I don't know where my love of little british cars started but as soon as I saw a MGB GT I knew that was the car to get. My wife surprised me for my 30th birthday a few years ago locating this car to which we bought.
Vehicle was in rough shape but it did run and transmission found all the gears. Suspension was shot, brake line ruptured just before the test drive, a bunch of the electronics didnt work, etc.
After tinkering for a few weeks I realized that if I restored it to factory it wouldn't be what I was after. I am a fan of vintage Trans Am cars and that style so I decided why not start an adventure of swapping this to an LS and a 5 speed. Many months of research got me a gameplan together, tracked down a motor and transmission, and went to town gutting the car.
It has been a very slow journey so far, we had just moved into our house when I got the car, a few job changes and life events stalled the project like usual, I don't have a ton of tools but am collecting them as I go, and learning a ton!
Follow along as I try and navigate building a car!
Vehicle: 1970 MGB GT
Engine: 5.3 L33 LS
Transmission: Aisin AR5
Front End: CCE 5 lug hub kit with big brakes, stainless lines, mounts, etc
Rear End: Ford 8.8 narrowed ideally with LSD
Wheels/Tries: No idea yet
Body: Sebring style kit for wide flares and extra tire room
EDIT: Added more pictures that didnt upload on mobile!
The day I brought it home:
Peeled away all the carpet, trim panels and sound insulation to reveal a lot of surface rust, luckily structure is still solid. Not pictured is me cleaning that and priming it for now, may replace both floor pans eventually.
One word: Mice
Engine looking clean for 270,000 miles! I got very lucky with what appears to be a very well maintained engine. $250 for this and $250 for the transmission.
3d scanned the motor with my phone and plopped it in there roughly via AR. I am not keeping the heater so I plan on making a LOT of cuts to the firewall to get the engine/trans back as far as comfortable.
Driver side junk
