At 03:36 PM 8/7/2000 -0400, Jack Levy wrote:
>Sounds a little hairy... Can I swap tranny and all? .... maybe the newer
MGAs have more in common with the GT?
Not much. You're getting colder. The MGA 1600 (starting with the very
late 1500 actually) had the higher starter position and a matching
impression in the bulkhead and tunnel, so the MGB gearbox would be a
beetter fit there than on the earlier MGA. But the 4-syncro MGB tranny has
a larger bellhousing that just barely fits, and the last one I saw had the
bellhousing bolts rubbing paint off the bulkhead. The MGB tranny rear
mounts are diffferent too, and the normal mod there is to cut and weld on
the MGA frame to allow installation of the MGB crossmember. Propshafts are
different too, so you have to get the right one to go with whatever gearbox
you use. And I think the manual shift lever is in a little different
location on the mGB gearbox, so that requires a slight modification to the
tunner cover.
Now I haven't had the chance to verify this next bit (yet), but I get the
idea that one could install the late MGA tranny rear case onto the early
MGB 3-synchro tranny to get a rear mount compatible with the MGA frame.
However, the MGB 3-syncro gearbox isn't much different than the MGA gearbox
(slightly larger layshaft), so I don't know why anyone would bother trying
this trick.
Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude (and original type drivetrain)
http://www.ntsource.com/~barneymg
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