MGB: Back-Up

Got a running engine and trans for back-up. Complete engine with all the stuff, carbs, manifolds, alt., starter, water pump, dizzy, clutch everything. Also 4 speed tranny with the Overdrive. All was running and in excellent condition. Probably going to rebuild the engine in a couple of years with some higher performance mods, it's never been opened. Couldn't pass them up. The real prize that I got was a new alm hood still in the box never used that he had bought back in the 80's. Plus another used hood also alm. that is in fair to good shape that I plan to use until I paint the exterior.

Wow! what a deal. I would like to find that here on the East Coast.

Good Show
It is always nice to find a good deal and get spares you can use one day. Or to put on the shelf and fondle when needed.

Ron

Even better, it is cheap insurance. I always find that if I have a spare on the shelf, I will never need it. Good find with the O/D and all.

Good Deal!

What about the rest of the car?

The car is going to be getting a different power plant.

[quote=Swamperca]
The car is going to be getting a different power plant.[/quote]

That's too bad. With so many MGBs available, i really hate to see an MGC receive a V6/V8 (etc) conversion :(

I knew you would think that Rick, however the owner drove it since 79 stock and really likes the suspension with the torsion bars and wanted to do this to see how it would be with a 300lbs. wt. savings. I think it is something that would be interesting to see how it comes out. By the way this guy has the nicest 74 BGT I have ever seen, it has won the Moss motors best of show award and that has been the only show he has put it in. It was a 10 year old redo which looked as if he finished it last week. Every nut and bolt was perfect and the paint was flawless. I've gotten many complements on our cars but his B was in a class way above mine. His wife drives it daily and it is her only car.

How is he going to save 300 pounds?????

The MGC engine/transmission combo weighs about #750.

Which V8/V6 (or other) engine and which transmission is he going to use?

Inquiring minds.....

I am with Rick, seems a shame to tart up a MGC when there are thousands of B's. Not my car so guess it is none of my business.

Ron

He is putting in an aluminum V6 Buick with a ford 5 speed. He is an aerospace machinist and his work is excellent. Also redoing his brake system and cooling system for weight savings. He is into the numbers and has weighed out all the stuff he is using.

Swamper,

I'm with Rick and Ron on this one, as you'd expect.

Is this one of Gary's cars?

Mark

Not Gary's

[quote=emadak]
Wow! what a deal. I would like to find that here on the East Coast.[/quote]

Aboute 3 years ago I bought a C engine and it's OD transmission from a guy in Maryland(?) on ebay. The motor was complere sans cabs and dizzy, for it was about $75, and OD transmission was about $375, if memory serves correctly.

Leave Detroit after work on Friday night, arrive MD about 11 in the morning. Load up and, as they say, installation was the reverse of removal.

They are out there. Bought a C engine in AZ 5 years ago for about 37 bucks (IIRC), complete rocker box to pan, front pulley to flywheel, intake manifold to exhaust, no dizzy.

Currently sitting on 6 engines, 3 more oe less complete, 3 in various stages of disassembly

Yeah, It's sad to see someone do that to a rare car like the MGC.

Makes you wonder why the guy isn't doing that to an MGB when there are so many good alternate suspension systems available. (Like the Hoyle front and IRS, and the one made in the upper mid-west as well.) Both easier to modify spring rates and shock rates, even use progressive spring rates. And the shell could be had cheaper and replaced cheaper, too.

Some engineers and car modifiers get stuck on thier ideas and can't step back and see a larger picture.

Oh, well, just increases the value of my cars...

C Ya,
Mark

I'm not so sure the point is maintaining MGC's "just as they came from the factory" relative to keeping MG's on the road and being enjoyed by their owners.
When I came across an MGC GT "in storage" for the last ten years and in need of a ground up rebuild, I decided to take it on and make it into what, at least in my opinion, is more like what MG should have done in 1968. This involved a Ford V8 with alloy heads for a 200lb weight saving and much more power.
The alternative was that it would continue to deteriorate and its mechanical parts end up being hoarded by an existing MGC owner "just in case". Exit another MG. The basic issue is that the restored values of MGC's are so much less than the cost and effort of restoration. Hence all the owners of unrestored "parts" cars. There is no sign on the horizon of that situation changing.
With a lighter, more powerful engine, the MGC GT shell is an excellent platform for a higher performance version of an MGB. It is stiffer, has an adjustable front suspension and good geometry. The running gear and diff. will accept more power without complaint. The MGC has a lower cross member, taller hood and room for a larger radiator. The Girling brakes always seemed to me to be more powerful than the Lockheeds on the MGB. Fifteen inch wheels make tire choice larger. I expect Leyland would have used the MGC GT as the basis for the MGBTV8 had they not discarded the tooling prior to the decision to develop their own V8.
What is the better outcome - an MGC still on the road or just more spare parts in the back of someones garage? Just IMHO Cheers, Bob Elwin

I agree with ALL that you said, Bob, with the exception that this car in question WAS still on the road and complete.

I. too, would like to experience what the unrealized potential of the MGC was, but I would rather do it with an aluminum Brown & Gammons head, tubular headers and as many other light alloy pieces as I can make to build the car the way the factory had the ability and the experience to do but failed to.

C Ya,
Mark

I agree with Mark , it doesn't take that much to wake up the sleeper and still have a ''original 6 C " that really performs. but it's your car and I won't throw any stones at you. If you ever drove a Downton "replica" triple SU C you would be a believer.

Russ

Russ
Beautiful; car and I agree that much can be done with the 6 cyl.
How someone restores or adds to their car is a personal choice and I am glad to see any C back on the road.
I have driven a original Downton stage 3 and it is a fast car. Not a hot rod V8 but will blow the doors off a standard MGBGTV8.
Sorry but I guess I am a "just in case" kind of guy. Somebody has to collect those old unwanted bits so they dont go to the landfill.

Cheers Ron