1978 MGBGT project ( now sold )

[nigxl]

Here goes another probably abandoned half way through project
Bought 2 Bs one for a donor.

[nigxl]

The advert stated : MG B GT Rubber bumper project. Needs rebuilding, I have seats for the interior but it will need new carpets etc. Engine was running, hasn't been started in a while and needs carbs setting up. It's had the front suspension rebuilt. Body is solid, has had welding done. Minilite wheels in good condition. Ready to make what you want of it! There's another car which is almost complete to go with it, body is rotten but might have some useful spare parts to go with it. I'm only selling as I've bought another car I want to complete and will never get round to doing this! Sounds familiar

[nigxl]

One advantage of buying a car in this state is that it's easy to check the floor pan with no carpets.
The car has been sat for about 5 years inside a nice warm workshop having the welding and suspension done so hopefully shouldn't need too much work to get running again.
Paintwork is however not the best.
The guy has sprayed it himself and it's far from perfect so will need flatting back and re doing but that's some way off yet.
Car is being delivered sometime this evening so I will update once I've had a better look.

[nigxl]

Didn't have car last night should be tonight now.
A question on carpet sets for the MGB, do people buy the moulded sets or the cheaper flat option?

[flyingphil]

It will be nice to see this progress. Looking forward to more pics.

[bjornagn]

Buy the molded set of carpets. Even the molded ones can be a PITA but at least you have a fighting chance. I bought MOSS for my GT, and while the rear arch pieces were technically molded, I will never know to WHAT they were molded to fit cause it sure was not an MGB GT!

[nigxl]

Nov 22, 2016 11:47:06 GMT bjornagn said:

Buy the molded set of carpets. Even the molded ones can be a PITA but at least you have a fighting chance. I bought MOSS for my GT, and while the rear arch pieces were technically molded, I will never know to WHAT they were molded to fit cause it sure was not an MGB GT!

Thanks for that, I was guessing the expensive option was there for a reason.
The car should be here in a couple of hours so I can start making a shopping list.
Any advice on where to buy welcomed. I have used Rimmer Bros in the past for triumph parts and have discovered MGB Hive also.

[Witherkay]

Looks like a good project, did they move the brake servo over to the driver's side later on? Mine's on the passenger side

[adam73bgt]

Nice B, always good to see an MG thread pop up

MGB Hive are good for parts at very reasonable prices, Moss tend to be more expensive but have pretty much every last little thing you could think of

I'm a way off fitting carpets to mine yet (apart from when I fitted a second hand set while I was at uni) but I'd agree with going for the moulded ones for sure


Witherkay yeah the later B's had a Servo on the Drivers side though I can't remember exactly when the changeover happened. It may have coincided with the change to a dual circuit brakes system as well

[duggers]

MGOwnersclub.co.uk do parts don't know about prices tho.

[nigxl]

Nov 22, 2016 18:50:48 GMT Witherkay said:

Looks like a good project, did they move the brake servo over to the driver's side later on? Mine's on the passenger side

Yeah mine is on the right, think things changed around 1975.

[nigxl]

Well it certainly looks like I'm going to need some parts.
No roof lining



But it has got K and N filters



And electronic ignition



But missing an ignition lead and the centre electrode from the dizzy cap.
No startup tonight then.
I have turned the engine by hand and it is free which is a bonus, so I'm going to do a compression check tomorrow and set the tappets etc and hope the donor has an engine that I can rob some bits from.

[nigxl]

So I thought I would have an early start this morning as something was worrying me about the stance of this car when it was dropped off last night.
It's had suspension work and welding done on it and it was strapped to a trailer, so I let the suspension settle overnight and decided to have a look.

[nigxl]

Out with the tape,





I'm concerned

[edessex]

Thats quite far out! Did you look underneath to see if anything was noticeably wrong?

[nigxl]

The rear leaf springs look OK, could it be a knackered shock absorber damper?
One of the axle check straps is taught whilst the other is slack.

[avengertec]

Could be a seized shock absorber
Incorrectly fitted springs tired spring and a new spring
Lots of different reasons needs jacking up and removing a few items to see what's going on
But I suspect the side with the tight check strap will be the problem side

[flyingphil]

I wonder if it has got odd leaf springs? Maybe one new ,one old - or a later rubber bumper spring and early CB spring?

[nigxl]

Thanks for the input guys, out with the spanners time.

[nigxl]

Ok so I released the shock from the drop link and the shock has movement.
So it looks like either the spring is seized or somehow the anti roll bar is stopping any movement from the spring.
Attempts to jack the spring up lifts the car with no movement in the spring whatsoever.


Oh and I'm lacking a fuel pump and propshaft, hope this donor car has one fitted.