At 8:11 PM 3/29/95 +0000, Bert Ljungstrom wrote:
> Allen Bachelder writes,
> Anyway, the idea of putting a B18 in the My MGB (the BB) is a
>rather intriguing. Does anyone know how similar they are? Is it
>possible, plausible, inasane?
Putting a B18 into an MGB would be a mistake.
Putting a B20E into an MGB, on the other hand...
The difference is about 50 bhp. Our family car is a 1963 Volvo 122S
with its original B18D motor, rated at 85 bhp. A nice enough car,
and capable of decent highway speed on its very tall tires. But
contrary to popular opinion, it *can* outdrag a Mercedes diesel
off the line. Just barely.
The 14xE of 1971, however, was made (that year only) with the
B20E engine, rated at 135 bhp. It used a 10:1 head and larger
valves, plus it has fuel injection ports cast directly into the
intake tract on the head itself. This car is fairly popular with
ITB racers, who lighten as much as they think they can get
away with and have a very, very durable tank for the track.
For added grins, you could run HS6 carbs with appropriate needles
and have the thing look *almost* like an MGB under the hood.
Though with four intake ports, it's almost overwhelming to want
to put on a pair of 45DCOEs...
I can say from personal experience that 135 bhp in an MGB makes
for a very entertaining car to drive. 135 bhp with factory reliability
and 200k+ miles between ring jobs might be even more entertaining.
For the rest of the conversion, you'd probably want the M41O
transmission -- that's the Volvo all-synchro with overdrive. It's
generally assumed to be an easier swap if you use the trans that
came with the motor, for the simple reason that it's easier to
fabricate tranny mountings than bellhousings. (Other interesting
technical points about the B18/B20 motors is that they use a cam
gear, not a timing chain; the stock units are made of fibre, while
there are high-performance metal ones still available.)
And as long as you're at it, the rear end of the early Volvos is
pretty trick, too, with four trailing links, coil springs, tube shocks,
and a Panhard rod, even as early as our '63. And there was a 4.55:1
rear end ratio available, though I don't know how many were made.
That *would* be a fun car, though finding the right places to bolt
in the Volvo axle would be a lot of work; you'd probably be better
off using a proprietary coil-over conversion from somebody who
provides them for SCCA E Production racers. Huffaker Engineering
in Sonoma (707-555-1212 will get you their number) should know.
Would I do it? Not a chance, but I've already invested too much
time, money, love and friendship in my hot-rod B Series motor
to swap it for anything. (If I *were* going to swap it, I'd put in
either a 3.5L V8 or a seriously pumped 13B, but then I'm nuts.)
--
Scott Fisher
fisher@avistar.com SEFisher@AOL.com
|