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walterj
walterj Dork
8/20/09 8:48 a.m.

The MG is all good... but when I saw that pic I immediately thought that Caddy, with a gooseneck ball in the trunk and the rear out of a silverado (leafs and all), the brakes from something with HUGE brakes... and an R134 conversion would make one cool tow vehicle.

These are the kinds of thoughts that make sure I will never fit in at the country club.

aeronca65t
aeronca65t HalfDork
8/20/09 9:44 a.m.

I'm in sort of the same situation with a semi-useable 1275 Midget. I bought it as a parts car for my A35 vintage racer project. At some point, I am hoping to drop a spare 948 in it and build a quasi-ratrod. Then, I'll just pass it forward to one of my friends or relatives. In 30 years, we're all going to hate ourselves for chopping up these "common" MGs.

Keith
Keith GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
8/20/09 9:56 a.m.
mattmacklind wrote: GT's have such nice lines, but then again, I'm biased.

No, you're right. Mine's been up on jackstands at the back of the garage for so long that I haven't been able to step back and walk around it for a while. They're such a nice little package, I'm appreciating having this one here to look at.

It's not as clean as I originally thought. There's some rust through on the rear wheel well. Wouldn't be too hard to fix up, if you're the sort of guy who likes bodywork.

As this car sits, it would need an engine, radiator and whatever else has been damaged/stolen to get it mobile. Then it would need an interior restoration (there's wood siding screwed on the inner door panels, which actually works better than you'd think) as well as some rust repair and a full paint job. It's not going to be a matter of cleaning out some carbs and buffing the paint.

What I'll probably do is take what I need and then sell the rest as a restorable shell. In 30 years, I'd rather say "I built a kick-ass V8 MGB" anyhow :)

John Brown
John Brown GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
8/20/09 12:21 p.m.

Now to figure out how to convince Keith that he should drop off the remaining carcass in Mi for $250.00...

alfadriver
alfadriver HalfDork
8/20/09 1:43 p.m.
John Brown wrote: Now to figure out how to convince Keith that he should drop off the remaining carcass in Mi for $250.00...

Why, so it can sit in your backyard, rusting, while you don't work on it?

Come on, John, we know you better than that.

OrangeRazor
OrangeRazor New Reader
8/20/09 3:36 p.m.

Wanna sell it to me for $100?

Well, alright maybe that's not fair...but still, somebody should make this thing live again.

John Brown
John Brown GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
8/20/09 3:54 p.m.
alfadriver wrote:
John Brown wrote: Now to figure out how to convince Keith that he should drop off the remaining carcass in Mi for $250.00...
Why, so it can sit in your backyard, rusting, while you don't work on it? Come on, John, we know you better than that.

Hey I finished one Beetle, a Passat AND one of the XR4Tis in the last year. The V8 Beetle is still in my possession but I am letting Paulie take a stab at the swap.

neon4891
neon4891 SuperDork
8/20/09 11:43 p.m.
walterj wrote: The MG is all good... but when I saw that pic I immediately thought that Caddy, with a gooseneck ball in the trunk and the rear out of a silverado (leafs and all), the brakes from something with HUGE brakes... and an R134 conversion would make one cool tow vehicle. These are the kinds of thoughts that make sure I will never fit in at the country club.

That is so out there. I would love to see it.

ultraclyde
ultraclyde New Reader
8/21/09 11:37 a.m.

Man, I'd love to have one of those GTs. There's a guy in town with a really nice red one. I'd run a turbo 4 swap and racing seats, patch the rust and rock it like you've never seen. Of course, I don't think I'd fit in one, so I might have to drive with my head out the sunroof....

Tim Baxter
Tim Baxter Online Editor
8/21/09 11:41 a.m.

Ultraclyde, how tall are you? The BGT will fit six-footers pretty easily.

Trivia: MGB designer Syd Enever was 6'2" or so, and he demanded that it be large enough for him. Bs have much more legroom and seat travel than a Miata, although they're much narrower.

For the roadster, Enever must've been very willing to crane his neck to see below that tiny windshield. Probably got a lot of bugs on his forehead, too.

John Brown
John Brown GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
8/21/09 11:47 a.m.

Isn't there a pic of Enever and he was 6'2" with about 6' of leg?

Tim Baxter
Tim Baxter Online Editor
8/21/09 11:55 a.m.

Probably. B roadsters have really low rooflines. The GTs are much better in that regard.

Keith
Keith GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
8/21/09 12:02 p.m.

There's a lot of headroom in the GT. I'm only 5'10", but I have the torso of an NBA player*. Headroom is not a problem in the coupe. Of course, it could be that the seats need rewebbing, but a set of Miata seats in a GT would drop you waaay down.

  • I keep it in the freezer.
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