BritishV8 Forum

This is my first post.  I know I'm posting to a bias forum, but I need info. I am fortunate enough to reach a point in my life that I can have some car fun. All my life I have wanted a Corvette. Back in 1981 a Vette was out of my reach. I bought a 1971 MGBGT.
 I still have the MG today, I love that car. I decided to buy a 2002 Z06, then I came across the British V8 site. I find my self constantly thinking about a V8 conversion to the B.
 I need the opinion of the owner of a C5 Corvette. What is more fun to you, the C5 or a V8 B?
 If I do the B I will go all out, stroker 302, Fast Cars Front. 8.8 rear W/4 point suspension, T5 tranny, Dayton bolt on knock off wires.
 My son and my brother in law both say the V8 B is the way to go.

With your idea of a stroker Ford V8 it would compare better to a Cobra than a Vette. Probably weigh 2400lbs,say 450HP. Power to weight ratio much better than  Vette. You are right we are biased(LOL)! You will have to flare the fenders for wider rubber. Good luck on your decision. Check out the "how it was done" section on this site for ideas.

Power to weight is what makes us do what we do - 5.3 lbs/hp is roughly the same as a ZR1 Corvette, crazy acceleration potential. That said, you need to be able to get the power down or it's just another stupid engine swap. The Vette has massive tires, traction control and 50%/50% weight distribution. The good thing about the MGB is that you can get at least a 50/50 distribution with engine placement, component location and parts selection. My car will have ~ a 48% front 52% rear distribution without driver and a full tank - even better rear bias with driver in place. Your engine will be lighter than mine and your rear end slightly heavier so you can have an even better weight distribution. You are not going to achieve the traction you need with anything less than a 275 section sticky street tire. I don't know what size wheels you are considering but wires may not get you where you need to be. And then if you get the straight line acceleration you are after, how are you going to stop it and what are you going to do when the road turns?

No comparison. I've got an 86 Vette with a 350 and it feels like a heavy refined version of my 350 MGB with Vette front suspension and Jag rear.  The B has all the good points of the Vette without the weight.  The engine in the Vette is mild and the B is only a step up but the acceleration is vastly different.  The Vette would make a comfortable trip across country and the MGB is limited to a few hundred just because of comfort.  Plus your arm gets tired from all the waves you have to return!
Fun factor:  B=11, Vette=7

Bill

Joe, there's no reason that a well modified B should be any less comfortable than the Corvette. There are a lot of us gathered together right now in Townsend Tennessee and many have driven 700 miles or more towards the Grand Touring style and very comfortable with A/C and all.
As for the fun factor, I owned a Corvette back in the 70s and had a ball with it, but my modified MG gives me much more pleasure overall. Check out some of the cars in the Photo Gallery, many of them are here this week driven in from Colorado, Kansas, Canada, Flordia, all over the eastern half of the country.
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Joe, Welcome. You haven't mentioned how serious of a corner burner, ie. those "Dayton Wires" may not stand up. I would ask Dayton, to be sure. It sounds like your adequately funded and NOT on a tight time constraint ? If so, this allows you to choose a fresh/new direction.  Perhaps all time all wheel drive or mid engine ? Either of which will improve traction over front motor-rear drive. One advantage the Vette has is "track width". How much flare do you dare? Both Jim Stabe and Jim Blackwood have "widened" MGB's, a very serious mod. The chevrolet "LS 3", is in a price war situation, don't know why.. A new LS3 block is only $1,430 right now and "Killer", Lindenfelter heads are about $1,500 pr.This combo in a well engineered "B", would be lethal. Tranverse mid-engine, say with a TA headed Rover V8,would have some advantages over convetional-mid. We have many savy people in this forum, try not to get lost in committee. Good Luck, roverman.

I have often thought that if I was starting over today, I would get a C5-C6 rolling drivetrain and adapt it to a widened B body. The LS series engines are a lot more efficient than the older Chevy engines and the transaxle looks like it would fit nicely with a shortened driveshaft. You can pick up a fairly low mile chassis for $7 to$10k so the cost would not be prohibitive. Now that would make a seriously fun car.

Jim and clan, hence the drivetrain and front suspension for my 69' AMX. Kind of like if GM had bought AMC instead of Chrysler and needed a non fiberglass sports car to appease the insurance companies ? OK, back on topic, mid engine MGBGT anyone ? Cheers, roverman.

OK Art, you can't make statements like that without some pictures. Even though this is an MG forum, I think people will forgive you just this once for posting your AMX pictures. Hell, my MG barely qualifies because there is only about 250 lbs of the original car left.

I have a '95 Corvette, and a '73 TR6. No one has ever said anything about the Corvette, but from the first day I owned it, I have gotten "hey mister, cool car" from bystanders when I'm in the TR - even 10 year old kids! The Corvette is just too fancy, all the creature comforts, and the TR 6 is crude in comparison, but it has something special. I was going to sell the TR6 several years ago, but my daughter and wife admitted they enjoy riding in it better than the Corvette. That got me to thinking - I like the TR too!
-Dennis

What is it about these carz ? Do we "still" feel bad about 1776 ? Obviously, it isn't the leading edge technology used or win the world-over with British Brash ? What then ?  Maybe we've done wrong in our past, and this is our ammends ?roverman.

Good question, I've been hooked on British roadsters, particularly MGB's since college. Something about the feeling of driving with the wind in your hair and no power anything in between you and the feel of the road. Girls loved to go for rides. You hear everything around you, you feel differences in the temperature, you get a tan - life is good driving an MGB roadster. The downside is the lack of power, lack of ultimate cornering grip, and the horrible electricals from Lucas AKA The Prince of Darkness. Solution - put in a V8, upgrade the suspension and use American electrics. Voila! a truly great car.

"Girls loved to go for rides" - I am interested that you used the past tense Jim.

I have had 2 MGBs the first one I bought at 19 and owned for 12 years before replacing it with a the current one which I have owned for 19 years. When I was 19 the girls I knew, including the one who has been my wife for 24 years, were happy to travel in the B as long as it was dry. But now my wife and my 17 year old daughter refuse to ride in it. Although my son would travel to the ends of the earth in the B.

Its a shame because my daughter is studying German at school and has been on at me to take her to Germany. If she would ride in the B I would take her tomorrow and pay for her to have a cup of coffee while I go round the Nurburgring.

I've been married to my current wife for 28 years and she has never seen the car run, I took it apart about a year before I met her. I think she will enjoy riding in the car when finished so long as all we do is just drive down the road to go to breakfast on the weekend but if I'm exploring the limits of adhesion or accellerating at the limit - not so much. That's OK though because I have a long list of people who want a ride while doing the latter.

We have a British car show here in San Diego and what I really want to do is park it in the middle of a bunch of stock B's.

I've owned my GT for over thirty years and never considered selling it.  Before that I had a MGB convertible (can't bring myself to call it a roadster), loved it too and wished I had it back.  Before I got too old and brittle, I drove the GT to LA and back from Dallas about fifteen times without incident; Ok, without any major incidents anyway, drove it to Maryland twice.  I've never owned one but have had lots of friends with Vettes over the years and drove most; my son-in-law has three of them, and my grandson has one.  I would never diminish them in any way because they're great cars and in stock form generally outperform the B, but I obviously prefer the MG.  Even when it was a four cylinder it brandished a bit of charm, in between Lucas attacks that is; but then, one of my son-in-laws older Vettes is an electrical pig as well.  I guess time does that to all of us.


The "Vindictive Vette" is from somewhere in the late seventies and I'm not sure anyone produced a decent car during that time period.  This is of course only my opinion and my son-in-law and grandson would disagree!

Almost drowned in the first MGB I had!  Previous owner had stuffed cardboard down in the rusted out floorboards.  First big puddle clipping along around 70 and whoosh!  Had seven since then and still can't get enough.  Must be masochism!  

My primary blood pressure relieve comes from a small block Chevy engine with stick, no power anything and a roll bar that manages to take up every bit of room that I don't occupy!  Comfort?  Heck no!  Fun? Heck YEAH!

My oldest Grandson is the only person that has asked for a second ride!  The wife won't go near it again but that's OK as I like the relative quiet!
Bill

It's a great formula, small car, big engine and something not everyone else has. My TD fits the mold, sexy Brit body, Corvette 350, five speed and Corvette IRS. I'm not a real fan of Bs, I like the TC/D and A style. That's most likely because I'm old and grew up with the older style cars. I've owned several Brit cars to include two Jags, an Austin sedan and now the TD. Brit cars all have a personality, and even with American muscle my TD still maintains is heritage. Like someone said, replace the Lucas electrics and low power engine and you have a cool car. Little kids to old people always give me the thumbs up when I'm driving my MG and anywhere I stop people want to know what it is. Who would want a Corvette?

I agree Dave, I love TC, TD, and to a somewhat lesser degree, TF's.  Like I said, I have four Corvettes in my family and have never driven any of them more than once and one of them not at all.

A great number of my family have refuse to ride in the T-Bucket a second time, but they think of the MG in the past when it was beefed to the limit with every item of speed equipment I could afford.  I'm no betting man but I would wager it was putting out as much as 95 horsepower, wait till they get a load of the little GT now.

Joe,

If you want the B to out accelerate the Z06, it's going to take quite a bit but anything can be done.

If your thoughts are to make a reasonable car, either.

If you like the idea of a car with a classic appearance and will be unique in your neck of the woods, the MGB.

If you want the newest and best- neither. Either one can be brought up to 2011 specs but the B will take quite a bit more.

Get in a drive- either but both will require someone else to build.

Want to get your hands dirty and build a project that is all you- MGB.

When you buy the corvette, your purchasing someone else's paint choice, interior trim choice, engine build choice, suspension choice and everything else- just lay your cash down and take what you get.

If you have the cash and can pour it in just like purchasing the Corvette- expect it to take 24+ months to build.


BTW: Why not combine and do an LSx conversion- it will take longer but you can place a Corvette engine cover in there and have both!

-BMC.

Go rent a Vette for a week before you decide. After that if it's mostly just another car, go with the B.

JB

You should have both  

For fun or stress relief nothing could replace my 71 B   But for weekend getaways were the wife has some luggage or for her to drive to work on a nice day my C-4 cant be beat either. except maybe with a C-5

I've always thought it'd be fun to build a quad headlight C1 with an Art Morison or Corvette Correction chasis, LS1 (or 7) & update it with a modernized interior.  I know where there's a '58 rotting away but even at 1/2 rotted prices it's still out of my range.