If time is really your limiting factor, swapping an engine wouldn't be
the way to go. My niece's husband has done something similar with a V-8
in an MGA, and he's had to reengineer everything from the throttle and
brakes to the driveline. It won't be cheap, as the MGA driveline won't
stand up to the HP and torque. There are no straightforward axle swaps,
and you have to have a new rear axle custom fabricated. IIRC, that was a
couple $K by itself.
After you swap the engine, you have a car that's worth less than the sum
of its parts.
I don't know where you are, but $2700 sounds awfully high. Try calling a
few machine shops and see what they want to rebuild the engine. You
should probably state your assumptions explicitly because you really
won't know what needs machining until you get the engine out, apart, and
measured. I would assume: bore cylinders, new pistons, grind crank, new
bearings all around, new cam, lifters, valve job w/ hardened seats, new
oil pump. Most of these parts should be readily available, and if they
aren't, we'll know where to find them. The machine shop will reassemble
your engine for a nominal sum which would allow you to just deal with
the long block.
As for spares, you should be able to stock most of the common spares for
you car yourself, and it should cost you a couple hundred for a water
pump, hoses, and various ignition bits. Later on, you can do varios
component swaps if you can't obtain the correct generator, etc.
Hope this helps,
Dave Ambrose
ShearSAVVY1@aol.com wrote:
>
> Hi everyone,
> I'm new to the list and have a few questions for the group. I have found an
> mga 1500 which looks like a great restoration candidate. With apologies to
> all the purists, I'm thinking about trying to shimmy a Ford or Chevy V6 into
> the car. My two primary reasons are cost and performance. The current 1500
> motor is not seized, but I assume it will need a complete rebuild (car hasn't
> been on the road for almost 20 years). I haven't called that many shops, but
> the average place is asking about $2700 for the works. I'm on a med student
> budget (what business do I have starting this undertaking to begin with!?)
> and would like to be able to go to AutoZone, etc. for generic American parts
> during and down the road. From my internet searches I see that this isn't
> too uncommon a swap. What I am having difficulty with is locating in-depth
> info on the procedure - I don't want to waste time reinventing the wheel, so
> if any of you have done this (or have another suggestion) please let me know.
///
/// mgs@autox.team.net mailing list
/// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool
///
|