MGB Suspension Mods

[simonriley11]

I am planning to purchase an early MGB roadster (pre 1966) to use as a road (not everyday) and hillclimb car for the Classic Hillclimb Championship. The first thing I was planning on doing, other than the safety bits rollover bar etc., was to modify the suspension and the brakes. I appreciate that the dual use of the car will mean that the mods are a compromise but do you have any suggestions as to what I might do. Thanks in advance for any help.

[simonriley11]

Thanks for the feedback so far. For the hillclimb championship I can modify the car as much as I wish, the only real stipulation is that it has to be pre 1972. The championship is run on a handicap system so in theory you could run a completely standard car and still win the championship. I have the current Moss catalogue and as you say there are a lot of off the shelf parts available, I guess the advice I'm looking for is what I might be best to start with bearing in mind that the car will be used on the road for fun/touring holidays as well.

[simonriley11]

All, many many thanks for all the help and advice it is much appreciated. I am super busy at work and at home (house just gone on the market) at the moment so please bear with me as I need to put aside the time to read your responses fully.

[simonriley11]

Dear all, many thanks again for all the assistance. Firstly I won't be buying a car until I have sold my Porsche to my friend, hopefully in the next week or so. I have my mind set on a pre 1966 car as it would be FIA eligible if in future I decided to go historic racing. Now having read your replies then regarding suspension mods it makes sense to modify as much as possible within the FIA regulations still bearing in mind that at first I'm only doing hillclimbing and it needs to be a useable road car. Are there any more suggestions of what to modify and also perhaps what to avoid? Thanks

[simonriley11]

If I go for all the suspension mods that boy suggests will that make it too stiff and unyielding on the road? I was also planning to fit alloy wheels but I understand that some types make the track too wide for an FIA eligible car, any advice on that? I'm not aware that I need HTP papers for the hillclimb championship, is that something I would need for FIA racing?

[simonriley11]

Thanks for the link to the race car, what a beautifully turned out car. Yes I realise that there will be a compromise on suspension specification as I want the car to be useable on the road as well as handy(ish) on the hills. The saving grace is that as the hillclimb championship I'm planning to enter is on handicap then the specification of the car (and the ability of the driver!) is taken into account and handicapped accordingly.

[simonriley11]

I have started to enquire about two pre 1966 cars now and they both have their original 3 bearing engines. Do I really want a 5 bearing engine as in the future I'm likely to want more power or if the right car comes along with a 3 bearing engine would an engine builder do an exchange for an uprated 5 bearing engine?

[simonriley11]

Thanks again all and I take on board your comments about using highly tuned engines on the road. The last time I drove an MGB was about 30 years ago and I seem to recall I found the performance spritely but no more. Since then I have been lucky enough to own a wide range of performance cars (I currently run a Porsche 996 Turbo and a BMW M135i) so I'm expecting the MG to feel a lot less spritely now! However I'm going for a B as I want an affordable soft top classic which I can use on the road as well as for a bit of light competition. The search starts now.