Project Journals

This car is to become a daily driver, replacing the 74 roadster that I currently drive....

Owner: Trey Decell
City: Clinton, MS
Car Model: MGB GT


Engine: 1989 Rover 3.9L V8 with 14CUX Fuel Injection, timing cover from a Buick V6 with "metric" oil pump

Cooling: Champion aluminum 3 core radiator (1965 Mustang), Buick 300 water pump

Exhaust: TS Imports RV8 style mild steel headers

Transmission: 1985 Camaro T5

Rear Axle: 1991 Ford Ranger 7.5" axle, shortened to 52" axle flange to axle flange, 1989 Bronco II carrier with traction lock

Front Susp.: Stock with polyurethane bushings

Rear Susp.: Stock leaf springs with polyurethane bushings/pads and telescoping shocks

Brakes: Front: Stock
Rear: 1994 Mustang 10.5" disc

Wheels/Tires: Undecided at this time

Body Mods: None, I want to leave the body as stock as possible because of the rarity of the rubber bumper GT.

Interior: Mazda Miata seats

Electrical: EZ Wiring 21 circuit wiring harness

This project is being accomplished on a tight budget, most everything is being done by myself, so far with the exception of the machining of the upper/lower plenum to clear the hood.
Here's a few pics of the car as I found it, in a shed in the back yard of a guys lake house.









This project was started about two years ago when I found this car for sale. I had purchased the engine with the intention of putting it in the 74 roadster that I was driving. When I found the GT, I decided to make it the swap candidate due to the fact that the firewall was already set up to take the V8 without modification. Once I got the car washed up and home, I started to take it completely apart to begin the stripping of the body in preparation for paint. As the stripping and priming of the body continues, I've gathered most of the parts and pieces needed here and there as they become available.

Here are some pics after stripping most of the interior to see what shape the metal is in. As you can see, the only bad spot I've found at this point is the pass side floorboard. Several holes and rusty areas that were soon to be holes.






Removing the pass side floorboard was a job that I really would like to never have to do again. Drilling out the spot welds was a lot of hard work, made easier by finally purchasing a spot weld cutter for my drill. Easier, not easy.... After getting the floorboard out I started stripping the paint off the body, I tried several different means for that also. First with a palm sander, then a chemical stripper, then finally with a heat gun and stiff scraper. The heat and scraper was the easiest and neatest method IMO. As each panel was stripped, I sprayed it with self etching primer to keep the rust at bay.






After getting the engine, trans, rear axle, front and rear suspension removed, I made a rotisserie of sorts so that I could get to the bottom easier so that it could be cleaned up / stripped.



I've since decided that sandblasting would be the quickest and easiest method to cleaning off the undercarriage and after getting prices to have it done, I got a portable sandblaster to be able to do it myself. With the weather being what it has been of late, I've fallen behind in my schedule to get the job done.
I got most if not all the underside cleaned off in one day by renting a large trailerable compressor, so no more waiting on the air pressure to build back up. Just fill the blaster and go till time to re-fill again. It went much quicker and I was able to get all the undercoating and gunk off and a fresh coat of primer on.






Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2013 07:32PM by tdecell.

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