Steve Lyle's Journal

Introduction:

I grew up, in the 70's, thinking MGB's were cool. When I was in engineering school, I bought a '63. Everything about it was a mess. I rebuilt the engine and transmission, and got it on the road. When I moved away from my parent's home in Nashville to start my professional career in Detroit, I left it behind. My dad drove it periodically, and eventually wrecked it.

The next thing to do to that car was the body - lots of rust, needed new paint, etc.. I'd daydream about doing that work and making the car like-new. When it got wrecked, I daydreamed about getting another one and doing the same.

Then marriage and kids. Jump ahead 28 years or so.

Kids are grown and gone. 2 years previously we had moved from Rochester, NY, to Tulsa, OK. In Rochester we had an old sailboat that I had modernized - that was my hobby. It was a big boat that didn't fit in OK lakes, so we sold it when we moved. So I was hobbyless.

There was this internet thing - I could see what people were doing with MGB restorations at various web sites, including this one. I got the urge.

I found a B for sale on Craig's list, a few miles from my parent's home in Nashville. I had my dad go check it out - he said it looked good, buy it. So I did.

I wanted to keep a record of the process, so I started this journal. I was so grateful to others that had left internet records of their restorations - I wanted to add to that resource.

So if you think these are cool cars, if you want to restore one, because it's a family heirloom, or you want to learn new skills, or you just want to - this journal is for you. Hopefully it will help - I'll try to cover what worked for me, and what didn't, so maybe you won't have to learn everything the hard way.

If you've got questions or feedback, please post them in the comments, and I'll either PM you back or respond with a comments.

Anyway, that's where I'm coming from with this journal. I hope it's helpful.

Regards,
Steve

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I posted in the forum awhile back that I got back into the MG game with car # 265842. Here's what's happened since.

Car was in Nashville, I'm in Tulsa. Flew to Nashville last weekend, rented a Uhaul and tow dolly. Loaded the car up, the PO had the drive shaft already detached. Loaded a bunch of parts into the truck, including:
- LH outer sill
- RH rear fender patch panel
- new bumpers
- 5 wire wheels, primed
- new grille
- new hood
- windshield
- couple of top frames (looks like both the older types, one ubuild it and one finger-pincher)
- various mechanical parts, seals, harnesses, etc..

We put on the new hood, put a tarp over the cockpit (no top was fitted and I didn't want to mess with it) and I took off.

Drive from Nashville-Tulsa took me about 13 hours to go 640 miles. Included getting stuck in the mud in West Memphis, AR. (understimated the turninig circle of the beast). Lots of stops to check on things, retie the tarp down, etc.. Concluded at the end that whatever truck drivers earn, it's not enough.

Got eaten up by gas costs - I think I got about 6-7 mpg for the trip.

Since getting her back I've begun the disassembly process. The interior got ripped out, nothing to save there except the seat frames. I got the dash off last night - only had to fool with 3 of the attachment nuts, the others were already gone. If you ever need to get the dash off a '72, bring a 3/8" socket, universal joint, and 15 inches of extensions to the party - that's what it took to get to the toughest nut to access, just to the right of the steering column.

This weekend the plan is to get the fenders off. One of them has a dent in the top, and peeling paint over a previous dent fill job. I'm 3 classes into a autobody repair class at the local votech school, and I'll get the instructor to work with me on trying to save the fender. He knows what I'm trying to do, so I also feel confident that he'll tell me to go get a new one if this one's too far gone. We'll see.

Lots of other rust to deal with. The boot lid has rust bubbles on the exterior rim, it looks like water got trapped in the seal lip, and ate away. Not sure if that's salvageable.

The inner sills look and feel good. The castle rails seem ok. Jack mounts are solid. I expect both outer sills and vertical panels will need replacement, there's rust bubbles on the RH outer, will know more this weekend. There are rust bubbles over the LH rear fender wheel arch, so the patch panel will come in handy and I'll probably need an inner patch as well. RH looks ok, but I'll know more after stripping the paint. Heel panels and spring mounts look good. Underbody generally looks good.

The PO was proud of the "professionally installed floor panels" - well, maybe someone charged money to install them, but that was the only thing professional about the job. I've done about 15 minutes of MIG welding so far in my class, and I'm pretty sure (ok, I'm positive) that I could have done a better job on those panels. I'll be taking them out and starting over.

I plan to use chemical stripper. The car is currently red, but was originally BRG, then a nice dark blue.

The RH door gaps seem a bit tight, not sure if that's due to all the paint coats, or if there's some sagging going on. I'll post some pictures over the weekend.

The LH door was already de-hinged. Where does one find a posi-drive bit to fit?

I've got a big order of air tools from HF on the way. Already have a PC air compressor - 25 gal tank, about 6 cfm at 90.

Mechanically things look ok. No leaks or seepage from the engine, tranny or diff. The car shows 56k on the clock, but the speedo cable was disconnected. The PO claims the engine was 'rebuilt' about 10k ago, which could be true. The engine cranked well, but I didn't try to start it. I'll give it a once over once I get it out of the car, maybe plastigage one of the bearings, and go from there.

Anyway, the project has begun. People ask me 'how long', and I tell them 5 years. Maybe I can beat that.

One thing for sure, other than the body and the mechanical lumps, everything else needs replacement - anything that was vinyl or plastic or rubber is gone. I'm going to have some massive parts order to somebody.