PCH, Chevy-Powered Brits Edition: V8 MGA Or V8 TR6?
Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! Yesterday, the combo of rotary weirdness and potential performance of the RX-7 scored a win over the Caprice's monster torque and bullying physique, according to the Choose Your Eternity poll. Today we're returning to a theme we saw in the very first Project Car Hell: British cars with engine swaps!
How much does a project MGA go for these days? For that matter, what does a maybe-running Chevy 350 sell for? Consider your answers to those questions while you contemplate this 1956 MGA with Chevy 350, which has a price tag of $500... or "BEST OFFER BY THIS WEEKEND." Maybe the seller will take a hundred bucks! Fifty! You get a '56 MGA body on a Nissan pickup frame, with a Chevy 350 under the hood (and maybe even connected to the frame and/or drivetrain). This "WAS A PROJECT MANY YEARS AGO," so we're not sure what that makes it now. Oh, the mysteries you'll solve getting this thing in driving condition. Check out what appears to be an RV drinking-water tank used as a fuel tank! Thrill at the sight of those racing slicks, which will come in handy at the dragstrip when you'll plow straight into the nearest guardrail and take a helicopter ride to the nearest ER break off some 11-second times to the roar of an approving crowd! Or maybe you could set it up to handle and have a very, very poor man's Cobra! Thanks to W1ngnut for the tip.
That 350-powered MG would be loads of fun, but the disc brakes and independent rear suspension of more recent British iron would be nice to have with V8 power under the bonnet. Yes, we're talking Triumph TR6 here, and Junkman suggests this '71 TR6 with Chevy 350 as an easy weekend project. Hey, if Junkman thinks it's a good car, who are we to disagree? Sometimes you see a description like "Chevy V8 conversion started, but far from finished. Has 350ci V8 & auto transmisiion just setting in it" and you figure it's best to just back away slowly, but that's a quitter's attitude! There's rust. The interior is obliterated. But, as the seller says, "it is what it is & they are bringing $15-$30k restored." You see? This car is a license to print money! But you won't want to sell it once you get it driving, because the power-to-weight ratio will be a one-way ticket to the cemetary so exhilarating.
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