Restoring the MGB

In the summer of 1999 it was decided, by my wife, the original owner of the MGB, that the MGB would be our daughters car as she approached driving age. Ther MG had been stored in a wooden shed for about 16 years. It had a nest of mice behind the brake master cylinder among other issues. Taking care of that was the beginning of the restoration project.

I started with a new battery and a fuel pump and then went on to spend another $2700 in various parts. I began replacing what didn't work one item at a time, scraping off rust and doing other clean up when needed. Expensive items were tires, new top, mechanical garage work and quarter panel replacement (total for these four items was $1200). One of the cheapest parts, and the easiest to install, was the new gas cap.

When I finally had new tires on it, and had it running, I had a garage look at it and mechanically it was sound. The compression was 110 psi across the board and the shocks were fine. I had them reconstruct the metal frame that holds the battery, half of it had rusted away. Horns were a problem, electrical connector tabs had disintegrated, couldn't find replacements, moss parts didn't fit, so I took them apart and tried to repair them (they still do not work right). The Moss replacement fuel pump continued to act up until it quit working, I diagnosed the problem as a defective Moss Motors part, replaced the gasket on the pump fuel chamber cover with the one from the original (quarter century old) pump to solve the problem. I bought the prefabricated metal quarter panels that Moss Motors offers and had them welded in, sanded and painted to match.Another challenge was in figuring out where the turn signal flasher is in order to replace it (you have to remove the glove box liner to find it). In less than 12 months I bought three turn signal flashers from Moss because they kept failing. I finally wised up and got a generic one at Pep Boys auto supply which has worked ever since.

My car was in the shop in the summer of 2000 to get it's transmission repaired so I had two solid weeks of driving the MG and determined that it was stable. I became comfortable that it could serve as daily transportation for my daughter.

My daughter drove the MGB since the summer of 2000. She drove it daily during her senior year in high school (2000-2001). She drove it whenever she was home from college. She has now graduated from college and has a more practical car with features such as power windows, power brakes, A/C, etc. I drive it now occasionally on Sundays when the weather is nice but mostly it spends its time back in the shed.

After a few years of neglect, I contacted the Pat Degisi in May 2013 at Am-Tech automotive in Norristown. He and his dad had worked on the car back in 1999 thru 2001 at OJP. He looked it over and we ended up replacing all the brake parts. I also had them replace all the radiator and heater hoses. The wiper motor and switch was replaced because they had burned out. I purchased all the parts from Moss Motors and had them shipped to Am-Tech Automotive.

In 2015 the fuel pump died, it was an electric fuel pump with points. I replaced it with a solid state fuel pump.

In 2016 I addressed the non-functional gas gauge by replacing the gas tank and sending unit. After that the MGB started running rough so I identified an experienced MGB mechanic in Flourtown, PA. His name is Dick Moritz. He rebuilt the carburetors. The car is now running OK and I can tell how much gas is in the tank.

Unresolved issues: Horns and a little front fender rust.

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