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Pro Rover "Super B" MGB GT V8 ...... the recreation! As some - older- people on here will know, I built a BGT in 1988/89 and raced it in the Street Machine and Custom Car Rover V8 Challenge for 5 years. I then sold it to Bob and Ollie Owen who raced it in 1994 and again in 1996. Since then it has disappeared.......... I found that I missed the car and so if I cannot buy it back - I will make a new version instead! So I am now going to steadily acquire the bits needed and will post up progress as and when. (I have another project car (Alfa Romeo Sprint) that needs completing and selling though before I can really start on the BGT fabrication.) Here are some pics of the original car.    The plan is to make the new chassis a bit lighter and more sophisticated, the body will have a steel outline and roof but with fibreglass doors and tailgate to make it around 1600 lbs (- the original was 1800lbs as there was a minimum wieight of 1650 in Pro Rover.) I will be using a reasonable RV8 ideally 4.2 or 4.5 rather than the 3.5 of the original. (But if anyone has a nice alloy block SBC to fit later on....) I shall use it as a RWYB warrior and garage candy rather than full on modern spec racing. And here is the starting point!  |
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Last Edit: Oct 15, 2013 18:26:39 GMT by flyingphil
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killerbee
Part of things
Triumph Spitfire hardtop for sale plz pm for details and pics.
Posts: 62
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bookmarked. Can't wait to see this.
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,961
Club RR Member Number: 174
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Pro Jag "MeGa B" GT V12stealthstylz
@stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member 174
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Loved the original, looking forward to seeing the new version. Funny how sparse that chassis is compared to a modern SFi compliant one haha.
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I remember reading about the B and the Sprite - think you ran that first in the Challenge before building the B? Have a good memory from then, well I was only about 13 or 14 when those reports were in Street Machine! Be good to know what happened to the other runners. I guess quite a few got broken up and the demise of Steve's Green's Cortina was very sad.
Still got all those old copies in the garage too.
Good luck.
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,002
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Pro Jag "MeGa B" GT V12adam73bgt
@adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member 58
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I'm definitely bookmarking this, sounds like it should be an awesome project  |
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Loved the original, looking forward to seeing the new version. Funny how sparse that chassis is compared to a modern SFi compliant one haha. Yes it does look sparse but that pic shows the chassis at an early stage - there were more tubes put in after that - round the back of the seats, a central upright between the seats, door bars and a behind the dash tube. I've just drawn up the improved chassis and it will need approx 60 foot (20m!) of round tube and 40 foot (13m) of square box section. |
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,961
Club RR Member Number: 174
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Pro Jag "MeGa B" GT V12stealthstylz
@stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member 174
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Looking at the burnout pic, that looks suspiciously like me just to the left of the bonnet scoop of the car behind, the bloke just behind looks very much like my dad.
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Looking at the burnout pic, that looks suspiciously like me just to the left of the bonnet scoop of the car behind, the bloke just behind looks very much like my dad. Well that car was Dave Snitter's "Snitterbeast" which ran a 9.7s before it got burnt at Avon Park in 1994 and the chassis got sold on I believe. |
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Mar 12, 2013 17:48:54 GMT
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I've now got a 5 speed gearbox with the short LDV gear lever housing. It is from an LDV and it will need a V8 bellhousing - but is it a different length input shaft?  |
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Now acquired a steering column, but been doing a fair bit of running around trying to source other parts - hopefully good news soon.......
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Surprising News!!
UPDATE!!!
"Super B" still Exists!!
I was very pleased to receive an e mail recently from Bob Owen. He still has the B tucked up in a corner of his garage. He had fitted a potent 4.6 litre Rover and had plans for even more power! However the rule changes and demise of the Pro Rover class meant that the car never really raced again. It did run in the low 11's at a couple of meetings in the late 1990's.
So where does that leave this project? It seems a bit pointless to recreate a car that still exists, so after considering all the options I am going to ............
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............................ "Pro Street" a BGT.
It will still be Rover powered and tube chassied but a bit more "Show" than "Go".
Please feel free to post comments on this change of direction as I will need ideas!
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,002
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Pro Jag "MeGa B" GT V12adam73bgt
@adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member 58
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Congrats on finding the original! any pictures or idea of what condition its in these days? as for ideas on a pro street B, well I'm not too clued up on dragsters and stuff but it definitely needs a big blower poking through the bonnet  |
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sonus
Europe
Posts: 1,392
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Following this with interest I've always thought it a neat idea to use a Se7en chassis and fit a MGB GT body on top. I'd use fiberglass front in one piece and then fiberglass doors and rear hatch to keep the weight down. It'd be more racer than 1/4 mile though |
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Current
1968 TVR VIXEN S1 V8 Prototype
2004 TVR T350C
2017 BMW 340i
Previous
BMW 325d E91LCI - sold
Alfa Romeo GTV - sold
Citroen AX GT - at the breakers
Ford Puma 1.7 - sold
Volvo V50 2.0d - sold
MGB GT - wrecked by fire
MG ZT 1.8T - sold
VW E-golf Electric - sold
Mini Countryman 1.6D -sold
Land Rover Discovery TD5 - sold
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Hi Adam
Thanks, I hope to get some pictures from Bob in a couple of weeks, but I think the car is still in good condition. I will not be having a blower - Perry has that covered! But I do have a set of quad downdraft 40 IDA Webers with 6" rampipes - so they may well poke out of the bonnet......
Sonus
Your idea sounds good and I will be going the GF route and light weight, probably with a bit of a Carbon fibre look - to update it. - But I prefer the 1/4 mile approach as corners make me giddy!
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Progress on the Pro Street BGT
A rusty BGT bodyshell has been collected - together with a 1275 front cross member and fibreglass bootlid. No pics yet though.
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Apr 15, 2013 18:08:48 GMT
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Here is a picture of my rusty BGT shell. It also shows the 1275 Midget cross member.  Why that cross member? The reason I have wanted that cross member is five-fold :- - it has a narrower track than the B so I can get the front down Low - it keeps it as much MG as possible - it is quite light - it keeps all the factory geometry - it provides steering, brakes and suspension all in one unit. |
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Last Edit: Apr 15, 2013 18:10:29 GMT by flyingphil
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luckygti
Posted a lot
I need to try harder!
Posts: 4,912
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Apr 16, 2013 12:43:29 GMT
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Sounds like a great project, and looks like that body is begging for a spaceframe |
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Sounds like a great project, and looks like that body is begging for a spaceframe Thanks Luckgti, I am looking at the shell to decide on the best way to fit it to a space frame as this shell has a lot more inside. The gearbox tunnel was cut out before I got it. |
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I am still adding to my pile of bits and now have a good BGT dashboard. However I still looking for a Rover V8 5 speed bell housing (or one with a gearbox).
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Mike
Part of things
Posts: 352
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Apr 19, 2013 11:00:55 GMT
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i have a 5 speed bellhousing but its from a 4x4 rover v8 don't know if thats any good to you?
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