MG Sports Cars

Scott..I did not take your comment as a negative one. Hence the smiley. Just think of how many heart attacks that the BBB will induce.

:)

When this car is done, I doubt seriously if one will be able to see the difference in the wings, as one's attention will be focused elsewhere.

Quote:

I think both sides should match but that's just me.

I don't think anyone would disagree with that, Scott. Symmetry is good! :)

I think maybe Pete or Rick might have mentioned that, can't remember for sure. But since the left fender is spliced and the lip under the hood is a little wavy we might want to do something about it before we paint it.

Until then, I could care less. I'm just tickled to death to have something we can just drop a motor in, fire up and drive around. We can paint sponsor's names on it with a Sharpie, stick on decals, or paint peace signs and flowers on it for all I care. I think Steve is right, we just need to make it run. After that we can worry about polishing it. (Of course if anyone wants to stop by and do a little polishing in the meantime, by all means go right ahead!) And if anyone wants their artwork on it you might be thinking about how you want to do that. I think peel-n-stick is a good option for now. Or freehand. We should try to get the layout finalized before we paint.

I've been sorting out the plan on the heads. We have enough to buy the bare heads and studs with a little left over. I'm still getting a feel for what the iron heads are worth, presently the high water mark is $800 for a set of Stage 1 heads which these are not, (smaller valves, single springs, same casting) so $600-700 might be in the ballpark, I can't say yet. If so, that would pay for the springs, valves and such. It's a bit of a gamble either way, I heard the standard valves for the heads we are getting are Stage 1, so if I order them that way we're stuck with selling the heads complete, like it or not. I think maybe I should wait until after the first of the year to sell them. Maybe we can get a few bucks out of the 430 parts too.

Jim

Today I ordered a bank card for the B.A.D.A.S..S. account, since I reasoned it would get here almost as quick as a check would get to the west coast and thereafter make online purchases forever easier. Once it gets here I'll order the heads and studs.

Meanwhile, Dale filled me in on the head work, which with parts is a $600+ value. Add in the bare heads and $800 would not be out of line. We are fortunate that these are the most desirable castings with the highest quality of parts and workmanship, but unfortunate in that we did not consider installing stage 1 when we bought valves and seats. Had we done that, this price might be easy to get, and for little or no more expense. So I'm guessing that we might have to come down off that price some but that's what we'll shoot for. Perhaps we'll have enough left over after buying more new valves and such to get the valve covers.

I sent an email to Tire Rack asking for maximum backspacing on a 7 or 8" wide rim. I'll let you guys know what they say.

Jim

Jim, and everyone else, thanks for the hard work. It's really coming along. The new shell really looks great even with the mismatched fenders ;-)
Jim have you had a chance to contact the guy with the intake manifolds or do we even want to consider either one of those? If he's as nice a guy as his son is he may wind up being a great supporter for the project and a BBB fan to boot.
I'll be putting in my vacation request right after the first of the year, have we considered any project time either before or after the British V8 meet? If so I can probably swing a couple of days extra as I'll already be over your way.

I also want to thank everyone for all the hard work. It isn't easy to plan and coordinate a trip to a remote location, spend a day or two wrenching and such, and then return home to try and catch up on your own projects, and I appreciate everyone's efforts. It really is starting to pay off.

Bill, I just got off the phone with Trevor Jessie's dad. His name is Ron Jessie, he lives about 20 miles south of Louisville, and he makes periodic trips to the John Deere dealership which is about 2 miles from my house. We'll probably email some photos back and forth, he has shots of a 350 Midget you'd probably like to see. He also said he really likes the Poston intake (which is the one we have) and that was reassuring, plus he has a friend who has a building with about 40 LBC's stuffed inside. (in various stages of disrepair but interesting nonetheless) I invited him over to look at the car.

As for the next build date, I'd recommend you schedule one. We quit doing regularly scheduled monthly weekends earlier this year, but I can accommodate most reasonable requests. While it'd be nice to have a good crowd, obviously we can get a lot done with just a couple of us, and to be honest, it really helps me to get motivated too. So just about anytime you'd like will probably work. I have a spare room at your disposal, to save motel costs. More good news, we just ordered the flooring for downstairs. The plan is to try and finish the basement by summer, and that will give us a downstairs suite with a private entrance and a pool table. It doesn't get much better than that.

Jim

Bill Young Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> have we considered any
> project time either before or after the British V8
> meet? If so I can probably swing a couple of days
> extra as I'll already be over your way.

I might be able to swing that too.

Since it was mentioned, here are some photos of that midget that were taken in 2004.

And a few more...

Once my father saw this Midget I had to remove my Midget from his garage because I found him measuring the engine bay and trying to figure out how easily a 289 could fit. ;)

I think your GT might be a little more practical for the street.

Anybody know how to contact the owner of that Midget?

No? Think maybe you might see the car again someday?
Why not download and print-out this little template, and put it in your glovebox?
[www.britishv8.org]

I do not know him, but I know where his shop used to be. I have not seen him nor the car for a couple of years.

What about that barn full of MG's? Does that really exist?

Maybe. Kind of. It was three barns about 6 years ago when I bought my Midget project from him. And they were not all MG's. There were a few triumphs and fiats thrown into the mix. And some nissans and a fiero and a some other assorted things. But mostly MGBs and Midgets. Since then, he has sold off some stuff and it may be down to one barn now. If you are ever around Litchfield it is worth trying to get in touch with him to see if you can find something of value that he'll let go.

Wow, why didn't I find this site before starting on my conversion? Didn't know anyone else was even interested in sticking V8's in MGB's! We must share the same mutated gene or something. It's been interesting reading the posts and seeing some of the same problems I've ran into. I've sent info to Curtis but I realize he is busy as heck.

[www.cardomain.com]

I'll have to checkout BADASS.

Best Regards,
Bill

Nice looking B, Iceman!

Welcome to the V8 forum.

You may also want to check out [www.mgexperience.net]

As with this website, there is a lot of good information there, too!

You should also think about attending the V8 meet this summer in Raleigh/Durham, NC in June!

Bill and Rob (others as well), when would you like to schedule some work time? I'm thinking maybe Feb or March might be the earliest time practical. We have the holidays to get past and then there's Ted's party on the 17th. But anytime after that should be doable. Let me know what you have in mind, I can probably accommodate you. May even have the floor down in the downstairs bedroom by then. I imagine we could put you up both at the same time, depending on your needs of course.

Jim

Jim, unfortunately my budget at this time won't allow for two trips over your way, so I'd have to combine it with the trip over for the V8 meet. Things are a little tighter this year than last, the cost of my mother's care has risen about $1300 a month, so there's a little less to go around these days.

That's no problem Bill, maybe we can see what we can get done either before or after the meet. Plus that way you'll have a place to spend a night on the road. We have several guys wanting to come by to work on the car, about 5 or 6 I think at last count. Any way you guys want to do it is fine with me, one at a time or all together, it's all good. Just let me know what you want to do and when you want to do it and we'll work out the details.

Jim

Yesterday was the winter Solstice so since we're now headed for Spring it's good to get out and get moving. The temperature has come up noticeable from what it was only a few hours ago, and it's certainly encouraging to know that mid-winter has come and gone. I have good news! Friday I placed the order for the aluminum heads, the studs, and the wear-plate for the oil pump. In talking to Sherry at TA Performance I mentioned to her that if Mike could give us a bit of a break on the pricing that we'd order a set of valve covers if we were able to, but considering that he's had to lay people off I'm not holding my breath on that one. Nonetheless, in a couple weeks they'll be shipping the heads to us and we'll be able to put the engine in the new GT for the first time and see how it fits. That will be an exciting time because it'll show us just where we are with the steering.

I put the aluminum ford 8.8" IRS axle housing that Pete donated on ebay but it didn't sell. I'll try re-listing it for less, and as it warms up this week I'll get a few other items listed. Also parts are in for the other Jag IRS so work will resume on that and help complete the one for this car. Since the tail end of winter tends to be the coldest I probably need to break out the insulated coveralls, but I'm pretty excited about getting things moving again. Spring is going to be here before we know it, better get ready!

Jim