78 MGB GT Inca Yellow - MX-5 Conversion in Progress!

[jakbull]

Evening all. I've been lurking for a bit but thought I'd get around to putting something together on my MGB GT. The car has recently undergone a full five year resto courtesy of the previous owner. The intent now is to create a fast road, useable, reliable and more fun version of what it is at the moment. It's in fantastic nick and a great base to work from to get where I want with it.

The car was originally a '78 Rubber Bumper but has been converted and lowered to chrome bumper spec.

Since I picked it up, I have fitted:
Moss Tourist Trophy exhaust
Moss Tourist Trophy manifold
Negative camber wishbone arms
Full polybushes
Led number plate light bolts
Pneumatic boot stays
Chrome wheel trims
Removed front and rear overriders
'72 Recessed grille
Few other bits and pieces

This is how it sat when I picked it up:












And now:





Future plans (in no particular order):
15 x 6 Minilite reps in gloss black
Frontline anti-lift valance - Purchased and awaiting fitting
Remove wood trim
Rear seat delete
Gaz shocks front and rear - Purchased and awaiting fitting
Mk1 MX5 seats retrimmed in tartan and black vinyl
Stage 2 MGOC engine
Panhard rod kit
Larger front anti-roll bar
Brake upgrade
Retrim headlining, door cards and door rails
New driver and passenger door glass
MGOC heater upgrade kit
Lower front springs and bump stops
Respray at some point
And more!

[Al3x]

Thats Gorgeous Dude absolutely beautiful i wish mine looked anywhere near as clean as this I'm really interested to see where this goes and its looks a cracking car.
Cheers
Alex

[adam73bgt]

That looks a really tidy car and I like the sounds of some of the upgrades you've got planned as well, shall be watching with interest

[Nathan]

Ooooo Now I like that, then again I am biased.

[jakbull]

Thanks for the kind words gents. I can't take credit for the work so far, that goes to the PO. Will post up some pics of the restoration later.

Nathan, saw your post on MGEXP. Love the JDM influences on your GT. I have a feeling though that your post didn't impress the purist types over there! Where abouts are you in Notts? I'm moving up there in Nov.

[GoJo372]

Nice car,

just to let you know you can lower the car on Gaz shocks as standard but You will need to make custom hangers to allow travel. If you don't you will have no travel when lowered and itl be bouncing on tyres alone lol. If you look when they arrive itl say not for lowered cars lol

great plans will keep an eye on this

[jakbull]

GoJo, I have read that they're fine for normal RB to CB lowering (which has already been done) but will need custom hangers if I plan on going lower. Is that what you mean?

[GoJo372]

yeah thats it buddy. what they lower to standard just doesnt cut it in my opinion. we had springs made and added 4 inches to the hangers when made new.. lovely travel and fantastic handling...

il try find a pic of it to show you lowered

[GoJo372]

[bjornagn]

Very nice job by whoever rebuilt the car.

If you have been hanging out on the MGEXP site, you are probably aware of Classic Car Conversions. I went through a bunch of mods trying to improve the horse-cart factory suspension before I bought their 4 link coil over kit. It is everything it claims to be.



In the front, I would skip the tube shocks; you will not improve on the stock shocks if they are in good shape.Any extra velocity will just be due to a lighter wallet.

Over the 37 years I have had my car it went from a nice restoration to a ground scraping trackday car and now back to stock. Stock new bits up front and the 4 link out rear seems to be the fastest set-up and I don't get hung up on speed bumps anymore!

[GoJo372]

now thats a nice set up......

but you say youve ordered the GAZ shocks so shocks it is

[jakbull]

Love it. I was considering a set of Works Equip wheels after seeing yours on here but I'm going to try and keep it relatively period looking. You're right though, CB is just that little bit too high still.

[GoJo372]

Oct 30, 2015 11:30:54 GMT jakbull said:

Love it. I was considering a set of Works Equip wheels after seeing yours on here but I'm going to try and keep it relatively period looking. You're right though, CB is just that little bit too high still.

they're ok just a curse word to fit....had to modify the arches completly and hubs....don't think id go through it again tbh lol

As regards the shocks theyl do a good enough job for little money.....Ed Bracklik of frontline drove it and was impressed by the handling of them compared to others like spax. For day to day driving we usually run 3 clicks on fronts and 4 on the rear. Then just adjust when you want to be a little more spirited lol

[jakbull]

Bjorn, I've had a look at the CCC set ups and although they're probably worth every penny, they sit slightly out of the budget at the moment! More pressing matters to address.

Any pics of yours Bjorn?

[bjornagn]

Oct 30, 2015 11:33:44 GMT jakbull said:

Bjorn, I've had a look at the CCC set ups and although they're probably worth every penny, they sit slightly out of the budget at the moment! More pressing matters to address.

Any pics of yours Bjorn?

Here is one I like taken with a roadster that I built for a friend of mine.



This is what the roadster looked like when I got it:


Edit:

If you ever plan on doing any sill work on an MGB, note how the car is supported. This feeds the loads in to the tub as if it were sitting on the ground. Supporting the car any other way is going to stress the car in ways it was not meant to and might cause panel alignment issues when set back on the ground.

[luckygti]

Some lovely MGB's there, I have a definite soft spot for these and yours looks fantastic. Removing the over riders and the chrome grille have really cleaned up the front end as well. This is not helping my itch for another one!!!!

[jakbull]

These should be on in the next couple of days. Just waiting for the tyres to be delivered. Little bit of lip of the wheels as well, which I'm happy with.

[ChasR]

That is looking lovely in the new guise. With the pending mods it should make for a very fun motor.

Oct 30, 2015 11:07:05 GMT GoJo372 said:

Nice car,

just to let you know you can lower the car on Gaz shocks as standard but You will need to make custom hangers to allow travel. If you don't you will have no travel when lowered and itl be bouncing on tyres alone lol. If you look when they arrive itl say not for lowered cars lol

great plans will keep an eye on this

Maybe I was lucky but this was not a problem with my MGB when I fitted 2.5" lowered leaf springs on the rear and lower springs up front. If anything the ride was surprisingly comfortable. It was not like I was on the most comfortable choice of tyres either; 8Jx15" Minilites shod with 225/50R15, which again had a few 'B owners saying 'it will drive like a turd etc.'. OK it did tramline a little but it was far more planted than any other 'B I drove . If only it had more horses under the bonnet...

Here's my old thread for the OP . I doubt you will have half of the issues that I did mind you:

retrorides.proboards.com/thread/35563

[Ralph.Wrecked.It]

Awesome!

What's a Stage 2 MGOC engine? I really like these MG's often toyed with the idea of getting one. Looks like you have a really nice example there!

Ralph

[Nathan]

Oct 30, 2015 11:07:05 GMT GoJo372 said:

Nice car,

just to let you know you can lower the car on Gaz shocks as standard but You will need to make custom hangers to allow travel. If you don't you will have no travel when lowered and itl be bouncing on tyres alone lol. If you look when they arrive itl say not for lowered cars lol

great plans will keep an eye on this

Yeah, I got a few messages after that too. Oh Well
You'll have to come to the local meets chap, Nottingham has a massive classic following and lots happen all year round.