 year old son.  We've done several projects to get ready for the engine swap including:

Upgraded the suspension with TSI higher rate springs and bushings, and new shocks/strut inserts, plus new needle bearings on the strut towers.
Replaced other suspension wear parts including the wheel bearings and rod ends.
Swapped the 13x5.5 minilite replicas on the car with 185/70 rubber for some 16x7 MGF wheels from the UK with 205/45 tires.
We still plan to upgrade the front brakes with some larger ventilated Wilwood rotors and 4 piston calipers before we do the engine swap.

I've relocated the 3 engine swap ideas I have onto the Triumph forum, comments welcome!

John

[MGBV8]

Hi John, welcome to the forum!

Please, copy & paste your post to the Triumph section.  That is the place to further discuss your car, as we try to keep this thread to  introductions.

BTW, we have a 1UZ TR7 here, minus smog, though.

http://forum.britishv8.org/read.php?3,40779

[A.Ficalora]

Howdy, everyone!

My name is Andrew Ficalora. I've had the pleasure of meeting several of y'all at a few of the past BV8's that I've attended with my dad, Rob.  In fact, at the 2018 BV8 in Dayton, OH, I brought out my "British roadster inspired" 1993 Miata.  However, I can now proudly say I'm a part of the MG club!

Last week I picked up a '78 MGB and Ford 302 from a '95 Mustang, and this past weekend my dad and I pulled the motor and trans from the B.  Here's a quick pic I thought was neat.  Over 14 years between the two photos, I guess you could say this apple didn't fall far from the tree!






Anywho, I'm still getting all the details together, but I look forward to the expanse of knowledge on this forum and taking my own B to a future BV8 one of these days.  

   - Andrew

[ex-tyke]

Andrew, I see that you've pick up your dad's mechanical genes - if your conversion turns out anything like his, it'll be a winner.
...you've got all Winter to get it ready for Auburn!