I've been pondering this conversion for the last year or so. I always thought it would be really cool to have a B that was somewhat different from everything else you see at the car show, and I liked the intellectual challenge of doing the conversion. There is a lot of information on the web about the conversion, but at first glance you will find it very confusing. When I started this process, I just wanted someone to tell me the best way to do each part, whether it be steering or transmission choice. What I rapidly discovered is that everyone thinks their way is best, so you will have to sort out a lot of information. When searching the net try to stick to information from people who have actually completed the conversion. There are so many people that tell you how to do the conversions, and it turns out they haven't even finished there's yet. After spending any time sorting through the information, you will know what I mean. There are some people out there that literally have hundreds of thousands of miles on their conversions. They must be doing something right.
Start with subscribing to the V8 mailing list. You can subscribe by sending "subscribe mgb-v8" in the subject of your mail to "majordomo@autox.team.net". You can expect to receive between 0 and 5 emails a day from the list. The people on the list are Extremely helpful. Don't be bashful about asking questions, the guys (I don't remember ever seeing a lady on the list) have always been willing to answer my questions, even the very simple ones. Without their help, it would have been very difficult for me. They are also a good source of used conversion parts, sending a Parts Wanted ad, has always proved successful for me. The V8 vendors are also on the list and will help you with any new part purchases. There is also an archive for this list, there is info on the links page.
Go through the BBS archive on www.mgcars.org.uk. This is where I started and found it to be pretty confusing. There is a lot of information that isn't practical for the US converter. Many of the questions are focused around the Rover engine user, and there is limited Buick / Olds information. But it is worth a look, when you run up to specific questions.
I purchased the book, How to Give Your MGB V8 Power, by Roger Williams. The book is readily available from all the MG suppliers as well as national bookstores. It was an interesting read, but it is very focused on the Rover conversion. It does have a very good section on converting a CBB with very useful pictures / diagrams.
There is also a V8 newsletter, which I'm sure is very helpful. I need to get around to subscribing to it. Contact information is on the links page.
The only other book I bought was a Buick special workshop manual. It proved fairly useful, especially the pages on bolt torque and sizes. I have scanned these pages, and you can find them elsewhere on this site.
My personal list of the most useful V8 pages on the net can be found here.
Back to The Table of Contents