My MGB Story

I am a retired foreign car specialist. After working full-time, easing down slowly into retirement was recommended and I took the advice. So I cashed a C.D. and bought 19 MGBs and MGB-GTs in various states of disrepair. In October 2019, I was able to construct 10 cars. This is my story about the last one, number 10.

Car #10 was a 1974 MGB roadster which I found at a body shop liquidation sale. All of the body work had been completed using metal replacement panels and only minimal bondo skim coating. It had been sanded using 400# grit and was in yellow primer. All bright work was removed and the interior stripped to bare metal. There was little interest from other bidders because all the items removed from the car had been stolen. My ace-in-the-hole here was that I had everything needed to put this car back together. Sometimes you just get lucky!

I began by painting the car in a nice burgundy single-stage enamel just as it was done at the factory. I installed all new interior parts and a new deluxe top. The best of my collection of bright work was used to complete the cosmetic restoration. I powder coated the wheels and installed new period correct radial tires.

I rebuilt the brake system, clutch hydraulics, both SU carburetors, tuned up the engine and adjusted the valve clearances. With new fluids in everything, I was ready to put this one on the road.

I was soon to discover that my good luck had run out. On the road, the car was sad. It smoked like a cheap cigar, had little power on hills and dripped copious amounts of oil out of the rear main seal. Also, it seems that previous owners had succeeded in tearing out 2nd and 3rd gear synchronizers out of the transmission which made shifting gears exciting to say the least. There were also disturbingly high pitched whining noises coming out of the gearbox at speed. I parked the car.

I knew that I could not quit now. Fortunately, I had some options. At the time, I has a 1971 B roadster with a very nice engine and transmission for sale. Buyers seemed uninterested because the car was rusty. Even thought it ran well, it seemed to be too much of a project for others to handle. I decided to cannibalize it.

So I did the old "take two and make one" story. After many hours and some more new parts, the 1971 drivetrain had a new home. Finally my car ran as good as it looked.'