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Dec 13, 2022 20:46:54 GMT
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A while back I bought a £1000.00 MGB and went full Sebring, captured on a thread here, unfortunately a lot of the pics have dropped off so I thought I would start a new one to save peeps having to scroll through dead images. forum.retro-rides.org/thread/191450/1973-74-mgb-sebring-finished?page=16I have also completed my latest project - 1977 Reliant Kitten Estate Honda Super Blackbird Powered (ended up looking like a van) forum.retro-rides.org/thread/211498/reliant-kitten-estate-blackbird-poweredFor the MG I am now doing a full respray as the original paint did not hold up well, and I am also going Nissan 350Z engine and gearbox swap along with full loom, as well as full lexan. I have already converted to front coil overs and got the engine on mounts so in the first instance I will back track from where I left off to what I have done and what I will do - How we left off -  Were we are (with updates to show how we got here coming soon)   |
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drive
Part of things
Tired? Sleep faster!
Posts: 65 
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Dec 13, 2022 21:36:57 GMT
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Following with great interest !
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luckygti
Posted a lot
I need to try harder!
Posts: 4,912
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Dec 14, 2022 11:35:45 GMT
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Great car and the 350Z sounds amazing so I'll be following with interest (thought about doing similar with my Taunus but going MX-5 instead)
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Dec 14, 2022 18:20:39 GMT
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The 350z does sound immense, I was driving around in the donor car for 6 months prior and the engine and box are amazing. I have only really drove fast turbo cars before but this is something else, I will keep the standard 350Z manifolds on the MG, go decat to a central pipe and then have a T piece so I have a side exit exhaust on either side just in front of the rear wheels. Essentially it will be a thro pipe exiting both sides, will get some pics up soon, I am busy cutting the footwells out for it to fit.
For those who have not heard one, not mine but the same -
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Dec 16, 2022 20:35:04 GMT
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Where to start, I had a Nissan 350Z that was extremely tatty on body but had a great lowish miles engine and new clutch. I used the car for about 6 months and decided it would be a great engine swap for the sebring, a quick cursory measure up showed that the engine would not fit so I went ahead and started the strip down. I sold every part of the 350Z apart from engine, box, wiring loom, heater, and probably a few other things, in total I lost about £1000.00 off the original purchase price, the calipers, wheels, seats etc got good money. First problem as I say width wise the engine with manifolds does not fit, so I had to slightly widen the inner engine bay and remake the engine chassis rails to allow for the width and shape of the manifolds, the outer engine bay / inner wheel arch now has a 6mm steel plate on each side which follows the inner engine chassis rails for extra strength -  The passenger and driver footwell have had to be cut out for the exhaust downpipes -   These will join with a stock (well stainless steel aftermarket) Y pipe -  One of the greatest challenges aside of all the above was getting the engine straight and level, it sits on aftermarket stronger Subaru Impreza engine mounts, I have made plates to pick up the original 350Z engine mount holes, The subframe of the mgb has been remade and is now welded to the body for strength, as I get more done I will cover this and the new steering rack postion.   Some of it looks a bit of a mess as I had to cover some bits with seam sealer to stop it rusting while outside, now it is in and the Kitten is out I can tidy it up |
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ChrisT
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,670
Club RR Member Number: 225
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Dec 16, 2022 20:45:48 GMT
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Oh yes, loving the sound of this project......
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Dec 16, 2022 22:50:24 GMT
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Nice project.
Could the exhaust manifolds go forward like on a TVR ?
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1955 Austin A30
1981 Jawa Mustang
1990 Trabant 601 (Tommy)
1989 Trabant 601
2009 Jaguar XF
2012 Toyota AYGO
2018 Scomadi TL
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That really doesn't fit in there does it? Whereas a Vauxhall V6 goes in the hole without having to cut the car anywhere, and even the gearlever comes out in the right place. That's after you've drilled two 8mm holes in the MGB crossmember to use the stock Vauxhall mount. Just saying.....  |
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I scratched my head a lot on the topic of engine position and what I could change or sacrifice for it to fit. Early on I decided the exhausts - manifold, downpipes and Y pipe would remain unmodified, my reason for this is it is my only guarantee of the 287 horses, if I tried to change it I might restrict the flow.
To your question of forward, I have to get the radiator in yet and the mgb narrows a lot towards the front of the engine bay, so this would have been even more challenging, cheers for the interest.
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That really doesn't fit in there does it? Whereas a Vauxhall V6 goes in the hole without having to cut the car anywhere, and even the gearlever comes out in the right place. That's after you've drilled two 8mm holes in the MGB crossmember to use the stock Vauxhall mount. Just saying..... No, it definitely doesn't fit any which way, the gear leaver come out in the right place, but once I had been hooning around in the 350Z I knew it had to go in. Which Vauxhall V6, how many horses does it have, I did consider some alternatives but I could not beat 287BHP normally aspirated. |
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mat88
Yorkshire and The Humber
Posts: 1,542
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Dec 17, 2022 11:20:45 GMT
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Another wrong engine in a hole too small! Brilliant! Bookmarked!
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Dec 17, 2022 11:35:17 GMT
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I drove a buddies 350Z on the track a couple of times. It felt like a big heavy car ( good suspension though), but the engine and gearbox were really nice. So putting those in a lighter smaller more nimble car makes a lot of sense to me. And I love a Sebring MGB. Perfect combination, as far as I'm concerned...  |
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Dec 17, 2022 19:17:23 GMT
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I drove a buddies 350Z on the track a couple of times. It felt like a big heavy car ( good suspension though), but the engine and gearbox were really nice. So putting those in a lighter smaller more nimble car makes a lot of sense to me. And I love a Sebring MGB. Perfect combination, as far as I'm concerned... This sums it up perfect, the 350Z is about 1.6 ton or more depending on spec, which is a lot for a two seater, they handle the weight well but are still really heavy. |
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Dec 26, 2022 19:32:41 GMT
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To keep the exhaust stock to ensure that I didn't mess up the exhaust flow and shape I had to cut the chassis rails off the underneath of the floor - from the front of the inner wing to the mid floor point (for those that have not looked under an MGB GT. I chopped some box section in half that was thicker than the original material and used this for the passenger and driver side to replace in a a location further towards the sill (forgot to take a pic underneath), this then bends up under the inner front wheel arch and joins the 6mm plate that runs the length of the engine bay -  I then shaped some metal to cover the exhaust downpipe on the passenger side, welded and seam sealed -  On the driver side it is a whole host of issues, I measured the 350Z pedal box and like the engine it didn't fit, so fast forward 2 days and I have cut out and mocked up a replacement drivers bulkhead, this had to go 1 inch left towards the transmission so that the clutch travel could clear the steering column when depressed, and clear the exhaust downpipe. This is just a template at the moment but you get the idea, pedals now clear and the master cylinder clears the engine but I do not have much play either way -   Need to tidy and get some metal to clear the downpipe in the same fashion as the passenger side, the accelerator is easy as it just bolts to the bulkhead and connects to the wiring loom, fly by wire style rather than throttle cable. |
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Dec 26, 2022 19:45:05 GMT
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Very cool... |
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Dec 27, 2022 20:20:57 GMT
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1 day later and I have tacked a lid in place, the bonnet hinge falls right in between the brake and clutch pivot points so I had to split the lid between. Also the brake is higher than the clutch, the central channel for the hinge slopes towards the engine for water run off. I made it over lapping to give strength for the clutch and brake being pressed, I don't want it flexing, still to do the drivers foot-well exhaust shield tomorrow. Once I have it all sorted I will fully weld in place -  |
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Dec 28, 2022 20:28:26 GMT
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Say what you want about MGB's but I do think they got the dash binnacle right -  |
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Dec 31, 2022 22:39:05 GMT
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Steering wheel, pedals, gear leaver and handbrake now in place -  The heater assembly that I wanted to reuse was to big so I had to chop it up for parts, the heater matrix and the fan -  Fortunately due to having another project on the go (LT33 Van Camper Conversion) I had some left over UPVC and trim to make a heater box -   # Still need to make the rear and cut out the bottom for air intake |
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Love this! Following with interest!
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nice work, i loved having a VQ35 in my Elgrand (which it pulled well despite the size and weight of it)so this MG will fly! a lot of folk don't like the VQ sound etc, but i dig it.
looks like you are well on track with things already.
following.
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@ CRX_IN_SCOTLAND
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