The BritishV8 Pub

Hi, my name is Jason and I am in OH. I recently purchased a '59 Bugeye. I also own a '59 Morris Minor truck. They are both projects. My other cars include 3 model Ts, '54 Hudson Jet, a '50 Chevy sedan with a 454 and a '63 Corvair. I have a '40 Buick coupe, '46 Ford sedan and the Corvair for sale.

As far as my projects related to this board I will start posts in the proper sections. I will have a ton of questions, more related to the Bugeye than the Morris. Thanks

Hi Curtis,
Many thanks for your reply.
Myself: I am English, but now living in France where I run my own tuner / restoration shop. Am 53 and been into customs, racers and tuners for 30 odd years. I have designed and tuned many cars in that time and also have a few trophies when I was
racing (Although, that was for Formula 'E' super karts).
So, I have a lot of experience in one off's, but the main work over the last few years has been on the 4 pot's.
I have almost exhausted the options for my own motor and therefore plan the V8 route.
As for my car, if you look at my web site [www.garagestmarien.com] under Citroën and then The Beast, I think it will give you an idea of what I am creating.
I know it's not British, but it's British designed and engineered, will be powered by British power and this model does have a big following in Britain. I think it also found it's way to America and was called the CXA.
With my car, I plan to fit another front subframe in the rear, with a modded jag irs and drive shafts that will take care of the rear wheel drive.
This also gives me better roll bar and brakes. It also allows me to retain the hyd suspension/steering and brakes. The brakes being incrediably powerful at 175bars pressure. It also gives me independent front and rear handbrakes. So burnouts or drifting will be easy.
I am planing the car to be a wild child on the road. Good response and handling, but also capable of drag racing, so it will be dual purpose. I also plan to control the front and rear suspension independantly, so I can drop it for circuits, or rake it for the strip etc.
Answer, to many responses I get, why a Citroën CX - "I like the challange of something, where you have to think, design and build and not just get a kit of parts from somewhere".
The only other thing to add, is I believe in Ensteins theory of relativity, where he states the faster you travel, the slower time becomes.
Therefore, I drive as fast as possible everywhere, so I will live longer!!!
The pictures are one from a tuner show (Best of show and top motor), the other is a photo shop plan of the new look.
Regards

John

My name's Chris, i just recently got a 1962 Austin Healey 3000 with a Ford 289. It's been in the family, meaning my father has had it, since I was about 16. So I've been drooling over it for close to 15yrs now.

Now it sits in my garage instead of his front yard and is starting to come around. I'll post pics as soon as i get to.

Hi All,

Steve Melfi here. I live about 15 miles east of Columbus Ohio outside the small 1 stop light speed trap town of Alexandria. Over the past 40 years or so I've had several V8 cars, the first a black 68 383 4speed Road Runner I owned from 69 to 75.
Sometime in the late 70's/early 80's, when we lived in Middletown Ohio, after watching the movie Last American Hero (the story of Junior Johnson) I acquired a small block 68 Mustang, built up a 302, dropped it in, and drove it every once in a while for a year or so. One day my wife and I were at a party at some guys house out in the country and he had a dead 68 MGB. Five years prior to this I had been an MGB mechanic for six months, so I figured I could fix it and sell it at a profit. I bought it from him for $200. I got it home and put it in the large garage I had at the time. It was sitting next to my Mustang. Next thing I know I have a tape measure out and..........six months later the 302 was in the MGB. I drove it a bit, but needed to do more work to it and then time became an issue as it does when raising a family. So it sat and sat and etc. We moved to Alexandria in 82 and I got it running a few times over the years but never finished it. I meant to start fixing it up in around 95, but my best friend got me involved with stock car racing and that ate up a lot of free time for ten years. Last year I dismantled the 68 MGB and sold the engine and trans.
I suscribed to the V8 register when it was still mailed to you (no web site) and I've never lost the desire to build a nice small block ford MGB. I traveled down to the MGB V8 meet inTownsend TN a few years ago and spent an evening at the motel looking at the cars. Since then I have purchased a 78 MGB and I have a nice small block ford doner car. It's an 88 thunderbird with a built 5.0 (Eldebrock intake and carb, MSD, headers, Flowmasters, electric fuel pump, etc), T-5 trans, fuel cell in the trunk, and 8.8 rear end.
I plan to start my conversion in a month or so.

Steve

Hey Steve

Welcome We like 5.0 MGBs well some of us do anyway
Take lots of pictures as you build her we are always looking for better ways or ideas to skin this Cat.

Joe

Come on down to Raliegh in June, Bring the car or pictures. Hang out and shoot the cr*p with all of us. Welcome to Brit V* too !!!

Just found this site following a link from another site regarding building a solid-state replacement for the Lucas instrument voltage stabilizer. Nice write up...one that I plan to attempt very soon.

My name is Sandy and I've been driving British iron for almost 4 decades now. My first actual new car purchase was a 1972 Land-Rover Series III 88". It's still running strongly today after several hundred thousand miles of hard off-roading. I am one of the founding members of the Rover Owners' Association of Virginia, the oldest LR organization in the Americas.

Most recent acquisition is a 1996 Land Rover Discovery that has since been heavily modified, or rather, armored. Winch, snorkel, brush bar, skid plate, diff guards, rock sliders.... It was originally the hand-built prototype (Feb., '95) for the '96 North American spec model year, purchased directly from Land Rover. This may be of interest to pub members: it is perhaps the oldest surviving Rover 4.0 in the world, as it has an engine serial number of 000000017. I was told by LR corporate that the first 25 of the 4.0 engines built were 'tested' into oblivion. It, too, is running strong.




There has to be some wood around here I can knock on.... ;-)

Cheers

Hi Mike from Sonora, CA checking in. Been working on a v8 transplant for my signal red 74.5 TR6 for over 5 years now. Bought the car in miserable condition in 94 and got it back on the road but the frame was twisted due to a pretty good smack in the front passenger corner. Horrible frame repair. Got taken by the seller in hindsight, but got the car I'd always wanted. But the car has never really driven to it's full potential. Motor was worn out as well, was originally an OD car but no OD was present when I bought it. 1988 GM 350 is hitting the driveway tomorrow so hoping for a blast of headway and fingers crossed to have it back on the road by the end of summer.

Hello. I'm Dawie from Cape Town, South Africa.

I'm into all kinds of weird and wonderful vehicles, but foresee two projects for the immediate future. First, I've finally finished building my garage and have consequently been able to get my Morris Minor out of storage after ten years. It's a 1958 four-door with the original A-series, looks sound but needs some work to the floor. From the start the plan has been a sort of "conversation with Issigonis", trying to get something of the original Mosquito prototype back into the design, while also throwing Sir Alec some conceptual challenges. For that reason it has to have a flat-four engine, of which I had considered several before deciding on a Subaru EJ, but will also have an interconnected suspension system that will allow use of a separate chassis by taking all the torsional loads out of the body.

The Morris engine bay is about 31" wide and 19" long. The Subaru EJ is about 29" wide and 17" long. It needs to be done!

Second, I've been collecting bits and pieces for a Ford Model A street rod with a distinctly European vintage flavour, a Weymann-style fabric fixed-head coupé on a Montier-like "surbaissé" frame, stretched 12½" to get those aristocratic proportions.

Expect slow progress, and lots of procrastination!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/2009 07:30AM by Dawie.

I've been working on a 1978 MGB on and off since 2003. Started driving it in 2006, it had been sitting since 1989. This is my 1st LBC, It is mostly stock but de-smogged BTW I'm interested in a second MG. So keep me in mind if you here of a well sorted car that the current owner needs to .xchange for cash. I'd like to find a GT to use as a daily driver. I want a mostly, or completely finished resto-mod with A/C, 5 speed, V6 or V8 that does not leak rain into the cabin or fluids onto the garage floor.. Any other creature comforts that may have been installed would just be a bonus. In other words an almost new car wrapped in an MGBGT shell ready for daily use and long distance trips. And, of course, I'm hoping to find such a gem at a price lower than a Miata. [Excuse my use of such a word.]
I plan to attend the meeting in Durham, June 2009

Cheers,
P. J. Lenihan

Hi,
My name is Peter and I am in Laurens, SC. I just purchased a 1977 MGB. I might do a lot of lurking for starters.

Hi , I'm Rodney and own 2..no make that 3 Triumphs.

2 cars and a motorbike.

my pride n joy is a 1977 June Triumph Stag in British Racing Green, Its registration is Fastag and this befits the 4.4 Rover V8 modification along with drivetrain changes to suit.

Without going into too much detail, I've taken to recondition the engine after 15 years good service and found this site as a possible source of what's out there on Rover V8s. I am a true Triumph enthusiast and have restored a 1976 Triumph TC, Pimento Red to original condition. I swapped its motor with a Triumph S that was in bad shape bodywise and interior wise. The result was a fully restored TC/S hybrid. The 4 door is intended to drive whilst I take my time sorting the stag's engine and lift its appearance a bit.

happy to chat to anyone about Rover V8s and Triumph 1970s models, as my knowledge beyond these models is limited.
I have a photo of my stag in the gallery and waiting for acknowedgement so that I can add it to my avatar.

cheers.

Gidday All
Andrew Gaskin from Feilding, New Zealand
Just stumbled across this site and had to join. Love the cars and what been done to them.
I've fully rebuilt a 1974 Triumph Stag which I have repowered with a Toyota 1-UZ-FE 4.0 Quad cam V8.
Runs toyota crown Auto, Ford 9 inch diff. Nissan drive shafts and rear track controll kit.
Up rated brakes. Volvo 4 pot vented fronts and ford rear discs, BMW Servo and master cyl with willward proportioning valve.
I aquired this car off my father, but after spending alot of time working on it as a trainee mechanic, ( numerous over heating problems,Fuel leeks , constant tune ups and even repairing the massive damage from a broken timing chain etc etc ) I wanted an engine that would be more reliable and less maintinance intensive than the standard Triumph ( boat anchor ) engine.
After looking at various re powering options, decided to go with the Toyota quad cam as they were cheep and strongly built.
Whole project took just under 4 years to complete, but alot of that time was due to getting the body de rusted ( think B L built the rust into the car) and re painted.
So now staggy has been back on the road about 4 months, and we have clocked up over 10,000 kms with out any issues with the enine at all.
Am stoked with the way it goes, way better than the old std engine.

Will submitt a project diary shortly.

Cheers

Andrew Gaskin







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/2009 02:46PM by Sparrow010.

Hello. Name is John Fischer(everyone calls me Sparky). I live in Georgetown,Ontario, Canada. Been lurking for some time after finding the site while looking for info on Rover v8's. Am intrigued by the light weight and relative small displacement of these motors and have a 3.9 I intend to swap into an S-10. With any luck I intend to mate this engine to a Nissan 6speed that I've got. My engine is all apart right now and am having trouble finding bearings and rings locally. Napa and the other jobber shops around here look at me like I've lost my mind when I mention Rover. If any of the members from around this area could tell me where they get their parts I would be most appreciative. Thanks for reading and hope to get to know some of the people on here.
Sparky

My name is Mike, some of you will know me as The Wiz from various other forums, some of you even knew me as MikeB4 in the UK over 10 years ago. I'm a displaced Brit and have been driving LBCs all my life, currently owning a 65 MGB, 79 MGB and 71 MGBGT, two of which are running and in use!

I did my first V8 conversion in 1987 putting a Rover 3.5 in a CB 74 MGB. At the time conversion parts were not widely available but some guy called Clive Wheatley was just getting started and I sourced a factory inlet manifold, water pump and front pulley from him.

Now, I'm in the US, I have just sourced a complete Olds 215 engine to go in my 79. This is going to be a quick and simple conversion, the car is our long distance tourer and our Endurance Rally car, we are going to keep using it in the same way, we just want more power and easier highway cruising. We are going to spend this year going through the engine and collecting parts. At the end of March next year we'll do some tidying up on the car and install the engine, initially using the existing gearbox, radiator and cooling fans. We want block hugger headers to reduce cutting and I may even source a complete exhaust system from the UK.

We do want to put an MGC axle under the rear end but that could wait if we can't find one easily.

The car will then be driven and problems taken care of as we go, this is the way we have been treating the 79, we just constantly drive it and tweak it, we'll do the same with the V8 engine.

Then way on down the line I have a 65 MGB body shell and a Chevy 383 engine but that is another story.

Hello Everyone,

My name is Robert and was looking for a forum with other British Car owners. I recently purchased a Triumph Stag and am looking forward to sharing it with other British car nuts. I have owned many British Cars and a triumph was my first car towed home when I was 15 and used a 1967 Baracuda for the tow car. And I have been hooked ever since.

I purchased the Stag so I could tote my family in it, my wife, daughter and son and on occasion our dog. I am loving the car and I enjoy the road trips whether close to home or the long trip to a British Car Show.

Hoping to learn some valuable info here as I read.

Thanks again for having me.

My Best, Robert

Hi
Mike in the UK.
I joined this forum lately for exchange of information.
I am just embarking on another Triumph rebuild but this time with a differance and not common in the UK as the majority of TR owners here are purists and dont like messing things about.
I am building a TR4A with Rover 3.5 V8. This is small by USA standards but you have to think about the insurance rates over here.
My last V8 was a TR7 V8 reimported from Australia, before that I had aTR250 ex Navada car.
In the past I have fitted a Rover 3.5 V8 to a Ford Transit van which I extended to be my race car transporter and have also fitted a V6 into a Ford Cortina 1600E.

Many years of racing and rallying gives me the confidence to tackle most things on cars and have come up with a few modifications that have benifited the TR owners.

Anyway my rebuild starts with a newly aquired chassis already repaired and powder coated.
Rear disc(rotor) brakes as seen on this site from Nissan.
Rover 3.5V8 with Australian spec serpantine belt with distributor.
Edelbrock inlet manifold and carb.
LT177 5 speed box.

I will post picture as I go and my target finish date is June 2010.

Hi,

Ian here in the UK.

My current toy is a 1955 MG Magnette that has a 427ci small block Chevy fitted to it...slightly more powerful than the stock, wheezy old four banger that Abingdon fitted!

This is my first V8 project, my previous ones were all aircooled, and I have a few aims in mind with this one, mainly drag racing in the UK and, all being well with the economy one day, some action in the USA.....I'm already an SCTA licence holder at Bonneville.

Hopefully the project should be on the road this year...yep, road legal with a parachute bolted to the back! :-)

Hello-

I found this site looking up info re my old /new project. I'm currently getting back to my old swap. It's a 1978 BMW320i w/ a Buick 215-with various Rover/Triumph/Jag parts. I had it together in the late eighties but never worked out all the bugs-it just sat with a wife then son then ex-wife and work....

I've always had a fondness for British cars- My first car was a Triumph TR4, I learned that oil just doesn't go in the engine - it goes in the carbs too!!!

I've also owned a 1971 TR6 and helped my brother put a Buick 215 in his TR7 years ago.

Here's the test mock -up- Hope to have the car moving under it's own power soon.

Richard

Hi,
My name is Werner and I am 65 years old.I live in Lynchburg, Va. I am retired since November 2008.
I bought my 77RB in 1988 with 75K miles on it. I drove it further to 250K with no major problems and decided that it was time to replace the 4 banger with a Rover 3.5 V8 in 1997.
The MGB V8 conversion was still in its infancy but there was already a small write up from some enthusiast BV8 people on the internet.
I met Curtis Jacobson on one of my frequent trips south and admired his nice BGTV8.
This gave me extra incentive to finish mine too.
In 1998 the rebuild was ready after I found a 1980 SD1 wreck in a junckyard in Kitchener, Canada .
Further upgrades included Wilwood brakes in the front and vented rotors from a Porsche 944. A 5 speed Rover gearbox was found in Florida.
Over the years I travelled many times to the UK and brought regularly suspension parts with me.
I bought a John Hoyle front suspension and plan to install this unit at the end of this year.
The "B" is undergoing a ground up restoration because of many rusty area's, well known to many mgb owners.
The original V8 engine had Federal fuel injection but was incomplete with the wiring and ecu so I decided to run a 4 barrel Carter/Weber for the time being.
I am now in the process on going back to fuel injection with the Megasquirt kit. I might ask for some help with that from people that have done this installation before on a Rover engine.
Further plans involves a possible IRS project. Not sure yet which way to go.The John Hoyle design is super clean but costly.
Reading through the forum I noticed that several people with Rover engines have trouble with tapping noise. After 50 K on my engine it developed the same problem so time to sort it out.
Hope we all can come to a solution for this annoying noisy problem.
I'll keep the forum updated on my restoration project.