• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.

    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

MGB My Project Car 1974 MGB Convertible

Well, I found out that it was a 74 1/2 today, oh well, it has the stuff to convert it to a dual carb, and all the smog crap has been taken off
 
If its a '74-1/2, it should have dual HIF-4's as stock from the factory!
 
I read in one of my books that it was a single stromberg, and the guy said it was too
 
nope the stromberg started in 75. I've learned never, never to doubt Tony. He can go to his museum and look under the hood
 
Its a single S/U. I got the stuff today and it looks like it can be put together easily. The interior stuff is at my friends garage, we didnt have time to unload everything. Im gonna go downstairs and stare at my beauty. Ill post pics here soon.
 
NOPE! No MGB in any of its guises ever had a single SU....if you have a single carb, you probably have a Zenith Stromberg 175 which makes your engine - at least - a '75 thru '80...what's your engine's number? &, while you're at it, what's your car's VIN?

...before you jump into this one, you need to figure out what you've got!

[ 04-10-2004: Message edited by: tony barnhill ]</p>
 
could it be an early 75 the got registered as a 74? happened
iagree.gif
 
All we need is a vIN & engine number to sort out the mystery....&, 6K original miles - gimme a break, maybe 206K!
 
The engine was rebuilt, so since the rebuild, it has 6k miles. the engine is at my friends garage, and the body is still at the shop. It has a dual intake that came with it. I just looked, and it says SU on the side of it. He could of taken a SU off the dual intake, and put it on the single. It also has a crane cams fireball XR700 ignition box, looks to be never hooked up.
 
Welcome to the site. Lots of useful info here... but Tony is right when he said... "start out by finding out just exactly what you have" Get the VIN off the car and get the engine number off the engine block and see if they are even the same years. Then get a Haynes, a Bentley, and visit Moss for parts info. After you figure out what you have in years and types then make a list of what you know you have (an inventory of parts and pieces). Then to begin with; decide where you want to end up: DO YOU WANT A SHOW CAR, DO YOU WANT A DAILY DRIVER, DO YOU WANT SOMETHING THAT JUST RUNS SO YOU CAN SEE HOW TO BUILD A CAR??? Then you will have a place to start and a result desired to work from. That will be a plan and a direction. After that the guys here can help when you are stumped or confused. How to build a car from an unknown box of parts is a little vague. But "how do I get this brake together or how do I install a tranny?" will result in serious help and good advice.
Cheers and Good luck, Steve
 
All i want out of this is a daily driver. There looks to be a few parts missing, like the shifter, but there might be a box of parts at the shop where the body is.
 
shiifters aren't hard to find, email me if you don't have one, I have some in the garage (somewhere)
 
I'm not trying to be hard - I'm trying to help...&, I'd worry about somebody's work when they put a single SU on a ZS intake! Oh, how long's that engine been sitting 'on the shelf'....they do have a 'shelf life' you know - especially if nobody's turned them & kept fresh fluids in them...oil will sour & damage metal, for example....
 
it hasnt been runnig for a year, its been turned during that time, and for poops and giggles, i turned it myself.

happy
grin.gif


[ 04-11-2004: Message edited by: 74 MGB ]</p>
 
Okay, she's at least free...no way to tell if she's got compression without getting her to turn over pretty fast - do you have a way to do that with it out of car (some of us have built stands with radiators & lawn mower gas tanks attached so we can bolt an engine downe & turn over to check compression...
...as for the car's other systems - checklist, checklist, checklist....everything's gonna need going through! That's the fun of these cars!
 
Go to it! With enough books, you will wade through it. Clausage is a real good read. 2 years isn't going to be bad for shelf life if done right. Put it in and get it fired up. If you have to pull it again for seals, there you go. Most of us started out learning at your age but with cars in one piece. No net, no books.
Good luck!
 
Well, heres the update. Got the title for it today. Its not a 74, but a 77. I figured something was up when I saw the dash.
 
Okay, a '77 is a good daily driver...in what month was it produced?
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by 74 MGB:
Well, heres the update. Got the title for it today. Its not a 74, but a 77. I figured something was up when I saw the dash.<hr></blockquote>

you are gonna have to change your signature
crazyeyes.gif
 
And with the single SU and twin manifold, you may find the other SU.
If not, remember they come in pairs, just like socks. You can't be hanging any old sock on a foot with the one you have and calling it a pair.
Seriously, someone may have been in the middle of a switch, a good thing.
 
Back
Top