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Re: 5 Speed - Why? - Why not the engine swap?

To: WSpohn4@aol.com, mgs@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: 5 Speed - Why? - Why not the engine swap?
From: Barney Gaylord <barneymg@ntsource.com>
Date: Tue, 03 Jul 2001 23:50:45 -0500
At 10:21 AM 7/3/2001 EDT, WSpohn4@aol.com wrote:
>In a message dated 02/07/01 10:56:48 PM Pacific Daylight Time,  
>barneymg@ntsource.com writes: 
> 
>>.... In other words, you can get away with just about anything as long as
no one notices. 
> 
>So you figure that this is the level of 'purism' shared by the MG owners?

Not everyone of course, but if no one can see the mod, who's going to
complain?  This was just an attempt to answer your question as to why some
mods are genereally considered acceptable and others not.

>  Hell - why not just bolt the MGA body onto a Miata and be done with it?

I think someone would notice.

>....
>And my race car? Well, maybe I'll mount an RX7 rotary in it - as long as I
make up a fibreglass casting of the top of a Twincam engine to cover it, I
should be OK, no? 

You would have to be a real artisan to pull that one off with no one noticing.

>.... 
>What I am not prepared to do is bastardise them by transplanting engines,
.... from a different car into them. Even if it doesn't show. An MGB engine
in an MGA? No problem. ....

You've lost me for sure on this one.  I'm sure an MGB engine was never in
an MGA from the factory.

>....
>.... my post was intended to smoke people out, ....

Worked good on yourself there!

>I guess I am a little surprised at how far many people would go, and that
they don't see themselves as losing anything by taking measures that to
traditionalists seem quite drastic.

Why surprised?  People have been hot-rodding cars for decades.  Not
everyone will see a single car out of a long line of high volume production
as a unique or irreplaceable piece of history to be preserved at all cost.
I suppose most of the world population falls into some other category.

>I also suspect that even given the option of, say, a serviceable MG OD
trans sitting in front of them for less money, some people would insist on
going the Toyota route. 

Of course.  And with a prefectly serviceable fully restored complete and
original MG sitting in front of them, most of the known world population
would rather buy a new Miata, even for twice the price.  So what's your point?

>I recall the last Namgar meet I attended in Tahoe ..... There was what
started life as an MGA sitting there with a Chev V8 engine and driveline in
it. ....

I took a picture of one of those once.  I figure it was a waste of film,
but it was good for a laugh or two.  Some things are just inherently
interresting, if only out of curiosity, and some folks will go to great
lengths just to be different.  It's just different strokes for different
folks, and everyone can draw the line in a different place.

I personally like to drive my MG, but I am also so tight that I squeek when
I walk, so I wouldn't spend any money at all on any mod that didn't improve
the reliability or performance.  But occasionally I might do a mod the is
less expensive than repairing or replacing an orignal part, given that the
change is reversible (and I still don't know why I impose that
restriction).  A substitute fuel pump comes to mind, for better reliability
and less expense.

Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude
    http://www.ntsource.com/~barneymg

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