Dan,
There are two reasons for the use of the Rover/Buick/Olds V-8 in an MGB
installation - weight and parts availability. If you check out the "engine
weights" page on the Scions of Lucas web page, you will find the 215/3500cc
aluminum V-8 weighs 318 pounds, vs 460 pounds for the Ford 289. That's a
lot of weight difference, and with a small car like the MGB you need a lot
of mods to get them to handle well with a cast iron V-8. The 215 V-8
actually comes to within 14 pounds of the original cast iron MGB 4-cylinder
engine.
As for parts availability, you might not know that the Factory built 2,591
MGB-GTs with Rover V-8 engines between 1973 and 1976. These were never sold
on the US market, but I am lucky enough to have one of the 17 or so factory
cars that made their way to North America on the gray market. The factory
cars served as proof of concept for the installation of this engine in an
MGB, and lots of things like engine mounts and exhaust systems are already
out there and easily accessible. The later rubber bumper 4-cylinder MGBs
already have the fenderwell and firewall modifications to make it easy to
drop in a Rover/Buick V-8. And you can get 250 or so horsepower out of a
Rover V-8 without hardly trying, which is more than enough for an MGB! The
Factory built cars only put out 140 HP (they used the low compression Range
Rover engine), but they are sweet nonetheless.
Besides, I HATE V-6s!!! Nothing beats an 8 for smoothness, unless you're
talking Jag V-12...
Hope this helps,
Paul Kile
1974 Factory MGB-GT V-8 (in the middle of a total restoration)
> ----------
> From:
> DAN_GRAVES@hp-roseville-om3.om.hp.com[SMTP:DAN_GRAVES@hp-roseville-om3.om.
> hp.com]
> Reply To: DAN_GRAVES@hp-roseville-om3.om.hp.com
> Sent: Friday, November 20, 1998 1:53 PM
> To: mgb-v8@autox.team.net
> Subject: Rover/Buick/Olds conversions...
>
>
>
> Just curious. For those of you building MG's with R/B/O V8's, why
> that particular engine? Is it because its closer to the original
> factory setup, or maybe because of conversion kits available? I
> admit, I know next to nothing about those engines, but I've heard
> that
> they don't put out all that much hp. With today's engines putting
> out
> much higher power to engine size ratios wouldn't it be easier to drop
>
> in a V6? If cost isn't too big of an issue I can think of 4cyl
> motors
> that would be great for a high-output swap. If I were to do another
> engine swap in an MG I'd probably use something other than a V8.
>
> Dan Graves
> '64 MGB-Ford 289
>
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