Story by John Webber, Photography by the Author
Let’s say you have a perfectly good Tremec T-5 transmission gathering dust in your garage, and you’re wondering what to do with it. For many gearheads, selling the thing on eBay might come to mind, or maybe hauling it to a swap meet for a…
Looks perfect.
Both your links take us to a 404 page unfound though.
Also the annoying subscribe pop up is back even on my desktop after the 404 link, it never went away on my phone though.
In reply to Adrian_Thompson :
Link works now. Maybe clear your browser history. Then
This will reload where your webpages point and may fix bad links.
Cool project. That's about the prettiest MGB I've ever seen.
Very well done! Maybe one day we can put your MGZ up against my Ecotec Spitfire! I'm a little behind though...
I really like the look of those steel wheels. Are they stock wheels from a TR6 or aftermarket something?
2nd on the wheels. I would like these for my 1960 MGA Coupe. If someone get's the info on these I'm up for a set.
David
Very likely tr6 wheels. Direct bolt on and 15 inches instead of 14.
I got two sets (8 wheels total) at a swap meet for $80 or something a year or two back. With the intention of using them on my mgbgt.
In reply to Robbie :
If you want to unload a set, they would fit nicely on my TR4.
They are about 14 years late to the game. Same conversion was done in a Datsun 1600 in 2005.
There are still photos of it on BAT from when it sold in 2008.
https://bringatrailer.com/2014/04/13/fordcaterham-powered-1967-datsun-roadster/
Very cool MGB. A neighbor of mine had one when I was a kid and I always thought it was one of the coolest little cars.
Thanks for the comments. Its a great car to drive.
The engine setback was a coin toss - do we cut the crossmember or cut the heater shelf? The heater lost because I was feeling lazy that day, it was easier, and this is Florida. Who needs a heater? It actually helped put the shifter in the stock location.
We put the car on race scales and it came in at 2050 lbs, IIRC, and about 51/49 F/R, but that was without the top installed that day. Probably would have been very close to 50/50 with that extra 30lbs behind the driver. Overall we lost over 200lbs by ditching a lot of rubber bumper stuff and that anvil of an engine/transmission.
50/50 is a good target but just getting 100lbs total off the nose and tail did more. Polar moment of intertia, and all.
Not TR6 wheels - they're Nissan Sentra 15x6. We cut the welds and relocated the centers to get the proper offset for an MGB.
Dan, I'd love to see more on the Ecotec Spit!
Jack
I'm going to put a Zetec in the back of my Renault, so seeing other Zetec swaps always gets me motivated. Especially when they look that good.
I've posted this before. Awesome, but about $400usd before shipping, but it would look awesome on the B
In reply to jr02518 :
Like those wheels also.Wonder if they make them in 13''??
In reply to Adrian_Thompson :
Love the BDA cam cover...
Hey Six, what else did you need beyond the TC 2.3 T5 to make the transmission actually work with the Zetec?
In reply to John Brown (Forum Supporter) :
Usually it's just a quads4rods bell housing
I got this one to adapt a zetec to a gm bellhousing.
GM used very few patterns compared to everybody else.
So it would open several transmissions for use, like older camaros, S10's, Firebirds, lots of Turbo 350s if you want a slushbox.
Search for OMC 912490
Edit -- And I figured that out by reading all you build threads here and over on the other site. Really cool and nice build!
I like to see engine swaps a bit outside the normal box like this. The much more common candidates are Rover V8s and GM V6s, with a smattering of Miatas etc. (I rather like the Honda S2000 swaps!).
A message back the posters of last year who asked about the 15" steel wheels - a caveat - I ripped the centres right out of a couple of those on my MGA race car. The minute you put any really sticky rubber on them, they become suspect. Alloy is a better way to go.
If you want to use a T5, I suggest looking at the ID tag decoder on britishV8.org ( http://www.britishv8.org/Articles/Borg-Warner-T5-ID-Tags.htm). Your best bet is to get one out of a V6 or four-cylinder Camaro, Firebird, or S10 as these have the correct pilot diameter on the input shaft, and better gearing than a V8 box for the Zetec
You still have to figure out a bellhousing, though, I believe quads4rods is out of business, and people who have tried the OMC adapter tell me if it is not a plug and play solution, but I don't know that for personal fact. I have one of these if someone is interested, I was going to convert my Focus to RWD, but I think I'm going to go mid-engine with the stock MTX75.
Another option that has come out among the Zetec swap crowd is to use the manual out of an RX8, there is a guy in England who is making an adapter to bolt it up to the Zetec, and at a very affordable price. Here is the link. https://www.rx8gearboxadapters.com/product-page/ford-zetec-1-8l-2-0l-kit-car-zetec-starter-motor
The RX8 transmissions are quite affordable, too.
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