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MG MGA - MGB engine conversion

I am told that the early B engines are an easy swap into the A. I have the opertunity to pick up a 67 B fairly cheep. Is this engine early enough and dies it have the banjo type rear end in it?
GK George

Much information in the archives on this subject. Also on the mga guru site, http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/power/pp201.htm for example.

The earlier the MGB engine, the easier it is to swap. Three bearing engines with 18G or 18GA are pretty much a direct bolt in swap. These were used in '63 and '64 MGBs. The '67 you mentioned would've originally had one of the early five bearing 18GB engines. Still a fairly straight forward swap, but this engine does not have a mechanical tachometer drive, so you'd have to switch your car to use an electronic tach.

If your MGA is a 1500 with the low mount starter, you'll also have to swap the rear engine plate with an appropriate 1500 plate when using any of these MGB engines. For the five bearing engine in a 1500, you'd also need to have the rear plate machined to accept an MGB rear oil seal. Later MGB engines can also be put into an MGA but may require changing the front plate as well to accomodate the correct type of engine mounts.

The caveat to all of this is to check which engine is actually in the car you're looking at because over the years engines have been swapped and that car may not still have it's original engine.

As for the rear end, yes a '67 MGB would have a banjo rear end...again assuming the original part is still in the car.
Andy Bounsall

GK


If it's an mgb roadster it will have the banjo axle, similar to the MGA, with the 3.9 diff. If it's a Coupe it will have the semi-floating axle.

The 3.9 pumpkin on the roadster is a sort after item and would fetch a good price on its own.

Steve

Steve Gyles

As Andy says, there is lots of information out there; I had lots of advice and help. I had my 1500 rear plate modified as Andy describes; the front plate on my 5-main 1800 was fine. I also changed the pilot bushing in the crank, and used an early MGB front cover and clutch fork on my 1500 transmission, with a "B" flywheel and pressure plate and an "A" clutch disc. I also had to grind a small lump of cast iron off the side of the "B" block that prevented my low mount starter from lining up and bolting in place.

Ken
k v morton

This thread was discussed between 02/08/2010 and 03/08/2010

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