Hey - did you know if you click on the title of a thread it will take you to the first unread post since you last visited that thread?
but were afraid to ask: 
STOP!! Never post your email address in open forums. Bots can "harvest" your email! If you must share your email use a Private Message or use the 
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Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
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(pops head up)what, did someone say right hand drive... where, where... :grin:
Looking good, Mickey.
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General MG New Project
- Thread starter Mickey Richaud
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(pops head up)what, did someone say right hand drive... where, where... :grin:
Looking good, Mickey.
OP
Online
Had a surprise today: Painter called and said come get the body tub! Wasn't quite ready for it, but still glad to get it. Pictures don't do it justice, as it was overcast. The sun was uncooperative, but here are a couple of pictures. Color me stoked!!
Hope to install the engine and transmission next day or so...
Hope to install the engine and transmission next day or so...
OP
Online
Yeah, it'll be a while before it's completely cured.
OP
Online
Thanks, Drew!
Wondered if you'd remember it...
The painter's shop is less than a mile from there, so Jim suggested we bring the frame over and install the engine/transmission and the body there to avoid damaging the paint in transit. I'm anxious to get the drivetrain in so I can bring it back home and get cracking on all the details.
OP
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Engine/transmission and gas tank are in!
OP
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Yeah, these guys make up what a car club should be.
AngliaGT
Great Pumpkin
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Yes I did - but seems that I have a hard time with anyone willing
to meet up with me.
Maybe that will change when we get a house.
OP
Online
Ran into a snag this week: I installed new u-joints on the driveshaft, and when I went to install it, found that it is about 3/4-1" too long; will have to move the engine and transmission forward. DANG!!
OK, a little background: The Victor was designed to accept all MGB running gear - engine, transmission, driveshaft, and rear end. The frame is proprietary, and engine mount "towers" and rear end shackles are welded in place from the factory. The transmission crossmember with its fixed mounting points bolts in place similar to the MGB design. Standard MGB motor and transmission mounts are used. I'm using an engine from a '69 MGB, and an overdrive transmission. The driveshafts for that year are the same, regardless of whether overdrive or standard four-speed is used. So, everything is supposed to bolt up without alteration.
But something is definitely not right. Plus, I had to slide the body back on the frame about a half-inch in order for the firewall to clear the upper bolts on the rear engine plate. That made it that much proud of the slanted upright mounting points where the firewall bolted to the frame, and I was going to have to fashion some sort of pad to make up that slack. (You can see what I mean in the pictures in post #62 above, where the body is just sitting on the frame before bolting it down.)
Nowhere in the instruction manual that came with the kit does it address any of this, so one would have to assume that all mounting points would be proper. The only variable in the equation would be the spot where holes are drilled through the side rails of the frame to accept the transmission crossmember, and the previous owner had done that. The rear axle's location is determined by the leaf springs, whose mounting points are preset, so that can't be changed. Besides, that would alter the wheelbase and place the rear wheels too far back.
So now we're going to have to relocate the transmission crossmember about an inch forward, and likewise move the engine mounting points an inch as well. That will solve the clearance issue with the firewall, as well as allow for installing the driveshaft. Re-drilling holes in the side rails is not a problem, but the engine mounting points present a problem, as there's no more metal to allow moving the mounts forward, as you can see in the same pictures above. So, we're going to have to weld some heavy plate and gussets on to the front of the mounting brackets to give us enough room to push it all forward. The only other option would be to shorten the driveshaft, but that wouldn't solve the issue of the gap between the firewall and the frame uprights.
Will also have to use a shorter water pump for clearance to the radiator. (Anyone need a new water pump for an 18 GB-GK engine?)
Boy, we're having fun now!
OK, a little background: The Victor was designed to accept all MGB running gear - engine, transmission, driveshaft, and rear end. The frame is proprietary, and engine mount "towers" and rear end shackles are welded in place from the factory. The transmission crossmember with its fixed mounting points bolts in place similar to the MGB design. Standard MGB motor and transmission mounts are used. I'm using an engine from a '69 MGB, and an overdrive transmission. The driveshafts for that year are the same, regardless of whether overdrive or standard four-speed is used. So, everything is supposed to bolt up without alteration.
But something is definitely not right. Plus, I had to slide the body back on the frame about a half-inch in order for the firewall to clear the upper bolts on the rear engine plate. That made it that much proud of the slanted upright mounting points where the firewall bolted to the frame, and I was going to have to fashion some sort of pad to make up that slack. (You can see what I mean in the pictures in post #62 above, where the body is just sitting on the frame before bolting it down.)
Nowhere in the instruction manual that came with the kit does it address any of this, so one would have to assume that all mounting points would be proper. The only variable in the equation would be the spot where holes are drilled through the side rails of the frame to accept the transmission crossmember, and the previous owner had done that. The rear axle's location is determined by the leaf springs, whose mounting points are preset, so that can't be changed. Besides, that would alter the wheelbase and place the rear wheels too far back.
So now we're going to have to relocate the transmission crossmember about an inch forward, and likewise move the engine mounting points an inch as well. That will solve the clearance issue with the firewall, as well as allow for installing the driveshaft. Re-drilling holes in the side rails is not a problem, but the engine mounting points present a problem, as there's no more metal to allow moving the mounts forward, as you can see in the same pictures above. So, we're going to have to weld some heavy plate and gussets on to the front of the mounting brackets to give us enough room to push it all forward. The only other option would be to shorten the driveshaft, but that wouldn't solve the issue of the gap between the firewall and the frame uprights.
Will also have to use a shorter water pump for clearance to the radiator. (Anyone need a new water pump for an 18 GB-GK engine?)
Boy, we're having fun now!
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You're about eighteen gazillion levels above my knowledge, but what does the kit manufacturer say about this?
If you're using standard MGB drivetrain setup, it should fit. (Right?) That's a heck of a lot of extra work for you, if the kit maker told you it would work, but it doesn't.
Hang in there.
If you're using standard MGB drivetrain setup, it should fit. (Right?) That's a heck of a lot of extra work for you, if the kit maker told you it would work, but it doesn't.
Hang in there.
OP
Online
Victor is long out of business; they only made 30 or so kits, as the market just wasn't there for them. The cars were actually quite well done, so this one's a head-scratcher for sure. Just part of the kit car ~mystique~, I reckon. And it's really not that much more work; an annoyance, yes.
OP
Online
Tried to, but I don't think I can change without going to each post individually and changing them.
Today we were able to modify the brackets that bolt to the sides of the engine by welding a one-inch extension to the rear of each one. The transmission crossmember will only require the drilling of a few holes to relocate. Tomorrow we're going to line it all up and see whether it's going to work. Should be pretty straightforward...
OP
Online
New Project - Victor TF
Originally Posted by NutmegCT 
hmmm - I must have been sleeping again. Did you change the topic to "Victor TF"?
Tried to, but I don't think I can change without going to each post individually and changing them.
Today we were able to modify the brackets that bolt to the sides of the engine by welding a one-inch extension to the rear of each one. The transmission crossmember will only require the drilling of a few holes to relocate. Tomorrow we're going to line it all up and see whether it's going to work. Should be pretty straightforward...
hmmm - I must have been sleeping again. Did you change the topic to "Victor TF"?
Tried to, but I don't think I can change without going to each post individually and changing them.
Today we were able to modify the brackets that bolt to the sides of the engine by welding a one-inch extension to the rear of each one. The transmission crossmember will only require the drilling of a few holes to relocate. Tomorrow we're going to line it all up and see whether it's going to work. Should be pretty straightforward...