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The Silver Bullet: Paul Schils' 1971 MGB with Ford 302 V8 Engine

Owner: Paul Schils
City: Fredonia, WI
Model: 1971 MGB
Engine: Ford 302 V8
Conversion by: owner.

Engine Installation

Ford 5.0 H.O., updated with "AFR 185" aluminum cylinder heads (2.02" intake, 1.90" exhaust.)


Ford offered "High Output" versions of their 5.0L V8 engine from 1982 through 1993. Specifications
varied widely over that era. Ford initially used a new thin-wall engine block that weighed only 120#,
cast pistons, two barrel carburetors and a compression ratio of only 8.4:1 to produce a claimed 157hp.
1983 and 1984 engines came with a four barrel intake manifold and carburetor; they were rated 175hp.
For 1985, the High Output engine variant got improved cylinder heads, roller rockers, forged pistons,
and tubular exhaust manifolds; they were rated 210hp. From 1986, the High Output variant included
fuel injection. Various other changes were made and rated horsepower ultimately grew to ~235hp.


This Northern aftermarket aluminum radiator was built for a 1965-66 Mustang.


Lincoln 1" master cylinder. Late model pedal box. Summit Racing adjustable brake bias valve.
(Between the bias valve and the firewall you can just see a solenoid operated line lock.)


Summit Racing drop-base air cleaner (SUM-239433), modified for choke clearance.


Fast Cars "RV8-style" (through the fender apron) four-into-one headers.


CSR billet aluminum mechanical fuel pump block-off plate.


Oil pressure gauge connection.


Aluminum fan shroud and Spal electric cooling fan.


Recirculation shields keep air from bypassing the radiator core.


Ford distributor with Pertronix Ignitor breakerless module. Pertronix FlameThrower II ignition coil.


Edelbrock 1404 500cfm carburetor with electric choke. A phenolic spacer helps keep the float bowls cool.


AutoGauge fuel pressure gauge.


Facet cylindrical electric fuel pump (FEP 87sv).


Relocated fuel filler tube.

Interior

Mazda Miata seats with Mr Mike's upholstery.


Simpson 3"-wide latch-and-link seat belts.


LeCarra wood-rimmed steering wheel.


Stripped, filled, and painted "Abingdon pillow" dashboard. Custom fabricated center console.


The Advance Auto-Wire wiring system features a modernized fuse and relay block.

Exterior

Huffaker fiberglass fender flares. (See below of detailed installation photos!)


Fiberglass "Special Tuning" air dam.


BritishV8 2008 meet attendees will recognize Mary's lovely garden.


Tinted racing stripes.


Shaved front marker lights.


Frenched license plate.


Recessed ATL fuel cap (moved from rear of car to the right quarter-fender).


EZ Softtops three-window convertible top, made from Haartz Stayfast canvas cloth.


Haartz Stayfast is a canvas that is tightly woven from solution-dyed yarn for uniform color throughout.


The convertible top folds down flat, and stows behind the seats under a zippered cover.


Just one glance at these wheels and any "car guy" should know this MG has a Ford engine!


Ford Mustang GT V6 aluminum wheels (16x7, 5x4.5" lug pattern, offered 2005-2008).


Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 tires (205/50R16, 24.1" O.D.)

How It Was Done

Slam panel removed, and radiator shelf cut for relocation of the radiator.


Firewall and transmission tunnel cuts.


Measuring to see how much modification of the front crossmember will be required.


With the front crossmember sectioned, the engine is again test-fitted. Once the engine fits
neatly, the necessary location of motor brackets on the chassis can be determined.


Prototype motor mounting brackets can be helpful at this stage.


With the engine temporarily bolted down and the intake manifold and carburetor in place,
clearance to the bonnet may be verified, and final motor mounts can be precisely located.


Here you can see the final motor brackets and get a good feel for how far back they're mounted.


In this view, you can better see the installed height of the motor brackets.


Borg-Warner T5 transmission from an '84 Ford Mustang 5.0 (so, it's the earlier "non-World Class" version).
This photo shows its Hurst short throw shifter, with Ford Mustang lever.


CNC clutch slave cylinder. Notice its very stiff mounting bracket.


Custom fabricated transmission mounting bracket.


Completed modification of the front crossmember, as viewed from the front.


Completed modification of the front crossmember, as viewed from the rear.


With engine and transmission clearance verified, its time to start closing up holes in the sheetmetal.
Here, the reinforcement under the radiator shelf is boxed back in.


Piece by piece, the firewall is rebuilt with new sheet metal.


Here you can see the driver's side, where a hole will be cut for the steering shaft to come through.


Corresponding modifications, viewed from the interior of the footbox.


The next step is to make provisions for Fast Cars through-the-fender headers.


Cut-outs in the inner fenders need to be fairly large if the headers will be easily serviceable later
(i.e. removeable without lifting the engine.) Easily removeable shields reduce the hole size.


Below the headers, Paul has sectioned the aprons and spliced back in custom-contoured new metal.


With fabrication completed, its time for a tough coat of epoxy primer.


Passenger side inner wing.


Driver side inner wing.

Many test fittings of the engine are required...


Here the steering column is trial fitted, and the steering universal joints are checked out too.


Note that the headers haven't been ceramic coated yet. It's better that way, since they'd surely
be scuffed up if they had been. Note also the clearance between cylinder head and heater shelf.


Looking up from underneath the completed car, you can better see the vibration dampening
upper steering universal joint of the double-jointed steering shaft.


Clearance between the engine's front oil sump and the modified MGB front crossmember.


Spatial relationship of the engine's harmonic balancer and the steering rack.


Modified MGB slam panel to suit the relocated radiator.


Ford Motorsport short nose water pump.


Clearance between the crankshaft pulley and the electric cooling fan.


Protective structure around the new radiator, and remote oil filter installation.


Finished radiator protection.


Moss Motors adjustable anti-sway bar.


(The sway bar is tubular, and relatively lightweight.)


Test fitting the new Special Tuning fiberglass air dam.


Airflow Research "AFR 185" aluminum cylinder heads (2.02" intake, 1.90" exhaust.)


Ford dual-sump oil pan from a 1984 Mustang.


Ford Racing harmonic balancer (M-6316-M50) with timing tape.


Scorpion roller rockers.


1984 Mustang bellhousing.


Classic Conversions Engineering big brake and 5-lug hub conversion kits.


X-pipe and dual Magnaflow mufflers.


Ford 8.8 rear axle, narrowed to suit the MGB.


Paul initially installed the axle on MGB leaf springs, but later decided to install a
4-link rear suspension with coilover shock absorbers.


Installation of the Classic Conversions Engineering 4-link rear suspension.


More rear suspension details...


More rear suspension details...

Frenched-In License Plate

Creating a frenched-in license plate box.
(Note that the trunk floor has been cut out. A new one will be spliced in.)


The frenched license plate box, as viewed from the rear.


A modest amount of plastic body filler finishes the job.


The frenched license plate box is installed, but the rest of the car isn't ready for paint,
so some primer has been sprayed to protect the work.

Installation of Huffaker Fender Flares

Before starting the installation of fender flares, rust damage may need to be repaired.
This photo shows how a patch panel is typically attached to an MGB front fender.


Test fitting the new Huffaker-style fiberglass flares. Note that they're temporarily held in
place by spring-loaded Cleco clamps. Next, Paul traced around the flares with a pencil.


With flares pulled back off, the pencil line can be seen better. Paul has added a second
line in red magic marker approximately a half inch below the original pencil line.


The red line indicated where metal would be cut back to. Here, the cut has been made.
Now we can see the inner fender, and we can tell that it had some rust-through.


Of course for tire clearance, the inner fender needs to be trimmed back too.


The fender flares have been put back into position. However, now that the cuts have been completed,
the mounting flange on the flares can be placed inboard of the body instead of outboard.


The fiberglass flares were bonded on with LORD Corporation's "Fusor" brand adhesive, which is what
Chevrolet recommends for repairing Corvette body damage. After bonding, fiberglass matting was
applied on the inside of the fenders to reinforce the joints. No rivets or screws were used.


A thin layer of DuraGlas "short strand" fiberglass body filler was applied on the
outside to blend the panels, and then carefully sanded back to a smooth radius.


With a thin coat of primer, its easier to comprehend how much has been accomplished. However,
the job isn't done until the inside of the wheel well is reconstructed too.


Paul used insulation foam to model the shape of the wheel wells. These served as "plugs"
over which he could lay-up fiberglass filler-panel strips.


The fiberglass filler strips are gently cut from the male molds.
They're flexible, and easily trimmed for an excellent fit.


Once in place, fiberglass resin is used to bond the filler panels to both the steel
inner fenders and also the fiberglass Huffaker fender flares.


With a coat of rugged paint, the inside surfaces of the flared fenders are complete.


Here's the final result! Incidentally, that's Dan Masters' MGB-GT in the background, and on it you can see
Dodge Omni fender flares. Huffaker flares are a more bold alternative than Omni flares, yet they're more
subtle than the "Sebring flares" the MG factory race team used in 1967 and 1968. Huffaker flares were
created and used by Joe Huffaker's British Leyland sponsored race team, which campaigned MGB cars
to SCCA championship victories in the mid 70's. For a detailed look, see: Huffaker MGB Race Car.