samta22
Club Retro Rides Member
Stuck in once more...
Posts: 1,276 
Club RR Member Number: 32
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After owning this car for just over 4.5 years (I won't lie - most of which time it's been off the road) and promising in several threads that I would start a thread on my antics with it, I thought it was about time I put digits to keyboard and regaled the tale of how I got myself into the right mess I now find myself in  , perhaps naively hoping in some vague way that it might be a cathartic process of some kind  . The intention is to update this in stages to bring us back to the present day. Now admittedly a lot has happened since I got the car, including but not limited to renovating a house, moving job, getting married, trained for and ran a marathon and acquiring several other projects (see other threads), plus a whole host besides... basically life. However excuses aside, the car has been ever-present with the hope that one day it will be completed. I should also point out at this stage that although I wasn't necessarily looking for a project at the time, the journey I've been on and the skills I have learnt (and am still learning), plus the people I have met along the way, I could never have imagined, it's been on the whole great fun. Yes I could have bought a heritage shell (£10,798.38 plus VAT at time of writing - no thanks!) or simply paid someone to do it for me (where's the fun it that?!). Before we go right back to the beginning, it's probably best to go grab that mug of tea or coffee... we may be a while! So why an MG... well I've essentially grown up hearing about them, my aunt had a B GT, uncles on both sides of the family had MGs of varying guises and they are one of the quintessentially English sports cars from an era of car manufacture I love. Throw in the need for it to be a relatively cheap 1st classic (I look back fondly on this notion), with spares a plenty and loads of information about how to do things - and it was a bit of a no-brainer for me. Now as I said, budget for purchase wasn't huge, however what played in my favour was that I wasn't particularly bothered about a roadster and preferred the look of a GT which tended to be cheaper. However wanting best of both it had to have a webasto and preferably was in Old English White - it turns out there are many, many shades of this! While idly browsing the classifieds one day in early 2012 I spot something that pricks my interest - a '69 chrome bumper car - tick, GT with webasto - tick, old english white - tick, local and at a half sensible price - tick... this is it - time for a closer look. Cue a couple of calls and after a viewing the next day the car was mine - result!.. or so I thought... So I present to you as bought for the grand sum of 800 english pounds - the white elephant!  and yes... there are so many things I see in this picture that I didn't at the time... rose tinted specs, blind ambition or simply fate... either way the journey had started. |
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Last Edit: Jun 10, 2020 11:17:37 GMT by samta22
'37 Austin 7 '56 Austin A35 '58 Austin A35 '65 Triumph Herald 12/50 '69 MGB GT '74 MGB GT V8'73 TA22 Toyota Celica restoration'95 Mercedes SL320 '04 MGTF 135 'Cool Blue' (Mrs' Baby) '05 Land Rover Discovery 3 V8 '67 Abarth 595 (Mrs' runabout) '18 Disco V |
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Look forward to more pics and update
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,998
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Aug 12, 2016 10:39:28 GMT
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Bookmarked and looking forward to the story of this one, intial pic looks nice for 800 quid!...
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samta22
Club Retro Rides Member
Stuck in once more...
Posts: 1,276
Club RR Member Number: 32
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Aug 12, 2016 12:45:32 GMT
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That was what I thought when I saw it, worse case was that I could probably break it for more than I paid... Hindsight is such a wonderful thing |
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'37 Austin 7 '56 Austin A35 '58 Austin A35 '65 Triumph Herald 12/50 '69 MGB GT '74 MGB GT V8'73 TA22 Toyota Celica restoration'95 Mercedes SL320 '04 MGTF 135 'Cool Blue' (Mrs' Baby) '05 Land Rover Discovery 3 V8 '67 Abarth 595 (Mrs' runabout) '18 Disco V |
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luckygti
Posted a lot
I need to try harder!
Posts: 4,912
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Aug 12, 2016 20:35:52 GMT
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Love a B GT, had a rubber bumper years ago and would love another, especially one with a V8! Bookmarked.
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samta22
Club Retro Rides Member
Stuck in once more...
Posts: 1,276
Club RR Member Number: 32
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So without going into the finer detail, the car was trailered back to my garage, where over a few summer eves and weekends it was worked on to try and get it to a state where it could pass an MOT. Most of the work involved getting the engine running! and subsequently reliably, as well as dealing with a few cosmetic tasks... replacing front grill, those 80's seats - they were rebuilt on the dining room table with the aid of a few tips from watching 'An MG is born'! During which time the car looked like this:  Look close enough and you may even spot some of the 'tweaks' After far, far too many late nights, a date for test was booked. Come the day I got up early, checked fluids, warmed the car up and the car was ready for its MOT...  or so I thought... alas the MOT tester didn't... b*gger! In fairness I did ask him to be hyper critical in order to give me a job list for fettling, what I wasn't expecting was the level of education and length of job list I ended up with!  Reason(s) for failure: Offside rear parking brake recording little or no effort (3.7.B.6a) Nearside Headlamp not working on main beam (1.7.5a) Offside Headlamp aim too low (1.8) Nearside Headlamp aim too high (1.8) Brake master cylinder/servo mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded (3.6.C.3) Front Sub-frame corroded and seriously weakened (2.4.G.1) Fuel pipe union leaking (7.2.3) Nearside Front Anti-roll bar has excessive play in a pin/bush (2.4.G.2) Offside Front Anti-roll bar has excessive play in a pin/bush (2.4.G.2) Nearside Rear Suspension component mounting prescribed area is inadequately repaired (2.4.A.3) Offside Rear Suspension component mounting prescribed area is inadequately repaired (2.4.A.3) Offside rear brake binding (3.7.B.1) Offside Track rod end ball joint dust cover excessively damaged so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (2.2.C.1c) Nearside Steering rack gaiter split (2.2.D.2d) Offside Steering rack gaiter split (2.2.D.2d) Nearside Front Upper Suspension arm has excessive play in a pin/bush (2.4.G.2) Parking brake: efficiency below requirements (3.7.B.7) Nearside Rear Suspension component mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded (2.4.A.3) Advisory notice item(s): corrosion to bulkhead,inner sills,floor pans,chassis legs,inner wheel arches. engine oil leak gearbox oil leak rear diff slight leak brake pedal travel low |
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'37 Austin 7 '56 Austin A35 '58 Austin A35 '65 Triumph Herald 12/50 '69 MGB GT '74 MGB GT V8'73 TA22 Toyota Celica restoration'95 Mercedes SL320 '04 MGTF 135 'Cool Blue' (Mrs' Baby) '05 Land Rover Discovery 3 V8 '67 Abarth 595 (Mrs' runabout) '18 Disco V |
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düdo
Part of things
wide as house
Posts: 770
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That's quite a list of things to do. At least you know where to apply the spanner!
I'm a big fan of the MGB GT V8. One of my mates was given one for his 21st birthday by his Dad who had found it as a wreck in a barn and fixed it up in secret. We had a lot of fun in the pre speed camera days in the 80s. My mate is now almost fifty and after the car getting crashed several times in the 90s, being stolen and eventually recovered ten years later in a sorry looking state, he's finally got it back and up to level again. It is a beast! Good look with your mission
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Last Edit: Aug 15, 2016 8:44:45 GMT by düdo
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v8ian
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,832
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I like this car, and have always fancied one, My size and age and aches and pains now sort of dictates that one is off my wish list, but not off my lust wish........... Anyway you have an A 35, so rust repairs should be a doddle on a MGB, That MOT must have been a kick in the nuts, not unexpected, it is after all a MGB and a car of the 60s, they were all rust traps, every part for the MGB is catered for, all the other bits are Nut n Bolt repairs, all cost tho,  Good Luck with the rebuilding,!!!!  |
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Atmo V8 Power . No slicks , No gas + No bits missing . Doing it in style.
Austin A35van, very different------- but still doing it in style, going to be a funmoble
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samta22
Club Retro Rides Member
Stuck in once more...
Posts: 1,276
Club RR Member Number: 32
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Aug 15, 2016 12:46:47 GMT
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The MGB oddly has taught me most of the things I need to know for sorting the A35, well asides the reverse jig exercise which I'm currently working for the rear suspension a la project binky... but that's for the A35 thread whenever i get that one written down So to continue... as mentioned, it was not the best start to MG ownership but an important lesson nevertheless. Looking back it is easy to say I was completely out of my depth with what I had taken on and so little knowledge. To some extent I guess that would be true, but the rationale of having an MG as a first classic is that there is loads of info out there, you will never be the first to suffer from such an issue so you learn from these things and move on. A new sub frame was soon sourced along with all components for a front end rebuild, books were read, web forums surfed and YouTube viewed aplenty. This resulted in braking issues being fixed, welding carried out on the areas that needed it and a nice shiny painted front subframe with rebuilt brakes and suspension. The car went in for a retest in November 2012 and passed! We were on the road at last... As it turned out this was only for about 3 months... after which my need to tinker took over once more. Little did I know what I would soon find... |
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'37 Austin 7 '56 Austin A35 '58 Austin A35 '65 Triumph Herald 12/50 '69 MGB GT '74 MGB GT V8'73 TA22 Toyota Celica restoration'95 Mercedes SL320 '04 MGTF 135 'Cool Blue' (Mrs' Baby) '05 Land Rover Discovery 3 V8 '67 Abarth 595 (Mrs' runabout) '18 Disco V |
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samta22
Club Retro Rides Member
Stuck in once more...
Posts: 1,276
Club RR Member Number: 32
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Aug 16, 2016 13:08:16 GMT
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So despite it being winter, the car was on the road, actually performing quite well and I was using it whenever practically possible, trying to adapt driving an older car and think of where improvements might be made. One such area was the rear suspension, which in my view was a little soft, notwithstanding I was used to driving around in a BMW 328 sport at the time - bit chalk and cheese! The decision was made to get the car up on axle stands one weekend and to drop the rear axle and differential for some remedial work - replacing the tired leaf springs (one had a slight crack anyway), any worn bushings and giving it all a lick of rust treatment and paint. While the axle was out of the way I thought I may as well drop the petrol tank and give it a good clean, reading up around this showed that issues tended to appear between the top of the tank and the boot floor causing the latter to rot through. Here's where the fun began, on dropping the tank the true horror (there is no other word for what I felt at the time) sunk in as to what I was dealing with.  Both sides were equally as bad - there wasn't a whole lot holding the rear spring shackles in place then! No wonder it felt a bit 'soft'! I don't mind admitting a fair bit of panic set in at that point and if it wasn't for a good mate who was restoring a mini helping me out I may well have thrown the towel in there and then. (looking back I probably should have done!) It became very quickly clear I was now in for the long haul... those three months of enjoying the car would soon become a very distant memory as the car was not going to leave the shed for a while (...it still hasn't nearly 4 years later!). So the parts were stripped off and the metalwork began...  So as you can imagine this all caused a bit of pondering - just what was I taking on? Having only restored a Lambretta previously this was a bit unexpected and to be frank, completely out of my league at the time. On the positive side, it did provide some consideration of what I could turn the car into - it was in pieces anyway, I had some room to work in, it had been 'restored' in places before and the engine it turned out wasn't the original lump so originality wasn't a factor - I could now effectively try and build my ideal MGB. |
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'37 Austin 7 '56 Austin A35 '58 Austin A35 '65 Triumph Herald 12/50 '69 MGB GT '74 MGB GT V8'73 TA22 Toyota Celica restoration'95 Mercedes SL320 '04 MGTF 135 'Cool Blue' (Mrs' Baby) '05 Land Rover Discovery 3 V8 '67 Abarth 595 (Mrs' runabout) '18 Disco V |
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Nov 11, 2016 15:14:23 GMT
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Had to come over for a look at your project.
I have a GT with the rear shackle mounts starting to look a bit suspect. What I did was convert the car to a triangulated 4 link suspension with coil-overs and then just plated the rear shakle mounts.
The panels to repair the rear spring mounts are available from MOSS and are easy enough to let in.
Having done about six MGB shells to date, I do know my way around them, so if you need any pictures or advice, be happy to help.
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samta22
Club Retro Rides Member
Stuck in once more...
Posts: 1,276
Club RR Member Number: 32
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Nov 14, 2016 17:17:22 GMT
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Thanks - I really ought to pull my finger out and update this thread.
The rear sub-frame and shackle mounts etc. I'm ashamed to say I repaired about 3 years ago... it's been a slow labour of love and steps forward and back ever since...
plus the usual distractions of marriage, houses and other projects...
Will be back with a more recent update soon!
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'37 Austin 7 '56 Austin A35 '58 Austin A35 '65 Triumph Herald 12/50 '69 MGB GT '74 MGB GT V8'73 TA22 Toyota Celica restoration'95 Mercedes SL320 '04 MGTF 135 'Cool Blue' (Mrs' Baby) '05 Land Rover Discovery 3 V8 '67 Abarth 595 (Mrs' runabout) '18 Disco V |
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samta22
Club Retro Rides Member
Stuck in once more...
Posts: 1,276
Club RR Member Number: 32
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Oct 15, 2018 10:16:17 GMT
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Well it's been a while, far too long in fact. But there have been happenings on the MG front... actually mostly retail therapy while focus has been on the Celica. A few months back I was offered an unmolested original car with the later shell for good money, too good to turn down in fact. Albeit it is the slightly less desirable rubber bumper model (IMO), but it'll provide the perfect platform for my V8 plans, which means the earlier shell can be restored to a slightly different spec... at some point So asides the car, I finally got my hands on one of these  and last weekend I visited VIP to pick up a gearbox - great to meet you Dan and see the (rather minor) job list, still very jealous of your space!  Few more bits and pieces required, but a full shell strip is on the cards for over winter to allow for strengthening and the usual sill repairs  |
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'37 Austin 7 '56 Austin A35 '58 Austin A35 '65 Triumph Herald 12/50 '69 MGB GT '74 MGB GT V8'73 TA22 Toyota Celica restoration'95 Mercedes SL320 '04 MGTF 135 'Cool Blue' (Mrs' Baby) '05 Land Rover Discovery 3 V8 '67 Abarth 595 (Mrs' runabout) '18 Disco V |
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Oct 15, 2018 11:54:03 GMT
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Great to see you are working on this again. Here in Holland its still summer so took my MGB V8 for a spin yesterday. Its so much fun to drive. These are great cars. Mine is a roadster and i strengthened it by seam welding it and added some sections of steel from the cross member to the rear spring hangers. This was done at the factory with the RV8
Peter
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samta22
Club Retro Rides Member
Stuck in once more...
Posts: 1,276
Club RR Member Number: 32
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Oct 15, 2018 12:14:37 GMT
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Great to see you are working on this again. Here in Holland its still summer so took my MGB V8 for a spin yesterday. Its so much fun to drive. These are great cars. Mine is a roadster and i strengthened it by seam welding it and added some sections of steel from the cross member to the rear spring hangers. This was done at the factory with the RV8 Peter
Thanks Peter, your efforts are already proving an inspiration and I will probably be picking your brains in time as the lump I have for it is the 3.9 - your rebuild commentary on yours was especially fascinating. The plan is to end up with something not too different from what CCHL produce for customers but with the 3.9 instead and a few other twists of my own |
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'37 Austin 7 '56 Austin A35 '58 Austin A35 '65 Triumph Herald 12/50 '69 MGB GT '74 MGB GT V8'73 TA22 Toyota Celica restoration'95 Mercedes SL320 '04 MGTF 135 'Cool Blue' (Mrs' Baby) '05 Land Rover Discovery 3 V8 '67 Abarth 595 (Mrs' runabout) '18 Disco V |
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Oct 15, 2018 18:27:03 GMT
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Nice cars from CCHL Looking forward to what is coming! You do have quit a few cars.
Peter
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samta22
Club Retro Rides Member
Stuck in once more...
Posts: 1,276
Club RR Member Number: 32
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Well stuff has been happening... Mrs was away so the boy could play... that and I've been feeling left out that I've not got more than one project on the go like most on here ... so it was time to join that little club and get the second MG stripped ahead of it going for blasting  Remarkably, most bits came off without a fight... didn't stop me going and buying myself a new toy that I can threaten it with if that ever ceases to be the case  I can't profess to it being my desired colour choice, but it's not bad on the inside, I've certainly seen worse. Interior glue was damn strong still as well!   Even the boot floor is remarkably rot free  With most of the interior gone it was then onto the wiring and fuel tank  which soon parted company from the shell  Which at some point in its life was thoroughly undersealed, as although the sills have rusted through which they seem to do no matter what you do, the rest is rather good indeed.   Which is more than can be said about the tyres!  More soon... hopefully! |
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'37 Austin 7 '56 Austin A35 '58 Austin A35 '65 Triumph Herald 12/50 '69 MGB GT '74 MGB GT V8'73 TA22 Toyota Celica restoration'95 Mercedes SL320 '04 MGTF 135 'Cool Blue' (Mrs' Baby) '05 Land Rover Discovery 3 V8 '67 Abarth 595 (Mrs' runabout) '18 Disco V |
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Good to see you on this again, I can see where this shell may end up along with the Celica eventually
It's good to have a universal tool in the box as I'm sure you could use this for mop polishing at some stage? 
Well it's a good reason to have it if someone asks |
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samta22
Club Retro Rides Member
Stuck in once more...
Posts: 1,276
Club RR Member Number: 32
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Good to see you on this again, I can see where this shell may end up along with the Celica eventually
It's good to have a universal tool in the box as I'm sure you could use this for mop polishing at some stage?
Well it's a good reason to have it if someone asks I couldn't possibly comment Pete. Although on that point it was driving back from the NEC show chatting with my brother about deadlines and his ongoing saga with his splitscreen VW that got me thinking. I started messing about with the MG's not long after I was 30, the Celica obviously then came along and the curve shifted a little. Ultimately the deep down wish is to have one or both of the toys on the road and usable for my 40th. Just under three years... Ambitious? Probably. But it's going to be fun to see how we get on. Ha! I wish I could get away with that, unfortunately I already have rather a lot of polishing gear from my days of running a part time detailing business. That's already a bone of contention for it taking up room in the garage, hate to think of the consequences if she thought I'd added to it!  Will have to think of something else... I've got until Friday eve... |
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'37 Austin 7 '56 Austin A35 '58 Austin A35 '65 Triumph Herald 12/50 '69 MGB GT '74 MGB GT V8'73 TA22 Toyota Celica restoration'95 Mercedes SL320 '04 MGTF 135 'Cool Blue' (Mrs' Baby) '05 Land Rover Discovery 3 V8 '67 Abarth 595 (Mrs' runabout) '18 Disco V |
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samta22
Club Retro Rides Member
Stuck in once more...
Posts: 1,276
Club RR Member Number: 32
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I feel bad for not touching the Celica since the NEC, but as I've been doing a few jobs at home I can slot this in around them including getting it 'pushable' so the '7 can come out of hibernation ready for a photo shoot this week. So it was more stripping this weekend while dodging the hail showers  Started with a pretty full and grimy engine bay (I'd already pulled the radiator and support out by this point), hence the pile of hoses on the ground.  and finished with just the lump and a few minor parts left to remove.  Few areas of rot but again rather surprised at how solid this shell really is and how easy most of the bolts/screws came undone. Engine, exhaust, subframe and axles next... time to put a call into the blasters. |
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'37 Austin 7 '56 Austin A35 '58 Austin A35 '65 Triumph Herald 12/50 '69 MGB GT '74 MGB GT V8'73 TA22 Toyota Celica restoration'95 Mercedes SL320 '04 MGTF 135 'Cool Blue' (Mrs' Baby) '05 Land Rover Discovery 3 V8 '67 Abarth 595 (Mrs' runabout) '18 Disco V |
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, perhaps naively hoping in some vague way that it might be a cathartic process of some kind 
. The intention is to update this in stages to bring us back to the present day.
