I don’t really have acceleration traction issues unless I ask for them. This is not a drag car, it’s a “make loud engine noises and laugh” car. I am very space constrained at the top of the diff, so I think I’ll just leave the geometry as is for now and see. The arm was basically level at full droop so I have a long way to go before it points down at static. We’ll see.
Thanks for the explanation, three link geometry is not native to me.
So I kinda stopped updating this thread and the MG got pushed way back in the priority list by a Cadillac and a few other things.
But it didn't get completely ignored. I got to the point where I needed help to stick the engine, and eventually I convinced Janel to join me in the shop so we could stick the engine. That happened, then reconnected everything, then went to start.
Lots of cranking but not noise.
Poop. It didn't take long to diagnose a dead fuel pump. Ordered a new one, stuck it in and VROOOOM. The MG is back amongst the living.
And I did a video tour of it yesterday!
I always wondered if a Land Rover Disco motor would be a more bolt in solution for V8 MGB. Isn't it just a bigger Rover motor?
It's basically the same motor that MG put in the B back in the early 70s with a tire-shredding 137 hp. It's small and you can keep the stock rear end. Been done many, many times. This build was triggered effectively by running across an internet friend who has one and even getting the chance to drive it. It just wasn't enough :)
A Ford 302 would have been easier, as would the old GM V6.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
There are a lot of really cheap Land Rover Discos in Dallas. I'm thinking Challenge car here.
It would amaze me if it hadn't already been done. Although it's not a terribly powerful engine.
I keep thinking about sliding a Disco underneath my old Series Land Rover. But then I start thinking about a 3.4 V6 Tacoma...
The hard part would be finding a cheap MGB with a bad motor, or no motor. Or even a shell.
I realized today that the motor has been in this car for about as long as it was in the Camero. From this point forward, it's an MG engine and not a GM one. It was just installed in the wrong car.
Keith Tanner said:So I kinda stopped updating this thread and the MG got pushed way back in the priority list by a Cadillac and a few other things.
But it didn't get completely ignored. I got to the point where I needed help to stick the engine, and eventually I convinced Janel to join me in the shop so we could stick the engine. That happened, then reconnected everything, then went to start.
Lots of cranking but not noise.
Poop. It didn't take long to diagnose a dead fuel pump. Ordered a new one, stuck it in and VROOOOM. The MG is back amongst the living.
And I did a video tour of it yesterday!
thank you Mr.Tanner.......
In reply to Snowdoggie :
Not that difficult to find but finding one in decent enough shape to start with is more difficult. Most I've seen with bad motors have been sitting too long and have the tin worm working away at it plus PO's hackjobs done to them.
wlkelley3 said:In reply to Snowdoggie :
Not that difficult to find but finding one in decent enough shape to start with is more difficult. Most I've seen with bad motors have been sitting too long and have the tin worm working away at it plus PO's hackjobs done to them.
except mine wlkelley3........g'night bro
Very nice conversion. I think the ones without hood scoops look far better than those with, though it takes a bit more planning to get it that way.
The original Rover engine used in the factory MGB GT V8 was anaemic - the straight 6 MGC had better output and it wasn't any barnstormer.
You LS swap must have taken a lot of thought, not to mention work. I had to do a similar project on my Jamaican bodied MGA, and the engine bay of those is even more restrictive, so I went with the GM V6 as I wasn't dealing with a stock bonnet line etc.
Today, I'd probably opt for a modern possibly turbocharged 4 cylinder, but they were years away from availability on the second hand market in 2006 when I converted my car. An S2000 was also enticing.
And I'll bet that your car cost you far less than the modern versions, although your proclivity for Mazdas would have fit in well with the Frontline conversions using that engine (which cost something North of $80K US).
Wonder if there is something about the name Ken that makes one want to do these things (for non-MG people, Ken Costello was a privateer that converted MGBs to Rover power, thus inciting the factory to start doing the same thing).
So there I was with the MG on the lift for a trans fluid level check and some wheels just sitting there...
It's a little modern, but the color works. But there's a small problem.
Yeah, that's not gonna fit. Those are 15x9 +36 wheels with a 225/45-15 tire, by the way.
So the car needs new tires, and the current flares look great but are really limiting in terms of both wheel and tire choice. It's not so much that I want massive tires, but being built around the stock wheel/tire sizing means I can't really change either. I can get 195/60-14 performance tires from Falken, but if I tried to mount even a 15x7 I'd end up with some poke. I stretched those Rabbit flares about as far as I could when I built the car.
So this got me thinking about solving the problem, and coincidentally the arrival of these flares on the scene (ebay seller lemonhillavenue). Widths up to 5" and about the right size for $50-70/corner.
So do I get myself some 15x8s and strap on 225s? Or even 15x9 with 245s in the back? I could also go with a larger diameter tire as I've considered in the past, as the wheel/tire package I have on the car now is smaller than the original MG. I'd have to strip off the existing flares and build new ones, as I'm not sure it would be worth trying to just extend what's on there. But maybe. That would also require new paint but as noted, the current paint is crap.
It would give the car an even more ridiculous amount of tumblehome, making it about 4" wider than it is now. It would probably add to the presence quite a bit but it would also be more obviously modified. One of the things I like about the existing setup is that it does look plausibly like a production car.
Hmmmm.
I fully support 15×9 rims with 245s on MGs. Just go to a square setup. It's easier.
I will be interested to see what the finished product looks like here. There was no subtle way to do the flares on my Midget.
What is your TW relative to a Miata?
nocones said:I fully support 15×9 rims with 245s on MGs. Just go to a square setup. It's easier.
I'm usually a fan of square setups except on mid- or rear- engined cars and only if it makes engineering sense.
The only reason I'm thinking of a staggered setup is because it'll be easier to fit the width in the back. That front flare is a lot harder to extend as the body is tapering up there.
Luckily, I just happen to have 15x8 with 225, 15x9 with 225 and 15x9 with 245 tires in the shop right now so I can actually play with this.
Acronym check in aisle 12! TW? Tire Wear? Track Width? The car uses Miata track widths front and rear. I can narrow the rear (with some expense) but I'm not touching the front as I like the roll centers as they are.
What about custom offset wheels? Maybe just the back two?
Some more tire is really going to bring this together.
Track Width. Mostly I am just wondering how much different the body width is on a MGB vs a Midget. Mine is stock Miata TW so I will be interested to see how much poke you have on the 245.
I can understand the need to do narrower due to the body shape. Even with the low scrub radius of a Miata there is a surprising amount of clearance needed in front of and behind the 245 to allow for steering. My flares have a substantial lip all around them to hide this. The inside clearance required is large also.
Custom offset wouldn't really be any different than narrowing the rear axle, really. I think I'd have to relocate the coilovers in both cases, they're in the wheel wells. The rear would be easier to flare further than the front.
Or I just buy some Falkens and punt until next time :)
nocones said:Track Width. Mostly I am just wondering how much different the body width is on a MGB vs a Midget. Mine is stock Miata TW so I will be interested to see how much poke you have on the 245.
I can understand the need to do narrower due to the body shape. Even with the low scrub radius of a Miata there is a surprising amount of clearance needed in front of and behind the 245 to allow for steering. My flares have a substantial lip all around them to hide this. The inside clearance required is large also.
The midget is quite a bit smaller, as you can imagine from the name :) I had one in my garage for a while when I was building the B. I would venture to say that the B series engine native to the MGB looks about the same size in the engine bay as the Midget's A series engine does.
If I run a 245 on a 9", it's going to poke roughly 10mm more than that 225 on a 9". Very roughly. It's difficult to measure exactly how much flare I'd need because the body curves so much, but I think I figured an extra 2" in the rear would cover them.
On madly unfit tires/wheels, this is one of the wheels off my Lamborghini which was spline drive that just happens to match the smaller British spline. Not going to fit with those tires, but I did like the look of the Ben Hur knock offs.... (the wheels were 7" and wouldn't have fit even with smaller tires - this was on mt MGC but MGB has the same restrictive rear fenders - this pic is of the front. BTW).
I was reviewing this thread last night.
While i'm all for bigger wheels and tires, I have to say I quite like how the fenders look as is.
You said your not happy with the paint already, just run massive poke? I kinda dig it. Assuming the steering works in the front!
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I love these flares. Now I just need to figure out how to mimic them for my Challenge Corolla and do it for a miniscule dollar amount.
java230 said:You said your not happy with the paint already, just run massive poke? I kinda dig it. Assuming the steering works in the front!
I kinda had that look for a while before I put the flares together. It's a little more redneck than I was aiming for :)
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