It's not running yet, but it sure looks good.

I figured I'd finish off the year what the appearance of a big step. So Janel and I picked up the LS and stuck it into the MG.

Hmm, kinda looks like it's not sitting level. Good, that explains the tight clearance on the driver's side. But it's in! I'll have to pull it out again later, but right now I feel like real progress is being made.

Here's a bit of a peek at the future stance. The wheel's not quite up into the normal rest position because I haven't cut the stock fender yet. But I think it looks pretty cool.

Wohoo!

Janel reminds me of the waitress who always waits on my table at the resteraunt I always seem to wind up eating lunch at.

Now I'll think about Miatas at lunch...

Seriously...looks good Keith. Keep us posted!

Chris

That's awesome. I approve. Not that my approval means a damn thing.

That's going to provide a whole lot of go in a delightful old chassis, waiting to see how it turns and stops.

edit for a huge thumbs up, more power is always good.

Looks awesome!!

Nice work!

That B GT body style is one of my all time favorites. Good job and keep us posted. It's going to be great!

if you were selling it online right now, your ad would say "90% finished, needs about 2 hours and $100 to complete."

The BGT is another one of those cars that I never liked when it was new (three MGB's and an MG Midget passed through my family and I was big convertible fan), but I really like them now. At this point, I think I even prefer the GT.

Seeing one compete in the Maine Forest Rally a few years back may have helped sway my opinion.

(.....wanders off to search ads for V8 swapped BGT...)

That's gonna be one sick car when it's finished!

I also have distant dreams of one. even considered a turbocharged ecotech for a similar swap

Cheap MGB GT projects:

Long Island: 1969 http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/1530443021.html

New Jersey: 1974 http://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/1505931489.html

Very cool, Keith. And a good looking workshop, too.

In reply to Keith:

Keith, Very cool, indeed! Maybe I missed it earlier, but what are the fender flares off of? Jim

Looks good Keith! I was rereading the article on the V8 Corolla and got to wondering about how it handles. Do you anticipate handling issues with the weight forward?

Dan

Good stuff...keep the pics coming!

Sweet man! I think it's awsomest to see your wife out there getting dirty with you.
When do you think it'll be done? Like Angry said, most folks would say it just needs a few odds and ends....

I'm hoping to have it running at our Open House this August. Maybe not on track, but at least capable of going on track should that be necessary. I doubt the bodywork will be complete at that time. That's not a hard deadline, though. I'm not kidding myself about the huge amount of work to do still.

Fender flares are from the front of a Rabbit. I'd actually like to use the rears, but the yard that has all the Rabbits wants to charge me $100 to fire up the torch to cut it out, "to cover the cost of acetylene". So I'll use fronts on all four corners.

About the turning and stopping and weight balance questions, the goal of the car has to be taken into consideration. I'm making a GT out of the GT, not a track rat.

The car's got Miata front suspension and a custom three-link in the rear. I'm using custom adjustable AFCO shocks, and I'll spend a fair bit of time sorting them out along with juggling spring rates and sways. Brakes are 1.8 Miata at the moment, and they'll be adjustable for proportioning. It's unlikely to set any lap records at the local track, but it'll be a fairly quick little guy in the corners.

The biggest problem is going to be room for tires. In the rear, I'll have to shorten the axle if I want something fatter than a 205. So I'm planning on having good rubber instead of huge rubber.

I really don't know what the final balance will be. A Miata with this engine/transmission comes in at about 52% front weight. Given that the car has more structure in the rear than a Miata and had a very heavy engine in the first place, I'm hopeful the end result will be fairly good. The engine is as far back as it will go in the chassis, with only the front pair of cylinders or so ahead of the axle line.

Looking good Keith

Looks like it's going to be some burly vintage fun . . . and a big shock to any "normal" person. I'd love to have a project like that one day.

Nice, love any BGT project. I'm putting a Supercharged 3.8 V-6 into a '68 Cortina. That's why I asked about weight distribution.

Dan

Oh thats one purdy supercharger you got there

Am I crazy or does Keith look quite a bit like Dexter? I mean if he had blond hair.......... Maybe it's just the latex gloves or the way he is smiling there.

You don't kill people do you Keith? Chris Rummel

Congratulations on getting the (real) motor in. Looks great!

What is the belt/accessory arrangement going to look like? I see the PS pump, but no alt. I know there are many, many variations on this layout on different versions of the motor...

Matt

The heads on that V6 look absolutely enormous!

I'm going to run the standard F-body belt arrangement. The alternator was removed for installation because I knew it would be really close to the pinion on the steering rack, so I wanted to check fitment once the motor was in. I'm trying to keep the motor as stock as possible to make my life easier. Although looking at the pictures, you wouldn't have been able to see the alternator even it if had been installed

A tip - if you're looking for what all the accessory setups for each of the LS variants look like, go to media.gm.com and you'll find high quality pictures of all the engines. It won't tell you which of the three belt locations you're looking at (close= Corvette and CTS-V, medium = F-body, far = truck) but if you use the complete setup from a single car life is easy. The CTS-V setup is pretty nicely packaged.

The engine's actually further back than I originally said. Looks like the axle line is in line with the front cylinder centerline, and I'm planning to move it back another 3/4". So the balance should be pretty good.

I've never killed anyone that didn't deserve it.