The story of the V8 conversion begins when my 1977 rubber bumper almost hit the 200.000 miles mark with still the original engine inside.

Since this car is my daily driver , I was confronted with either a total overhaul or a replacement engine. I knew that there was a growing interest in V8 conversions, especially since Rover build a limited edition of the MGB RV8 from 1992 to 1994 with great success.

So I started looking for a Rover V8 engine in 1996.

On one of my trips to Canada I came across a junkyard near Kitchener and found the donor car with engine. It turned out to be a 1981 Rover 3500 with fuel injected engine. The car was already cut in half but the engine was still undamaged so I saved it from the claws of destruction and gave it a new chance to power my tired roadster.

Once home I started rebuilding the engine and decided to install a carburetor instead of the fuel injection. The control unit for the injection was missing and the it will take a while to find a replacement for it. Besides that, I could not wait that long to get the car back on the road and experience that awesome V8 power.

Work on rebuilding the engine started in Aug. 96.

I decided to shim 0.040" from the block to gain in compression ratio. (9.5/1)

The camshaft, piston rings and all the bearings and gaskets were replaced .

The flywheel was lightened to 22 pounds and a new hi torque starter motor was installed. Carburetion came from a Carter AFB 500 CFM and original HEI ignition (Lucas) was replaced with a Lumenition unit.

In March 97 I sold the original 4-speed gearbox with overdrive and the 4-cyl. engine. I now had place to start with the installation of the V8 engine and 5-speed Rover gearbox. Some modification needed to be done on the transmission tunnel so the car was loaded on a trailer and towed to a friend’s house to perform the welding.

Once that done I could start with the fabrication of new engine mounts, oil filter supports, alternator brackets and modification on the cross member that supports the transmission.

Then finally, in Jan. 98 came the moment that the engine and gearbox was shoehorned in one piece into the engine bay of the MGB.

It all fitted right up and the modified radiator could now be installed and connected. Also the remote oil filter and oil cooler were connected with stainless steel braided hoses to the oil pump. The exhaust pipes needed to be custom made but that went very smooth and simple.

The wiring of the ignition and starter motor was nothing more than a little hurdle. Soon thereafter the cleaned out gas tank was filled up and the engine was cranked up for a first try. Instant response from a tight rebuild engine was unexpected but it came anyway. It ran for a few minutes to warm up and adjust the timing. The MGB had survived the transplant and was now ready to roll out of the garage where it had been sitting on 4 ramps for the last seven months.

All the hard and sometimes frustrating work paid off and anxious to feel the new power and how the car would handle this, I took off on the road for a brief test drive. The sound form the V8 was very exiting and solid. I had never driven a V8 before so it was even more surprising to me. The instant power and torque are incredible responsive to the pedal.