MG MGB GT

It's about time I made one of these.

I've got too many projects. One of them is a MG MGB GT I bought from an auction sight-unseen for under a grand. I originally planned on getting the little British 4 banger back up and running. Pretty much as soon as I did (does it have to idle to count as running?) I started seeing some of the V8 swaps on http://www.britishv8.org/. This was a problem. Pretty soon I had a 302 and T5 from an 85 mustang sitting in my garage.

That was a few years ago, but I'm making progress at a decent pace now.

A few goals / guiding principles of the project:

1. Provide an excuse / opportunity to fabricate stuff
2. Must have big meats and flares
3. Should be streetable, and reasonably at home at a drag strip, autocross, or road course

She started off like this:

Welcome.....plenty of MGB paths to pursue here. I'm by no means the focal point on these, but NoHome,LooseCannon, Keith Tanner and many more should be checking in shortly. Oh, I have a 73 B/GT in the garage.....was thinking of a V8, but kinda leaning towards a boosted 4cyl .  Carry on...  

Cool!

I'm also playing along at home with a '73 BGT and pondering alternatives to the (understandably) well-trodden SBF route. But it's a hard combo to beat, and I look forward to seeing how yours unfolds.

I was eyeing Ford Duratec 2.5 prices at a local junkyard recenty... probably the route I'd go If I wanted to stick with the I4.

Skipping ahead a bunch:

The motor is mounted and the driver side header is together.

Due to guiding principle #1 (excuse to fab stuff) I decided to mount the 302 pretty far back. I cut out the heater shelf and big chunks of the passenger side and driver side firewall. Clearance to the steering became difficult, so I had to get a bit creative with the header. I also moved the steering column mounting quite a bit (more on this later)...

That's really far back! Well done. 

Thanks Keith!

Here is a bit more detail on cutting out / filling back in firewall to fit the engine as far back as possible.

The engine bay, gutted, but otherwise stock:

I started out by cutting out the heater shelf. I don't plan on ever running a heater in this car, or driving it in any conditions where a heater would be needed. I hung the motor in the bay and pulled it out a few times and ended up about here:

Notice, the steering column mount is still in the stock location here (but not for long).

I started filling in the passenger side firewall first:

At this point it became clear that the stock steering column position was preventing me from moving the motor back as far as I wanted (leaving my heater shelf deletion basically without purpose). The stock MGB seating position is pretty upright and too far forward for me to fit in the first place, so I cut out the steering column mount as well:

I fabricated a offset mount for the steering column to tie into the stock supports under the dash, and move the column back a few inches, and angled down a bit. I started off setting a more comfortable seat position an basically held the steering wheel / column in free space where it felt comfortable. I ended up here:

I tried my hand at hammer forming a new flange for the steering column to mount to the firewall, and filled in the gaps. Position of the steering column firewall flange was set with the steering column mounted to the dash. I am using a 6" splined shaft and a couple of Borgeson u-joints to make this new steering column position work.

That seat's from a 914, no? You are a lot further down and back than the stock location there. 

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Yep, well spotted. I didn't really fit in the car with the original seat position. I'm hoping to have enough room for proper clearance from my helmeted head to a roll bar. I might bring the seat up a bit from where it is pictured just for a little better view over the front of the car.

Hey this looks familiar! 

Glad to see this project up on the forums, will be following along.

Hehe, thanks.

Somehow The Bean is the first thing listed for me under "More Like This"

Next big project to work out is rear suspension design. I'm thinking 3 link with a Watts link or Panhard. At this point I'm pretty comfortable chopping large chunks out of this thing, so I figure I can get the center link around where the rear seat used to sit.

This looks great--perfect for the power abilities of an SBF (LS is not much bigger).  Definitely get that seat position finalized before placing a roll hoop in there; further rearward than you think is a good starting point.  Looking forward to more!

In reply to Nukem :

I put a 3 link in mine with a Panhard. I was able to retain the rear seat.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

I just reviewed some of your build photos and that is pretty much exactly what I'm after.

Do you recall what length swedged tubes you ended up using?

Unfortunately, no. Can't find the McMaster receipts easily either, I'd have to do some spelunking. Might be easier to just measure what I have on the car :)

Keith Tanner said:

Unfortunately, no. Can't find the McMaster receipts easily either, I'd have to do some spelunking. Might be easier to just measure what I have on the car :)

while perched on the two post lift in the the Shop at the house.....

In reply to Keith Tanner :

You remember where it is? 

Yup, right in front of the Cadillac and in my way most of the time :)

Keith Tanner said:

Yup, right in front of the Cadillac and in my way most of the time :)

Nukem my apologies for the hijack....KT, dang to be in such a perdicament

In reply to 759NRNG :

Heh, have at it.

I was digging through slowcarfast and saw some indication the tubes might have been from Speedway (which is where I plan on buying them). Between your build logs and Dan Master's car I should be able to get pretty close without fully mathing everything out.

That actually helped. But not completely, because apparently I bought a bunch to hedge my bets. 10", 11", 14" and 15". Only one of each of the two shorter ones, so they must have been for the center.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

lol, Thanks for checking Keith. They are cheap enough, so I might do that as well. What size ends / threads / tube OD did you end up with?

Sorry for the screenshot, it wouldn't copy/paste without reformatting. Looks like I might have built one. 

Nukem are you staying stock third member or an 8.8 Ford?

In reply to 759NRNG :

I've got an 8.8 from a Ford Explorer out getting shortened. It's a posi with a 4.10, so it should be fun.

Thanks again Keith, I was waffling between 3/4 and 5/8.

I bought some DOM tube suitable for the links a while back, but it seemed like the swaged tubes would get me there for cheaper and with much less work.