Geoff's 250 SWB Replica Build

[Scottie22]

Jonesy is right,with using the MGB shell, the biggest problem would be rust.
I completely renovated one once, and vowed never to touch one again.

And with a brand new Heritage shell costing £8000+ then all the work to transfer everything over, that would rather defeat the original concept.

A good idea in principle, but not in practice, unless you are a workaholic welder!

[Pandora]

Originally Posted by jones

the engine bay is large so can fit the notorious rover V8 as fitted in the MGB GT :-) or the V6 that the MGC had.

The BGT had the same 1800 in line 4. There was the later BGT V8 (by the factory or by Costello)

The MGC had the in-line 6 cylinder 3000 as used in the later Big Healeys.

Yes, rust is an issue, but donors are cheap. A late 'rubber bumper' project shouldn't be more than a grand, and the re-shell mans you don't have to do the tricky external welding of the bodywork.

Al

[Scottie22]

I would think a lot of people will be put off by the 8 grand shell cost?

[jones]

[IMG][/IMG]Scottie I agree - when I restored mine it was a '75 rubber and it looked great when I purchased but happened to be 90% filler and plating not the simple chrome bumper conversion i was looking for! so thought the heritage shell was a great way forward - problem is I went to look at the shell at MGOC the panels were as poorly fitted as they were probably out of the factory.

sooooo.... busy day at work so drew up the following.....

[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

[Scottie22]

Looks really good, I suppose I just had a bad experience with the MGB I welded up.

It wasn't so much the outer panels, it was all of it!
The sills are in three pieces, and all three needed welding, and the "castle rail" as its called, is in between the outer and inner sill walls, so the outer sill had to come off in order to get the castle rail in and welded. Of course once the castle rail is sorted,
The outer sill has to be completely welded back on.
I found the whole thing a bit of a nightmare, and as I said, I would not want to do that again.

[y cymro]

Originally Posted by Scottie22

I suppose I just had a bad experience with the MGB I welded up.
It wasn't so much the outer panels, it was all of it!
I found the whole thing a bit of a nightmare, and as I said, I would not want to do that again.

I had the same experience Scottie. Had to change floorpans too. After all that work I had a fast Austin Cambridge. Great.

[casamolino]

Door glass off a BMW Z3 M coupe bought , passenger and drivers , Geoff .

[y cymro]

(photo copyright of cloudbaseimaging.blogspot)

Geoff, it will be interesting to see how the roof line can be made to swoop into the sloping C pillar of the SWB due to the rising profile of the new glass, especially at the rear corner.
Steve

[Tribute Automotive]

Originally Posted by y cymro

(photo copyright of cloudbaseimaging.blogspot)

Geoff, it will be interesting to see how the roof line can be made to swoop into the sloping C pillar of the SWB due to the rising profile of the new glass, especially at the rear corner.
Steve

This is the theory. Existing runners shown in green, glass shape in pink, Rotate the whole assembly in the door and then replace the quarter light when framing the whole door glass:



Fingers crossed.

[Tribute Automotive]

The back end surfaces are now finished to a level where a slash mould can be taken:



Existing splash mould placed back on the rear of the buck:



Flanges added to split the mould and gelcoat painted on:



The first set of panels should be ready to try on the Z3 early next week.

[y cymro]

Originally Posted by Tribute Automotive

Fingers crossed.

Chris, my fingers have been crossed for so long they're numb
This sounds like an interesting plan. If anyone can pull it off it's you.

[y cymro]

Originally Posted by Tribute Automotive

The back end surfaces are now finished to a level where a slash mould can be taken.
Flanges added to split the mould and gelcoat painted on.
The first set of panels should be ready to try on the Z3 early next week.

Absolutely superb. Well done.
Steve

[casamolino]

Morning Steve i bought the two pices of glass (just in case) , not exactly correct but the Z3 M Coupe is so thin on the ground , and the price was so good that it seemed worthwhile , each new picture that Chris puts up makes the project look better and better , Geoff .

[Mister Towed]

Imaginative solution to the side glass issue. Can't you just wander into a BMW dealer's and order a pair from the parts dept?

If not, could a pattern be cut to make some from Lexan/Plexiglass? I kind of like the idea of sliding side windows rather than up'n'down ones.

[froggyman]

This project just gets better and more interesting as time goes on.Llooking forward to next week to see it on the Z3.

Towed have you ever bought a part in a BMW dealers? Went in not so long ago to get an X5 door mirror for a friends car. Well I left without it as I could have bought a decent little runabout for the cost of that. Did a 'Scottie' repair in the end £1.75. Lovelly jubbly.

[Mister Towed]

Originally Posted by froggyman

This project just gets better and more interesting as time goes on.Llooking forward to next week to see it on the Z3.

Towed have you ever bought a part in a BMW dealers? Went in not so long ago to get an X5 door mirror for a friends car. Well I left without it as I could have bought a decent little runabout for the cost of that. Did a 'Scottie' repair in the end £1.75. Lovelly jubbly.

Never had a Beemer, but did buy wifey a new Mercedes Benz a few years back. The service/parts manager carried a pair of flintlock pistols, wore a mask and Tricorn hat and greeted me with a cheerless 'Stand and deliver!' every time an invoice was due payment.

[WorldClassAccident]

I remember the windscreen wiper blades for my old CL being something ridiculous like £80

[Scottie22]

And here's me thinking I had been shafted at £66, for my toy wipers!

[Tribute Automotive]

[mike.gamble]

I'm new here but have been watching this thread for weeks now after being told about this by a friend who has the MX250.

This is very interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing this develop over the next few weeks!