This Week in Wheeler's Workshop

[Olympia5776]

That's an incredibly nice and very interesting conversion  Nick.
I had a two year old MGB GT back in the day and loved it for the short time I owned it . With retirement looming and my E24 long since fully restored I've been looking at the GT's again with a view to doing a restomod on one , stock exterior with modern drivetrain .
This is food for thought .
Keep us updated if you would please .
Don

[456lbft]

It might be possible to build a fast 'B for less than one of these:-
https://www.frontlinedevelopments.com/vehicle/mg-le50/
I do know someone who has all the facilities to build one himself, and he bought one from them, so they must be good.

[Viral_Jim]

It might be possible to build a fast 'B for less than one of these:-
https://www.frontlinedevelopments.com/vehicle/mg-le50/
I do know someone who has all the facilities to build one himself, and he bought one from them, so they must be good.

Yikes! for £85k+ you'd have to REALLY want one. Still, nostalgia is a powerful draw I suppose. 

[Sir Tigger KC]

It might be possible to build a fast 'B for less than one of these:-
https://www.frontlinedevelopments.com/vehicle/mg-le50/
I do know someone who has all the facilities to build one himself, and he bought one from them, so they must be good.

Yikes! for £85k+ you'd have to REALLY want one. Still, nostalgia is a powerful draw I suppose. 

That's fab!    But yes, a rich boys toy. 

[Kevin Wood]

It might be possible to build a fast 'B for less than one of these:-
https://www.frontlinedevelopments.com/vehicle/mg-le50/
I do know someone who has all the facilities to build one himself, and he bought one from them, so they must be good.

Yikes! for £85k+ you'd have to REALLY want one. Still, nostalgia is a powerful draw I suppose. 

That's fab!    But yes, a rich boys toy. 

If I had that sort of money to splash on a toy it wouldn't be going anywhere near a "2 door Morris Oxford", MX-5 engined or not.. 

[Nick W]

Ian let me know that the MGB passed its MOT retest^**, and it will be taxed tomorrow. Then we'll find out how well it goes


** it failed on the rear brake balance. Which was fixed by making the mk3 version of the handbrake cable to drum linkage to go around the new exhaust.

[Doctor Gollum]

Nice one

Much fettling left to do?

[Nick W]

Nice one

Much fettling left to do?

The original interior is very poor, except for the seats which are Mx5. That's easy, new door cards/carpet/headlining are available new for sensible money. Dynamat will be used where ever possible. Noisy, vibrating cars are deeply unpleasant.


The car had been painted before he bought it but it was never brilliant, and is covered in garage rash. They didn't paint the roof as it was going to have a new vinyl roof. And whoever reskinned the doors did a terrible job. We'll deal with all of that over the winter once the car has been debugged.


Mechanically, its stock or common upgrades and all new/rebuilt so no real worries there. Although some experimentation with the front springs might be necessary once they've settled. At least we'll have a good starting point, as they're new and stock. Cutting off a couple of coils might be enough.


Which leaves the conversion: the fuel pump(Impreza in MGB tank) needs proving, as does the cooling system in use and the drive belt brackets. The radiator is a new V8 one, so it's easily up to the job. Other heat management(shields, vented bonnet) might be necessary. Engine loom is unmolested Omega, except for the power plug. It no longer has SAI, EGR, HBV or any other vacuum systems that aren't essential.


Some new tyres would be a good idea.....

[Doctor Gollum]

A couple of weekends still to go them... 

At least it can be road tested to help the process

[Nick W]

A couple of weekends still to go them... 

At least it can be road tested to help the process

That was the intention. It looks OK from the other side of the road, and the shabby interior is better than bare metal. We can sort out any problems it might have before blowing it apart for paint. A pair of Stag alloys for the back would be good to try before then.

[Nick W]

Mechanically, its stock or common upgrades and all new/rebuilt so no real worries there. Although some experimentation with the front springs might be necessary once they've settled. At least we'll have a good starting point, as they're new and stock. Cutting off a couple of coils might be enough.


Which leaves the conversion: the fuel pump(Impreza in MGB tank) needs proving, as does the cooling system in use and the drive belt brackets. The radiator is a new V8 one, so it's easily up to the job. Other heat management(shields, vented bonnet) might be necessary. Engine loom is unmolested Omega, except for the power plug. It no longer has SAI, EGR, HBV or any other vacuum systems that aren't essential.


Some new tyres would be a good idea.....

Now on the road!


It sits in heavy traffic with the cooling fan switching properly and the needle in the centre of the gauge(which agrees with the ECU sensor). Underbonnet temp seems lower than an Omega so no issues there.


It starts and idles perfectly. It's reasonably quiet inside the car, even with no interior. Except for the fuelpump, which isn't covered - a false bootfloor should sort that. It had an erratic clonk from the NSR, which is a loose shock droplink. The new, aftermarket speedo has an erratic sticky needle - a phone call to the supplier when they're open is on the list.


Clutch and gearbox are good - they were unknown from when I bought them.


Stance is good, slightly nose down with normal MGB clearance. It's on four new 185/70 14 Avons.


Mx5 seats are comfortable.




It's utterly effortless, pulls like a train from under 30mph in fifth. First gear is a little lower than you'd ideally want in such a light car, but it's nowhere near as bad as a T9 equipped RS2000. And a 3.7 diff instead of the 3.9 would fix it if OCD enough.

[Sir Tigger KC]

Awesome! 

[TheBoy]

Cracking

[Auto Addict]

Fantastic

[456lbft]

  I would love to hear that.  Have you gone for a 2 into one or a dual pipe exhaust set up?