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MG MGB Technical - Restoration. where to start!

I;ve just got my first MG B to use and then restore over the winter period. Any tips of where to start or go about the project from those who've dont it and learnt?
M J Coram

You'd need to define "restore" a bit more. The following simple truths apply to any restoration: a good, well lit workspace, proper tools, a working knowledge of the car--including a manual, the time to complete it in a reasonable period and money. And lots more money than originaly budgeted!!

What year is the car and what is the general condition? How's the rust? Where do you hope to go with the retoration--a full concours job or a good, reliable daily driver? Will you be doing the work yourself? Is it a "down-to-the-metal" affair or simply a new interior and other cosmetics.

Otherwise, when/if you begin to dissasemble, photograph, label and bag everything. Restore one part at a time,ie tailights, windscreen, front end, gearbox, etc so that you're ready for reassembly if you're having it painted.

One last bit of advise: If you are going to be ordering a lot of parts, order as much as possible at one or two times to get optimum pricing and save a ton of cash on postage. Moss and others offer deep discounts for large orders. You should also wait for sales. Most larger suppliers have annual sales on hoods and interiors, for example. Talk to others in your area who have done such projects. Join a club for local support. Order parts direct and you can return them direct if needed--and you will need to make returns--trust me here. If you buy from a reseller then returns can only go back to the reseller. I like the Moss "no questions asked" return policy.

Get all new rubber bits and pieces, but save everything. Never thow anything away!!! Sometimes a small part, say a licence plate lamp, will look to you like it needs replacing. You will find perhaps, that the new re-manufactured part is ill fitting or poorly chromed and that the original can be cleaned up better than you first thought.

Welcome to the fray!! You'll find lots of help and sympathy here.

Paul
'64 Tourer
Paul Hanley

If you can use it now it can't be a disaster. Is the shell sound? Mechanicals? Interior under bonnet, in the boot ???
S Best

Mark,

What Paul said is corect. What year is your MGB? How far do you want to take your restoration? Example....

I have a 1977 MGB. I wanted 100% restoration. This I learned the hard way. So please listen and learn and I will try to put it in the way to do it and others will also to post to help.

1st Take pictures. Lots of pictures. Close ups of engine, underneath, dash. As things come apart, more pictures. I had 3 books, Bentley, Chilton, and Haynes for my car plus a engine rebuild video.
(Note: I am just a home mechanic on my car and I restored everything except when I had to have the pistons pressed in, speedometer sensor on my cable added, and a nice paint job. The rest I did myself in my garage.

2nd you must have a good supply of basic tools, a hydralic jack, 4 jack stands, removing the engine will need a engine hoist or what I did is just throw a chain over a bar and used a basic chain hoist to remove it. It works easily.

3rd I removed every part from my car. From the hood to doors, fuel lines, all wiring, engine, transmission, dash, seats, all bolts and nuts. When done all I had was a shell. Everyhing was stripped form the car. As Paul stated above do not throw anything away yet. Save it until you are done.

4th on to body work. Up to you depending on how much rust. I was fortunate and only had a couple rust spots. The company that painted my car fixed that up because it wasn't much. I had the undercariage sprayed with rubber undercoating to prevent rust. My car was stripped of all paint inside and out and repainted completly. Note: If you do it this way you must be careful when putting the car together or you could get some chips doing some work putting your car togther.

5th When my car was getting painted I ordered my parts. Paul is correct and try 2 orders if you can. I found that Moss Motors had a lot of parts and Victoria British. So if one doesn't have the part or a kit the other does. I tried to get kit sets. All items I ordered if it had a bolt, washer, and nut I orderd it for every item. I ended up spliting my order between the two companies. Just depends on your taste for some items.

A word of caution: Some items that are new or replacements are just plain junk. Example would be the distributor, the ignition switch, fuel pump, wiper switches, relay switches. This is why Paul stated above Do Not Throw anything away. You may find yourself using some of your old parts. I found out the hard way. The above mentioned items were junk and did not last. I had to go to E-bay and find older part again that worked better than the new parts. You will find more parts in your order that just are not right. Than go back to your old parts you saved.

I ordered from Proper MG a three stage engine rebilld kit. It has everything needed to do a enigne rebuild.
1st you must figure out what piston size, camshaft, sprocket. Mine was a 1977 with old smog cam, I went with standard pistons, earlier type cam shaft and double chain timing sprocket. This retarded my valve timing 4* and ended up being the same specification as the 18G. It was a good decision.

I also changed all my gauges to VDO. They are all electrical and modern. They light up very nice at night and makes the car look fresh. I also went with a 5 speed Ford Sierra Gearbox. Works great. Than I added a Moss Supercharger with Peco Header and Exhaust. So Mark Please plan your car before you order parts so you only order what you need.

Once you have everything and your car is back from the body shop than slowly put everything back together. Don't rush and take your time. Fuel line, and brake line kits are cut to fit. Start from the bottom and work up. Electrical wiring for me was first. I think you will have guestions later on, but this is your starting point.

Good Luck,

Ray







Ray 1977 MGB

I am halfway (maybe more) through totally rebuilding my 78B. You can look at my web page here with some vague idea of progress: http://www.asciimation.co.nz/pics

There are lots of other good web sites around giving pics and information about restorations.

I am not a mechanic or a panelbeater or a painter or a welder. I started with a 70GT I just sold and did a running restoration on it. I learn as I go along. Generally the car was drivable but I ended up fixing a lot of things as I went along. That was good practice. With the roadster I completely stripped it. I've been slowly repairing the body work (still am) and I have totally rebuilt the engine myself. With some good manuals and advice from people here and my mechanic I didn't find it too hard. I still have a lot to do though.

You definitely need good tools. A good workspace is nice but not essential. Believe me you can make do. It isn't pleasant but you get by. As others have said you will end up underestimating the time taken and the amount of money you spend. I realised long ago when it comes to the money part you just don't look. Never, ever add up all the receipts! Time is a bit trickier. I've just gone a few months without doing anything on the car due to it being winter and cold and wet and due to lack of motivation. You don't think about things like that when you mentally figure out how long it takes to do things. You should factor in days where you just can't be bothered. Nice thing about doing it yourself though is days like that don't matter.

Simon
Simon Jansen

Simon,

Fantastic car blog! Great pics and story of your resto project.

I'm also in Auckland, and have a 71 GT, my sister has a 70 GT (which received a 10K full body restoration a couple of years back).

I'm also just a 'home mechanic' and am enjoying learning as I work/play on my 'G'. Inspiring reading your site, thanks!
CJ Walker

Besides photos, I also recommend a digital recorder or other way of verbalizing what the camera is looking at.

As you take things apart, either write notes, or dictate how the part came across.

Recommend doing this does to what bolt came from where and how the washers were arranged.

I have found more than once where I thought I could remember exactly how a part went back together and then after the part is out for a number of months, Can't remember exactly how it went together.

As you disassemble, write down what parts need replacing. Then you will have a list to compare to when you order.
Bruce Cunha

Lot of good advice above. Decide what you want result to be as said. Is this a "rolling restoration" that you intend or need to drive as you go? That keeps your motivation up but makes it cost more. If you want the least expensive then do it all at once. If you are learning as you go then inventory what has been restored or replaced within last two years...the rest will eventually fail so schedule it all for restore or replacement.

I could do what I have done so far at half the cost if I knew what I know now....but that was a major portion of the satisfaction...learning one thing at a time as it broke or I replaced something that needed renewing as I was and am not a mechanic....just know quite a bit about my car now...some of it general in application.

From my understanding of your vehicle laws just passing MOT is a major goal.
J.T. Bamford

Use the time before the winter to log all the faults you find. Once you start restoration you will forget some of them. You will probably want to do basic service things, engine, carbs, ignition and brakes.
Then my advice would be to replace the sills. Regardles of how they look, they are likely to be shot to pieces inside. To do this you will probably have to remove the front wings.When you do this you will probably be greeted with loads of rust. Don't panic most will be easy to replace. If you are careful you could remove just the outer sill. this will give you an idea of the likely state of the structure. If it is rust my advice would be to chop all of the sill and the floorpan out as quickly as you can, they are cheap and easy to replace. If you have a roadster then brace the door gaps by welding parallel pieces of angle iron into the doors, if it is a GT you don't need to bother with this. Onc eyou have repaired the sills you might as well replace the rear wings at the sametime. Also checkout the condition of the rear spring hangers at this time as they may well be very rotten by now.
Once you have this lot completed you will have a sound car. At this time it will be worth fixing all your other faults. Most people never get to finish the metal work and instead waste time and money on other things and then sell their project with lots of new parts at a great loss
phil

All very good advise above. The suggestion to make a list of areas that need attention is right on. I do it with all my cars. Also have a box of sandwich bags, roll of masking tape and pen handy to sort, mark and store all the small parts and hardware.

First time restorers probably should not undertake a full restoration all at one time. We all have seen or heard of the cars totally disassembled and left sit in a garage for years for one reason or another. It may be because of money or time or other interests or ability, but many restorations don’t get completed. Many endup bing sold for parts or left to rust outside. For someone new to restoration I advise starting with areas of the car that need attention and can be completed over the winter.

Have a goal, to have the car back on the road for spring. This keeps the interest up and creates a time line to complete the project. It also gives the first time restorer the confidence in his or her ability. Avoid doing areas that will have to be redone with later restoration.

Select one or two areas of the car to concentrate on that will not have to be redone with the full restoration. For instance don’t install new carpet or a new dash now if you will be repainting the full body shell in a few years. Select an area such as the trunk or front suspension or both for the first year. Other small fixes can be made but focus on the area selected. Finish that area, sit back and be proud of the work accomplished. Review how much time was spent and the cost. You may find that the winter is almost over and you are ready to get out there and drive. You may find there is a lot of time left and another area can be handled.

Hopefully you do not find that this is more work or money than you are willing to put into the car. If you do, at least the car is still run-able and not in a million peaces.

Have fun
Don

What can I say that has not already been well covered above?

Personally I would start with the safety side of things...that way you will still be around to finish the rest of it!

Then do whatever is needed to make sure the area you are working on gets no worse. ie: the structural bits.

Then do the performance and lastly the cosmetics.

Lastly have allok at Paul Hunt's brilliant website too called the pages of Bee and Vee under the "spanners" section. Loads of good stuff there.
Link follows:
http://www.mgb-stuff.org.uk/


Good luck, Pete.
Peter Thomas

I read an article once about a chap in NZ that does concourse winning restores. His advice was to restore each item as it is removed. The worse that can happen is to have every thing in bits then run out of steam because there seems so much work to do. By restoring things as they come off, when the little bits are all completed, the car can quickly go back together.

I'll find out my self soon as the BGT is about due for a total body rebuild and paint.

Good luck
Ray BGT77
Ray BGT77

Ray- I've been drooling over VDO's for a few years, but hesitant to drop the scratch. Any chance of seeing a flick of your arrangement? What style, type, and color did you go with. I see they have radius to fit the MGB, but I've never seen an MGB complete with a matched set. Regards, Vic PS- You must go lik a scalded cat with all the bolt on jolt! Vic
vem myers

Simon- What a complete treat to see a pictoral record of a serious mgb restoration. You make us all proud Holmes! Vic
vem myers

Don't know if you followed the Mark Evans "An MG is Born" series... he was using a piece of software which is apparently released in Sept for recording your restoration. Details on his website.

Also if you're computer minded - I was in Moss today and they now have CD ROMs of parts manuals, workshop manuals and so on for £17.50. I've never used them so can't comment on how good they are but if it's a big restoration it can't hurt giving it a go at that price!

Cheers.
Jezzer

Vic, thanks! It's a long job and I am learning a lot. Slowly getting my enthuasism back now we're getting some better weather here. I need to update the site a little to.
Simon Jansen

This thread was discussed between 21/08/2005 and 28/08/2005

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