The Winter Project

"Bandit - destroyed his car" (notbandit)
12/20/2016 at 14:31 • Filed to: MGB

Engine swapping a rubber bumper MG engine into a chrome bumper car. It’s so much smaller of an engine than my Trans Am lol.

DISCUSSION (21)

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Bandit - destroyed his car
12/20/2016 at 14:33

Why stick with a BMC engine?

Needmoargarage > Bandit - destroyed his car
12/20/2016 at 14:35

Interesting. Didn’t they lose power over the years? Had a ‘71 but never paid much attention to later models.

Svend > Bandit - destroyed his car
12/20/2016 at 14:41

Why not convert the rubber bumper into a chrome bumper MG.

http://mgbhive.co.uk/product-category/mgb-rubber-to-chrome-bumper-conversion/

I do love a red MGB with wire wheels and chrome bumpers.

Nothing > Bandit - destroyed his car
12/20/2016 at 14:42

I remember the first time I pulled the MGB engine. Fun times, helping my buddy on his project.

I remember the second time I pulled the MGB engine. Damn rear main seal and other miscellaneous screw ups from install #1. I stupidly bought it after helping with install #2.

I remember the third time I pulled the MGB engine. I blew the damn thing up. Running too lean and detonated. Piston #1 was fused to the cylinder wall with a rod hole through the top of the piston.

I don’t have a 4th time, I sold it after that. Three strikes, yer out. Chrome bumper much better looking than rubber bumper....mine was a rubber ‘79.

StoneCold > Bandit - destroyed his car
12/20/2016 at 14:43

You have so much *space*!!

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Needmoargarage
12/20/2016 at 14:44

Dramatically so. In ‘72 they lowered the compression, but the other emissions changes dropped the power by as much as 25% in some places.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Bandit - destroyed his car
12/20/2016 at 14:55

I have a 1969 Austin Healey Sprite. I can’t wait to get the 1275 in it. Well really i can’t wait to get it put together in general.

Bandit - destroyed his car > Svend
12/20/2016 at 15:04

Because we already had the MG, but the engine was a bit messed up and it was so so much cheaper to get a low miles rubber bumper engine off craigslist.

Bandit - destroyed his car > StoneCold
12/20/2016 at 15:05

Not really, the MG is sitting where the Trans Am usually is parked. But the Trans Am is... preoccupied.

Bandit - destroyed his car > Nothing
12/20/2016 at 15:05

This is my first time haha. I’m learning to hate fine threads.

Bandit - destroyed his car > Needmoargarage
12/20/2016 at 15:07

Tons of power lost but this is a ‘74 engine so it could be worse. Luckily the this one has a weber carb and intake and some other go fast parts on it.

Bandit - destroyed his car > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
12/20/2016 at 15:08

Because it’s a really easy swap. If I wanted to make my life hard I would have put in a Rover V8

Svend > Bandit - destroyed his car
12/20/2016 at 15:11

Good point, well made.

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > Bandit - destroyed his car
12/20/2016 at 16:10

Cool! Looking forward to seeing your progress on this one.

Trevor Slattery, ACTOR > Bandit - destroyed his car
12/20/2016 at 17:11

Kinja'd!!!

I tell ya, SU’s and the cast iron header works just fine. People buy Webers because they don’t know how to deal with SUs. But they are great carbs. We used them on our race projects at the shop with no problem. The Webers will need jet adjustments if you want max performance out of them otherwise you get no improvement out of them over SUs. It is a three port head. There is only so much there there.

Bandit - destroyed his car > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR
12/20/2016 at 17:40

If you have any tuning tips or other general MG tips, let me know! I’m way out of my element with this car. I need to figure out how to do an engine wiring harness to get the thing running next. Not going to lie, I don’t trust myself or my skills to sync the SUs or rebuild them correctly the first time. I’ve only used to typical style carbs so I’m grateful for the webers. I may install the original manifold if the header doesn’t give me the look or ease of installation I want.

Trevor Slattery, ACTOR > Bandit - destroyed his car
12/20/2016 at 18:02

Yeah man, ask away if you have any questions. Are you tearing down the engine before you drop it in the rubber bumper “B”? I would highly suggest at least rod bearings along with a water and an oil pump at the minimum. Heater valves tend to leak as well. As others have said, DO THE REAR MAIN SEAL. Foolish not to do it while the engine is out. Might as well check the clutch bearing and fork while you got it apart. Also Clutch slave cylinder pushrod can wear down, worth taking a gander at as well.

I am working on the electricals on my Spitfire (see profile pic). That is a post for another time. Let me know if you want to dig into it.

Bandit - destroyed his car > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR
12/20/2016 at 18:15

Oh, I’m putting the ‘74 engine in our ‘64 car. The ‘74 engine and transmission was pulled from a perfectly running and driving mint condition car so I’m confident enough to not even crack it open and just install it as is after a coat of paint and a degreasing. Luckily the engine going in has a brand new slave cylinder and clutch setup too. I’m going to take my time doing a full build of the original ‘64 engine and gearbox but it’ll be nice to have a running and driving car in the interm.

Needmoargarage > Bandit - destroyed his car
12/20/2016 at 18:31

Compared to other wiring harnesses, the engine wiring harness for this car was a breeze. Are you trying to keep it somewhat original-ish (ignoring the engine swap) and use reproduction parts, or are you wanting to make your own?

Bandit - destroyed his car > Needmoargarage
12/20/2016 at 19:22

Eventually I want to do a full rewire. I don’t really trust the original method of only having two fuses for the entire car and the previous owner was an idiot teenager who butchered the original harness. The goal is to have the car look as original as possible with only a few small things updated like a 12V negative ground conversion and a modern stereo installed in a hidden location.

Needmoargarage > Bandit - destroyed his car
12/20/2016 at 21:10

Gotcha. I dove into it without any previous wiring experience. I happened to have a new Nissan engine in mine so I had to learn how to wire it up. Sure you’ll figure it out...it’s much easier than trying to wire today’s cars!