Haha, this was a fun surprise to see!
What do you do with a recently acquired MGB GT roller? If you are forum user autocomman, you drop in a GM 3800 V6 engine–and then add a supercharger for good measure.
Out of all the possible engine choices, why the 3800? According to the car’s builder, “Everyone does a V8 and I felt this was different enough not to be overlooked and to stand out. And more efficient.”
Now five pages deep, you can see all the progress that’s been made on this unique engine swap at the 1970 MGB GT supercharged beast! thread in the Builds and Project Cars forum.
Haha, this was a fun surprise to see!
A friend did a 3800 from a Firebird into a B. It is pretty darn nice to drive, although the LBC skeptic in me is very concerned about axles.
It's mellow, and tractable, and three times faster now.
Yeah, all respect to Keith, but I think the 3600 or 3800 V6 is the perfect size for a BGT. That's exactly what I would have done with a roller.
I'm excited to get back to my BGT swap!
A Ford V8 is also a good fit and has similar power capabilities , but it is a question of just how far you want to go with a small British sports car and the engine that the 3800 was developed from (the all alloy 215 of the 1960s) is also available from the UK in various displacements as it continued to be used by Rover and TVR in various displacements. More power isn't always a good goal - but a balanced end product is.
I considered the later GM V6 for my last swap project, but the 3800 is a 90 deg. V engine and too wide for what I was installing into (MGA chassis has less space laterally than the MGB engine bay) so I went with the older 3.4 60 deg. V6 instead.
wspohn said:More power isn't always a good goal - but a balanced end product is.
A really good point. More power is always welcome, but too much and it's just not enjoyable.
Maybe that's why some engine swaps "work" and some just look like someone wanted to make the fastest, craziest version of a car.
In reply to Colin Wood :
Regarding power,
Some's good
More's better
Too much is just starting to get fun.
wspohn said:A Ford V8 is also a good fit and has similar power capabilities , but it is a question of just how far you want to go with a small British sports car and the engine that the 3800 was developed from (the all alloy 215 of the 1960s) is also available from the UK in various displacements as it continued to be used by Rover and TVR in various displacements. More power isn't always a good goal - but a balanced end product is.
I considered the later GM V6 for my last sp project, but the 3800 is a 90 deg. V engin and too wide for what I was installing into (MGA chassis has less space laterally than the MGB engine bay) so I went with the older 3.4 60 deg. V6 instead.
The engine I'd use would be the all aluminum 4 valve head Six cylinder Jaguar. And yes it comes with an optional supercharger. I'm sure it will fit with a little aide of a shoe horn and it probably doesn't weigh anymore than the cast Iron 4 cylinder. ( the factory fitted a cast Iron 6 and even the V8 )
If you absolutely must use an American engine use the 4200 trailblazer/Envoy
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
I did this in 1997
Engine trans and computer from a 96 Firebird, Original Banjo Rearend
Would like to contact other mgb 3800 conversions
Check the MG Experience
Don Zeigler
dwz5345@gmail,com
Colin Wood said:wspohn said:More power isn't always a good goal - but a balanced end product is.
A really good point. More power is always welcome, but too much and it's just not enjoyable.
Maybe that's why some engine swaps "work" and some just look like someone wanted to make the fastest, craziest version of a car.
Here's the thing - any high power car has the same power as a low power car if you don't open the throttle all the way. So you can have your low power any time you want it. You just have the option of more.
It'll be interesting to see actual wheel weights with full fluids when this is done as a comparison. Autocomman did a lot more restoration work than I had to, but that also means he got to address things I didn't.
Displaying 1-10 of 20 commentsView all comments on the GRM forums
You'll need to log in to post.
