Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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Oh ya, I had a 1962 MGA MkII Twin overhead cam 4 speed car, a 79 MGB, a 74 Triumph tr6, and a 67 Austin Healey Sprite. That was a great car but even then hard to get parts for. They all had true style through and through. They were alot of fun on winding roads, and good on gas. Hard to beat british sports cars of that era.

Oh ya, I had a 1962 MGA MkII Twin overhead cam 4 speed car, a 79 MGB, a 74 Triumph tr6, and a 67 Austin Healey Sprite. That was a great car but even then hard to get parts for. They all had true style through and through. They were alot of fun on winding roads, and good on gas. Hard to beat british sports cars of that era.

I had a Bugeye Sprite, great little car. I first put a Judson supercharger on it which really woke it up. Then I lost my license for a year for drag racing so I had a lot of time and swapped a 289 Ford into it with a Cobra package on it. It basically ruined a nice little car. Yeah, it would smoke the tires if you punched it at 60 mph, but it cornered like crap and was super nose heavy. Sure wish I had that car now in stock form.

Don

Hi my name is Tom,I am new to chr I have read all 214 pages of this thread and I think you and your son,s have done some really nice work. The T,came out awsome as well as Don jr and especially Danwith his 4 door/rpu the fab work and famialy pitching in on one another is great. As for myself I have wayyyyy too many Irons in the fire I have a 89 iroc home built 383 tpi stroker 5 speed , 87 nissan ex cab with sbc 400, 94 chevy 1500 excab with 5/7 drop, 90 model dodge3/4 ton cummins auto .I know that yall like clean painted rids as well as I but I found this forum looking for some help and ideas for I am looking at what I belive is a 1947 kb7 international truck to make a RATROD out of I want to fab a frame from skratch and do a serious cp and channel. I love hot rod and things that go fast. Don I also read the thread abought your cop top truck but only skimmed through it.Alot of my projects are on hold I am trying to to build a shop by the end of the year whell thats my goal anyway!!!!


Thanks for your time and all the entertainment
Tom (RATATOOLY)!!

Hi Tom, Welcome to the group, and thanks for doing your intro on this thread. Sounds like you will be doing one a lot like my own Dodge, Fantastic, we'll have a lot to talk about for sure.

Even though the T is done I figured I'd keep this thread going for a while to incorporate some of the other things going on in our shop. Your nice words were certainly appreciated.

Post us some pictures of your build when you can.

Don

I have loved the handling and driveablility of British sports cars since I owned an MGA many years ago. What I never loved about these cars though, was the abomnable lack of reliability. It seemed that I spent more time with the engine torn down doing valves, bearings or other sundry repairs than I did driving. With a 4.33/1 rear end, the engine would buz at over 4000 rpm when cruising on the highway.
When I got a chance to pick up a 58 roadster, I decided that I would try to remedy that reliability problem by installing a 2.8 Ltr. Ford V-6 engine with a Mustang 5-speed transmission. This engine actually weighs about 30 lbs less than the 4 it will replace and, with the 5-speed, should be able to cruise without tearing itself apart. Also, the 2.8 is not an overly tourquey engine so should be OK with the stock rear end if I am reasonably careful. (I am using the stock MGA rear end because this car has wire-wheels and I really don't want to change that unless it is absolutely necessary.)
I'm not looking for a dragster here, just a pleasant to drive, reliable cruiser so modifications to the engine will be minimal; headers, 350 Holley carb and probably a cam if I can find one that will improve power at higher revs without a major increase in low end tourque.

That is a swap that makes sense in one of these. How about some pictures as you go? BTW, those rear ends are a little stronger than we think. I did round off some axle ends with the 289 in it (I was buying a few at a time from the junkyard at $10 a pop) but even those would hold up for a while and I did lots of smokey burnouts with it, since I was 18 at the time.


Don

At this point, Don, I'm really at the "gathering parts" stage but I will definitely post some pictures when I get to the "build" stage. That's good news about the rear ends. I have been a bit worried about putting any real tourque through them since the original engine was a rather anemic 1500cc's. My intention was to limit low end power to save it, but if it can handle a 289 with burnouts even for a short time it might hold up better than I thought.

yes.........

Yeah, I even upgraded the rear tires to 6:50 x 13 tires to get some more bite out of the car and even with that the axles would take quite a bit of abuse before they would snap. I got to the point where I painted a white line about 4 inches long on the splined end of both axles and every so often I would pull them out to see how far the end was twisting. When they got to where the twist was pretty severe I would pull the axle and just change it. Much easier than fishing the broken end out of the pumpkin.

The car that inspired me to do that build was a similar Sprite out of California that was running a small block Chevy. I saw it in one of the hot rod magazines and the fate of my Sprite was sealed. The new 289 Fords were just starting to show up in junkyards and I found a low milage one and automatic for something like $ 175.00 as I remember. (Ah, the good old days ) I figured if the Chevy fit so would the Ford as it was narrower.

The stock Sprite frame rails were 12 inches apart in front and we widened them to 20 inches from the trans mount forward. I had a local bodyshop do the welding and also build the new firewall which took up a lot of the cockpit. The heater area went, and so did my gas pedal. I converted the clutch portion of the master cylinder to be the new brake master cylinder, and converted the old brake master cylinder to run an Ansen (I think) hydraulic throttle control. That way my clutch pedal was my new brake pedal and the old brake pedal was the new gas pedal. Only way my feet would fit up there.

The driveshaft ended up being very short, I think something like 9 inches long, because the Cruisematic tranny was pretty long. I had a radiator shop build me a Ford crossflow radiator that went clear across the front and actually kept it cool.

I eventually sold the car to a friend of mine, and lost touch with it. Years later I walked into a garage where a guy was selling a Pontiac Tripower setup I needed, and there was my old Sprite sitting there. Someone has swapped in a narrowed Chevy rear end and it had slicks on it sticking out of radiused wheelwells. They were doing a paint job on it at the time. I often wonder if it is still around.

Don

I think I remember the magazine article on that Chevy/Sprite. Awsome car but, as you say, it probably ruined the handling and balance especially with the short wheelbase. Great in a straight line though.
My goal with the MGA is to keep it looking relatively stock and not to damage it's inherent good handling properties. By keeping the engine/tranny weight as close to original, and not going overboard on the power, I hope I can achieve that. I know that goes against the grain of many of the members of this site who believe that 700 cu. inches and up is the only way to go.
Not that I have anything against that; just not with this car.
I should be able to pull close to 200 HP out of this engine which is actually more than the stock power of the 260 Ford V8 in the Sunbeam Tiger I used to own.....and that was a fantastic vehicle to drive.

Ah......you guys are pikers! Check this out;
Untitled Document

If you click the back link at the page bottom you'll find photo links to more modified Sprites with rotaries, various other transplants.

Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

Ah......you guys are pikers! Check this out;
Untitled Document

If you click the back link at the page bottom you'll find photo links to more modified Sprites with rotaries, various other transplants.

Thanks for the link, Uncle Bob.... Everything IS better with a Hemi, isn't it????

I thought I had an MGA bought here a couple years ago... Unfortunately the seller was some sort of purist and got wind of what I was wanting to do to the car and killed the sale!!!! Bummer..... and it was even a friend of mine who told him!!! So, I'm still looking....

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Thanks for the link, Uncle Bob.... Everything IS better with a Hemi, isn't it????

I thought I had an MGA bought here a couple years ago... Unfortunately the seller was some sort of purist and got wind of what I was wanting to do to the car and killed the sale!!!! Bummer..... and it was even a friend of mine who told him!!! So, I'm still looking....

NO I DON'T THINK SO !

I did a Bugeye with 2000cc 4cyl ford and a 4 spd, fit just great. When I changed the intake to two 2bl carbs i had to put a bump in the hood for clearance. Wasn't very good at body work then and I shouldn't have used a ball pean hammer..........LOL
BradC