Mike as far as what type of machine shop work your engine needs I'll
defer to the wisdom of the group. I've always just relied on my
machinest.
> 4. He [Glenn Towery] did NOT recommend the use of the Fel-Pro
composite head gasket. He
> says it'll drop a half point in compression if I use them. He sad
to use
> metal ones. RPI says the opposite. Use composite instead of metal
due to
> leakage.
Glenn may prefer the metal head gasket, but he uses both. I saw both
kinds at his shop last week. The Fel-Pro is much thicker and will
produce an engine with a lower compression ratio. Either will work,
Fel-Pro seals better, the metal one produces higher compression. If
you want to use the Fel-Pro there are other ways to get compression.
> 5. Since i'm using a BW t-5 tranny, he said to leave the B rear end
there and get rid of my ford 8"
You need to find out which 5th gear ratio your T-5 has. If it is .73
you might want to use that Ford rear end. If it is the .63 the 3.9
MGB will work; yes the 1st and 2nd gear ratios are low, but no one is
going to beat you across the intersection! If you have already
installed the Ford, what the heck, use it. You can have just about
any ratio you want with the Ford.
My T-5 has the .63 5th gear, my plan is to try the MGB rear end and
see if I like it, if not I'll switch to the Ford.
> 6. Don't want to start the manifold and carb war over again, but he
said my Offy Dual Plane Manifold and Holley 390 wasn't very
> good. Heard some bad things about holleys, but never against the
Offy. The "Tuning Rover V8's" book gives it a good
> recomendation.
I was at the MGB V8 convention last week (so now I am an expert!).
The "consensus" seems to be the stock 4bbl intake manifold may be one
of the best choices, followed by the Edelbrock, and I think the Offy
was the least used of the group. Now, having said that, I can tell
you that each of those intakes are probably represented on this list
and all were represented at the convention, that tells you they all
work ok! In fact, I think the Offy has one of the lowest profiles of
all of them, and that's a real advantage.
As far as carburetors go the 400 or 500 Carter/Edelbrock seemed to be
used most, followed by the Holly 390. Kurt Schley has a stock Buick
intake set up for two two's. He is running two stock Rochester 2 bbl
carbs (as a side note, he also has a T-5 with the stock MGB rear end).
The factory car that was at the convention used SUs, and the Costello
car used a side draft Weber. Here again, all of them work.
Some of this stuff is like the debate over what is the best color to
paint your car; or which is a better car Fo*d, Ch*by, or Chry*ler; or
how about chrome vs rubber bumpers ....... I won't even go there.
So if I were you, I'd use what I had, the Offy and the Holley. Many
people use it and love it. What the heck, howya, gonna know if
anything else is better? Your V8 is gonna run circles around the 4
banger (and from what I hear you'll give the Mustang 5.0 a run for the
money).
Mike, I don't know where you live but you ought to plan to drive your
V8 to the 3rd annual V8 convention in Champaign Ill, it will be
Memorial Day Weekend 1999. That'll put the pressure on you to finish
before then.
Larry Hoy; Denver, CO. USA
1969 MGB Roadster (soon to be a V8)
1987 Jaguar XJ6 VDP
"It's not how fast you go, it's how fast you go fast"
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