The beat up MGB on our U-Haul trailer was getting a
lot of "looks" as we drove I- 90 out of Spokane during rush hour in August of
2020. It wasn’t only the MGB getting looks, but the five extra wheels riding in
its passenger seat and the bed of our Ford Ranger filled with broken-down
cardboard boxes of old parts, three more "spare" wheels, an extra engine and a
black hard top lopsidedly strapped over all. We were on our way back to Montana
with our latest "find" and next project, a 1967 "B".
The story of my affection for MG’s really started
54 years ago. It was 1967, I was an 18 year old graduating from high school in
Gardiner, Montana. A friend of my family loaned me his MG to drive to
baccalaureate. That night, driving that family friend’s MG, suddenly escalated
my status on the popularity scale. One thing about that car I clearly remember
is parking in the church parking lot, turning the key off and sitting there
(embarrassed and clueless as what to do) as it continued to run!
Thirty years later my husband and I were sitting in
our back yard one afternoon thumbing a Hemmings Motor News looking for MGBs
after a conversation earlier in the week that went something like this: Ron, "I
think I’d like to fix up an old car." Me, "I’ve always wanted an MGB." Ron,
"Really. Why?" I thought I’d already told my husband about the dieseling car
that raised my social standing and birthed in me a self- confidence based on the
fact that an adult had enough confidence in me, an 18 year old, to trust with
the keys to his MG! It was that conversation that prompted us to buy a Hemmings
and begin looking for an MGB we could afford and find nearby.
There weren’t many MGB’s listed in Montana; the one
we found a few hours away had a hole in the passenger floor under the carpet.
That hole indicated probable body repair that we weren’t ready to tackle so we
kept looking. Summer faded into fall without an MGB to park in our garage.
Winter came and then melted into spring. One Sunday my Dad noticed an ad in the
Denver Post classifieds for a 1972 MGB in Boulder, would we like a '71 Midget,
email him to look into it? Our hunt for an MG became a family affair. The car
was a teal blue metal bumper, three windshield wiper "B" with 21,366 miles and a
pile of work orders and parts receipts to go with it. It seemed to be a "good
deal" to Dad, and as he said, all those receipts told him, "there has been a lot
of good things happen to this little car." We said, "buy it!"
There were a few days delays in completing the
transaction; the owner was suspicious of a cashier’s check and wanted it
exchanged for $2895 cash, and Dad was uncomfortable driving the B home in a
March snowstorm even though it came with a set of snow chains. How we were going
to get the car to Montana was a puzzle, but in excitement we began cleaning out
our 1930 era garage – the perfect size for a B. Meanwhile it took up residence
in my parent’s garage and their pickup moved out into the weather.
A few months went by and it was decided a trip
north pulling the B on a U-Haul was the best way to get it to us. Meanwhile my
husband had been doing due diligent research and read that you should enjoy
driving your new car before you start tearing into it. A good suggestion! The
‘72 was definitely a driver so the first four years we drove it, motoring to
dinner with neighbors in their ’52 TD; through Glacier National Park over the
Going To The Sun road; to church on Sundays; on fun winding roads around the
valley and longer jaunts around the state. During that first summer Ron re-built
the brakes with the help of his Dad after a close encounter with a deer on one
of those winding roads.
At that time my husband was a bike mechanic, not a
car mechanic, but with the help of Good Neighbor Bill the owner of the ’52 TD,
his millwright knowledge and supply of automotive tools, the full restoration of
the B began with a valuable observation. Immediately after beginning to cut out
a floor board, Bill stopped the sheers, looked at Ron and said, "some people are
perfectionists. Its not that they never get anything done, it’s just that
they’re never satisfied with it. I just do it..." Then he shrugged and resumed
cutting. With that statement the pressure of perfection was gone and the fun of
fixing up began. At times there was a hundred feet of air hose running from
Bill’s compressor down his driveway across the alley into our garage. If there
was a tool needed that neither one had, Bill bought it or borrowed it from work.
When the person who was to repaint the B left town with our down payment and the
B sitting in his yard, Good Neighbor Bill turned his garage into a ventilated
paint shop and Ron re-painted the car himself. The full and complete restoration
took one summer and five winters. We added chrome wire wheels and a wooden
steering wheel, new upholstery and a Weber carburetor. It was a driver again!
On one of our longest trips around the state,
something came loose in the carburetor. Ron was able to limp the B home, but
afterwards once the car heated up, it was difficult to restart. Gone were the
short trips around town. The joy of driving it was replaced by hope that if you
stopped, you could get started again. After several years of that, Good Neighbor
Bill suggested that Ron should put the original SU carburetors back on the car.
So after rebuilding the carbs and many attempts at adjusting them, a call to
John Twist at University Motors gave Ron the tip he needed to get them going.
Now the B starts, runs and restarts reliably every time! Since the "complete
restoration", there have been a lot more good things happen to the little ’72 B
and the receipts prove it! New halogen headlights one year, new windshield the
next, new fuel pump, new alternator, new radio console, new starter and
electronic ignition.
Ron is a fairly competent MG mechanic now and a
retired bike mechanic. We have a double car garage and Ron has extra time. What
better than to look for another B as a retirement project. The "find" was the
beat up 1967 B that we hauled home from Spokane a year and a half ago.
Currently, its restoration seems more like reconstruction, but headway is being
made. While the ’67 is under construction, we continue to drive and enjoy the
’72 B. Our AMGBA membership started back in 1994 and we continue to look forward
to each issue. Thanks for all the technical help over the years. I don’t think
my MG mechanic could have done it without you! Happy motoring!
.JPG)