JOB LOT
It all started when Allan Reeling spotted an advertisement on the notice board of MG V8 specialist Clive Wheatley’s shop back in October 2005. It was a job lot for £5000, which included one not quite complete, early, rubber-bumper GT, one far from complete 1970 GT, a Heritage roadster shell, a part-worked-on 3.5-litre V8 in pieces, an LT77 gearbox, a windscreen and quarterlights.
“Crucially they provided me with the best dash, column, rack, early rubber-bumper crossmember and the V5 for the 1970 GT,” says Allan, who also realised the Heritage roadster shell wasn’t cheap and accounted for the majority of the asking price. “The donor MGB GTs were sheds.” He didn’t waste much time as he bought the lot and planned to have a V8 roadster assembled and finished in time for the summer of 2006.
The 3.5-litre Rover V8 engine that came with the project needed a honeof the cylinders and reassembling with new piston rings, bearings, seals, followers and a new timing chain setup. He chose to fit a new 3.9-litre-spec. camshaft which, with higher lift, offers a small performance advantage.
The aforementioned LT77
