Modernised MGB
Discussion
Good morning guys,
I am looking at possibly buying myself a MGB or midget as a daily driver or more of a toy I can use more frequently. I am not a stranger to classic motoring as i have owned minis and currently drive a 1974 mini pickup.
I am wanting to modernise the car by putting a modern injected engine like a ford duratec or a k series for example. I will be looking at going for 200bhp so its fun to drive and reliable.......ish. But keeping the wire wheels and classic look.
Can anyone recommend any forums specialised to modified MGB'S or Midgets.
Thanks
I am looking at possibly buying myself a MGB or midget as a daily driver or more of a toy I can use more frequently. I am not a stranger to classic motoring as i have owned minis and currently drive a 1974 mini pickup.
I am wanting to modernise the car by putting a modern injected engine like a ford duratec or a k series for example. I will be looking at going for 200bhp so its fun to drive and reliable.......ish. But keeping the wire wheels and classic look.
Can anyone recommend any forums specialised to modified MGB'S or Midgets.
Thanks
Hi,
I don't know for the B (more Rover V8 than K series
), but few people did put K series engine in Midget.
Good place to get informations are either the MASCOT Facebook group for Midget and Sprite, or on the MG BBS forum (put in search engine on your browser) for Midget and B (and other MG)
Good luck !
I don't know for the B (more Rover V8 than K series
), but few people did put K series engine in Midget.Good place to get informations are either the MASCOT Facebook group for Midget and Sprite, or on the MG BBS forum (put in search engine on your browser) for Midget and B (and other MG)
Good luck !
adsvx220 said:
Good morning guys,
I am looking at possibly buying myself a MGB or midget as a daily driver or more of a toy I can use more frequently. I am not a stranger to classic motoring as i have owned minis and currently drive a 1974 mini pickup.
I am wanting to modernise the car by putting a modern injected engine like a ford duratec or a k series for example. I will be looking at going for 200bhp so its fun to drive and reliable.......ish. But keeping the wire wheels and classic look.
Can anyone recommend any forums specialised to modified MGB'S or Midgets.
Thanks
I don't know of any specific forums, just hit Google and have a look.I am looking at possibly buying myself a MGB or midget as a daily driver or more of a toy I can use more frequently. I am not a stranger to classic motoring as i have owned minis and currently drive a 1974 mini pickup.
I am wanting to modernise the car by putting a modern injected engine like a ford duratec or a k series for example. I will be looking at going for 200bhp so its fun to drive and reliable.......ish. But keeping the wire wheels and classic look.
Can anyone recommend any forums specialised to modified MGB'S or Midgets.
Thanks
I did see a few years back a B running an MX-5 engine and gearbox.
Although I think you have to go a long way to better a Rover V8 in these. Tried and tested. Sound great, lovely power delivered and lots of torque. And an easy 200-250hp on fairly standard engines.
A bog standard ford zetec or duratec in 2.0 guise would make an exciting drive in the midget. 200bhp I think would be a needless exercise for a daily runner.
200bhp is kinda standard rover v8 territory and would sound fab. Not sure on the balance of the chassis once fitted. I’m sure plenty of people have built them though. Jag s-type 3.0 v6 engines are cheap including the whole car for all the wires etc. 220bhp I think as standard. Mx5 crowd have started to fit those.
You could go really modern with a ford 3 cylinder 1.0 turbo. Easy for 160bhp and retains the midget ethos but with lots of bhp
200bhp is kinda standard rover v8 territory and would sound fab. Not sure on the balance of the chassis once fitted. I’m sure plenty of people have built them though. Jag s-type 3.0 v6 engines are cheap including the whole car for all the wires etc. 220bhp I think as standard. Mx5 crowd have started to fit those.
You could go really modern with a ford 3 cylinder 1.0 turbo. Easy for 160bhp and retains the midget ethos but with lots of bhp
RobXjcoupe said:
Jag s-type 3.0 v6 engines are cheap including the whole car for all the wires etc. 220bhp I think as standard.
I don't know the numbers, but I'd have guessed these might be bigger and heavier than the Rover V8. Not sure a B engine bay would be an easy fit for such a wide motor. I've also followed a few MX-5 builds and they seem to be horrendously expensive and long running to get the engine in and working.300bhp/ton said:
RobXjcoupe said:
Jag s-type 3.0 v6 engines are cheap including the whole car for all the wires etc. 220bhp I think as standard.
I don't know the numbers, but I'd have guessed these might be bigger and heavier than the Rover V8. Not sure a B engine bay would be an easy fit for such a wide motor. I've also followed a few MX-5 builds and they seem to be horrendously expensive and long running to get the engine in and working.
The little 3 cylinder turbo would be a lovely conversion though.
Take a look at the conversions on this site. http://www.britishv8.org/Photos-MG-Conversions.htm
They take an MG to the next level and in some cases way too far
They take an MG to the next level and in some cases way too far
I have ordered a V8 roadster from these guys, https://www.cchl.co.uk/pdf/brochure.pdf, not cheap but it will have a new heritage shell and a 4.0 version of the V8, you can tailor it as much as you want, but the £££'s rack when you do.
The photos will give you an idea of how well the V8 fits.
I am hoping mine will be approx 220-230 bhp, it will have Willwood brakes and a multilink rear end sourced from frontline developments and an MX 5 gear box.
Frontline built a few Mazda engined B's with 300bhp at £85k very nice but too much money for me and anyway i want to listen to the V8 burble.
https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-driven/frontli... shows what's possible with a modern 4 pot.
The photos will give you an idea of how well the V8 fits.
I am hoping mine will be approx 220-230 bhp, it will have Willwood brakes and a multilink rear end sourced from frontline developments and an MX 5 gear box.
Frontline built a few Mazda engined B's with 300bhp at £85k very nice but too much money for me and anyway i want to listen to the V8 burble.
https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-driven/frontli... shows what's possible with a modern 4 pot.
Armitage.Shanks said:
Take a look at the conversions on this site. http://www.britishv8.org/Photos-MG-Conversions.htm
They take an MG to the next level and in some cases way too far
I've got two cars on that site with Rover V8 conversions - A BGT (Tube frame drag racer) and Mk1 Sprite (Street and Strip)They take an MG to the next level and in some cases way too far
MGB Yes / Midget No.
I appreciate you have driven classic cars but have you ever driven a Sprite / Midget? An MGB is an 'almost' civilised car but in my experience a Sprite / Midget is closer to an Austin 7 than a 'normal' car. Perhaps the ones I have driven have been bad examples but I am always shocked at how bad they are, even the Triumph GT6 is better. The last one I drove in February only had about 70hp and was borderline dangerous, the castor angles were just wrong and under braking (if you can call it that) it just washed out. There are not too many old cars I don't get on with but Spridgets are horrid in my opinion. You may want to try one before you bung a 200hp motor in it.
Just my opinion, you and others may not agree, and I respect that.
I appreciate you have driven classic cars but have you ever driven a Sprite / Midget? An MGB is an 'almost' civilised car but in my experience a Sprite / Midget is closer to an Austin 7 than a 'normal' car. Perhaps the ones I have driven have been bad examples but I am always shocked at how bad they are, even the Triumph GT6 is better. The last one I drove in February only had about 70hp and was borderline dangerous, the castor angles were just wrong and under braking (if you can call it that) it just washed out. There are not too many old cars I don't get on with but Spridgets are horrid in my opinion. You may want to try one before you bung a 200hp motor in it.
Just my opinion, you and others may not agree, and I respect that.
I used to look after a Midget racing car for a friend of mine and it handled pretty well, in a slightly snappy (far too much grip for its chassis) sort of way. Of course that had a full cage, which will have helped structural rigidity no-end but the suspension geometry was, as far as I can remember, standard.
The MGB is certainly a better mannered car (I owned a road-going one of them at the same time), possibly because of its much longer wheelbase, but it's also much heavier and it feels it. My B was tuned up to around 100bhp and still felt like it could have coped with a bit more.
The MGB is certainly a better mannered car (I owned a road-going one of them at the same time), possibly because of its much longer wheelbase, but it's also much heavier and it feels it. My B was tuned up to around 100bhp and still felt like it could have coped with a bit more.
Best bang for buck on engine swapped mgb or midget is a mx5 1.6 with a turbo running on a meggasquirt ecu its quite a straight forward swap and the mg rear diff is the right ratio for the mazda gearbox doing that can easily get you 200bhp and daily reliability with bags of power for fun
The G-man said:
I have ordered a V8 roadster from these guys, https://www.cchl.co.uk/pdf/brochure.pdf, not cheap but it will have a new heritage shell and a 4.0 version of the V8, you can tailor it as much as you want, but the £££'s rack when you do.
The photos will give you an idea of how well the V8 fits.
I am hoping mine will be approx 220-230 bhp, it will have Willwood brakes and a multilink rear end sourced from frontline developments and an MX 5 gear box.
Frontline built a few Mazda engined B's with 300bhp at £85k very nice but too much money for me and anyway i want to listen to the V8 burble.
https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-driven/frontli... shows what's possible with a modern 4 pot.
A bit of thread resurrection, sorry. I am thinking of getting a V8 MGB from CCHL with some brakes and Frontline suspension. Saw this old thread and saw that this is what you ere doing a few years ago. Wondered how it went and how is the car?The photos will give you an idea of how well the V8 fits.
I am hoping mine will be approx 220-230 bhp, it will have Willwood brakes and a multilink rear end sourced from frontline developments and an MX 5 gear box.
Frontline built a few Mazda engined B's with 300bhp at £85k very nice but too much money for me and anyway i want to listen to the V8 burble.
https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-driven/frontli... shows what's possible with a modern 4 pot.
I had a rebuilt MGB from CCHL. I took delivery in October 2022 it looked great and it was returned in July 2023. Build quality was poor and it was never explained to me how a new BMH shell in pale blue was actually BRG underneath, rust appeared after a few weeks. Lots of other issues which I won't go into on here. I don't think for one minute that I'm the only dissatisfied customer.
Buyer be aware.
Buyer be aware.
I'm well known for my love of midgets, first car, ran a midget in some form or another most of my life, I'm not a small guy and can still get in and out and drive them, great cars. Fantastic for autotesting level with minis in that respect, good fun, handle ok out of the box (if not maintained well they don't handle well and a lot are abused).
But. For a daily driver it's got to be a b. A b roadster makes a lovely daily, it will cruise on the motorway which no standard midget can. I don't know that I'd want to modernise one though, the charm is the character the old mechanicals have, they aren't quick, but they are quick enough, they were quick enough when everyone on the road drove above the speed limits which were higher then, now the limits are lower and every moron drives 10mph under the limit you will be constantly held up in a standard MGb just like you are in any other car. Brakes aren't bad as standard but would want upgrading if you went more power, handlings not bad but a few tweaks transform them, the engines are tough and reliable and most importantly easy to fix at the side of the road, overdrive boxes are nice.
I'd get a standardish one and breathe on it in keeping with it's age, bit of head work perhaps, 1 3/4 carbs, free flow exhaust, lowered suspension and enjoy it.
But. For a daily driver it's got to be a b. A b roadster makes a lovely daily, it will cruise on the motorway which no standard midget can. I don't know that I'd want to modernise one though, the charm is the character the old mechanicals have, they aren't quick, but they are quick enough, they were quick enough when everyone on the road drove above the speed limits which were higher then, now the limits are lower and every moron drives 10mph under the limit you will be constantly held up in a standard MGb just like you are in any other car. Brakes aren't bad as standard but would want upgrading if you went more power, handlings not bad but a few tweaks transform them, the engines are tough and reliable and most importantly easy to fix at the side of the road, overdrive boxes are nice.
I'd get a standardish one and breathe on it in keeping with it's age, bit of head work perhaps, 1 3/4 carbs, free flow exhaust, lowered suspension and enjoy it.
Gassing Station | MG | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff