I know nothing about good choices when doing a conversion.
Can you experts tell anything from the text and photos in this ad?
What about the price?
Thanks.

http://spokane.craigslist.org/cto/2816093515.html

Seems great to me, and the guy claims to have done it for a living.
Go DRIVE it!
I want to build one myself.

Don B

Never hurts to drive it.

Good bad, indifference...

This was a two year build, I did not cut any corners. I built race cars and street rods for a living. Now that I'm retired I just take my time.

So its been done fairly recent. Is it being sold to go onto the next project?

This car is very fast and handles very well. 0-60 in about 4.5 seconds.

Umm. Yeah. Right. I have not Truly timed any of these cars but that has what? Maybe 195s in the rear and most likely a standard rear axle that is a 3.909:1 open diff. The height of the rubber is probably because of the highway rev count of the motor. Anytime I see an MGB that is claimed below 5.5 seconds, I question it. I think anything below 6 seconds is quite amazing in an MGB because of the limited traction you can get. Others will speak for or against my comments here but 4.5 seconds is supercar range.

It is built from the ground up. Everything works.
If its a complete paint strip down top And underside, the price is really good. Excellent. Most of the time when a car is described as everything it is not. I know I am ripping this to shreds but go in to any car with open eyes. It may be the best thing since sliced bread but I don't know.

Lots to list. Chevy V-6,
That appears to be an S10 or other 4.3L 90 degree V6. I see no photos of the mounts, headers or what has been cut up to fit it. CL allows only 4 pictures so its hard to say. There are good conversions and there are throw away conversions.

The radiator is pretty small for that engine as an original early radiator.

Muncie 4 Speed, MSD Ignition.

Muncie 4 speed. Good for anything but cruising along on the highway. Where is 5th gear and like I said, it most likely has nothing more than a 3.909:1 stock rear end meaning 20 mpg at best and high engine RPM. Uncomfortable.

The wood in the interior may have been installed for appearance but usually they would place it elsewhere. I believe this was set in place because the shifter is in a different place than original. If done nice, Great. If your okay with it, fine. My opinion is just that- an opinion but I believe a driveline should be built to fit the vehicle thus the shifter modified to fit the car and appear stock so when an MG guy gets in the seat, he will not know about the replacement engine until he turns the engine over.


Call for the info you need to ease your mind. Asking $13,500.00 This is less than what it cost to build the car.
Open to reasonable offers.
Call Mike: two-0-eight-two-6-three-one-6-eight-3

Hard to tell but the body looks nice in small photos. Price is right. For that money it sounds fair but I can tell you that this car may be worth $5-15K depending on how it was built. Would I suggest looking at it? sure.

If it were mine I am certain I would change out those oversized tyres to make it ride and look proper, change the muncie for a 5 speed T5 and probably find half dozen different improvements that someone else may have considered acceptable or if the car was built to say I did it and sell it, there are plenty of improvements that are just not allowed in cars that are made to turn-over and move onto the next.

If you drive it, let us know how it works out for you.

-BMC.

Can't imagine anyone using a 4 speed Muncie unless this is an old V6 engine - can't tell from the photos. Looks reasonably well done, but maybe flawed in conception. Go after it only if you are prepared to live with the compromises the builder made. And yes - drive it and see what exactly it is.

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Bill Spohn www.rhodo.citymax.com/carstuff.html
1958 MGA Twincam (race car), 1962 MGA Deluxe Coupe
1969 MGC roadster, 1957 Jamaican MGA
1965 Jensen CV8, 1971 Jensen Interceptor
1969 Lamborghini Islero S, 1988 Fiero GT turbo
2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP Coupe
West Vancouver BC

Probably older 3.8(229) Chevy V6. Might even be a Saginaw 4 speed. I'd offer 10 grand if every thing looks good and look for a T5. The exhaust is pretty tight with a 90 degree V6 also. Check that is OK. If not you will have to do your own headers so offer 9 grand. Brian is right about the small radiator also.

Wheels appear to be FWD offsets too... Could suggest suspension changes (which could be good or bad) and/or big spacers to push the wheels back out. Have a look at that too.

The muncie killed the deal for me. Besides the fact that it is an antiquated transmission, the tunnel would have to be hacked around to make room for the external shift rods. Plus an MG with a 3.9 rear end and no overdrive on an engine that is not really meant to rev, gets old.

Agree Peter.

We are so used to being able to get decent 5 speed transmissions that we sometimes forget the early days when there simply weren't any options for OD or 5 speeds and the 4 speeds like the Muncie were the only game in town. If you had a low numerical ratio diff, they weren't too bad, but if you were a drag racer type, and used a short diff in the car, it limited yoru top speed and also made cruising at decent speed (e.g. 70-80 mph) very tedious.

My buddy with a Healey V8 with built 327 had a top speed of around 110 - it used to piss him off no end when I would accelerate past him once he hit that speed using the OD on my Triumph and wave at him as I went by. I imagine doing a steady 4500 rpm for hour after hour on I-5 was rather wearing given his close to illegal exhaust system, too.

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Bill Spohn www.rhodo.citymax.com/carstuff.html
1958 MGA Twincam (race car), 1962 MGA Deluxe Coupe
1969 MGC roadster, 1957 Jamaican MGA
1965 Jensen CV8, 1971 Jensen Interceptor
1969 Lamborghini Islero S, 1988 Fiero GT turbo
2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP Coupe
West Vancouver BC

It all depends on which V6 even fire 4.3 or uneven fire 4.3
Price is a bit high considering it has a 4 speed and no mention of the differential gearing.
No other upgrades, such as front and rear brakes, suspension etc.

It is a MGB GT with a 4.3 V6 with a 4 speed and nothing else.

That is my 2c opinion. The best thing is for you to drive it look at it and ask question and ask questions.

Do get excited about the times from 0-60 times if you do ask the braking distance between 60 to 0

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It is our attitude that will determine the outcome

My first project car was a '72 nova that I put together from my Dad's odds and ends when I was 15. It had a muncie with a worn out hurst shifter that would get stuck if I tried ANY kind of aggressive 2-3 shift. I hated it! I thought the car was a pos because it had a little rust in the 1/4's, but other than that it was rust free. I sold it for $1,000 around 1998 and I wish I had it now.

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Ryan Reis
Beatrice,NE

Like others said, plan on spending more money to make the car what you want it to be.

I have a Muncie in my ol' Camaro, but can't imagine that in my MG. Take some of that ad copy with a grain of salt. "Handles very well." With those tall tires out back & that rear bumper that high in the air? Sure.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/2012 07:02PM by V8MGBV8.

I'd pass on this one.

Converted cars aren't so scarce that the desperation required to bite on this is justified. There are much better choices.

Jim

4 speed, why?

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I see this commonly. This holds true for street-rodders who are used to the handling of 1950's 5,000 pound Buicks and 1970s El Caminos.

Like you say- Sure.

It handles well- just don't put it up to a stock rubber bumper MGB which will out handle it!

-BMC.

Hmmm, zero to sixty in 4.5. Very possible if you drop it out of a plane going into in a steep dive. Of course I'm kidding........................the plane is already doing 200 mph or more.

Look here for some figures: http://www.performancecarnews.com/Fastest-Cars-0-60.asp?Process=ShowTable



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2012 06:16AM by Kill R B.

4.5 is achievable, but not with a stock 6 cyl, and a 4 speed. An LS1 and a 5 speed, more possible. A tuned LS3 and a 5 or 6 speed, easily do-able.

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Dan,

You are missing the point. That car has no chance of 4.5 sec because no matter how much power, it will have no traction to accelerate that hard.

Realistically, if the seller makes such outrageous claims on 0-60 what else is overstated? Rust? Chassis compromises? etc. I'd pass unless the paint is extremely good and the shell is solid. I personally know of a pristine 90* Chevy engine swap that was removed to re-power with a Rover. To my mind the entire powertrain needs replaced. Might as well start with a 4 cylinder car, it would be easier. So if I really liked the paint and interior I might be willing to go 5 grand on it, but not much more. In my opinion the 90* Chevy is the true bastard of MGB conversions, and for many, many reasons, vibration being well up on the list. This is a prime example of why you don't just grab any old engine that is handy and stuff it into an MGB. Sure, it is faster, but it is a compromise in just about every way imaginable.

JB

Maybe buy two cars - a roadster to put a 3500 into, and then you can put 1800 from the roadster into that poor, "bastardized" GT!

For someone who does hot rods for a living, this would seem like it was built out of the leftover bin - definitely wasn't built by a sports car person. Probably could be sorted out for a couple thousand (tires, trans/rear end, suspension and bumper conversion - sorry, no real love for RBs even if it's a rare GT one).