Scott,
I can shed a little light on the Federal-spec MGB-GT V-8s. 2,591
UK-spec RHD MGB-GT V-8s were made between 1973 and 1976, but early in
1973, 7 cars were built with full Federal spec safety and smog
equipment. The engines were equipped with an air pump and gulp valve,
and were essentially prototype powerplants. As far as is known, three
of these cars were sent to the US for dealer comments and customer
research, but the plug was pulled on plans to market the car in the US,
and the cars were sent back to the factory after only a few months. The
factory pulled the smog engines, substituted in UK-spec engines, and
sold the cars in Europe. I do not believe that any significant effort
was made to certify the engines in the US, since the decision was never
made to bring the cars in to this country.
Interestingly, all the Federal cars still exist, and are in the hands of
owners in Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, and Germany. One of the European
owners, Tom Studer, has put together a book that gives the history and
current owners of each of the Federal cars. Another owner, Bas Gerrits,
has actually located one of the prototype Federal smog engines and is
planning to install it in his car!
None of the MGB-GT V-8s in the US are Federal-spec cars, all are UK-spec
that were brought in during the "grey market" years in the 1980s. I
have a 1974 chrome bumper version, VIN GD2D1-889G, that was brought over
here in 1984 by a guy in Colorado. A friend of mine and I are
attempting to compile a registry of all Factory V-8s in the US and
Canada, we have found 17 cars so far. There is one LHD "Factory" V-8
that is owned by Lyle York in Massachusetts, he found a pre-production
prototype LHD bodyshell in the UK and had it completed and shipped to
the US.
My car has a California BAR sticker on the door jamb that specifies the
original equipment on the engine, and provides a special computer number
for smogging the car. It will be interesting to see if that sticker is
honored when I complete my restoration next year!
Cheers,
Paul Kile
"Purveyor of more obscure MGB-GT V-8 trivia than one would care to know"
> ----------
> From: Scott Pontius[SMTP:spontius@worldnet.att.net]
> Reply To: Scott Pontius
> Sent: Thursday, August 27, 1998 9:16 PM
> To: mgb-v8@autox.team.net
> Subject: SMOG was Let the mods begin
>
> This is how the new California smog situation has been explained to
> me:
> The new law does NOT exempt any car from any smog regulations. It
> exempts
> the car from regularly scheduled compliance inspections ONLY. If you
> get
> stopped at a roadblock smog checkpoint, or get sniffed by one of the
> "electronical" exhaust sensors on the highways, and are found to have
> disabled any original equipment smog device and/or are not within the
> emission standards, you will be penalized. The law does not say that
> it is
> now OK to run a full race motor on the streets in a '73 or earlier
> car.
> Hence the problem for V8 installers: Even if you install a 1980 FI V8,
> a
> nice clean running engine, in a '73 or earlier B, you will have to run
> some
> sort of headers to make it physically fit in the engine bay. You have
> now
> changed an original equipment emission component, the exhaust
> manifolds. If
> you are ever visually inspected in some sort of random check, you will
> fail,
> unless someone goes to the trouble of getting a CARB EO number for BV8
> headers-unlikely.
> Also, according to my California Bureau of Automotive Repair engine
> change
> guide, a small pamphlet published by the California guvmint, it is
> never
> allowable to swap any engine into any car that was not originally
> available
> and certified in that chassis, either by the CARB or the US EPA. For
> example, it would apparently be okay to pull a straight six out of a
> '74
> Chevy Nova and install a '74 Chevy 305, because the '74 Chevy Nova was
> available and certified in '74 with the 305. But, does the California
> guvmint consider the MGB to have been originally available with a 3500
> cc
> V8? I doubt they have ever heard of it.
> Questions for you V8 historians: One of my reference books seems to
> indicate that 7 MGBGT V8s were brought to the US by the factory for
> smog
> certification. Did they pass? Does the US EPA still have records of
> this?
> Are these in fact the same factory V8 cars still owned here in the US?
> Factory V8 owners: Do any of you have evidence of your car ever
> having been
> registered in the state of California? If, so this might provide a
> precedent
> for the non-factory installers to show that is is a previously
> certified
> engine/chassis combo.
> Not trying to discourage any California V8 installers, just
> encouraging
> careful research and due consideration before spending lots of
> money/time.
> I personally believe that the California guvmint tries to make all of
> this
> as confusing and daunting as possible to discourage people from even
> trying.
>
> Scott Pontius
> '78 MGB (with Minnesota plates) with 3/4 plumbed and wired SD1 V8
> (totally
> stock except for headers, which have O2 and EGR ports added)
> Los Angeles (temporarily due to military orders- legal resident of the
> state
> of Minnesota)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jarl&CaroldeBoer <deboer@pacbell.net>
> To: Jim Stuart <jimbb88@erols.com>
> Cc: mgb-v8@Autox.Team.Net <mgb-v8@Autox.Team.Net>
> Date: Wednesday, August 26, 1998 6:40 PM
> Subject: Re: Let the mods begin
>
>
> >NO ...it will NOT satisfy California regs. The minimum "cleanness"
> (and
> >equipment) must be NO EARLIER than the year of the car. It may be
> newer,
> >but to bring an earlier engine into compliance is virtually
> impossible,
> >You'd need to modify it to work with the cat if it needs one, install
> an
> >air pump, engineer all other 1974 equipment needs for a California
> car,
> >and THEN have it meet the HC and CO specs for 1974. All in all a
> >daunting task. The '80 would need to have it's computer, if any, and
> >other plumbing and sensors as it would not only need them to meet
> >"sniffer" specs, but would also need to meet a visual inspection that
> >all the goodies (baddies?) the BAR list says must be on a 1980 are,
> in
> >fact, present.
> >
> >A swapped car will probably ALSO need to go to a "referee" station
> the
> >first time so that they can develop a special profile for that
> >particular swap and installation. Future inspections can be done at a
> >regular smog station. The referee inspection means extra $$$, a
> special
> >appointment, and other garbage, but I'm not sure of the specifics.
> >
> >All in all, it would be a LOT less work to trade the '74 for a '73
> and
> >avoid all the hassles, since they are now grandfathered to be exempt.
> >
> >All of the above is why I resisted furiously working on anything
> newer
> >than a 1967 during my 35+ years of repair and restoration!
> >
> >Jarl de Boer
> >
> >Jim Stuart wrote:
> >>
> >> Bill-
> >>
> >> Why not start with a Buick or Olds block, 1961-63, with your choice
> of
> >> heads & other parts? Would this satisfy CA regs?
> >>
> >> Many of us run rebuilt Buick or Olds engines, & are quite happy
> with
> >> them.
> >>
> >> Jim Stuart
>
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