Restoring the MGB 

My wife Pattye bought the MGB new in 1974 in Washington D.C. where we later met.  We moved to California in 1977 for three years and then to England for two years.  The MGB went with us, it was one of the few MGBs in London with the steering wheel on the left side. While we were in London the MGB traveled to Wales, Northern England, and across the Channel to Paris, France. Of course we went with it.  In 1982 we moved to Valley Forge and the Great Valley House.

In the mid 1980's my wife needed something more appropriate for driving with an infant and car pooling to school. The MGB was stored in the shed. I wanted to sell it but she was very attached to her MGB. 

About 14 years later in the summer of 1999 it was decided, by Mom the original owner, that this would be the baby's car, the baby was then 15. I started with a new battery and a fuel pump and then went on to spend another $2700 in various parts. I began replacing what didn't work one item at a time, scraping off rust and doing other clean up when needed. Cleaning out the mouse nest behind the brake and clutch master cylinders was just one of the little tasks that had to be done. Expensive items were tires, new top, mechanical garage work and quarter panel replacement (total for these four items was $1200).  One of the cheapest parts, and the easiest to install, was the new gas cap.

When I finally had new tires on it, and had it running, I had a garage look at it and mechanically it was sound. The Mechanic, Joe DeGisi of O.J.P. Auto Service in Norristown, said the compression was 110 psi across the board and the shocks were fine. I had Joe reconstruct the metal frame that holds the battery, half of it had rusted away. Horns were a problem, electrical connector tabs had disintegrated, couldn't find replacements, moss parts didn't fit, so I took them apart and repaired them (they still do not work right). The Moss replacement fuel pump continued to act up until it quit working, I diagnosed the problem as defective Moss Motors part, replaced the gasket on the pump fuel chamber cover with the one from the original (quarter century old) pump to solve the problem (Wrote nasty letter to Moss). I bought the prefabricated metal quarter panels that Moss Motors offers and had them welded in, sanded and painted to match. I found a paint supplier that can manufacture and ship in one day spray cans of paint matching the original factory codes for colors that are listed in the Moss Motors catalog. See Color Rite in the web links below. Another challenge was in figuring out where the turn signal flasher is in order to replace it (you have to remove the glove box liner to find it). In less than 12 months I bought three turn signal flashers from Moss because they kept failing.  I finally wised up and got a generic one at Pep Boys auto supply which has worked ever since.

My car was in the shop in the summer of 2000 to get it's transmission repaired so I had two solid weeks of driving the MG and  determined that it was stable.  I became comfortable that it could serve as daily transportation for my daughter.

Updated: 09/17/11