MG Sports Cars

The fiberglass RV8 hood from BMC is by far my favorite and the price is pretty good, but is the bulge far enough forward for the distributor?

"P".

Paul, here's two photos that hopefully will give you an idea of what the hood is capable of covering. I did have to cut the center brace which I will reinstall with a curve in it to follow the bulge. You can lower your engine to the same height as Ted's front end, give him a call, maybe he'll make you a pair of mounts that you could weld on the frame; it's worth a shot.

Thanks Jacques, your pictures helped a lot. What radiator did you use? As I mentioned on a different post, I was thinking of re-bracketing my steering rack to lower the front of the engine a little for a number of reasons but I'm unsure what effect it will have on handeling. I really like the hood and wouldn't mind using it even if I didn't have clearance issues.

"P"

I bought the radiator from Dave Michel; he purchased it from some street rod shop but could not use it. The shroud is custom made by Mahaffey Motorsports ( [www.mahaffeymotorsports.com] ) He advertises on Racing Junk. com; The shroud has an internal electric fan is extremely efficient. When I picked it up, he held a credit card in any four front corners and it would not fall off.

As far as relocating your steering rack it can be done however you'll have to recheck the steering geometry to avoid bump-steer, there's a couple of decent steering/suspension book out there to guide you through, check with Borders book store. Although, I do think that there's other ways to sink down your engine. What oil pan are you using? That plays a key role in locating your engine. Don't worry about sectioning the cross-member, my brother who lives in Canada owns a collision and frame shop and he thinks that the MG's cross-member is made very strong and a touch overbuilt but it doesn't mean that you can cut it in half. The advice and photo given to you by Graham is great. Avoid sharp cuts, arch your cuts.

I have a couple of Mustang 5.0 Liter oil pans, I'd be glad to give you one although I don't have the pick up tubes anymore.

The motor is a 78 Mustang 5.0 with double sump but the front sump is not too deep and will work OK I think. Thanks for the pan offer Jacques, I'll keep it in mind if I have any more problems. I cut the crossmember per the pictures and my balancer is almost touching the steering rack but if need be I can shim the front mounts to increase the clearance. My Harley friends tend to get in the way of progress a lot but tommorow is forcast to be cold and raining here so I'm spending the day at the shop fabing up the transmission mount and crossmember; might even stay after and start rebuilding the firewall.

I like the rv8 hood. Looks like it is bonded to the original steel frame and I assume you will use the original latch system? I have the other hood with all fiberglass top and frame, what is a good way other than pins to latch the hood?

I was concerned about that too because I want to stay away from hood pins if possible; in fact I would rather modify my hood.

"P"

I've seen the RV8 bonnet available from BMC (and now Mantell Motorsport as well).

It is a well designed, well finished, well reinforced piece of art.

Yes, I believe that the "power bulge" extends far enough forward to allow clearance for of the distributor, etc.

You can also use factory latch mechanisms.

Additionally, my bonnet strut kits will work with this product.

Contact Brian or Pete for availablility and pricing.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2010 10:35AM by mowog1.

Thanks Rick! I certainly intend to use the hood struts. About 20 years ago I took the rear hatch struts from a Volvo station wagon I found in a junk yard and put them on my GT hatch. I don't remember what year it was but it was one of the best things I've ever done for the little "B" right after doing shock mods on all four corners.

"P"

Since I was going more for the 60's hot rod look, I went with the GT350 unit from Speedway. I know that some will think it a bit much, but since my hood was far from perfect... and the scoop was relatively cheap...

Ken,
Which scoop did you get from speedway? I see they have two sizes in that style. Is yours the "mini"? Car looks great!!
Thanks
Jimmy Geske

Has anyone ever opened up the back of the RV8 bulg to make it cowl induction?

I don't have the RV8 Hood since BMC is already selling the complete hoods. But, I do have the RV8 bulge mold.

I have been working diligently on my car and I am almost ready to put the 5.0 Ford in her. Since I was doing a fairly aggressive looking car with the look of a 60s Muscle car and I didnt want it to get too Cobraesque; I went with this.

The hood is a stock glass hood from Dave Craddock. Then I got a Triumph GT6 "stinger from Moorspeed and grafted it on from the bottom by cutting a humongous hole in my gorgeous new hood. The Stinger opens in the back to evacuate hot air. On top of that, i added a 427 Vette scoop to give it that 60s agressive look. The air cleaner will be sealed to the hood to allow the 427 scoop to feed the motor cold air. At least that's the plan so far. The 427 scoop is just held on with 4 screws right now. Once i get the motor in and the "ram air" done, I will rivet, and adhesive it on.





After getting the stinger on and nearly complete I thought about just leaving the 427 scoop off, but the neighbor ladies kept calling the car cute, so now I'm not sure which way I will go. here's a pic without the 427 scoop.



Huffaker flares are in the garage but I will probably get the V8 swap done B4 tackling that project.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/12/2014 05:31PM by Brownwood.

Keith in my humble opinion you should just go with the stinger as the whole thing looks a lot cleaner and it will not stick out so much. The best custom cars and hotrods have subtle changes. This is the philosophy of Chip Foose and we all know how his cars have gotten the awards.

Cheers
Byron

Keith, I think it looks better without the Vette scoop also. You could blend in the edge a little more to make it even more subtle.

Yep, Like I said, I go back and forth. At this point its only 4 1/8 inch holes to fill if I go without the scoop.

Although subtle was never a part of my plan.... :)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/13/2014 10:33AM by Brownwood.

Keith - tell me about those wheels.

In the end I went with the RV8 hood; just installed it and Rick's hood struts last week, I think its the most subtle way around the carb/distributor clearance issue. Keith, cars looking great; I think I like it best without the vette scoop too. Just remember when you start doing the motor that putting the fire wall back in is a pain in the rear, don't cut out any more than you have to.


Paul

Yep, I did some trial bellhousing fitting today. I'm hoping that since I have the later model B that I wont have to cut anything. After fitting the bellhousing, banging some metal at the firewall and grinding some of the bellhousing stiffening ribs down just abit, I have 28 inches from the bellhousing to my fast cars radiator. Looks like it might work with no cutting .