Introduce Yourself Here!

[dragnz24]

Hi,
My name is Peter  and I am in Laurens, SC.  I just purchased a 1977 MGB.  I might do a lot of lurking for  starters.

[Fastag]

Hi , I'm Rodney and own 2..no make that 3 Triumphs.

2 cars and a motorbike.

my pride n joy is a 1977 June Triumph Stag in British Racing Green, Its registration is Fastag and this befits the 4.4 Rover V8 modification along with drivetrain changes to suit.

Without going into too much detail, I've taken to recondition the engine after 15 years good service and found this site as a possible source of what's out there on Rover V8s. I am a true Triumph enthusiast and have restored a 1976 Triumph TC, Pimento Red to original condition. I swapped its motor with a Triumph S that was in bad shape bodywise and interior wise. The result was a fully restored TC/S hybrid. The 4 door is intended to drive whilst I take my time sorting the stag's engine and lift its appearance a bit.

happy to chat to anyone about Rover V8s and Triumph 1970s models, as my knowledge beyond these models is limited.
I have a photo of my stag in the gallery and waiting for acknowedgement so that I can add it to my avatar.

cheers.

[Sparrow010]

Gidday All
Andrew Gaskin from Feilding, New Zealand
Just stumbled across this site and had to join. Love the cars and what been done to them.
I've fully rebuilt a 1974 Triumph Stag which I have repowered with a Toyota 1-UZ-FE 4.0 Quad cam V8.
Runs toyota crown Auto, Ford 9 inch diff. Nissan drive shafts and rear track controll kit.
Up rated brakes. Volvo 4 pot vented fronts and ford rear discs, BMW Servo and master cyl with willward proportioning valve.
I aquired this car off my father, but after spending alot of time working on it as a trainee mechanic, ( numerous over heating problems,Fuel leeks , constant tune ups and even repairing the massive damage from a broken timing chain etc etc ) I wanted an engine that would be more reliable and less maintinance intensive than the standard Triumph ( boat anchor ) engine.
After looking at various re powering options, decided to go with the Toyota quad cam as they were cheep and strongly built.
Whole project took just under 4 years to complete, but alot of that time was due to getting the body de rusted ( think B L built the rust into the car) and re painted.
So now staggy has been back on the road about 4 months, and we have clocked up over 10,000 kms with out any issues with the enine at all.  
 Am stoked with the way it goes, way better than the old std engine.

Will submitt a project diary shortly.

Cheers

Andrew Gaskin

[sparky]

Hello. Name is John Fischer(everyone calls me Sparky). I live in Georgetown,Ontario, Canada. Been lurking for some time after finding the site while looking for info on Rover v8's. Am intrigued by the light weight and relative small displacement of these motors and have a 3.9 I intend to swap into an S-10. With any luck I intend to mate this engine to a Nissan 6speed that I've  got. My engine is all apart right now and am having trouble finding bearings and rings locally. Napa and the other jobber shops around here look at me like I've lost my mind when I mention Rover. If any of the members from around this area could tell me where they get their parts I would be most appreciative. Thanks for reading and hope to get to know some of the people on here.
   Sparky

[MikeBcos]

My name is Mike, some of you will know me as The Wiz from various other forums, some of you even knew me as MikeB4 in the UK over 10 years ago. I'm a displaced Brit and have been driving LBCs all my life, currently owning a 65 MGB, 79 MGB and 71 MGBGT, two of which are running and in use!

I did my first V8 conversion in 1987 putting a Rover 3.5 in a CB 74 MGB. At the time conversion parts were not widely available but some guy called Clive Wheatley was just getting started and I sourced a factory inlet manifold, water pump and front pulley from him.

Now, I'm in the US, I have just sourced a complete Olds 215 engine to go in my 79. This is going to be a quick and simple conversion, the car is our long distance tourer and our Endurance Rally car, we are going to keep using it in the same way, we just want more power and easier highway cruising. We are going to spend this year going through the engine and collecting parts. At the end of March next year we'll do some tidying up on the car and install the engine, initially using the existing gearbox, radiator and cooling fans. We want block hugger headers to reduce cutting and I may even source a complete exhaust system from the UK.

We do want to put an MGC axle under the rear end but that could wait if we can't find one easily.

The car will then be driven and problems taken care of as we go, this is the way we have been treating the 79, we just constantly drive it and tweak it, we'll do the same with the V8 engine.

Then way on down the line I have a 65 MGB body shell and a Chevy 383 engine but that is another story.

[British_Marques]

Hello Everyone,  

My name is Robert and was looking for a forum with other British Car owners.  I recently purchased a Triumph Stag and am looking forward to sharing it with other British car nuts.  I have owned many British Cars and a triumph was my first car towed home when I was 15 and used a 1967 Baracuda for the tow car.  And I have been hooked ever since.

I purchased the Stag so I could tote my family in it, my wife, daughter and son and on occasion our dog.  I am loving the car and I enjoy the road trips whether close to home or the long trip to a British Car Show.

Hoping to learn some valuable info here as I read.

Thanks again for having me.

My Best, Robert

[mikew690]

Hi
   Mike in the UK.
I joined this forum lately for exchange of information.
I am just embarking on another Triumph rebuild but this time with a differance and not common in the UK as the majority of TR owners here are purists and dont like messing things about.
I am building a TR4A with Rover 3.5 V8. This is small by USA standards but you have to think about the insurance rates over here.
My last V8 was a TR7 V8 reimported from Australia, before that I had aTR250 ex Navada car.
In the past I have fitted a Rover 3.5 V8 to a Ford Transit van which I extended to be my race car transporter and have also fitted a V6 into a Ford Cortina 1600E.

Many years of racing and rallying gives me the confidence to tackle most things on cars and have come up with a few modifications that have benifited the TR owners.

Anyway my rebuild starts with a newly aquired chassis already repaired and powder coated.
Rear disc(rotor) brakes as seen on this site from Nissan.
Rover 3.5V8 with Australian spec serpantine belt with distributor.
Edelbrock inlet manifold and carb.
LT177 5 speed box.

I will post picture as I go and my target finish date is June 2010.

[427ZA]

Hi,

  Ian here in the UK.

   My current toy is a 1955 MG Magnette that has a 427ci small block Chevy fitted to it...slightly more powerful than the stock, wheezy old four banger that Abingdon fitted!

   This is my first V8 project, my previous ones were all aircooled, and I have a few aims in mind with this one, mainly drag racing in the UK and, all being well with the economy one day, some action in the USA.....I'm already an SCTA licence holder at Bonneville.

  Hopefully the project should be on the road this year...yep, road legal with a parachute bolted to the back! :-)

[Richard454]

Hello-

 I found this site looking up info re my old /new project.  I'm currently getting back to my old swap.  It's a 1978 BMW320i w/ a Buick 215-with various Rover/Triumph/Jag parts. I had it together in the late eighties but never worked out all the bugs-it just sat with a wife then son then ex-wife and work....

I've always had a fondness for British cars- My first car was a Triumph TR4,  I learned that oil just doesn't go in the engine - it goes in the carbs too!!!

I've also owned a 1971 TR6  and helped my brother put a Buick 215 in his TR7 years ago.

Here's the test mock -up- Hope to have the car moving under it's own power soon.

     Richard

[WernerVC]

Hi,
My name is Werner and I am 65 years old.I live in Lynchburg, Va. I am retired since November 2008.
I bought my 77RB in 1988 with 75K miles on it. I drove it further to 250K with no major problems and decided that it was time to replace the 4 banger with a Rover 3.5 V8 in 1997.
The MGB V8 conversion was still in its infancy but there was already a small write up from some enthusiast BV8 people on the internet.
I met Curtis Jacobson on one of my frequent trips south and admired his nice BGTV8.
This gave me extra incentive to finish mine too.
In 1998 the rebuild was ready after I found a 1980 SD1 wreck in a junckyard in Kitchener, Canada .
Further upgrades included Wilwood brakes in the front and vented rotors from a Porsche 944. A 5 speed Rover gearbox was found in Florida.
Over the years I travelled many times to the UK and brought regularly suspension parts with me.
I bought a John Hoyle front suspension and plan to install this unit at the end of this year.
The "B" is undergoing a ground up restoration because of many rusty area's, well known to many mgb owners.
The original V8 engine had Federal fuel injection but was incomplete with the wiring and ecu so I decided to run a 4 barrel Carter/Weber for the time being.
I am now in the process on going back to fuel injection with the Megasquirt kit. I might ask for some help with that from people that have done this installation before on a Rover engine.
Further plans involves a possible IRS project. Not sure yet which way to go.The John Hoyle design is super clean but costly.
Reading through the forum I noticed that several people with Rover engines have trouble with tapping noise. After 50 K on my engine it developed the same problem so time to sort it out.
Hope we all can come to a solution for this annoying noisy problem.
I'll keep the forum updated on my restoration project.

[BlownMGB-V8]

Welcome to the forum Werner, you'll find familiar faces here. Have you been running a zinc additive in your oil?

Jim

[WernerVC]

Hi Jim,
No, no zonc additives. Car is been idle for 4 years. Got retired and found finally time to work on the BV8. In process of converting to Megasquirt EFI. For the moment in the UK for part tme job. Visited RPI.

[BlownMGB-V8]

You might want to look into that. They've been cutting back on the zinc for about the last decade and the flat tappet cams can't survive without it.

Jim

[swappyd]

Hi! My name is Dave.
I live just outside Coventry in the UK.

I've got projcet approval for stage 1! Which is to buy an MGB from the "Boss"or "the trouble and strife" better know my good lady especially in her company!
Stage 2 the V8 approval is currently ongoing

I've played with a fair number of Rover v8's in the past in Land Rovers.
I used to work in the foundry where the rover v8's where cast so I know the inner most working well!
I used to work in the auto industry before the economy forced me to make a change.

I have seen that forum and rest of the site is a very good source of ideas and ideas.

Hope I can give at least some help to others.

[MGB-FV8]

Hello, my name is Jacques and I live in Alexandria, VA.  I've got introduced to this V8 business two years ago by Jim Stuart.  Jim gave me a ride in his car and I was hooked.  I have a '77 MGB roadster which has been a working progress since 2006.

Jim Stuart it turns out lived about 50 miles from my house, however, he worked on his car in a rented garage/club space only about 6-7 miles from my house.  Originaly, I was going to go the conventional route of a 4.0L Rover motor, but, Jim suggested that I go on line (Britishv8.org) to take a look at some of the different conversion including the Ford 302.

After careful considaration and advice, I decided to go with the Ford set up.  I sat back and listen to all of the problems associated with such a project and decided to try in following these two principles "low un-sprung weight" and "light weight rotating mass"  The Japanese have built some real successful cars following these principles.

Well, it's not easy to operate when you have a champagne taste with a beer wallet and having said that my first killer purchase was Ted Lathrop's (Fast Cars) front end.  People that had it seemed to talk highly of it.

Second, I went with a 8 inch Ford rear end with light disc brake, 3:42 gears, Currie aluminum center, True-Trac posi, Doug Jackson composite suspension with tramp bars, however, I installed a streetrod pinion mounted emergency brake with their optional "Watts linkage".  At the time, no one offered a three links.

I use a Pyar plastic engine to set up the drivetrain.  The engine is a Ford (E.F.I.) 5.0 Liter with a GT-40 modified intake, AFR-165 heads with 1.72 Scorpion roller rockers and a E-303 roller cam.  The headers were fabricated by Ted Lathrop and I installed some spring loaded flanges.  The engine bay has a few unique and thecnical touches that people seem to appreciate (?)  I'll post some pics later.

The transmission is a new Summit Racing T-5 with an aluminnum flywheel.  Although I purchased a new Hydraulic McCloud throw-out bearing, I changed my mind and went with a side mounted slaved cylinder kit available through a vintage Mustang parts supplier, the bearing is for sale.

This car is refered to as a MGB-FV8 and not RV8 (F for Ford) my licence plate will be displayed as such.  I struggled to decide between keeping the rubber bumper and the chrome conversion, I sort of liked the safety of the rubber, but, I wanted to stay within the light weight principle so I went with the chrome bumpers.  I'll try to bring some soft changes.

I also spent a lot of time deciding on the wheels and while searching on Google about light weight wheels I came across an interesting article on Mazda commissioning BBS wheels on certain models.  It turns out that the MGB-RV8 that went back in production from 1991 to 1993 had indentical wheels.  Mazda put these wheels (9-1/2 pounds) only on their RX-7 convertible, it has the same bolt pattern as the Ford, 5 X 4-1/2.

I also purchased a genuine RV8 steering wheel to complement a retro style.  I have a lot of work to finish all the small stuff, as they say, the finishing touches take 90% of the time to execute.  I have to thank Jim Stuart for keeping me motivated, however, the cash needed still can slow things down.

Some of you I have already phoned for advice and I do appreciate your help, thanks.  By the way, Jim's birthday is tomorrow (September, 12th) "Happy Birthday" Jim.

[SirLemond]

Hello fellow BGers!

I live in Newberg, Oregon, just 25 miles SW of Portland.

I am down to just 4 MGB's at the moment.    a '67 GT, 2 - 72 roadsters, and a 79 roadster.
All of which have the original 4 cyclinder engines.
I have a 215 engine that I would like to put in one of the cars.
Any ideas how to chose which car?  is one better to V8 then the others?

Also...  I really need to downsize, and at this point plan on keeping only 1 roadster and the GT.
So make me an offer on the others if you are interested.

Great web site!
Thanks!
Bryan Joyce
bljoyce@chehalem.com

[mowog1]

Welcome, Bryan.

The engine bay of the 1979 MGB is already set up to accept the BOPR V8. Your other MGs will involve a bit more metal work to make the block fit.

Sell the two 1972 tourers to finance the V8 conversionof the 1979 tourer.

[TheArkitekt]

Hello all!

Thought I would introduce myself, I'm a 25 year old pilot currently living in Bowling Green, Ohio (for those of you that haven't heard of this exotic location, its the 4th left past the heard of cows!)  I have been an enthusist for many years, both in the auto racing and show world.  I started my automotive career working for a car museum during high school and much of my college years.  There I was introduced to auto racing.  The owner had several cars, a TR3, Lotus XI, Devin TR3, and Formula Ford to name a few.

From there I began to race on my own, starting with a Honda CRX Si.  I've owned several cars since then (turbo miata, nissan 240sx) and done quite a few laps around the track.  Currently I spend most of my time racing in NASA events, but try to get to as many club events and local autox as possible.  

I recently purchased a MG B project car, that I hope to do a v8 swap.  I've been trolling the forum for a little bit and thought I would sign up and introduce myself now that I have a MG in the garage.

On to the photos...

This is my Nissan 240sx, set it up for drift/road race


Here is the Miata


And here is the new project

[BBall]

Hello Fellow V8 Enthusiast's!

My name is Brian and I've been a V8-aholic for 9 years now. I was first introduced to the hobby by my friend John. He built my car, a 1980 MGB 215, on a whim to see what it was all about and discovered that it was a lot of fun. One day I happened to be over John's house and I had asked about the car and he said...Want to drive it? I of course said SURE! I was hooked. My car was originally built in 1999 and never truly detailed because it was so much fun to drive! In the winter of 2006 I tore the car apart and had the motor rebuilt. While the motor was out I detailed the engine bay and rebuilt the entire cross member and all of it's components. It's finally finished with only some minor tweaks to complete before next season. I've attached a couple of pictures for reference.

I'm glad to be apart of the hobby and looking forward to future posts. I should have introduced my self sooner!

[mindseye]

Hello all.....finally got the MGB I always wanted....1980 with the rover V8 (1968) in her...8" ford narrowed diff,T-5 tranny out of an S-10, silvolite pistons, .30 over, edelbrock 4-barrel and intake. She moves!....fellow I got it from has had it for 20 years, body/interior/mechanical mint....going to need a few things in future though....has points, will likely switch to electronic....tach is for the original 4 banger/switch that out and speedo is off by 10 kph. Hope this site helps me figure it out...I have been fixing american hot rods for some time but this is mt first brit car though I did fix alot of old brit bikes when younger...I already have some Lucas issues with this one (sigh!)....will post pics when I get some.

[Krusty]

Hello folks,

I am starting the long process of restoring a 1980 TR8 that I've had for several years. I have enjoyed this website for many years. I like the layout and I really admire the engineering that goes into shoehorning big engines into little British cars. Anyhow, the TR8 is box-stock (so far), but I'm dropping the drivetrain first of all to deal with a variety of wear issues, then it's bodywork and paint. I know I'll learn a lot here and, hopefully, contribute a little.

Cheers,

Krusty

[cortina_gt]

Hi, my name is John from San Jose, CA. My car is a 72 TR6 with a 302. It has been in the photo gallery for some time now, but this is my first post. I've owned this car since 1979 (wow it's been that long). One of my other projects will be putting a Ford Zetec and 5 speed into my daily driver MK1 Cortina GT.

[rficalora]

Nice cars Bruce.  And great weather most of the year there to enjoy them too!

[MM1]

Hi, my name is Marshall and I'm from Auburn Washington, I'm 15 and I just bought my first car, a 1965 Sunbeam Alpine that I plan on slowly restoring/rebuilding. Eventually it'll get a built 302 in it along with a 5 speed from a mustang and a narrowed 9" in the rear. But it runs for now and I'll probably drive it the way it is until I can get a real job and really start pouring money and time into it (I paid for the car doing yard jobs all summer).

Here are a few pictures of the car

[Bill Young]

Welcome Marshall. Looks like a pretty nice car you got, I know you will enjoy it a lot. Sounds like you have a pretty good grasp on your project plans as well.