Body
Body Modifications I changed a few things on the 1980 body I used for my conversion. First I had to change the way the rear suspension/rear end mounted to the body. I cut away the battery box and the bump stops to give room for the greater articulating axles. I had to cut the holes for the RV8 headers to exit into the wheel wells, and I hammered on the fire wall on the drivers side to give room for the rear of the engine. I had to beat on the top of the transmission tunnel so the T5 would fit. I also wanted to change The way the car looked, so I reshaped the rear wheel wells and added some ground effects to hide the exhaust system. I didn't add much to the frame to stiffen it anymore than it already was except for a stiffening rod behind the transmission.
Chrome bumper Conversion I just don't like the rubber bumpers that were forced on to the late MGB's, so I decided to do something about it. The conversion was really not that difficult. I cut the top part of the front bumper mounts off using a reciprocating saw. Next I ground the rough welds around the grill and cleaned the grill deck. I used early model park/turn lamps and molded the fender with fiberglass to accept them. I used stock chrome bumper mounts and welded the mount to the frame rails after installing the bumper. The rear was real easy once I made the tail lamp finishers. I used fiberglass and resin to make the finishers. To mount the rear bumper I just drilled two holes in the rear valence and used spacers with 3/8 inch bolts to secure it to the car.
Paint; color I used Dupont Imron to paint my car. Imron is a strong one sage paint used in the commercial and aerospace industry. In most cases I have seen it to last around twenty years if taken care of. The color I used is called Antique Silver 44488X.
Air dam Made of ABS plastic to Special Tuning specification. I cut two four inch holes for the Hella fog lights.
Hood I Just used a new stock hood and cut the middle cross member out so the top radiator hose would not be pinched.
Doors The doors are stock but I omitted the door handles and locks. I just thought it would look neat with out them. The drivers door has an automatic door pop that is operated via remote.
Ground Effects I designed the ground effects to cover the exhaust that was hanging down on both sides of my car. I used, Don't laugh, Vinyl siding used for finishing off screened in porches. I bought two strips from Lowe's and cut it to fit. The siding has two parts. One is a backing that is screwed to a stud in real life, but was attached to the car with aluminum angles. Then there is a finisher price that pops in over the screen and covers all the bolts. It hides the exhaust completely and looks nice too. I haven't had a problem with it rubbing the ground yet.... But if it does I can just go back to Lowe's and get another one for $15.
Mirrors Made buy CIPA and are called PWC Sport II mirrors part# CIPA 11160 for black, 11161 for white. These mirrors are sold separately for $25 each. CIPA's customer service number: 800-872-2472 customerservice@cipausa.com
Lights The
headlights are made buy some Japanese company. I would tell you who, but I
can't read Japanese. The fog lights are made buy
and are called
Angel eyes. They have a white LED hallow around the fog that glows like
the BMW's have. I replaced the original sockets on the Lucas hardware to
newer style flat bulbs for reliability. The side turn signals are from a
new Mini Copper. The tail lights are the European early style and I used
LED bulbs for turn and park/brake lights. These LED lights are no
brighter, but they sure do look neat. I
installed a third brake light (from a 2002 Mini Copper) at the top of the truck
lid that is tilted slightly upward to increase visibility.
Glass New tinted glass.
Roll bar From the beginning I wanted a roll bar. One of my previous MGBs had a roll bar in it and I thought it was more of a nuisance than anything. My main problem with it was I couldn't see out the rear view mirror. I liked the roll bars that were in modern sports cars, so I decided to make one fit. I found that the Miata "style bar" was the closes thing I could find. I used a chromed Frenzy style bar and cut the ends off that originally mounted it to the Miata. I them mad a frame out of 2" 1/8" wall square tubing and welded it to the frame for the bar to mount to. I then drilled four holes through both the roll bar and the frame and secured the two parts together. I covered the frame in carpet and installed a finisher board across the front where the speakers mounted. I mounted the seatbelts to this frame as well, which makes the interior much more ergonomic.
Seats The seats, for now are stock Miata with speakers in the head rests. I do plan to reupholster the seats in the near future in leather.
Top I wanted something away from the norm when it came to the top. I liked the way the RV8 looked with no side windows, so I looked for a company that made the RV8 top for an MGB. The company was Prestige Auto Trim in England. Not only did they have the RV8 top for the MGB, it has a headliner! Prestige sells the top to order and I could have had any color I wanted. Being the daring person that I am I picked black Mohair. This top is luxury all the way. It reduced the wind noise considerably and makes my car look even better than the guys with the new Z4s and S2000s.
What I tried, and then after it was too late, decided not to do.
The Hood At first I was wanting to leave my Rover fuel injection plenum original and modify the hood. I was going to be a fairly easy procedure, or so I thought. I had the original hood to my donor MGB, which was in very bad shape, and I used it to find where the bulge should go. Then I took another hood, that I had in stock and started on the bulge. I decided to cut all but the back of the hood where the bulge would be and build the sides up with fiberglass. Once I had pored the first stage I decided it looked very bad and would take lots of work to look decent and then it would crack. So I scraped it and bought a new hood and modified my engine, which took allot less time.
Mini Copper tail light conversion The other hair-brained Idea I had was to change the original, Very nice looking B tail lights for a set of 2002 Mini Copper ones that I had. I went as far as to cut the back of my B off and then decided that the whole thing was dumb and I had to weld it all back together again.
