MG Sports Cars

engine swaps and other performance upgrades, plus "factory" and Costello V8s

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mgb260
Jim Nichols
Sequim,WA
(2465 posts)

Registered:
02/29/2008 08:29PM

Main British Car:
1973 MGB roadster 260 Ford V8

Simplified MGB gear ratio chart
Posted by: mgb260
Date: September 06, 2010 11:23PM

Some of the popular gear combos for MGB... "Column X" shows the product of first-gear ratio times rear-end ratio, and I included it to show how close they are. Ratios are approximate. I know this has been hashed out many times, it but might help a newbie.


Variants of Borg-Warner's T5 5-speedFirst gear Rear end Column XOD ratio Overall ratio in OD (fifth)
1 Camaro V8 T52.95 3.9 (stock) 11.51 0.63 2.46
2 Ford Mustang V6/V8 T5 3.35 3.31 (MGC) 11.09 0.68 2.25
3 Chevy V6 T5 or Colorado MA5 3.75 3.07 (V8) 11.51 0.70 2.15



(Note: I took the liberty of reorganizing Jim's info into a table with cells outlined. This forum trick is explained here: [forum.britishv8.org] -Moderator)



Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/2010 10:39PM by Moderator.


Moderator
Curtis Jacobson
Portland Oregon
(4577 posts)

Registered:
10/12/2007 02:16AM

Main British Car:
71 MGBGT, Buick 215

authors avatar
Re: Simplified MGB gear ratio chart
Posted by: Moderator
Date: September 07, 2010 10:55PM

This is very good information. However, now that I've reorganized the format of Jim's information slightly and can comprehend it better, I'd like to add that I used the combination in row 1 for a couple years and found it unbearable. So, I kept my T5 tranny and replaced my rear axle to go from 3.909:1 (stock MGB rear axle ratio) to 3.27:1 (in a Ford 8.8 axle.) I find this combination suits the torque curve of my Buick 215 better, and of course it provides a substantially lower engine rpm at highway speeds which is quieter and saves fuel. The change to a narrowed American axle had a another benefit: a cost-effective limited slip differential.


mgb260
Jim Nichols
Sequim,WA
(2465 posts)

Registered:
02/29/2008 08:29PM

Main British Car:
1973 MGB roadster 260 Ford V8

Re: Simplified MGB gear ratio chart
Posted by: mgb260
Date: September 08, 2010 11:05AM

Thanks Curtis, I had trouble formatting because it kept changing different than what I was seeing.
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