I also want to thank everyone for all the hard work. It isn't easy to plan and coordinate a trip to a remote location, spend a day or two wrenching and such, and then return home to try and catch up on your own projects, and I appreciate everyone's efforts. It really is starting to pay off.

Bill, I just got off the phone with Trevor Jessie's dad. His name is Ron Jessie, he lives about 20 miles south of Louisville, and he makes periodic trips to the John Deere dealership which is about 2 miles from my house. We'll probably email some photos back and forth, he has shots of a 350 Midget you'd probably like to see. He also said he really likes the Poston intake (which is the one we have) and that was reassuring, plus he has a friend who has a building with about 40 LBC's stuffed inside. (in various stages of disrepair but interesting nonetheless) I invited him over to look at the car.

As for the next build date, I'd recommend you schedule one. We quit doing regularly scheduled monthly weekends earlier this year, but I can accommodate most reasonable requests. While it'd be nice to have a good crowd, obviously we can get a lot done with just a couple of us, and to be honest, it really helps me to get motivated too. So just about anytime you'd like will probably work. I have a spare room at your disposal, to save motel costs. More good news, we just ordered the flooring for downstairs. The plan is to try and finish the basement by summer, and that will give us a downstairs suite with a private entrance and a pool table. It doesn't get much better than that.

Jim

Bill Young Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> have we considered any
> project time either before or after the British V8
> meet? If so I can probably swing a couple of days
> extra as I'll already be over your way.

I might be able to swing that too.

Since it was mentioned, here are some photos of that midget that were taken in 2004.

And a few more...

Once my father saw this Midget I had to remove my Midget from his garage because I found him measuring the engine bay and trying to figure out how easily a 289 could fit.  

I think your GT might be a little more practical for the street.

Anybody know how to contact the owner of that Midget?

No? Think maybe you might see the car again someday?
Why not download and print-out this little template, and put it in your glovebox?
http://www.britishv8.org/How-It-Was-Done.doc

I do not know him, but I know where his shop used to be.  I have not seen him nor the car for a couple of years.

What about that barn full of MG's? Does that really exist?

Maybe. Kind of.  It was three barns about 6 years ago when I bought my Midget project from him.  And they were not all MG's.  There were a few triumphs and fiats thrown into the mix.  And some nissans and a fiero and a some other assorted things.  But mostly MGBs and Midgets.  Since then, he has sold off some stuff and it may be down to one barn now.  If you are ever around Litchfield it is worth trying to get in touch with him to see if you can find something of value that he'll let go.

Wow, why didn't I find this site before starting on my conversion?  Didn't know anyone else was even interested in sticking V8's in MGB's!   We must share the same mutated gene or something.   It's been interesting reading the posts and seeing some of the same problems I've ran into.   I've sent info to Curtis but I realize he is busy as heck.  

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2973575

I'll have to checkout BADASS.  

Best Regards,
Bill

Nice looking B, Iceman!

Welcome to the V8 forum.

You may also want to check out      http://www.mgexperience.net/phorum/list.php?40  

As with this website, there is a lot of good information there, too!

You should also think about attending the V8 meet this summer in Raleigh/Durham, NC in June!

Bill and Rob (others as well), when would you like to schedule some work time? I'm thinking maybe Feb or March might be the earliest time practical. We have the holidays to get past and then there's Ted's party on the 17th. But anytime after that should be doable. Let me know what you have in mind, I can probably accommodate you. May even have the floor down in the downstairs bedroom by then. I imagine we could put you up both at the same time, depending on your needs of course.

Jim

Jim, unfortunately my budget at this time won't allow for two trips over your way, so I'd have to combine it with the trip over for the  V8 meet. Things are a little tighter this year than last, the cost of my mother's care has risen about $1300 a month, so there's a little less to go around these days.

That's no problem Bill, maybe we can see what we can get done either before or after the meet. Plus that way you'll have a place to spend a night on the road. We have several guys wanting to come by to work on the car, about 5 or 6 I think at last count. Any way you guys want to do it is fine with me, one at a time or all together, it's all good. Just let me know what you want to do and when you want to do it and we'll work out the details.

Jim

Yesterday was the winter Solstice so since we're now headed for Spring it's good to get out and get moving. The temperature has come up noticeable from what it was only a few hours ago, and it's certainly encouraging to know that mid-winter has come and gone. I have good news! Friday I placed the order for the aluminum heads, the studs, and the wear-plate for the oil pump. In talking to Sherry at TA Performance I mentioned to her that if Mike could give us a bit of a break on the pricing that we'd order a set of valve covers if we were able to, but considering that he's had to lay people off I'm not holding my breath on that one. Nonetheless, in a couple weeks they'll be shipping the heads to us and we'll be able to put the engine in the new GT for the first time and see how it fits. That will be an exciting time because it'll show us just where we are with the steering.

I put the aluminum ford 8.8" IRS axle housing that Pete donated on ebay but it didn't sell. I'll try re-listing it for less, and as it warms up this week I'll get a few other items listed. Also parts are in for the other Jag IRS so work will resume on that and help complete the one for this car. Since the tail end of winter tends to be the coldest I probably need to break out the insulated coveralls, but I'm pretty excited about getting things moving again. Spring is going to be here before we know it, better get ready!

Jim

Jim,

Going back to the pictures on pages 18 and 19 there are Jaguar "kent" alloy wheels fitted on the front of the car. From what I can see in the pictures the front it using standard MG suspension. As the Jaguar wheels are five stud are you using MGC hubs. If so dies that mean that the MGC and Jaguars use the same stud size and spacing?

Thanks,

David

David, I'm not sure about the MGC pattern, but the front hubs on this car are GM items, not MGC. Jaguar and Chevy did use the same pattern. If you go back and follow the build history you'll find that the modified front end was donated by Aurthur Mitchell from Chicago (page 5 has photos) and was modified for his Cobra kit before he decided to install a Fast Cars front suspension.

Thanks for answering that Bill. Quite correct.

I wanted to let everyone know that the heads have shipped from TA and should be here in a few days. I'll plan on bringing them with me to the winter meeting at Ted's place, (Fast Cars in Michigan).

Jim

THEY'RE HERE!!!!  THEY'RE HERE!!!!









And man aren't they purty? Big ol' monstrous ports too. That sure is going to be a fine looking engine with all that aluminum up on top. And I'll tell you what, if we don't pretzelize this car we'll definitely be putting an end to worries about the strength of the body. I have a couple more photos to post.

Jim

Nice label on the side.



Here are the studs we had to have to go with the heads. These are pretty fancy too, what with the necked down shanks. I guess we could have gotten bolts but there wasn't that much difference in the price, and this way we can rest easy that we won't have to worry about the head gaskets at all. Should be a nice plus if and when we let it go to a new life also.



This booster plate is highly recommended by all of the Buick performance guys and fits the entire Buick line. It not only provides a hard wear surface for the oil pump gears, but it helps prevent flex of the gear cavities under pressure. We are taking reasonable steps to insure an adequate oil supply to the bearings without getting crazy about it. This is one of those steps. At a cost of $21 it seems reasonable.

But, now we are out of money.

Jim

Wow! That is very "purdy" . It's so purdy that it can set right up on the kitchen granite counter top. I wonder if your wife was home when the photo was taken. That would have been the only time I could have done it :-)

She did squawk a little when she got back.....

I pulled the iron heads and intake off the 455 today, threaded in the new studs, and set the new aluminum heads in place along with the Poston alloy intake. Looks pretty good:






These last two photos show the difference in the exhaust ports. As you can see, we have probably about 2" of extra space and less of a downward angle. So the next task will be to set it in the car and see if we can get tube bends with a tight enough radius to clear the inner wing. If we can do that then we just might be able to build some RV8 style headers to do the job.



And don't worry guys, the heads will still be coming up to the get together, as they're not bolted down. It looks so good I think we might bead blast the front cover just to show more aluminum. Which brings up a question:

Do you guys paint your aluminum engine parts? If so what do you prefer to use? I find that just shooting them with clear sort of makes them look as if they've peen painted with gray paint.

Jim

Wow. That's starting to look REALLY good.

Paint aluminum? "No, I prefer the woodgrain look..." What a silly question!

Sounds as thought the Ways and Means Committee needs to get hopping again.

As we had originally planned on contacting Buick for some assistance....I wonder if there is any bailout maoney available to us?!