MG Sports Cars

Hi, I'm doing an '80 MGB with a Rover SD1 engine. I'm using Glen Towery's engine mount brackets (the D&D brackets put the Rover tranny too far back), an Offenhauser 360 manifold, and an Edelbrock 500 CFM. I got Clive Wheatley's thin left engine mount, which is 1/4" thinner than stock MGB, to get the engine a touch lower.

I went with the 360 manifold instead of the JWR because the the JWR was hard to get, and especially because Mark LaGrue at D&D was very critical of its performance.

With this setup, the air cleaner does not clear the hood. There's only 1/2" clearance between the hood and the top of the carb. To make this work, I need about another 1/4"-1/2" above the carb, and about 3/4" at the front of the air cleaner. Has anyone used an Offy 360 inlet with a stock MGB hood?

Here are my thoughts:
1. Find lower engine mount brackets. This approach may be limited because I have the engine mounted pretty far forward to line up the LT77 shifter. The main disc of the balancer is only 1/4" from the sway bar, and if the engine is lowered more than 3/8" or so, the vestigial pulley tabs on the balancer will hit the sway bar. Those could be machined off, but...
2. Have the carb mount on the intake machined down, and maybe have the adapter plate angled.
3. Bite the bullet and buy the JWR Offenhauser intake. Any comments on its performance?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Billy Andrews



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/19/2008 09:46AM by relative4.

Billy, have you thought about a remote air cleaner with some sort of air intake formed to clear the hood? John Mangles made one for his MGA to gain clearance and Craig Roush did as well. John's is in metal and Craigs is in fiberglass but both do the job just fine.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/19/2008 01:37PM by Bill Young.

How far along are you? Is it too late to choose a smaller, lighter transmission and move the engine rearward? There are lots of good transmission options. Earlier today I digitized and uploaded this classic MG V-8 article:
In Defense of the Borg Warner T-50 Transmission

I have been using the JWR offy dual plane manifold for 10 years.
It is really low and solves the hood clearance problem.
I wouldn't hesitate in using this manifold to solve many of your issues......
unless you're building a race car??

.....I have bought a couple on ebay for reasonable prices too.

Do you have the EFI that came with the SD1 motor? It can be made to fit and works well. This is the hot-wire system from an '89 SD1.

I'm with Curtis, the best way to get more hood clearance is to move the engine back. Use Glen's A/C engine mounts & a T-5, a stock Buick intake manifold, & a drop base air cleaner. Sometimes the hood brace must be slightly modified, as well.

I have a suggestion that may require some rework. You might consider taking an inch out of the remote shifter housing of the LT77 gearbox. I cut an inch out of the housing on a band saw and TIG welded it back together again. Then cut an inch off the shifter rod and index then a hole for the set screw. This allows you to move the engine/gearbox rearward an inch to the "stock" location and it will center the shifter in the tunnel. Moving the engine back an inch may give you the clearance you need under the hood. I did this for my Rover engine LT77 gearbox set-up primarily get the shifter in the right loaction and also to avoid relocating the front sway bar. I've got a couple of photos I could send along. They are large file so I can't post without resizing them.

Steve Mc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have a suggestion that may require some rework.
> You might consider taking an inch out of the
> remote shifter housing of the LT77 gearbox. I cut
> an inch out of the housing on a band saw and TIG
> welded it back together again. Then cut an inch
> off the shifter rod and index then a hole for the
> set screw. This allows you to move the
> engine/gearbox rearward an inch to the "stock"
> location and it will center the shifter in the
> tunnel. Moving the engine back an inch may give
> you the clearance you need under the hood. I did
> this for my Rover engine LT77 gearbox set-up
> primarily get the shifter in the right loaction
> and also to avoid relocating the front sway bar.
> I've got a couple of photos I could send along.
> They are large file so I can't post without
> resizing them.


Glen's been doing that for years.