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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - New or recond. engine supplier in the UK?

I've decided to put a 3.5 engine into my r/b MGB. Can anyone suggest any suppliers of new or good reconditioned engines - or else warn me of any suppliers that I should be wary of.
David Morgan

David

IMHO Jon Eales (JE Developments) is THE man. He can supply a rebuilt Rover V8's of any capacity and any state of tune from standard to full race. If you are going for FI he is also a wizard in the necessary chipping of the ECU.

He can also supply new engines in any state of tune.

Whatever you do talk to him and get prices, he is very competitive. I would suggest an all new 4.6 it has many benefits over the 3.5 which Jon can explain.

Although Jon doesn't advertise he is very busy and can be difficult to contact. The best way is to telephone between 17:45 and 19:00. If you get the dreaded answerphone then tell him what you want and ask him to call back.

I have no connection with JE other than as a very satisfied customer. He has re-engined my "works" GT V8 and my Range Rover - the former is giving 216 bhp at 5,000 rpm and 255 ft lbs @ 3,000 rpm - and 202 ft lbs of torque @ 1,000 rpm. All this on SU's !

Jon Eales details are:-

J E Developments
Claybrook Mill
Frolesworth Lane
Claybrook Magna
Lutterworth Leicestershire LE17 5DB

Telephone and Fax 01455 202909

Good luck

If you want to discuss please contact me.

Safety Fast

Nigel
Nigel Steward

You could also try RPI Engineering in Norwich, I was very happy with their work on my car. Speak to Chris the owner. The website is http://www.v8engines.com/

Cheers,
Neil
http://www.apphosting.com/mgstuff/v8/
Neil Cotty

David,

Jon Eales has a good reputation as does Peter Burgess.
However, I was not happy with the engine RPI supplied to me and had to replace several parts once it was stripped down. I know of another MG Owner who has had a similer experience and I understand he has a dispute with a very well respected MG converter. The Web site is good but the source of their engines is dubious.

Paul
Paul

Yes, I've heard some stories about RPI engineering too. No details, though. What about Real Steel?
David Morgan

David,

I also went into the proces of fitting a 3.5 l Rover engine in my MGB and bought a SD1 with poor bodywork for GBP 200,- and bought another loose engine for GPB 150,-. Dismanted both engines and it showed that the piston and bores and the crankshaft of 1 engine were oke. I overhauled the engine and gearbox and fitted these to my MG. In the mean time i was able to purchase a spare 3.5l engine with fairly new oversized ston and manual gearbox for GBP 135,-, a very lucky find.
I ran the SD1 for 2 month and the engine had enough HP and no strange noises.
I have seen prices of the engines with RPI and others which are high. Not too high because it takes a lot of labour and parts to overhaul an engine.
My point is that you should consider if you really need a fully overhauled engine in an MGB. It all depends on how the cars is used. I only run my MG in the summer for 4-5000km and if i could not do the work my self i would consider to buy an engine and fit it without a total overhaul. Maybe only do some critical things like the carbs, ingnition and camshaft/lifters
Off course this all ain't an issue if you have a big budget.
Regards
Peter
peter van de Velde

David,

Real Steel have a good reputation in my neck of the woods and I would have bought my engine off them but at the time they were not selling engines only stroker kits. I suspect RPI cornered the market on engines.

The RPI engines were reasonably cheap and I always intended to rebuild the engine, which was lucky because a number of the jounals were scored piston rings broken. Then to cap it all once the engine was installed nearly all the core plugs leaked. the reason for this was the original core plugs had been pushed into the engine and replaced badly.

In addition the stage 1 head was not cc'd and was on the maximum tolerance (not what I was led to belive from the web site), so I had it reworked by a professional.

Let the Buyer beware!

Paul

Paul

This thread was discussed between 28/03/2001 and 29/03/2001

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