Thread: Forget the family hotrod wagon girlfriend likes british

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Originally Posted by redrodman48

Get her a Anglia ,and tell her its an early MG

LMAO what makes it so funny is she'd probally believe me.

I use to have a Bradley GT kit car. maybe i can buy it back to give to her its a fiberglass body on a 60's VW beetle running gear. the guy i sold it to still has it and hasn't done anythying to it and its been 3yrs

The MGB's, Triumph spitfitres and Austin Healeys used Massey Ferguson 4cyls.. I think Austin was the only 1 with the positive ground electrical system. pretty sure anyway. I kno my uncle has a '74 Triumph TR6 which is - ground.

Tell her to buy her own car and you build the wagon

Matt put his finger on the problem. I am pretty sure the Triumphs changed to negative ground in the mid-70s but I am not exactly sure what year. I have mentioned this before on this Forum but a + ground fights the overall negative charge of the planet Earth which traps negative electrons from the Sun due to the magnetic poles. Several other British cars had + ground as well as I believe did the '48 Cadillac(?). But that is not the main problem. The MGB design was unchanged for over 20 years and anyone who subscribed to Road and Track should remember the chart at the back of each issue giving performance data and the MGB was last in every category for a long, long time. The Jag XKE is a beautiful car but needs a Pontiac OHC six or a SBC because you will go broke buying replacement Jaguar parts. I had two MG midgets and went the whole nine yards of restoration and 3/4 race hop up and they are an unrewarding money pit. Cute but scary unless you are writing a book on the undercarriage designs of 18 wheelers. I suppose some crazy stunt driver could run a Midget under an 18 wheeler while in motion for a James Bond movie, but don't try it! I loved the shape of the MG Midget and it was fun to drive but not really fast, just loooow! My '73 Midget had - ground but I think the '69 and earlier years had + ground. In my experience the VW chassis and running gear is much more reliable than the British stuff; the Bradley sounds interesting but I recall that they are pretty flimsy and are closed so what the wife probably wants is an open car. For what it is worth I really enjoy my '98 Pontiac Sunfire convert mainly because it has a single handle for the electric roof and I can put the top up or down at a traffic light and it gets about 24 mpg; it is my "roadster until I finsh my Model A". The performance of the Sunfire, however, is slightly better than having a sewing machine for an engine! Maybe a MGB with a Pinto 2.3 swap would be peppy but as I recall even the MGB brakes were last in the Road and Track tables!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Originally Posted by stovens

I don't know, NSRA, take a look at the custom wiring in my old ford! Even Lucus used better connectors!

For some reason, maybe it's the butt connectors, tape and extra wire, it doesn't look quite like original Ford wiring.

well to be honest i know someone thats selling a decent 80's fullsize blazer removable top 350 with a th350 np208 transfercase. he said he'd sell it to me for $400.00 and i thought he was nuts cause it was so cheap when its worth more its not a rust bucket or nothin. but i think i'm going to go that rout and lift it and put 33x12.5x15 or 35x12.5x15 under it and go through it.
its black with maroon interior so i may paint it maroon and paint the top white. my girlfriends favorite colors are x-mas colors green and dark red.

If you must get a Limey car make sure it is restored and improved from most of the original specs especially in the electrical department. If it hasn't been thoroughly gone over and Americanized it'll break your heart.

Had one of 'em in the 1960s. And, no, don't assume 1980s models or later were any better.

[QUOTE=Matt167]The MGB's, Triumph spitfitres and Austin Healeys used Massey Ferguson 4cyls..QUOTE]
Actually, Matt, only the early TR series of Triumph used an engine developed from the Massey Ferguson. MG's and Austin Healeys used Austin engines and the Spitfire used a Triumph engine developed from their own sedans.