I've been enjoying the cars on this site and finally joined. I like that there's more stuff going on here than the typical normal restoration for old cars which is just boring to me. I've got a 77 MGB that I picked up going on 2 years now. I've done a decent bit to it with much more to go. My main ride is a 00 Pontiac Grand Prix that has a good amount of work done to it so the MGB is the toy.
When I bought the car it already had a Toyota 5 speed swapped in, header, and Weber downdraft swapped into it, nothing else was really touched mechanically since it left the factory. The interior is in mostly good shape and the top is pretty new. I've already swapped on fiberglass Sebring bunpers, wheels, rebuilt the suspension and lowered, and just having plain fun with it. What's left to do is a bunch of sheetmetal work and swap in a VR6, which I don't know why I want to do, I just got a hard on for one for some reason. I'm just going to copy and paste all of my progress of it so far which also includes some work on the Pontiac and my old man's 74 Camaro.
I picked up my MGB about a year ago from a friend who was selling it and I decided to pick it up. I was looking at Triumphs but people in the area wanted way to much for them.
This is what it looked like when I picked it up
The car had already had some work done to though I had no idea what was done or what I was getting into. She drove it for a little while and had some things done like a new top and new chasis harness. If anyone knows English electrical systems on these old cars that are absolutely terrible. The owner before her had a Toyota 5 speed swapped in (which is a huge plus and saved me a decent amount on getting a kit myself) and swapped from the dual side draft Weber carbs to a single downdraft unit. When I picked up the car it ran like curse word and had about zero brakes. Thankfully I lived pretty close by so the drive didn't kill me though it was scary in a few spots.
I don't have any pictures of the inital work I had to do but here is the 1.8L that could. It's a tough motor that I don't know how it's still running explained below.
So really no pictures for the work that I did to get it decent for the road but I had to completely rebuild the brake system, get the gauges working again, new clutch line, and a tuneup on the motor. The brakes are a standard front disc and rear drum so not much excitement there. The gages were fun because for some reason the gauges run off of a 10V system instead of a 12V system like every other car made since ever. There also wasn't a reference ground hooked up for the tach so I had to figure out how that worked. It also had a bad battery drain issue what was occuring because the car had been converted to a modern GM alternator and the plug for it was wired backwards, easy enough fix.
Now onto my tuneup and how I have no idea why this motor still runs. I did the normal plugs, filters, and such then came the oil change. I did the oil change then was going to go out for a drive with the top down since it was a nice sunny day. I forgot the drain pan under the car and drove off, thought I clipped the pan since there was oil all over the drive way. The car idled in the driveway a good 15 minutes while I cleaned up the mess, drove off, and abut a mile down the road I realized I had no oil pressure. I flew back home, checked the dipstick and it was bone dry. WTF!!! I found out that the stud the filter screws onto was stripped so I had to order a new one and that fixed it. The only thing really wrong with the motor is that it has a tick in the valvetrain now and I haven't been kind to it over the previous year. It also leaks a lot of oil like a good MG should.
After getting the carr road worthy I decided that I didn't like the silver wheels and painted them a bronze/gold color. I forget what it's called.
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I also really hate this ugle rubber bumpers so I went with the older style fascias with no bumpers (that takes some welding do the chrome bumpers, which I don't have a welder) and painted it in Union Jack colors because Britania!!! I've got a rear facia that will get the same treatment on my next trip home.
Next to my Grand Prix which I've had over the last 7 years and has had a good amount of work done to it. Also the old mans 71 Chevelle in the back, he's now also got a 74 Camaro that's the new toy and kicked the B out of the garage.
All of this was done over the past year. In the meantime I drove it for a while as it was and finally started ordering parts to completely rebuild the suspension. I got poly bushings all the way around, rebuit shocks, lowering springs for the front and lowering blocks for the rear. This car has lever arm shocks instead of normal tube shocks which I had never heard of till I got this car. It's actually quite a smart design. It doubles as the upper control arm in the front suspension.
New vs old springs
The front suspension. It's a simple design but it comes apart in a million pieces. The lower control arm is actually 4 pieces and has to be disassembled to get to the bushings. Thers's the shaft that bolts to the K member, the spring bucket, and the two outer arms. Oh and this car has zero ball joints, it uses a king pin which does the same thing really.
Here's how she sits for the time being
The next time I go home it'll be a new reat fascia and weather stripping all the way around. In the future there will be a roll bar since I can throw this car around corners and trust it, and rebuild the motor to around 100-110 HP from the 60-70 HP (I think) that it sits at now.
Long term will be throwing in the V8 from the GT model (the Rover V8 that was used till about 04 I believe in Range Rovers) and repairing the rust in the rockers, floor pans, and a little in between. For now I'm having fun with it.
Now that I'm home for once it's time to turn some wrenches. I started out by helping the old man out by pulling the 350 out of his Camaro and found this among other things:
I finally tore the rear rubber bumper off to replace it with a much better looking fiberglass one. It was fun getting the old bumper off. I had to cut through the backside of it to get to the last bolt. This one I'll probably paint green and have to come up with something to fill in below the taillights to mold in.
In the next few days I should also be putting in an actual grill unstead of what's there now. Next round will either be a roll bar or a new set of wheels, I'm thinking some Rota Grids if I can find someone who sells the size I want.
Some things happened when I was home last week on 3 cars.
I got the rear bumper mounted on the MG and redid the exhaust. The old tip stuck out about a foot with the new bumper lol. A glasspack and new tip were put in, sounds and looks great! I didn't have enough time to get it painted, that'll be a few weeks when I come home next.
I also got an older style grill mounted. I had to cut out a lot of the old rubber bumper mounts since they're completely different. All I'm missing is the chrome trim piece that goes at the front of the hood.
Now onto the Camaro that took up a decent amount of my time. 383ci 425hp of goodness. We're waiting on a new clutch/flywheel and balancer. A local shop is also going to break it in on a dyno so my dad will have it back probably when I go home next time to get swapped in.
I also got my mounts for the Pontiac from the machine shop. Some work still needs to be done to get them to fit but they big stuff is already done.
The Pontiac got some attention. I threw in my new upper mounts. It sits high now, maybe above stock?, but it'll be coming back down about 1" when I come home again. The front splitter will come off as well as it'll look goofy on a stockish height car I didn't get a picture of them but I also threw in some beefier rear lateral arms, now the whole suspension has been redone.
I played with the MG a little as well. The old new wheels got sandblasted and I started to polish the lips, they're going to take a while! Also after searching for a long time I found a template to mate my current Yota gear box to a VR6. I don't know why but I want a VR6 swapped into this car.
This is really just turning into my cars and the ones I work on haha
Put on a new shift knob in the MG, it's fun having the shifter right next to the steering wheel.
I'm still trying to diagnose the awesome groaning coming from my front suspension when turning the wheel.
The noisy suspension on the Pontiac ended up being dry tie rods, I've never had one that wasn't already greased out of the box. It still complains a little but it's much better.
It's also been a busy weekend for the MG. I couldn't wait any longer and threw on the new wheels/tire, painted the side trim black (hate all the stainless), redid the mounts for the rear bumper, and painted it so that it would be closish to the existing shade of green. It isn't mounted yet for wet paint, I'll put it back on when I get home from this next trip with work.
And holy curse word there's a huge difference in how much better both cars handle now. The MG because of just tires, and the Pontiac because of new bushings and rear lateral arms.
Forgot to add the hood trim piece I got to finish off the grill:
Today I tackled straightening out and repainting the grill on the MG. It had a bunch of bends and dents in it that I decided to take care out. Although I have never done anything like this involving a hammer and dolly I don't think that I did to bad, it's not perfect but it's much better. It also comes apart into 4 different pieces that get riveted back together.
Before on the two side pieces. The left one is really jacked up while the one on the right isn't to bad
Left side all fixed up
Dented up hood strip
Hood strip fixed
The main grill had a couple of ribs that were bent and wavy
Fixed up
Here it is on the car. I took out the trim trim that was on the center section and painted the outside silver instead of all shiny.
Project #2 that I started to play with is a LED ring on the fog lights for the Pontiac that will come on with the turn signal/corner marker.
When I bought the car it already had a Toyota 5 speed swapped in, header, and Weber downdraft swapped into it, nothing else was really touched mechanically since it left the factory. The interior is in mostly good shape and the top is pretty new. I've already swapped on fiberglass Sebring bunpers, wheels, rebuilt the suspension and lowered, and just having plain fun with it. What's left to do is a bunch of sheetmetal work and swap in a VR6, which I don't know why I want to do, I just got a hard on for one for some reason. I'm just going to copy and paste all of my progress of it so far which also includes some work on the Pontiac and my old man's 74 Camaro.
I picked up my MGB about a year ago from a friend who was selling it and I decided to pick it up. I was looking at Triumphs but people in the area wanted way to much for them.
This is what it looked like when I picked it up
The car had already had some work done to though I had no idea what was done or what I was getting into. She drove it for a little while and had some things done like a new top and new chasis harness. If anyone knows English electrical systems on these old cars that are absolutely terrible. The owner before her had a Toyota 5 speed swapped in (which is a huge plus and saved me a decent amount on getting a kit myself) and swapped from the dual side draft Weber carbs to a single downdraft unit. When I picked up the car it ran like curse word and had about zero brakes. Thankfully I lived pretty close by so the drive didn't kill me though it was scary in a few spots.
I don't have any pictures of the inital work I had to do but here is the 1.8L that could. It's a tough motor that I don't know how it's still running explained below.
So really no pictures for the work that I did to get it decent for the road but I had to completely rebuild the brake system, get the gauges working again, new clutch line, and a tuneup on the motor. The brakes are a standard front disc and rear drum so not much excitement there. The gages were fun because for some reason the gauges run off of a 10V system instead of a 12V system like every other car made since ever. There also wasn't a reference ground hooked up for the tach so I had to figure out how that worked. It also had a bad battery drain issue what was occuring because the car had been converted to a modern GM alternator and the plug for it was wired backwards, easy enough fix.
Now onto my tuneup and how I have no idea why this motor still runs. I did the normal plugs, filters, and such then came the oil change. I did the oil change then was going to go out for a drive with the top down since it was a nice sunny day. I forgot the drain pan under the car and drove off, thought I clipped the pan since there was oil all over the drive way. The car idled in the driveway a good 15 minutes while I cleaned up the mess, drove off, and abut a mile down the road I realized I had no oil pressure. I flew back home, checked the dipstick and it was bone dry. WTF!!! I found out that the stud the filter screws onto was stripped so I had to order a new one and that fixed it. The only thing really wrong with the motor is that it has a tick in the valvetrain now and I haven't been kind to it over the previous year. It also leaks a lot of oil like a good MG should.
After getting the carr road worthy I decided that I didn't like the silver wheels and painted them a bronze/gold color. I forget what it's called.
[/URL
I also really hate this ugle rubber bumpers so I went with the older style fascias with no bumpers (that takes some welding do the chrome bumpers, which I don't have a welder) and painted it in Union Jack colors because Britania!!! I've got a rear facia that will get the same treatment on my next trip home.
Next to my Grand Prix which I've had over the last 7 years and has had a good amount of work done to it. Also the old mans 71 Chevelle in the back, he's now also got a 74 Camaro that's the new toy and kicked the B out of the garage.
All of this was done over the past year. In the meantime I drove it for a while as it was and finally started ordering parts to completely rebuild the suspension. I got poly bushings all the way around, rebuit shocks, lowering springs for the front and lowering blocks for the rear. This car has lever arm shocks instead of normal tube shocks which I had never heard of till I got this car. It's actually quite a smart design. It doubles as the upper control arm in the front suspension.
New vs old springs
The front suspension. It's a simple design but it comes apart in a million pieces. The lower control arm is actually 4 pieces and has to be disassembled to get to the bushings. Thers's the shaft that bolts to the K member, the spring bucket, and the two outer arms. Oh and this car has zero ball joints, it uses a king pin which does the same thing really.
Here's how she sits for the time being
The next time I go home it'll be a new reat fascia and weather stripping all the way around. In the future there will be a roll bar since I can throw this car around corners and trust it, and rebuild the motor to around 100-110 HP from the 60-70 HP (I think) that it sits at now.
Long term will be throwing in the V8 from the GT model (the Rover V8 that was used till about 04 I believe in Range Rovers) and repairing the rust in the rockers, floor pans, and a little in between. For now I'm having fun with it.
Now that I'm home for once it's time to turn some wrenches. I started out by helping the old man out by pulling the 350 out of his Camaro and found this among other things:
I finally tore the rear rubber bumper off to replace it with a much better looking fiberglass one. It was fun getting the old bumper off. I had to cut through the backside of it to get to the last bolt. This one I'll probably paint green and have to come up with something to fill in below the taillights to mold in.
In the next few days I should also be putting in an actual grill unstead of what's there now. Next round will either be a roll bar or a new set of wheels, I'm thinking some Rota Grids if I can find someone who sells the size I want.
Some things happened when I was home last week on 3 cars.
I got the rear bumper mounted on the MG and redid the exhaust. The old tip stuck out about a foot with the new bumper lol. A glasspack and new tip were put in, sounds and looks great! I didn't have enough time to get it painted, that'll be a few weeks when I come home next.
I also got an older style grill mounted. I had to cut out a lot of the old rubber bumper mounts since they're completely different. All I'm missing is the chrome trim piece that goes at the front of the hood.
Now onto the Camaro that took up a decent amount of my time. 383ci 425hp of goodness. We're waiting on a new clutch/flywheel and balancer. A local shop is also going to break it in on a dyno so my dad will have it back probably when I go home next time to get swapped in.
I also got my mounts for the Pontiac from the machine shop. Some work still needs to be done to get them to fit but they big stuff is already done.
The Pontiac got some attention. I threw in my new upper mounts. It sits high now, maybe above stock?, but it'll be coming back down about 1" when I come home again. The front splitter will come off as well as it'll look goofy on a stockish height car I didn't get a picture of them but I also threw in some beefier rear lateral arms, now the whole suspension has been redone.
I played with the MG a little as well. The old new wheels got sandblasted and I started to polish the lips, they're going to take a while! Also after searching for a long time I found a template to mate my current Yota gear box to a VR6. I don't know why but I want a VR6 swapped into this car.
This is really just turning into my cars and the ones I work on haha
Put on a new shift knob in the MG, it's fun having the shifter right next to the steering wheel.
I'm still trying to diagnose the awesome groaning coming from my front suspension when turning the wheel.
The noisy suspension on the Pontiac ended up being dry tie rods, I've never had one that wasn't already greased out of the box. It still complains a little but it's much better.
It's also been a busy weekend for the MG. I couldn't wait any longer and threw on the new wheels/tire, painted the side trim black (hate all the stainless), redid the mounts for the rear bumper, and painted it so that it would be closish to the existing shade of green. It isn't mounted yet for wet paint, I'll put it back on when I get home from this next trip with work.
And holy curse word there's a huge difference in how much better both cars handle now. The MG because of just tires, and the Pontiac because of new bushings and rear lateral arms.
Forgot to add the hood trim piece I got to finish off the grill:
Today I tackled straightening out and repainting the grill on the MG. It had a bunch of bends and dents in it that I decided to take care out. Although I have never done anything like this involving a hammer and dolly I don't think that I did to bad, it's not perfect but it's much better. It also comes apart into 4 different pieces that get riveted back together.
Before on the two side pieces. The left one is really jacked up while the one on the right isn't to bad
Left side all fixed up
Dented up hood strip
Hood strip fixed
The main grill had a couple of ribs that were bent and wavy
Fixed up
Here it is on the car. I took out the trim trim that was on the center section and painted the outside silver instead of all shiny.
Project #2 that I started to play with is a LED ring on the fog lights for the Pontiac that will come on with the turn signal/corner marker.