So I started this thread on another forum but I decided I'd rather keep up with it here so there is going to be a couple of years of thread added today. It is funny looking back on the posts and seeing how plans change, then change again etc. Here is the story of my MGB.

Well my other toy has finally come home, so the real fun can begin.

A full restoration is in it's future, and there will be plenty of British engineering involved.

It's a 1972 MGB roadster, 66k on the clock, one owner(my Dad bought it new in 1972) so one family still I guess lol. He gave it to me around 20 years ago. I didn't want to destroy it and had no place to store it so it has spent most of it's time sitting in his garage. Flame red, has the optional hard top and is going to need some love.

As she sits in the picture, I had already done new plugs, wires air filter Weber two barrel carb conversion and a new top.

I'm so excited to have another money pit around :beer:

 

She looks a lot better in the picture than it does in real life. The paint was done 26 years ago in the driveway of our house. The paint is in a bad way.

The plan as I see it.

The body work will stay the original color with the stripping etc. it will receive a full pro repaint though this time. I plan to add a led high mount stoplight up by top boot. I plan to change the factory rostyles for mini-lite rims, eventually. Thats about it for the body changes.

The interior will get new carpeting and a MG factory wood steering wheel. The seats are shot and extremely expensive to rebuild. So I have located some very nice Mercedes Benz c280 black MB-tex seats with seat heaters to swap in. I will also be upgrading the sound system, with a android tablet as the headunit/gps. This will be built in to the factory console. I have bought another one to use so I can keep the original one un-molested.

The drivetrain, will eventually get replaced. The orginal engine requires premium, and only makes about 66 bhp, such a shame in such a fun to drive car. This will be the last project after I get the rest done. It will either get a Saab 2.0 turbo with front mounted intercooler, 2.5 inch exhaust and stage 3 tune, good for about 250ish horsepower. Ford T5 manual gearbox backing it up. The second option is a 3.4 SOHC V6 out of a Camaro and a T5 manual gearbox, only good for 180ish horsepower, and has the usual GM problem of blowing intake manifold gaskets. Both choices will improve fuel economy and give it a much needed boost in horsepower. I will of course be storing the original drivetrain so I can put it back in if I need to, but I don't see this car being sold ever. This will be nice when I retire in 5 years and move back to New England, touring the white mountain range with the top down and power on tap will be a nice way to waste some of my pension check. I never thought I would be talking about being retired in 5 years at the age of 35. My goal is to have it all done by then lol.

 

So was bleeding the brakes today to see if I could find where the system is leaking. I think the fluid was done.....



Oh and I picked up this for a $100




It came with a couple huge bins of new parts, and a few used parts I can pull off of it. Then it will be a part out and off to the scrap yard, it's to far gone to be of use to anyone.

 

Well this Brit in keeping with the finest traditions of British Engineering burned up it's fuel pump. It started arcing and smoking when I turned the key on.... Sigh there is another few days wait and $130 gone lol...

 

Well with the up coming move to Colorado, I'm keeping the RRC unless someone has a series they want to trade me for it

Well I got the brakes rebuilt on the front and rear drivers side and refinished a couple of the wheels. While I was waiting on the fuel pump to show up.

On the fuel pump I learned something don't order parts you need off of Amazon.com They lied to me repeatedly about delivery dates, 22 Aug, 24 Aug, 25 Aug, 27 Aug and now 24 September. I finally had to cancel the order and I'm going to reorder it from a reputable vendor. If they could have been honest about delivery dates I wouldn't have had such a problem with it, but lying to a customer, by a business of that size is just not excusable for me..

Here are some pics of the progress. Some things have taken more time since I refurbishing things as I go. I need to redo the black rim eventually I tried out the color scheme out and it didn't look good on the car at all luckily that was the spare lol.



The rusty rotor was the original one that had been on the car for 40 years.



Sprucing up the disc brake shield.



Another part to order, the kingpin bushings are shot..



Freshing up the hub assembly.



Getting 40 years of grease and grime off.



Going back together.



Brake assembly.





When I go back in to replace the brake hose and kingpin busings I'm going to paint the calipers, but here it is for now.



Trying out a new color scheme on the rim, I chalked this up to lesson learned and a fail.







Working on something I haven't seen in years, drum brakes.



All done with the drum brakes and back together.

 

Got the fuel pump ordered again and it is in route. In the mean time I have been working on finishing up the brakes all the way around.

Once I get it fired and see where I'm at with the motor, it will be time to trace out and repair the clutch fluid leak.

It all takes time, and 40 year old cars seem to want more of it then most lol.

 

Well, got the pump got it in. Got fuel pressure to the new carb, and still no start. So I check spark and it's good. Check the timing it's good.

Do a compression test and awww **** kicks in. Looks like the valve seats designed for leaded fuel have died. It's supposed to be 160 psi I registered 117, 120, 119 and 89.. ****! So I did the oil in the cylinders but that didn't help a bit. So I'm sure the valves are the culprit.

So the engine swap has moved up on the to do list before everything else. So if anyone in the chicago area has a v6 manual camaro or firebird that is a good runner and cheap let me know..

Of course I would rather do something like this but with a better tranny.. That engine would be a monster in the MG I know it was in my Dad's Taurus.

LeRoy Barton's Ford/Yamaha SHO DOHC 24V V6 powered MGB

 

Borrowed a engine hoist today, so this weekend out comes the motor and trans.

I'm trying to get in contact with the guy that did the SHO conversion. The GM conversion is tried and true, but that SHO motor would be so sweet in a MG.

 

It dawned on me that I'm retarded, I know big surprise huh....

This has manual valve adjustment. I found half the valves were way to tight and one was so loose you could slide the rocker off the valve and pushrod. Adjusted everything back to spec at 15 thousandths and went to bump it over to do a quick recheck of my work. On my way to the key I noticed I had disconnected the coil and not thinking plugged it back in. When I hit the key she fired right up....

IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!! and running quite smartly I might add.

 

Well the brakes are 100% now. I was hoping I could salvage the clutch hydraulics and I thought I had. But no it blew seals out and started leaking all over the place. That's the last step left for it to be driving though. Well and a new U joint as the rear one looks like it got mauled by a bear. Sad part is that one has been replaced twice in the cars life and the front one is original...

Parts buying will be slowing down though, as I bought the MGB a new big brother....