MG Sports Cars

Im working on a 62 mga coupe that im converting to a cobra- like hot rod. I have a 4.1 litre Buick v6 with a turbo 350 automatic tranny and a Chevy s-10 rear end. Can I use the stock rear springs with the added h.p.? Do I need to add a leaf or do I need something different all together?
Dave

I've got a MGA on the hoist right now. Looking at the springs they would probably handle your new drivetrain fine. Just get them rebuilt as they are 46 years old, and let your spring guy know what you are doing. He will probably bias a couple leaves forward to combat the wrapup.
Having said that. What are your goals for the car? There is a lot of room back there to put in almost anything. BMW or RX7 irs spring to mind right away.
Any one else?

Cheers
Fred

It will be a cruising car, not for racing of any kind. I'm sticking with the GM driveline for ease of replacement parts. The car will likely annoy MG purists, but im confident it will be an eye catcher when im done. Side pipes and a blower scoop sticking up through the hood. Inside, a set of Mazda Miata seats with a custom wood dash, Right now im moking in the engine so as to know where to cut openings in the front fenders for the headers to exit behind the wheel openings. I'll beef up the front springs, and i think ill add either coilover shocks or exterior mount gas shocks. Any suggestions would be greatly apprecisted.
Dave in Canada

BRAKES. Your going to want some!
This particular MGA uses stock brakes with a built 2.1L B motor made to look like the stock 1500. It has used the guy in front to slow down more than once.
Cheers
Fred

David, the front will be fine with either the original MGA discs or conversion to MGB discs. That's an easy swap, details are available on Barney Gaylord's site. [mgaguru.com] If you do go with the MGB kingpins then you open the door to all the front disc conversions designed for the MGB such as the ones from Classic Conversion Eng.
For front shocks I'd advise contacting Peter Caldwell at World Wide Auto Parts. He can rebuilt your shocks or get you a set of MGB shocks with the arms reversed to use with the MGB kingpin conversion. [www.nosimport.com] His shocks are literally better than new and can be ordered with stiffer valves or fully adjustable conversions as well. Spring selection is open, there are a variety of MGA and MGB springs that will fit in various rates depending on what the final front end weight is. This chart of MGB springs is a start.

The rear springs will be fine as already mentioned. You may want to add some type of traction bar to prevent wheel hop but that is easy to do later if you need. For rear shocks you can either go to Peter or make up some type of tube shock conversion, personally I plan on sticking with the stock shocks and getting them rebuilt.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2010 08:09AM by Bill Young.

David,

I can only tell you what worked for me. Mine is a '61 MGA roadster, Ford rear end,

We installed gas shocks and fitted springs (from CarQuest), leaving the leaf springs. I have added weight on the rear end when pulling a trailer so the extra springs are right for my car.

I'd suggest coil overs for the front. I tried adding gas shocks but ended up installing a Mustang II front end. The builder said coil overs would have worked just fine. My 4.3L Chevy engine is WIDE and figuring out the steering rack/steering shaft was no easy thing. We ended up running the shaft through modified headers to avoid multiple knuckles.

If you modify the transmission tunnel will you have room for Miata seats? When my transmission tunnell was modified for a T-5) it didn't appear that Miata seats would fit. Let me know if your configuration works.

Jeb Blanchard

Jeb,
How did u fab the wheel arches on ur 61? Did u buy them and weld them or did u have to make them from scratch? Im gonna sit the seats up a little higher. Having the coupe, I have more head room than the winshield of a roadster. I like the way ur v6 looks, hopefully my buick v6 will be similar. Right now im thinking of the traditional cobra blue with silver racing stripes, but that may change after the bodywork is completed. Any more pics of ur car other than the ones on the photos pages. Id be interested in looking at some from ur build before final painting.
Dave

I'm not all that familiar with the MGA. The one that we work on has drums all around. When did they get discs? The owner wants to remain stock appearing but his brakes are ridiculous.
Fred

Fred, the most common conversion on the front is to later MGA 1600 front spindles and disc brakes. It's a total bolt on if you can find the parts. The other common conversion although not "concours" is converting to the MGB kingpins and brakes. Both conversions are covered indetail on Barney Gaylord's web site. If your customer wants to remain as stock as possible I'd say the MGA 1600 discs are the way to go, but you'll need new wheels as the 1500 steel wheels won't clear the disc calipers, you'll need later steel wheels from a 1600. Wire wheels won't be a problem, will clear either type brake.

Thanks Bill.
We're going to try the "A" conversion.
Cheers
Fred