MGB V8 Conversion

MGB V8 Conversion

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v8250

Original Poster:

2,724 posts

210 months

Wednesday 23rd October 2013
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Well Gents, the time has come to change the heart and soul of the 1977 roadster. Some of you may be aware this summer has been spent rebuilding the TVR V8 engine + R380 'box and spending far too much money on new Hoyle front and rear suspension, special brakes, injection tank, new wiring looms plus a million & one other parts. This means I have a seriously good engine + 4speed OD + all the mechanicals from front to rear available + seriously good condition rubber bumpers +++ Most parts are in near perfect condition having been refurbished over the past few years, and/or, are nearly new. Thought the PH MG owners should get first call on the components if any of you are needing something. If so, do PM me.

Reference the conversion, here are some of the parts nearly ready to be fitted...






Will post more pics as the Autumn/Winter work progresses. Optimistically, I'm intending the conversion to be ready and on the road 1st April 2014...

v8250

Original Poster:

2,724 posts

210 months

Wednesday 23rd October 2013
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and here are some of shots of the engine bay and what's available...




lucebayjack

164 posts

166 months

Friday 25th October 2013
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Looks like it will be a lot of fun! I got excited and hoped you had a v8 rear axle for sale

v8250

Original Poster:

2,724 posts

210 months

Friday 25th October 2013
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lucebayjack said:
Looks like it will be a lot of fun! I got excited and hoped you had a v8 rear axle for sale
sorry jack, only the std rear diff...though this was rebuilt only 5years ago and has done less than 10,000miles...

mgtony

4,014 posts

189 months

Friday 25th October 2013
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Somehow missed this thread the last couple of days, but thought of you Andrew and wondered how you were getting along when I saw the engine in this in the classifieds:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...

Pretty sweet looking car, but I believe you want to keep a more standard look.

Your parts so far are looking rather nice, keep us posted with pics.

Not sure where last summer went, next year I'll try and arrange a club run or weekend out in your direction. smile

v8250

Original Poster:

2,724 posts

210 months

Saturday 26th October 2013
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hi tony, yes, can't believe where the year has gone. lot's happened...relocated to west berks, new job plus all the mgb prep' work. frankly there's been masses to correctly spec' and buy. the garage and office above is looking like a mg/v8 parts store...and that's before the de-install starts. it would be great to get together, with ben too...though haven't heard from him for a while...did he not get married this year? let's catch up soon. rgds, Andrew.

Richie Howard

253 posts

167 months

Sunday 27th October 2013
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great news!

v8250

Original Poster:

2,724 posts

210 months

Monday 11th November 2013
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So the previous Saturday started like this...


which led to this...


and this...


and then to this...


followed by this...!!


Now all suspension, driveline, fuel tank, electrics, and interior is out. More pics to follow...

v8250

Original Poster:

2,724 posts

210 months

Monday 11th November 2013
quotequote all
PS there's a seriously good list of very good condition parts available for anyone interested

PS2 Hi Richie, Hi Tony, hope all's well for you guys...email me any time...fancy a winter beer in sunny West Berkshire drink

mgtony

4,014 posts

189 months

Monday 11th November 2013
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wavey I looked at the first picture and thought that's a fantastic garage, it's even got a projector hanging from the ceiling! biggrin

Looks like the car's coming on a treat. Those parts you're removing look in great condition, shouldn't have much trouble shifting them.

You seem to have more of a productive weekend than me.I haven't run mine since September(Don't tell Nigel!smile) So thought I'd better turn it over and give it a run. Started pretty much first time. Need to be using it a bit more. A run out your way for a drink sometime over xmas/new year would be good. I'll be off work for the whole period.

The only other thing my weekend consisted of was picking up 300Kg of tool safe, I think they're pretty secure lock away inside it! smile

MGHammer

253 posts

167 months

Thursday 14th November 2013
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all's well here too. i successfully managed to get married int he summer and you car's twin managed 1791 miles to Tuscany and back on honeymoon- without a single problem! well, i'm not counting 3 pints of oil as a problem...

i rebuilt the front end when i got back, too. just in time for a track day at donnington. the car does it all! (slowly).

anyway - enough hijacking. keep up the good work. i'll drop you lads an email and we should def sort a christmas drink out somewhere.

richie

okay, just one:


wildoliver

8,766 posts

215 months

Friday 15th November 2013
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Depending how much you would want for it I'd be tempted by the engine/box for a project.

midgeman

501 posts

193 months

Friday 15th November 2013
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Look forward to seeing how this turns out. Best way to go IMO if your going to put a V8 in make it count! smile

(Doogle)

v8250

Original Poster:

2,724 posts

210 months

Monday 18th November 2013
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wildoliver said:
Depending how much you would want for it I'd be tempted by the engine/box for a project.
Hello Oliver, you have mail. Rgds, Andrew

v8250

Original Poster:

2,724 posts

210 months

Thursday 28th November 2013
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MGHammer said:
Hi Richie, forgot to reply here to say your old girl's looking bloomin' great...and Donington's such a great track. Here, Gertie's looking most sad for herself as am removing all the waxoyl and stone chip from the underside by hand...heat gun and scraper followed by a liberal painting of petrol[!] to clear off last bitty film. Have nearly finished with the original base layer nearly all clean. Pleased to report there's no rust, seriously, and all is solid as a rock. Pictures to follow in a week or so.



MGHammer

253 posts

167 months

Monday 6th January 2014
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Any updates, Andrew?

v8250

Original Poster:

2,724 posts

210 months

Tuesday 7th January 2014
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MGHammer said:
Any updates, Andrew?
Hello Mr Hammer wink

Well, yes...lots. Christmas and New Year got in the way of finishing the underside waxoyl removal and what's become clear is that I really do need a car rotisserie for the finishing off and underside repainting. Looked at rotisserie prices and the only decent one out there is £1300, so pondered naval for a while and realized I could make my own with 2x 680kg rotating engine stands and some extra 2" steel box section & 10mm steel plate. This is taking place this week and this coming w/e. The plan being to get the old girl up in the air by midday Sunday.

Paint-wise, I've opted for tintable UPOL Raptor where I'll add 4% base colour and have a VERY tough polyurethane based body coloured underside. This should look the dogs do-dahs when finished; particularly as all other underside components are brand new.

The V8 wiring loom conversion finally arrived from the US...together with a whopping importation charge that I'd forgotten to factor-in[!] But, the finished product and the complete kit is really very good.

The other major component to arrive is the Supersports exhaust system from MGOC. Have to say a big thanks to these guys as ordered last Monday, arrived @ 08.55 next day and I was still in my dressing gown having a leisurely breakfast when the delivery chap arrived[!] Also, MGOC had this on offer with free delivery and free Supersports mounting kit...so saved a few pennies smile

Prior to spraying I need to add sill strengtheners, add the RV8 gearbox tunnel cover and modify the boot floor for the centralized fuel tank. Will post more pics when these are done...so here are some shiny stainless pics for the interim...






v8250

Original Poster:

2,724 posts

210 months

Sunday 19th January 2014
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Evening All, right a quick update...having been busting the doo-dahs to get the old girl rotated in order to fully prep' the underside. Bought 2no 680kg engine stands and spent a good amount of time beefing them up with additional steel. Was able to use the B's rubber bumper irons mounted to the chassis. Look closely and you'll see these were beefed up too. Yesterday raised onto the new patent 'v8250 rotisserie' and this morning look what happened...



...can really press-on now with removing the last bits of the bloody awful to remove waxoyl and stonechip. Will post pics when there's something exciting to see...

mgtony

4,014 posts

189 months

Monday 20th January 2014
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I've never seen a rear rubber bumper armature that isn't rusted out! smile
You could go overboard and put on an electric motor with a few sprockets and a remote control to make it rotate, strap yourself in and have endless fun! biggrin

v8250

Original Poster:

2,724 posts

210 months

Monday 20th January 2014
quotequote all
mgtony said:
I've never seen a rear rubber bumper armature that isn't rusted out! smile
You could go overboard and put on an electric motor with a few sprockets and a remote control to make it rotate, strap yourself in and have endless fun! biggrin
Hi Tony, yes agree ref' rear bumper iron though luckily mine's in good condition. Despite this I still reinforced both front and rears ensuring complete rigidity both in length and depth. I did think about motorizing but knew I really wanted slow and stable control during rotation. As you can imagine there were a few 'buttock clenching' moments as the old girl was raised and then very gently rolled. It's a very unusual position for ones car to be in. Yesterday afternoon was great as the underside access is now fabulous rotate


Edited by v8250 on Monday 20th January 18:34