Well, its late, 12:30, its been a pretty good week. Things are coming
together on the new project, a completely counterfeit 1978 V8 Roadster
becoming a 1967. The A/C fits, the engine bay is clean enough to paint,
& I think I have finally decided on a color for the car, dark British
Racing Green. I have resisted this color for years as over done, but I
already have a dark blue GT, so....
I stopped at my local LBC repair & parts shop for a few things, & on a
whim, pulled the records on my first V8 conversion. They did the basics,
it was their first conversion as well. The date was 1986. I have now had
a MGV8 conversion as my daily driver for 14 years. For most of that
time, a V8 has been my only car, for a few years, I have had 2 V8's to
drive, a roadster & a GT. I finally sold my first V8 last summer &
started on a new one, this time at a leisurely pace, not the 27 day
thrash while working full time, that was the GT conversion.
I can not tell you how much fun I have had driving these cars. My round
trip to work is 58 miles. That is over 200,000 miles, just to work, & I
will drive anywhere at a drop of a hat. I figure I have over 400,000
miles on those cars, & have only been towed 3 times. I have needed a
jump a few times. Not a bad record for dependability. I live in
Maryland, so some of these miles are in the snow. I have never missed a
day of work because the car was stuck or couldn't get through the white
stuff. These are cars with big tires, lowered ride height, & big
spoilers.
I got a loud honk & a big wave from a young guy & his girl (wife?) in a
late model BMW yesterday. I may have to re-think my opinion of BMW
drivers. If I had a dollar for every time someone stopped me in a
parking lot or gas station asking if "they" really put a V8 in MG's, or
wanted to tell me about the MG they used to have.....Last summer, a guy
chased me down in a late model 5.0 Mustang to look at my GT. His 'Stang
was a work of art under the hood, & I was amazed that the owner of such
a high tech high performance car would be interested in an old MG. V8
Magic. Those of you who have V8's on the road can tell the same stories,
I know.
We seem to have become a loose sort of fraternity, thanks to Kurt & the
V8 newsletter, & the miracle of the internet. The amount of information
& help is truly amazing. When I did the first conversion, all we had was
a reprint of the Hot Rod article, a copy of a pamphlet on converting a
MG, author/source unknown, and some helpful info from Glenn Towery, who
had done 2 or 3 conversions at that point. What a difference now! We
invented almost everything we could not copy from the scant info
available about Factory V8's. What we didn't know was legend. When we
started, we didn't have a clue as to what transmission would work.
Anyway, I wish all of you as much fun & good times as I have had with
this hobby, & may you meet & make as many friends as I have.
Jim Stuart
O.F.
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