In a message dated 03/07/01 11:14:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
owner-mgs-digest@autox.team.net writes:
> An MGB engine in an MGA? No problem. Ribcase
> >transmission in an early Midget?Why not-along with a 1275 instead of
> >the 948that used to spit out its bearings with wallet-numbing regularity.
>
> I'm not sure I understand, Bill. Do you or don't you?
> It seems like you're saying that you would allow an 1800 in an MGA, or a
> 1275 in a bugeye, or for that matter, an overdrive transmission in a car
> that didn't come with one (which is where this started).
>
> Am I understanding you correctly? Or was there intended sarcasm when you
> say that an MGB motor in an MGA was "no problem"?
>
Matt - I was just indicating things that I could stomach and had seen. If
someone doesn't have his Twincam engine running and wants to drive the car,
and so puts in an MGB engine, it doesn't keep me up nights.
If a Bugeye owner gets tired of changing bearings and replacing inherently
weak transmissions as the break, that doesn't bother me much either if he
uses a better engine from the later Spridget models.
Personally, I use a 3 main MGB engine in my street Mk 2 Deluxe coupe, because
it makes it a better touring car. Would I put a Mazda engine or Toyota
transmission in it? No.
I was simply indicating where I drew specific lines, not justifying those
decisions.
There was an odd beast offered a few years ago - based on an MGA frame with a
Toyota (I think) drivetrain. You could recognise it because it had a
synthetic plastic body fashioned after the MGA coupe, but done as a roadster,
which gave it a decidedly unusual aspect - looked liek a coupe with the top
chopped off.. The only thing original was the frame (the suspension was later
MGB).
Perhaps we can agree that that particular parts assemblage represents
automotive miscegenation of the first order, and thus establish a common
terminus ante quam, and then work backwards to the clearly different points
at which we would consider modifications to be no longer unacceptable.
Bill
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