1975 MGB purchased in November 97 with engine and transmission removed and the engine disassembled. It had been sitting in a hangar at the Baton Rouge airport for 13 years. The body was rust free but had a couple of little dings. I was very happy to pay $500 for the car. I ended up selling engine parts, the transmission, and the hard top for more than.
So starting with a "free" body, Andrew and I restored the car and installed the Rover 3.5l V-8 engine. As a Father / Son project we chose color / interior / wheels / tires / etc., and rebuilt the brakes, suspension, rewired for the V8. A local body shop fixed the little dings and painted it black (originallly red). We reassembled the car, installed the interior, put in the V8 engine, Rover transmission, and associated other different parts, and finished the car in March 1999. What a surprise to everybody in the family (except me) when it started and drove around the block for the first time !! Andrew had a chance to drive it to school the last couple of months before he graduated, and his friends were astonished that we had built a car together in the carport.
I'm keeping it while Andrew is in college and then we'll hand over the keys. In the mean time, we're working on another MGB for me.
1966 MG B
I purchased "Della" from Jim Knight on eBay in November 2001. It was a rolling body shell with only an engine and overdrive transmission. It had been used for racing, so there were some minor body modifications like slightly flared rear fenders. In 2002, I set about putting the car back on the road. I prepared it for painting, and Jim Tornetta sprayed it in Chris Bethman's fire department spray booth. We painted it Chelsea Grey, an original color from the early 60's that will make Della stand out due to the unusual color. I bought 3 parts cars and disassembled them to get parts I could use to put on the body shell. I rebuilt the engine. I bought tons of parts - like red leather seats and accompanying carpet and panel kit, exhaust system, brake and clutch system rebuild kits, and many more.
Then in July 2002, I found out that I was transferring back to Louisiana. The company paid to transport Della back to Louisiana, but then in the new environment, progress slowed to a crawl. I rebuilt the O/D transmission at John Twist's University Motors course in February 2004, then the carburetors and distributor in the course in February 2006. In the mean time I did some major changes to my black 75 V8 MGB.
Finally, at the New Orleans British Motor Club show in March 2007, my wife, Mary Lynne said she would like to drive Della to the show in 2008. That was all the encouragement I needed. I set about to start getting the car put back together, assembling all the parts I needed for fuel, electrical, oil, and cooling systems and took them all to Peter Brauen in Kiln, Mississippi for 2 days this week. I went back to pick up Della today, and presto - we fired her up and she ran like she was made to run today July 7, 2007.
