LRBen replied to the topic 'Budget UK conversion' in the forum. 4 weeks ago

On the heater front, it would be quite easy to put one into the current setup. I have enough space in the engine bay to mount a HV water heater, again the Outlander heater is commonly used. Then I can route it through the hoses from the cabin heater matrix that already come out into the engine bay. Alternatively I could replace the heater matrix with a HV PTC heater for direct heat, then route the HV cables in the same manner as the original hoses. But that is a bit more work
If I had some spare battery capacity for my current commute, or a smaller commute I would have definitely do the water heater option. As it is I generally just take the spare ICE car if the windscreen has frosted up and take that as the sign that it’s too cold for the MG that day. The rest of the time I use a coat and heated seats.

On a related note I am putting a PTC heater element from a VW ID3 into my Land Rover 110 heater box. Actually that part I have already done and tested, it can push out up to 10kW of heat! So the Land Rover will not be cold, nor will the windscreen take long to defrost. But the battery on that will be at least 50kWh.

Suspension wise I did get all the spheres refurbished during the original conversion process. However I am putting some extra weight over the front which is probably not ideal. One idea I have seen in the past is to replace the front spheres with that from the Rover Metro, same subframe but the spheres were designed for the weight of the engine. So they should be calibrated better for taking the weight and also be a straight swap.

As for F or TF for a future conversion, current UK rules make the F more favourable. As pre 2001 vehicles are eligible for 0 tax as you can change the engine size to 0cc. Anything newer (like my F by two months) is taxed on CO2 emissions which cannot be changed on a V5 logbook. I also personally prefer the look of the F headlights.
However there are some changes on the way regarding conversion regulations (not anytime soon but the cogs are moving) so this may change things.
 

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