In the B-ginning

This will be the ongoing account of the "restoration" of my 1972 MGB. First, let me define restoration because it means something different to everybody. For my purposes, I will use the term restoration to mean the return of my MGB to daily driver status. I want to bring it back to a level of comfort, safety, and reliability that will give me confidence that I will be able to drive the car around town or cross-country with reasonable confidence that no major problems will occur (like wheels falling off, or me falling through the floor). On the other hand, I don't want a show car that I'm afraid to drive for fear of the tiniest scratch either.

Given that definition, I will make a list of things that need to be done to get the car to that level.

Here is that list:

1. Repair rust in doglegs on both sides of the car. This will involve cutting out the dogleg sheet metal and welding in a new panel. Don't worry, no animals will be harmed in this process. For those of you who don't know, the dogleg is the sheet metal at the very bottom between the back of the door and the wheel well.

2. Repair rust in floor. There are several rust spots but not enough to warrant complete floor replacement. Someone has already replaced the forward section of the floor pans with some pretty sturdy looking sheet metal. The replacement panels were pop-riveted in. I think I will continue with this method in the remaining floor repairs.

3. Connect replacement wiring harness. Somebody had taken the old wiring harness and cut every wire right under the passenger side dash. Somebody was either ticked off at the car, or at the owner of the car, or as a friend of mine put it, "drunk". I don't know which, I'll let you know if I find out. Anyway, the car was sold to me with a replacement harness in place, just not plugged into anything, so I'll be going through all of the electric system as I do all of the other re-assembly. First, I'm plugging in everything under the dash, which will require dash removal.

4. Go through all of the mechanical/hydraulic systems; brakes, clutch, engine, transmission, fuel delivery, etc. and return to reliable operating condition

5. Repair minor body damage. There are several parking lot dings and other minor body issues that will need to be taken care of while the car is still apart.

6. All of the body trim, lights, etc., have been removed and the car is in gray primer. Once the metal work and dent repairs are complete, I'll be removing the bumpers and windshield and taking the car to be painted. My wife is very supportive of this project and is excited that I finally have the chance to restore an MGB. She likes the idea of something in the neighborhood of Old English White, so I'm thinking of going with that and a beige interior. I think that's a very classy color scheme, I think it will really look nice with the chrome trim and wire wheels.

7. Speaking of the interior, it's bare. The dash is in good shape, but that's about it. I have seats, but they are very rough…not fit to sit in...or even near. I saw some interesting mold on one of them. The seats could be deemed either a biohazard or a wildlife habitat. So, I'll be buying a complete interior kit, seats, carpets, door panels, the whole she-bang.

The list will most likely change as I get into the details and run into the might as wells.

The story of the car as it was given to me is as follows:
The car was parked because it started running hot. Nothing has been done to it since, other than somebody cutting the wiring harness. The guy I bought it from took it down to metal in places to make sure the body was solid and has resprayed with gray primer. It appears to have been teal blue originally. There is teal blue overspray under the dash and there is teal blue in the engine compartment. The interior was possibly a tan/brown color judging from the seats, but they could have been replaced since the car was new.

So that's the story. I'll post pictures as I get them developed and scanned, as I am still in the 20th century and do not own a digital camera.