Here’s something a bit different: a Ford V8-60 engine swap into an MG-TD. It turns out these were not uncommon, as the little Ford flathead V8 (full CC story here) fit very nicely into the little MG, and weighed less to. And since a typical warmed-over V8-60 made some 90hp, about double of the original four, performance was drastically improved. And this one has even more on tap, given that it’s also being supercharged.
If you want to slip into another world, here you go…
I’m stunned that the XPAG motor weighed more than a Ford V8 60!
Looks like a fun little car! Kudos to the builder…
I wonder if it still exists?
I have a feeling I saw a post on it on the HAMB forum. I am old and senile, so I could be wrong.
Well, this certainly predates … and could even have inspired … the 3.5 liter MGB V8. The chain steering is interesting; even more so was learning that the TD had rack and pinion steering, though in retrospect that shouldn’t surprise me as I know R&P was fitted to the Morris Minor. Also, Road & Track had a lot more typo’s or plain old spelling errors in those days. Very cool article, thanks for posting.
MGs , like post-war Wolseleys and Rileys, were based on Morris chassis parts, hence R P steering – the difference between Austin and Morris cars being that Austins were not engineered by Alec Issigonis….
I too am surprised how much lighter the V8 motor was than the four-pot.
I’m sure the proofreaders had as many cocktails at lunch as the authors did, it was the early ’50s you know. 🙂
I’m so much more attracted to this than to a “Blue Flame 6” 1st gen Corvette.
I know they used to do some amazing stuff back in the day, but I’m amazed at doing this to a two-year-old car.
Nice engineering. The XPAG being so heavy isn’t totally surprising. Either British casing technology wasn’t as advanced or they liked overbuilt engines. The most extreme example was probably the later C series six cylinder engine used in Big Healeys and the MGC. The racing department commissioned an aluminum head for the A-H 3000 rally cars for the sole purpose of improving the handling since the aluminum head engines had the same power output.
Do we have an idea of what the other five swaps were?
I agree with commenters above about the weight thing, and thus went dutifully down an extensive rabbit-burrow, only to return with less time in the day – as if that currently matters – and a bit soiled, yet still free of real knowledge. But happy, ofcourse.
Best I can find is 323 lbs for the X-PAG, and “about 450” for the V8-60. It’s hard to believe that the V8, at getting-on-for-twice the capacity of the four, is lighter, yet this old article does imply they weighed the modded car properly.
They’re both old-tech motors by 1954, in the sense of both being ’30’s designs, so hardly thin-wall casting or such to separate them.
I can only speculate that old Henry knew how to engineer away every last ounce in the service of mass profitability, or that the weight of one ohv cast-iron head exceeds that of two aluminium heads (which, after all, are really no more than thick-ish covers in a side-valve).
Fascinating piece. I’m glad the writer admitted to a lost year of free time: for me, if some fool left me the task, five. Without finishing properly.
What a neat, and stealthily hot-rodded, result.
Even if it’d take a braver man than I aboard it when terminal velocity was reached on those X-PAG-level-of-power brakes…..
The weight thing isnt so much of a surprise the guy in the Humber Hillman club who put a Simca flathead V8 in a early Hillman Husky didnt have weight problems fitting it in there he just had to fabricate an entire suspension around it as the original would not fit anymore, The XPAG made it into the BMC merger and was used in the Wolseley 4/44 though the twin MG Magnette sedan used a BMC B series engine and the XPAG never saw the light of day again.
Great conversion and the steering shows some original thinking.
What a neat swap. I would love to take that for a spin.
Here’s something similar featured on Bring-A-Trailer a few years ago, featuring an in depth overview of its construction. I have seen this car in person and talked with the owner/ builder. It’s amazingly well done.
https://bringatrailer.com/2017/10/07/bat-update-where-are-they-now/
Another approach would have been to install an Ardun OHV conversion. It’s possible for a naturally aspirated engine so equipped to produce 1 hp per cubic inch.