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MG MGB Technical - 75>67 Conversion

I am all about keeping our cars in the proper era, but I have a 75-B and a 67 parts car and I have never liked rubber. Will most everything pretty-much bolt up if I do the conversion. I would be using 67-Instrument panel and cleaning out all 75 Stuff from under the hood, converting to wires etc. I will leave the motor,trans & rear as is. I will probably fill side parking light holes and I was wondering what the two threaded holes are, where the top fits/hooks behind each seat in the space forward of the trunk lid, that flat part where you sit your coffee. Any thoughts helpful and I will be selling all non-used 75 parts. I stole car,3-trans,2-motors,3-windshields,8-wires,car w/little rust and busted hood-latch section, and lots of extras for $500. Just one of those good days, had I gotten there sooner, I would have gotten the 72-BGT before it went to the shreader, from what I understand was in good shape.
Thanks
Steve C.
Steve C

Hi Steve

You'll have to do some welding on the '75 body:

1. Installing the little boat hulls under the tail lights. These were recently still available from VB. They were removed to make room for the rubber bumpers.

2. No doubt your '67 parts car will have a decent cowl section (piece running from dashboard forward, under the windscreen to the edge of the bonnet. You'll need this for your '75 as the cowl section was shortened (front to back) to accommodate the pillow dashes beginning 1968.

3. Your '75 front wings have cut-outs to mount the parking lights, and these will show when you go to chrome bumpers. So you'll have to weld in front wing pieces, or replace the wings altogether.

There are other differences: the '75 bulkhead is shaped differently to accommodate the V8, the motor mounts are different, the steering pinion is routed differently. I think there's a difference also in the inner wings - having to do with accommodating the steering crossmember on these higher ride-height cars.

Of course there is the matter of the steel vs aluminum bonnet too, but if you have an extra $1000 lying about, that's no problem to fix. You may want to forgo it as nobody will notice unless they open it, and you don't want them doing that as it will reveal the differences in the engine bay. Also, the bonnet and boot stays are different.

The tail lamps are different, and I don't think it's simply a matter of swapping lenses. The lamps themselves are constructed differently. The seats are different, as are the steering columns. The steering column business could be a real can of worms. You want a '67 steering wheel - that could necessitate a '67-era steering column - which could necessitate a '67 era steering rack. Does this require a chrome-bumper steering crossmember (fortunately, you have one)? Does that mean changing the engine mounts back? There are guys who have done this - who can answer these questions better than I. I'm just imagining the worst-case scenario.

The transmission tunnel on your '75 is wider, and the gear lever is further back. No big deal that anyone but a fanatic will notice, but don't buy a '67 carpet kit for it, expecting it to fit.

If you want a '75 that looks like a 1967 20-footer, it can be done, but if you want it to stand up to concours scrutiny, it would be easier to just look for a good '67. On the other hand, it would be comparatively easy to make a good '73 replica out of it. And what's more, the '75 is a pretty good V8 candidate - just move the radiator mounts forward. The factory did the rest of that work.

Which car has the two threaded holes on the rear deck?
They were for seat-belt shoulder harnesses, but I thought they came after the '67 and were gone before the '75.

FWIW,
Allen


Allen Bachelder

This thread was discussed on 12/01/2008

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