MGB GT V8 build. **SOLD**

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3xpendable
Posts: 812
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:03 am

MGB GT V8 build. **SOLD**

#1 Post by 3xpendable » Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:26 am

In tandem with my dads Hillman Imp restoration, I thought I’d introduce you all to my MGB GT V8 project. Here is the car when purchased (2008) as a rolling shell but lots of spares and already converted to chrome bumper:

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The engine bay had been primered over all the dirt and grease!

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The wings had been fillered flat, presumably for a ‘de-seamed’ look

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Upon removal it seems that this fillering was done as a quick fix to cover some rust. The ‘beading’ from the wing had rusted to the scuttle so when I removed them it left this damage. I don’t think repair sections are available but access is good from behind so I will be fabricating new sections myself.

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When trying to remove the O/S wing it took me about 30 minutes because it was still seized solid after removing all the bolts. I eventually yanked it off and found that where the upper splash guard had rotted away from the inner wing, they had filled it with builders spray foam that had stuck the wing on! I think this car has been ‘restored’ by 2 people. The original person who has done a very good job and fitted new castle rails, jacking points, sills etc. Then the guy I bought it from who has tried to shortcut things and filling holes with fiberglass etc! Looking at the shall the only welding I think it will need is a pair of new inner wing upper splash guards, and the triangular section in front of them. These have a few pin holes which have been fibeglassed but I will be replacing them with new ones.

Underside is excellent

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I sourced a 3.5 litre Rover P6 short nose motor, but 2 of the bores were rusted out so I scrapped the block but kept all the short nose parts. I will now be fitting a 3.9 engine.

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Here is the shell as it looks now. 99.9% stripped and ready to be fitted to the rollover jig

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Stripped was easy due to most of the bolts being new (lucky me). The crossbar in the image below was for a ‘soundsystem’ the previous owner was going to fit but I shall be relocating it to use as a harness strap for the harnesses and period bucket seats I am fitting.

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First job done. I removed the front suspension as a whole, stripped it and cleaned/painted it. Some of the bodges were horiffic and had i known I wouldnt have towed the car home. Firslt some of the spring pan bolts had no nuts, and while the 2 anti-roll bar links are new, someone has forced a car wheelnut onto one, cross threading it. The only way to get it off was to drill the nut and of course the arm is useless. Idiots.

Here is the assembly removed from the car.

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I've been told that the longer, rubber bumper steering rack mounts can crack when wider tyres and/or more loads are placed on them so I welded gussets to either side of both mounts to give it some better stiffness

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Crossmember and suspension parts painted in 2 coats of POR-15 chassis black. I'll be getting lowered and stiffer springs and polybushes soon.

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I also discovered that the previous owner has already fitted the car with the lowered and stiffened suspension I was going to buy for it! So thats a money saver.
Next job is the get the shell on a jig and begin the repairs noted above, along with the V8 modifications. This includes extending the height of the transmission tunnel slightly, centralising the fuel tank and making a second lip in the rear valence for the exhausts. I hope to fit a webasto roof but am having trouble finding a frame at the moment and can’t afford to pay a fortune for a new one. Once this is done I’ll be blasting or dipping it back to bare metal and then painting it. The underside and front/rear suspension will be coated with Frost POR 15 and seam sealant etc…then the rebuild can slowly begin.

I hope you enjoy, and look forward to words of encouragement.
Last edited by 3xpendable on Tue Jun 21, 2016 4:34 am, edited 3 times in total.
2013 Dodge Durango R/T
1965 Ford Anglia 106e Estate (Wagon). LHD.
1964 Ford Anglia 105e Saloon

3xpendable
Posts: 812
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:03 am

Re: MGB GT V8 build..

#2 Post by 3xpendable » Sun Aug 28, 2011 7:11 pm

Unfortunately I can't believe its been a year since the bodyshell got stripped down and apart from painting the front suspension little progress has been made :( HOWEVER, until today!!!! I'm so excited I had to post some pictures.

After cutting away the worst of the rusty metal over the winter I finally got a dry day where I was able to get the shell out of the polytunnel to do the much needed grinding, check out the cool shell trolley...

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Ground out the remaining metal and spot welds off bother the rusty areas of the inner wings on both sides

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And finally cut out the infected areas at the bottom of the A posts. A lot of shaping will be needed but I figured it best to cut this out properly so that no rust will spread/come back

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More pics over the next few days when I weld the repair sections in.
2013 Dodge Durango R/T
1965 Ford Anglia 106e Estate (Wagon). LHD.
1964 Ford Anglia 105e Saloon

3xpendable
Posts: 812
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:03 am

Re: MGB GT V8 build..

#3 Post by 3xpendable » Thu Sep 01, 2011 8:36 pm

Got the repair sections for the wings fitted yesterday, and despite them being BMH repair panels they required quite a bit of fettling to fit. Before fitting I sprayed them with Zinc Rich Weld Thru primer then seam sealed them with seam sealer.

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Fitment plate for the remote oil filter fitted to the inner wing
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Rear axle painted
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The Rover LT77 gearbox that will be fitted is taller and so requires a taller transmission tunnel. It can either be 'dressed' (beaten with a hammer) or I preferred the more professional method of making a taller plate.

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The wings have now been fitted to give a guideline to the shape the base of the windscreen repairs

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2013 Dodge Durango R/T
1965 Ford Anglia 106e Estate (Wagon). LHD.
1964 Ford Anglia 105e Saloon

3xpendable
Posts: 812
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:03 am

Re: MGB GT V8 build..

#4 Post by 3xpendable » Mon Sep 05, 2011 4:16 pm

Gotten a bit despondant with the car today, I went to coat the inner wings with POR 15 rust preventative paint before I put the POR 15 chassis black on top but some of the underseal thats left seemed to react with it. Its the factory applied stuff and its pretty well put on there so I scraped/wirebrushed what I could off and hoped to paint over it but this may demand a rethink.

I then went to seam seal the underside and the paint (which again looks like underseal) the previous owner had applied after fitting new castle rails and sills reacts with the seam sealer turning the paint into an oily goo which the sealer wont stick to :( I'll get the car on its side tomorrow and have a better look when I feel in a better mood over it.
2013 Dodge Durango R/T
1965 Ford Anglia 106e Estate (Wagon). LHD.
1964 Ford Anglia 105e Saloon

3xpendable
Posts: 812
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:03 am

Re: MGB GT V8 build..

#5 Post by 3xpendable » Fri Sep 09, 2011 4:47 pm

Thought i;d show you the repair of the base of the A-posts. Dad made up some pattern plates and welded them elaborately

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This was the shaping done, initially with fibrofill as its flexible and won't crack.

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This will be shaped more finely with a skim of filler now.

Cleaned all the underseal from the engine bay and scraped off any non keyed paint

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A new wing was put on the car, yet they filled this entire area with fibreglass?! Its been removed and repair sections will be welded in when we relocate the fuel tank

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Got the car on its side and scraped off the loose underseal and paint ready for painting

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2013 Dodge Durango R/T
1965 Ford Anglia 106e Estate (Wagon). LHD.
1964 Ford Anglia 105e Saloon

rich.
Posts: 6804
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 9:18 pm

Re: MGB GT V8 build..

#6 Post by rich. » Sat Sep 10, 2011 1:13 pm

do you get much condensation in your garage?
good luck with the build, i started a doing roadster years ago but the costs were spiralling out of control & i finished it off in standard/slightly uprated form... buying a house to renovate didnt help either.

3xpendable
Posts: 812
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:03 am

Re: MGB GT V8 build..

#7 Post by 3xpendable » Sat Sep 10, 2011 11:04 pm

Nope its actually quite dry :) it has a while sheet instead of a clear one so is very cool and dry. Thanks, its a budget project so will be getting it together without a horrendous costs hopefully.
2013 Dodge Durango R/T
1965 Ford Anglia 106e Estate (Wagon). LHD.
1964 Ford Anglia 105e Saloon

3xpendable
Posts: 812
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:03 am

Re: MGB GT V8 build..

#8 Post by 3xpendable » Sun Sep 25, 2011 9:05 pm

Have got the engine bay & interior painted, and undersealed the inner wings

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I'll get the car on its side to paint the rest of the underneath when the rear wing repairs noted earlier are carried out and the modifications for the centralised fuel tank are done. Talking of the fuel tank. I removed the said item from my 'donor' car and it turns out its had a stainless steel fabricated tank made that fitted to the original mounting points, result! Its slightly narrower than the standard tank but this works out perfectly for clearance with my twin exhaust pipe layout. I'll scrape the poorly keyed paint off the tank and may or may not re coat it. When using the car over the last 4 years fuel capacity was good so i have no worries there.

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I had intended to carry over the 'battery in the boot' solution from my donor car to the new car, but seeing this has put me off.

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A post repairs are almost complete, because the wing profiles differ side to side they have been shaped according to each wing being fitted

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Reached a milestone yesterday on Saturday 24th September. The rebuild of the car began!

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I removed these vents from my 1971 GT, and when fitting them to the shell noticed the 77 car only has two holes instead of a four. Must have been a BL cost cutting measure!

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2013 Dodge Durango R/T
1965 Ford Anglia 106e Estate (Wagon). LHD.
1964 Ford Anglia 105e Saloon

3xpendable
Posts: 812
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:03 am

Re: MGB GT V8 build..

#9 Post by 3xpendable » Thu Oct 06, 2011 9:53 pm

I finished painting the underside with underseal. I used Schutz as its plyable but also a LOT cheaper than POR-15

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I found that if you 'stipple' it with the brush it removes any brush marks and looks more professional

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The back axle is now fitted

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Engine bay with the crossmember and steering rack fitted

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Front suspension built up

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I modified the bump stops for the lower ride height by cutting and welding them together, removing the aluminium spacer.

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Project V8 is now rolling! Front and rear suspension and the steering is fitted so I took dad out for lunch to celebrate :D

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2013 Dodge Durango R/T
1965 Ford Anglia 106e Estate (Wagon). LHD.
1964 Ford Anglia 105e Saloon

mach1rob
Posts: 1787
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 3:22 pm

Re: MGB GT V8 build..

#10 Post by mach1rob » Fri Oct 07, 2011 4:45 pm

Coming along rather nicely, look forward to seeing this all complete. :D

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