MG Sports Cars

Hello everyone,

My name is Lee Stevens, in Westchester, NY (yes, been Sandyd, no power for a week, in a CT motel!) and I'm in the midst of a Rover V8 install into a 74 GT.
I've been lurking & reading for months - great site, great cars, great inspiration - and the time has come to consult the collective wisdom of the group.

Thus far I've built my 4.0, thanks largley to Mark at D&D and got an engineless BGT shell with motor mounts, etc changed thanks to Tom Hoagland. Adding these two ingredients together, along with T5 and bell housing from Mark, have led me to getting the engine in after 1. Shimming the motor to get the front of the pan clear of the steering rack and for the (later, smaller) steering U-joint to clear the headers/bolt and 2. Cutting the top of the tranny tunnel (I tried the bash approach but bottled out). I've also managed to bolt up my trans crossmember so I think that's good.

My questions are (photo's attached)

1. Engine is very high (I think I have RB mounts in a CB car) - looks like I need around 3 inches above the channels 25 inches forward of the hood base. This is with edlebrock and low rise cleaner on Buick/olds intake. I'd love to go rv8 hood and have emailed with Dave at Preform but it looks very tight. Does anyone have any experience or suggestions for this case, either hood or scoop?

2. I'm also about an inch off center with the engine to clear steering. As far as I can tell this has been done before but should I be concerned?

3. I have harness and brake lines to sort out but my bay now seems full of headers! And the headers are also close to the caliper brake pipe junctions. Can I use traditional route for brake lines and any great pictures available of wiring?

4. Tranny shifter collector is a little offset to passenger side when I look into tunnel. Assuming this is OK given it bolted into cross member fine.

Thanks, all. Please forgive the barrage any / all typing issues.

Lee.

Welcome Lee, glad you are OK. Hang in there and others can help with BOPR info. Blue Oval Here! SAFETY FASTER!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2012 07:10AM by kstevusa.

Hi Lee, and welcome to the forum. I'm sure you'll find answers here.

May I suggest that you move you engine as far back as possible so that the space between the harmonic balancer and the oil pan sits directly over the steering rack. This will lower the front of the engine quite a lot. It will also locate the rear of the engine in a lower position.


In my car, a 1967, I used a Ford tail shaft assembly to bring the shifter location into the original position. When you get the engine situated just right, you should be able to clear the hood easily. I have 1/2" clearance under the hood even with a 1/2" heat spacer under the AFB carb.

There's a world of info on this site, especially in the "How it was done" sections. And don't be afraid to ask anything, good luck with the Sandy clean-up..

Chris J in Denver.

Thanks for the responses, guys.

Everyone is safe and we just got power back so we did better than many.

Kelly, BOPR or not that's a great looking scoop - care to share any details?

Chris - I'm trying to weigh addressing bulkheads/mounts/steering again and getting where you are vs living with what I've got if It's all in good position and all I need is some hood relief. Did you keep the heater with that set up?

Thanks, Lee.

That is MGC/F/G modified hood. It was one of 3 prototypes initIally made in Fla. way back when. Morespeedpeerformance bought the molds and made parts for a while and then suspended production. Tim is on this board and another company also does F/G hood now. I believe it is Proform ???. ck. out the ads. SAFETY FASTER!

Great to hear you're in a better place now, Lee

No need to lose the heater box, but thke firewall will need to be cut back. Take a lok at my how it was done article: Chris Jones' 1967 MGB with Buick 215. There are an couple of photos with these mods shown. Good luck...cj

Roger Parker had lots of great info on the mods needed for the different years. Way back when this is all we had to go on.

[www.mgcars.org.uk]

Welcome Lee. I'm running a Rover 3.5 with LT77 5-speed in my car. With the Edelbrock 500 carb, Performer intake and K&N air filter, I wanted some cool air flowing across the filter so added a scoop. [www.britishv8.org]

This scoop also provides clearance for the air filter assembly. My setup will not fit under a stock hood.

For your brake lines; my suggestion is to buy a roll of copper/nickel tubing and build your own. You'll be able to route them around components as required.

You'll have to decide if you're using a stock wiring harness modified as required for your components or go with an after-market harness. Routing will vary but in my car, I used a new stock harness.

Simon, thanks for the response.

Your engine position looks very similar to mine - although you are lower overall for sure - and has given me ideas. I love the precision work on your scoop but then I read it was a plasma cutter not a saw all so may be difficult to match!

Any hints on getting that transmission tunnel extension so perfect?

I have a new stock harness with relays for lights and fan - I'm struggling because the old one was already out so it's all a bit trial and error.

Thanks again - looking forward to getting where you are.

Lee.