My MG V8 Conversion
Well, here's the story so far: It was September of '96 when I decided
that I had owned my beautiful '69 cutlass convertible long enough (5
years), and it was taking up way too much room in the garage. So, I
finally got up the nerve to put it up for sale.
Now for a bit of history. When I was in high school, I owned a mint '78
black MGB with wire wheels and AC. It was beautiful. However, on one
fatal day while driving it to the beach, the water pump gave out and I
overheated the engine. I did it in real well! I warped the head and
melted all the wiring. It was a real mess. I spent the rest of the
summer (and the rest of my money) trying to get it back in shape. I
eventually ended up trading it in for a used Honda Prelude. I vowed
then that if I ever owned another MG I'd yank the engine and put
something else in.
Alright, back to the cutlass. Since I told the wife I was selling the
cutlass, I figured I could start looking for MG's. Well, I didn't have
a whole lot of money, so I set my sights on the less than $2000 range.
I found a '77 MGB in the paper and in my "I want one NOW" haste, I
bought it for $1700. After driving it home and going over it well I
realized the driver's side floor board was rusted out, the trunk was
rusted out, the clutch was slipping, and the front end vibrated at about
60 mph. Oh well, at least it ran really well, had a new top, and was
generally a lot of fun. Besides, $1700 wasn't a whole lot of money (my
wife disagrees). What I was really looking for was an MG with a good
body and a worn out engine, and what I got was an MG with a rusty body
and a great running engine ! I had the V8 swap in mind when I chose a
'77, but I didn't know a lot about the whole V8 swapping process, only
what parts to look for. At this time the cutlass was sitting out on the
driveway with a for sale sign on it. One day an old guy stops to look
at it. He tells me that he lives about three blocks from me and he has
a show quality '62 cutlass. Then he tells me he has another one in the
driveway for parts and he's about to tow it to the junkyard. I asked
him what engine it had in it and he told me the aluminum 215 !!! Well,
I ended up buying the car from him for $50. The guy told me that the
engine was running about a year ago. The next few weeks were spent
getting the engine and automatic tranny out of the '62 cutlass. After
putting the engine on an engine stand, tearing it apart, and cleaning it
thoroughly, I came upon two cracks in the outer casing running between
the freeze plugs. I took the engine to a local welding shop and had
them weld up the cracks for $35. I figured I'd do an absolute minimum
rebuild (rings and bearings) , throw the engine back together and see
how/if it ran. My goal with this conversion is to do it as
inexpensively and as easily as possible. One of my big expenses was
buying a bellhousing from a guy on the internet for $125. I figured the
only other big expense I had left was a T5 or T50 tranny (and other
stuff - flywheel, clutch, etc...)
Well, one day I'm at the office and one of my colleagues is throwing the
paper away and asks me if I want it. I pick up the classifieds and
right before my eyes I see an ad for a 1980 Rover 3500 for $1000. I
think to myself that it would be great to have a running Rover, but
$1000 was a lot of money at the time. I go to the guy's house and we
take the car for a spin. It runs great but the car is piece of junk.
Much to my wife's dismay, I end up buying the car from the guy for $600.
The engine had the Offenhauser JRM manifold with a Holley carb and a
Mallory coil. I'm curious to know what kind of horsepower increase you
get from these bolt on parts? After parking the car on the side of the
house so that none of the neighbors could see it, I proceeded to yank
the engine and 5 speed transmission. Except for sinking the engine
hoist in the mud and having to drag it out with my truck while it dug
two trenches running away from the Rover, everything went pretty smooth.
Now the engine is on the stand in my garage and I've cleaned it up. I'm
gonna run the engine on the stand and do some general maintenance to it.
I'm also gonna attack the Rover again and get the driveshaft, AC parts,
and just about anything else that looks useful. I might even tear the
rear end out of it if I get a chance.
Well, that was what I had written up to this point. Here the story
continues : I end up selling the Rover body to a guy in Mississippi for
$150; and he came and picked it up !!! So, now I have a good running
3.5 liter and a 5 speed tranny for the low, low price of $450 !!! All I
need now is some other ancillaries and enough time to do the swap. In
the meantime, I've replaced the clutch in the B and I have acquired two
MGAs. I'm probably gonna end up using the B's 1800 for one of the A's,
so I didn't mind replacing the clutch.
That's the story so far. I have joined Kurt Schley's newsletter and
read all of the back issues, and I have consulted Glen Towery on
occasion for info. I'll probably end up buying some parts from Glen
(motor mounts and such) and from Ted Schumacker (sp?) who has a pretty
good deal on water pumps and other parts.
I'm thrilled to see that there is finally a list on the net for all us
V8aholics and I look forward to conversing with you all as my project
proceeds.
Cheers
Michael J. Cousins III
Civil Engineering Department
Waldemar S. Nelson and Company, Inc.
1200 St. Charles Avenue
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130-4334
Work Address: mike.cousins@wsnelson.com
Home Address: mciii@ix.netcom.com
Voice: (504) 593-5385
Fax: (504) 523-4587
Pager: (504) 391-4686
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