I first got the urge to swap a V8 into a Healey back in high school in 1967. Finally doing it now: http://forum.britishv8.org/read.php?13,8264 I saved some of my old magazines over the years involving V8 swaps into LBCs and have a scan from February 1969 Hot Rod of TV actor Monte Markham's 289 swap into an MGB. If you'd like a copy, shoot me a PM with your email addy.
Quote......TV actor Monte Markham's 289 swap into an MGB....
No doubt influenced by JIm Stabe's 289/MGB conversion.
This was not an unusual swap back in the '60's. There was a BMC dealership in St. Catherines, Ontario that converted several - I remember seeing a brand new blue 1968 MGB GT converted with a 289, toploader 4-spd xsmn and Halibrand mags selling for the princely sum of $3500 in a Hamilton dealership showroom.
BMC finally stepped in and advised the dealership to cease and desist!
re: BMC finally stepped in and advised the dealership to cease and desist!
In their infinite wisdom.
Thanks for the scanned article, Rick! I'd seen a photocopy of that before, but I'd forgotten about it. Very interestingly, the article is actually about removing a previously-installed Ford 260 V8 and upgrading to a new Holman-Moody built 289. No mention of who or when that previous conversion had been completed. Markham's car may have been one of the very earliest MGB V8 conversions. Markham is still acting, and I've been meaning to track him down and ask those questions.
Graham
If the article was in the 1969 HRM, it predated my swap by 2 years. BTW, my swap in the Engine Swap book was a 215 Buick into the MGB with a Jag rear end. The car (same one, what there is left of it) is now getting an LT1 Chevy with C4 Corvette suspension. There is a writeup on the build in journals section here.
Curtis,
I'm an actor and Screen Actors Guild Committee Member. I'm not allowed to give out members personal information, but I could get Mr. Markham's agent contact info for you. Let me know and I'll contact Monte through his agent and see if he is willing to be contacted; some actors do, some actors don't. I haven't met him personaly but I'm told he is a really nice guy. He is filming at this time and it might take a little time.
"P"
I emailed Mr. Markhum's agent this morning, we'll see if he responds. I'll ask around the SAG office and see if anybody knows him.
"P"
Hey Paul,
Well I would say you must know Universal Soldier Brent Anderson ! Are you in production ?
W Smith
Actually Brent and his wife Angela are good friends and he and I have served on SAG committees together. Brent is the current President of both SAG and AFTRA here in Dallas. He has a film in post production called "Traveling" but I don't know of anything he is working on right now. I'm not in production as I avoid work as much as possible in favor of my T-Bucket, or my Harley, or working on my MG. A person has to set priorities you know :-)
I knew he was the SAG President there and I figured you just had to know him, don't know how you could not. Do you know Chuck Norris , another really nice fellow and is he still doing that Texas Ranger gig, I don't watch much TV , too busy . I have one more project to do and when I get through I am going to do some traveling.
I worked for Mr. Norris off and on in the past, he is a really nice guy, but at the end of the day he was my boss so you would have to ask him if we were friends ar not. Walker Texas Ranger is still in re-runs but the show ended production many years ago; then he did commercials for exercise equipment, I don't know what he's doing now. I know what you mean about traveling. For most of my adult life I flew for a living and saw the world from 30K feet, I'd to get a little closer look. I drive the Harley and T-Bucket much further than most but I'm really looking forward to taking a trip in my MG again. I've had it for over 30 years and drove it from Dallas to LA when it was a 4 cylinder more than 20 times.
"P"
That makes since he would not be still doing the show because he is 10 years older than me so that makes him 70. I have seen the commercials , hard to believe Carlos is 70 man he looks good, but then I have people tell me they thought I was in my mid to late 40,s .I stayed in Torrance Ca. one summer in the early 60's with a friend of mine and tried to get some training from Bruce Lee . Bruce told me I was too young , undisciplined and a waste of his time. Kind of hurt my feelings at the time but I had only had three years of training at the Dallas YMCA so it was true . I still learned all I could about jeet kwon do and was a big fan of Bruce Lee. You know Carlos or Chuck Norris as everyone knows him trained with Bruce Lee, I actually cried when I heard Bruce had died. I don't think I missed a single episode of The Green Lantern ! Everyone here is going what was The Green Lantern and who is Bruce Lee ! I just saw a bike build off where the guy put a mono shock under the seat of a hard tail. I need to do that to my hard tail maybe I could ride it with my bad back more than 5 or 10 miles at a time !
Take care Paul ,
Will
The Green Hornet. ;)
I liked the Green Hornet too. I'm 67 and due for a knee replacement; a day on a 700 pound Super Glide Custom with a few trinkets added leaves me looking for my recliner. I know some day I'll have to go to a trike, maybe a conversion kit, but I'll stick it out as long as I can.
Yeah, I've been thinking about trading in the old Snortster for a long legged enduro of the big bore variety. Cushy ride, light weight, electric start, lights, highway speed, and go anywhere on road or off. It's been a real long time since I rode cross country. Come to think of it, the roadster is getting long legs too.
JB
I had a 07 1200 Sportster before the Super Glide and it would kill me even after a moderate ride. The Glide is a fuel injected 09 twin cam 6 speed and it is really great on the road. The most I've done in a day is about 500 miles but then again I knew how old I was when I got home, as soon as I got it I put a forward control kit on it and that helped a lot.
"P".
Mine's an old iron head 1000 with long legs and forward set. It'll make yer eyes wide but can give ya cramps after awhile. As a youngster I rode from Vallejo to Grand Forks, then Tulsa and on to Milton, W.Va. in the last half of May. Cut a big Z across the country. Did the Tulsa run in two days in the rain. That's 1000 miles, and quite an experience but it was on an old Norton Atlas 650. That was a good old bike. I've forgotten how long the whole trip was, but it was epic. Lots of good memories from that one.
JB
That sounds like a fun trip, I wish I was still young enough to do it. Many years ago I rode a 650 Bonniville from Dallas to San Diego in three days but there is no way I could do it today, even on the Glide. Last February a group of us did the "Ride the Rio" in Big Bend and had so much fund we are planning to go again next February and stay a couple of extra days. Last year we trailered but this year everybody is saying they want to ride. There is pictures on my Face Book page. I just came in from the garage and I'm happy to say the radiator in my GT is finaly bolted down. I need to take some current pictures to show everybody how it's going.
I envy all who can ride on long trips , when I was in my third year of college I had a Honda 350 I rode back and forth to school and a dirt bike I would ride all weekend but I hurt my back playing football in junior high and when it would hurt I drove my car. Kept me out of the war, I tried to join the Navy and they would have no part of me . They thought with that disc I would not make it through basics and they would have to pay me disability . My dad said he was glad , said our family had made enough sacrifices , his older brother was killed in World War Two and dad was blown off a tank he was hitching a ride on and left for dead. Mom was a WAC in WW2 and had more stories , dad would not talk about it , I think he saw more than he wanted to remember and I never pressed him.
Mom on the other hand had all kinds of cool stories , she was in communications and was in the map room at the Pentagon when the general that flew over there and got the troops out that were surrounded at the Battle of the Bulge came in and looked over the situation before going over there and getting them out. She worked in a town the they built just to house all the people working on the bombs they dropped on Japan , I think it was called Oak Ridge Tenn. and I believe it is still there today, a real town. She said they picked them up at their house in a bus and took them home. She said the place was crawling with secret service. She knew when they were going to drop them and where, she had top secret clearance , I thought that was really cool, my mom real life Money Penny ! Ha! Ha!
My dad would never talk about his WWII experiences, either. He was with the USAir Corp Flying Tigers in the Chinese Theatre.
I have some great photos of he and his buddies on the tarmack - with B17s, P38s, etc in the background.
His brother, for whom I am named, was killed in action at the Bulge on January 5, 1945. He received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart posthumously for his actions that day.
I used to really love long bike trips. Two or three days after I graduated from college, my dad and I left Blacksburg Virginia and started an epic 8253 mile / 29 day / I-forget-how-many-states bike ride. That was the best of them! At the time, I had one of these: http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/Honda/honda_cb750k%2076.htm (except with 15 coats of hand-rubbed black lacquer, a custom stepped saddle, and a really nifty sissy bar). My dad rode a new Goldwing. We took a couple other long rides. Quebec City. The coast of Maine. I replaced the Honda with one of these classic beauties: http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/Gallery%20%20A/Yamaha%20XJ650G%2080%20%204.jpg , but it got too hard to get away once I had a career. We always meant to do the Natchez Trace Trail, but I'm not sure either of us is up to it now. I haven't had a bike in almost fifteen years. Funny thing, the bike I really miss is the first one: a 650 twin Yamaha. Perhaps one day I'll replace it with a Bonneville, or maybe just another old Yamaha (although neither of those are smooth enough for really long rides). You never forget your first girl motorcycle.
Remember the "Water Buffalo"? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD_B8IWZuJ0&NR=1 I had the blue one. Some ride for a first bike. Took it trail riding up on the central "mountain" on Guam, what a hoot. Did my first porting job on that engine and it ran like a scalded dog. Outran 750 Hondas, no problem. (of course being a 2 stroke has some advantages) Had a couple Bonnevilles, in fact I sold one to buy the Sporty. The ubiquitous Honda 350 (SL version, that's basically a very early 4 stroke enduro... sort of) and the Yamaha DT400B, twin shock brother of the first monoshock production bike (I think). Oddly enough the Yamaha was one of my favorites and I set it up with a dual sprocket on the rear so I could change it over from the street to the trail gear in about 30 seconds. I rode it to Indianapolis and back one weekend, and did a great deal of trail riding with it. It was a great ride for around town. But, I had a bad neighbor who stole it. Those enduro bikes they have now, I swear you could ride one off the roof of your house. I can't get that WWII movie out of my head where that guy (Newman maybe?) tried to jump all the barbed wire in a POW escape attempt. I think of trying that on the Bonneville and I just cringe. But when I was riding the 400 the hot new thing was a Yamaha 600 4 stroke Enduro. I swear, that bike was lighter than my 400. It was faster too, had great legs, great lights, and a button to start it. Something like that would suit me just fine.
What this has to do with Monte's MG I have no idea, but I'm enjoying it.
JB
I did 28 years in Naval Aviation, mostly as a Maintenance Chief and a P-3 Flight Engineer. Thinking back, should I have done something else, probably, but the flying could get your pluse up now and then, most often when the airplane wasn't interested in what you're doing. Most of the time it was just drilling holes in the sky looking for Russian Submarines; water to the horizon any way you looked and not much is more boring than that.
That's OK Jim, we're just waiting on Monte anyway and I think it's fun to talk other things ever now and then. Last year when we went to the Bend the place was covered with Duro Sport BMW's but one guy had a new Bonniville and to be honest I was more impressed with it, certainly more than the old one's I had. One thing I thought was cool is they installed fuel injection using cases that look exactually like the old tickler carbs and they got around to putting the gear shift on the correct side. When I had the British bikes I also rode Yamaha dirt bikes and switching back and forth almost on a daily basis would distroy using natural instinct in the dirt.
Yeah, I can relate, switching back and forth between the 400 and the Bonne. Hitting the brake and downshifting at the same time could put you sideways when you really didn't need to be. When I built the forward set for the sporty I switched sides but I still sometimes hit the wrong pedal. In '73... well who knew what they were thinking? I switched back and forth so many times and so often from British bikes to Japanese ones, I'll probably never be right. First bike I ever rode was a Bonneville, then bought the zuki, then another Bonnie, rode both switching off, then the Norton and the zuki, sold both so I wouldn't die (da*n near rode off the road into a creek at speed on the zuki,(in a tight curve) only thing that saved me was hitting a pothole at the side of a driveway and using the edge to bounce back onto the pavement). Then later the 400 and the second Bonneville. But, I don't ride as fast as I used to either so that helps some. Fell off the bike enough times to not want to anymore. Bikes might not wreck by themselves, but you get to savor ALL of the pain.
Oh, by the way. My grandfather was in the Engineers. Came home with a couple German rifles. He never talked about it either. I sort of suspect having a good buddy die beside you does that. I was on Guam for the Evac. I can tell you, those were some scared people. I've got nothing but respect for those young fellows who go to war, and they deserve every bit of it.
JB
In our day we were hated by our own country and spit on, I'm glad our young men and women don't have to come home to that. My first bike was a 1939 Indian basket case; back then there were a few still around and not worth much. No matter what anybody says I think they were awkward to ride and I never liked a foot clutch. If you didn't get the spark set just right before you kicked it you were in for a treat, still, I kind of wish I had it back
Quote...I can't get that WWII movie out of my head where that guy (Newman maybe?) tried to jump all the barbed wire in a POW escape attempt.
.
That would be Steve McQueen in "The Great Escape".
They were all true hero's , and I hope we never have another World War but sometimes I wonder! Thank God for all our troops that put it on the line for all of us !
Don't mean to intrude on the conversation but, Jim, my first street bike was a water buffalo as well. I bought it used with a stuck motor. Rebuilt it and couldn't resist trying to port it. What a handfull to ride. Hit the throttle and wait.......and wait. Somewhere around 7500 rpm the motor decides to wake up and it's like being shot out of a cannon. Then you get to use the fadetron 5000 drum brakes and pray. Prior to that I raced motocross. Started with a yammy 100mx and ended with the 400. The 400 had a shaved flywheel and would launch you off the bike if you weren't fully commited to your starting kick. It also ran just fine backwards. Handle bars to the crotch suck on the start bar. Been through CBRs (turbo'd), Kawy 900s (punched out to 1308) Can Am's and an old Bultaco. I still have the water buffalo somewhere in Dads barn but it's got 30 odd years of dust on it. These days I ride my 57 Lambretta LD150 and am having a blast. It also keeps the lovely Lynne from fainting everytime an ambulance goes by. (She's seen the Odesy with the Vmax on it but so far she thinks it's "cute")
Cheers
Fred
Fred, you're not intruding, this is not a private conversion; we're still just setting around waiting for Monte.
"P"
X2
That's wild Fred. I went conservative on the porting, sounds like a good thing I did. Basically just a clean-up job and sharpened the divider to a razor's edge, pretty much the same on the transfer ports, and blended in the port openings. It was enough to wake it up. I made the mistake once of winging the throttle and dropping the clutch as it went past about 5 grand and it da*ned near broke my wrists and threw me off the back. Mine was a '74 so it had the dual discs which really hauled it down. I put solid bushings in the swing arm, reversed the fork legs, drilled the rotors and put 4.10 x 18 tires on both ends and that made it fast enough in the corners to be really dangerous. Back in W.Va. with it I soon found out how dangerous it could be, and the next day it went up for sale. (The problem was that the acceleration was just overwhelmingly addictive and I knew I'd never be able to stay away from the edge. That was what nearly put me in the creek.) I ran the freeway test loop with a customer bike he'd loaded up with bags and a windshield and at 100 it got into a bad speed wobble (same bike but not mine) that nearly had the bars slapping the tank. That was a scary moment. It had a penchant for breaking the gear indicator switch but otherwise was a decent bike, but riding any 2 stroke is purely an exercise in throttle and brakes, and a big 2 stroke is no different. Was your 400 a mono-shock? I think the motocross bikes were, and the enduros were tube shock. But the one that was the very worst for launching me over the handlebars was an old 45 flathead trike with manual advance. If that thing wasn't just right it didn't matter how committed you were, Ka-POWW!! You were on crutches for a week.
I'm done with bikes that have bad manners. I like enough torque to lift the front wheel, can't climb without that, and enough power to handle the city freeway, but I'm thinking something like that 4 stroke yama 600 enduro is going to be the hot lick. Should have pretty good gears too I'd think. Wonder if they've come down enough for me to do a straight trade?
JB
Yep, it was a 75 mx 400 mono shock. Heavily modified to get a whopping 8 inches of travel!
I agree with the bad manners. Who needs that in this day and age? The power thing is a problem too. I rode a buddy's R6 a while back because he insisted that it was a great bike. This was after a long discussion on how, back in the day, a 600 was a girls bike. I came back from launching the thing in the air over a hump in the road and crossing two lanes of traffic, to tell him that I'm not old enough to ride that bike yet. Fantastic bike, not enough brains.
I haven't kept up with bikes for years. Is the 600 enduro a single? I rode a yamy xt500 for a while back in the 80's. Huge torque but a little heavy.
Fred