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rodb
New Zealand
260 Posts |
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Onno
Netherlands
1045 Posts |
 Posted - 17/04/2014 : 16:30:10
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Had he just mounted the engine up 50mm higher or used the small gearbox and he would not have had to cut the chassis and remove the brake cross shaft.
Then it would have been a nice "budget" restoration/mod
Now it just is sh#t
Onno "D" Könemann |
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Tim
United Kingdom
75 Posts |
Posted - 17/04/2014 : 18:31:06
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Crikey! Don't alter anything no matter what you are dealing with or you will turn a budget restoration into excreta! Apparently.
The effort and skill in this build is amazing and it would still be if it was on an MG or a Reliant Robin. Good luck to the man in America!
Am off to my workshop to count the rivets and find some genuine '30s air to put in the tyres now. Pip pip! |
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Max Headroom
United Kingdom
292 Posts |
Posted - 17/04/2014 : 20:54:22
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Well! Why the hell didn't I think of doing that??
The term 'free-thinker' springs to mind
...But so do the terms 'heretic and 'sacrilege'!
If I was the seller, I would be gutted
  
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Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
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Inside every older person is a younger person – wondering what the hell happened.
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peterb
Australia
55 Posts |
Posted - 18/04/2014 : 00:56:18
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| The builder makes a strange comment at the bottom of his story , that restoring the J2 grill properly 'makes the car one step closer to original',the project may be well made as a hot rod , but not really related to a J2 MG.Regards to all Peter. |
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George Eagle
United Kingdom
3240 Posts |
Posted - 18/04/2014 : 11:20:46
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Very clever engineering but how sad to spoil a good J2 - if I had been the seller I would also be gutted.
George
L2023 |
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spitfire
United Kingdom
371 Posts |
Posted - 23/04/2014 : 11:30:53
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I saw this article some months back. Like Peter, I wondered why the phrase "One step closer to original" was used. I wonder how many "square rigger" MGs have been Rodded in The States, over the years?
I'm intrigued when looking at Ebay USA, the amount of 1930-50s cars that have had roofs lowered and new power plants and axles. I wonder how many barn finds USA have been twenty years "after the chop?" "Doh!" |
Edited by - spitfire on 23/04/2014 11:33:22 |
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Bob Grunau
Canada
290 Posts |
Posted - 23/04/2014 : 16:57:01
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The car in question is confirmed as J2, chassis number 2850. UK plate MG2698.
Bob, Canadaq
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Hamish McNinch
United Kingdom
110 Posts |
Posted - 28/04/2014 : 15:29:00
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I'm with the 'Good luck to him' camp on this one, for all sorts of reasons.
Firstly, it's his car and he is doing what interests him with it. Secondly, it was a pretty shabby and damaged car in the first place and he has done good job to do what he has done without preventing a future owner from returning it to original specification, should they wish. Thirdly, he has employed some very ingenious engineering solutions, materials and methods which I for one am impressed by. And he is well on the way to having another MMM back doing what it was meant to do - drive.
Of course it isn't what I would have done with the same starting point and there are materials and methods used that wouldn't be my choice. But having watched many projects progress at glacial rate over the years (and I include mine!) in the pursuit of originality, I think this gentleman is doing a great job and clearly having fun at the same time. And I love his approach to problem solving.
I can't wait to hear and see how it turns out. I suspect it will be a bit of a handful, handling-wise - and I'm not sure what the insurance man would say if he brought it to the UK. But I also suspect that it will give its owner plenty of pleasure as well as a few frights. |
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DickMorbey
United Kingdom
3678 Posts |
Posted - 28/04/2014 : 16:44:17
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Hamish !!!!!
Great to hear from you!
Dick Morbey
PA/PB 0743
Frieth, Oxon, UK |
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Simon
United Kingdom
451 Posts |
Posted - 28/04/2014 : 17:24:52
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| Can you really get chrome wheels for $50? Curious that the chassis number on MG 2698 is so far back from MG 2692 and 2705 (on chassis nos. 3535 and 3478)It must have been stuck in the showroom for months! Simon. |
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gb
United Kingdom
205 Posts |
Posted - 28/04/2014 : 20:30:56
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Hamish, well said!,
I can remember many years ago an early drag race meeting at Blackbush airfield, seeing what I now consider to have been an early MMM car possibly an F type, with a similar installation of a ford flathead V8 achieving an 18 second 1/4 mile. I'm convinced that in my collection of 35mm slides that I have a photo of the car, but for the time being the "photo box" evades discovery.
At the time, as a member of the Maidenhead "'rod and custom club" (late 70's) I ran an early '62 ford Capri, modified with a an Essex V6 that ran a 19 second 1/4 mile.. (nearly as fast as the old man's A7 special at Colerne sprint a few years ago..)
PA 1836
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JMH
United Kingdom
911 Posts |
Posted - 29/04/2014 : 07:15:02
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Glen,
That was most likely Dave Vizzard you saw I think. I know of at least two other J2s that have had V8s fitted (one even retained the 8" cable brakes!). The suspension "geek" in me is still trying to work out the pros/cons of the way he has mounted the r&p to the leaf-springs (an interesting way of eliminating bump-steer?).
Though it's easy to criticise, the important thing is to record any car, its' details & provenance (for me at any rate). After all, is what he is doing actually any worse that rebuilding, let alone "converting" a good existing example, of one type of MMM to look like another........?
JH |
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graham holdsworth
United Kingdom
424 Posts |
Posted - 13/10/2014 : 18:21:17
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This V8 'J2' is now complete.Whatever you may think of this project one has to admit it is a beautifully engineered car .
http://lainefamily.com/FlatheadJ2.html#
Graham
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Max Headroom
United Kingdom
292 Posts |
Posted - 13/10/2014 : 19:00:18
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"Only in America..." And may it stay that way!
Yes it is amazingly engineered. But what a pity they couldn't just build a modern version from scratch. A J2 brought up to date! Now that would be very cool.
Only the other day I was watching TV and some workshop was destroying old American classics by turning them into hot-rods.
The engineering aspect is fascinating, as is the artistic side of it. But at the end of the day it is just recklessly defacing history in my humble opinion. 
________________________________________________________________________
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
________________________________________________________________________
Inside every older person is a younger person – wondering what the hell happened.
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LewPalmer
USA
3244 Posts |
Posted - 13/10/2014 : 23:15:48
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Max,
Sorry, but NOT "Only in America". There are a large number of Triple-M MGs, as well as every other model of MG up to 1980 which have been carefully and meticulously restored to original specification here in North America. Had MG continued to import cars to North America past 1980, as many of had begged them to do, we would perhaps have another whole generation or two of enthusiasts who understood the marque and perhaps be more sympathetic than this one fellow. Given the scarcity of parts on this side of the pond and his budget, at least he kept it on the road. It isn't my cup of tea, but his enterprise has to be applauded.
Look around at the next MG Live at the garishly outfitted MGs and tell me the desire to tart up a car is the sole purview of the US.
Lew Palmer
PA1169, PB0560 |
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