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A One-Owner Car: The woman from whom I
bought this car - sight-unseen - was the survivor of the original owners (her husband had recently died). She was
in her early 60's and they had always owned two other cars, using this one only for summer weekend driving fun.
Taking a Big Risk: Picking it up at the airport at
midnight, I took off for a 2,500 mile trip across the nation. For the first half-hour, I drove at 35 mph, then increased
the speed by 5 mph every half-hour until I was driving at 70.
A Faded Beauty: When I bought my MGB, the paint was
badly faded and the white stripes down the side had deteriorated badly.
Good Condition & Original Equipment: In the trunk
was the tonneau cover, the convertible top boot, and the jack - all in excellent condition. The top appeared to be fairly
new. The carpets were the only sore spot, worn through to the white backing in several large spots. The tires
were in excellent shape.
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Reno MG - All British Car Club
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Barry & Liz Barnes' 78 MGB Tourer
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Barry bought this one-owner 78 MGB in 2004 - it had been used as a third car and garaged for
27 years.
It was in good condition, but the paint had faded
so badly it looked orange... and he didn't care for the damaged wide white stripes on the side.
He painted it and installed new upholstery, carpets, and a trunk
kit... along with LOTS of work to the engine and many "little things" that, of course, added up to more than he originally
paid for it.
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An "Okay" Interior: The dash was in excellent condition
and the interior was in relatively good shape, but the driver's seat did have a hole where the seatbelt had hit it repeatedly.
A Decent Engine: The engine had 98,003 miles on it
and had never been re-built... but the woman swore they had never driven it over 70 mph and that it had been serviced regularly...
the glove box bore that out, being full of receipts. It runs well. However, I've converted it to electronic ignition,
added a high-performance coil, an oiler for the rocker arm assembly, and numerous other changes. Even though it
has NO pollution control equipment at all, it passed the smog test right away!
I have an extra engine that I'm going to rebuild as a performance one and
install along with an overdrive transmission sometime in the coming year or so.
Upholstery & Carpets - The Big Difference: I
shopped around for quite a while before settling on an upholstery kit from Prestige Auto Trim in England. This is a
top-of-the-line kit that has extra foam in the seats and seat backs. I also replaced the seat cushion and the supports
- the result was such that I had to take out the wooden seat supports, as they raised me too high in the car. I also
re-carpeted it with a top-quality kit from Prestige, using matching black with red binding carpets and 1/2" of sound / heat
insulation.
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Paint Was the Big Need: Obviously, one of the first things
I did, was have the car painted. The door jambs and engine compartment hadn't faded, so I chose a color called "Spitfire
Red" - which is an intense red that has just a touch of orange to it - and, by cleaning and waxing the doorjambs and engine
compartment, it's hard to tell it's not the original color. In a few years, I'll have it painted again with a much higher-quality
paint job.
Trunk Dress-Up: The trunk kit matches the carpet
- thick black plush with red binding. I attached a chrome "MG" trunk logo on the spare tire cover from an earlier
model. I also bought matching red and black bags for tools, music, and detailing supplies - and glued red
and black cloth "MG" octagons on each of them. My British Leyland fender protector tops it off.
Other Touches: I also added a luggage rack - a real
need for traveling in an MG - as well as fender mirrors, MG-logo mud flaps (which helped immensely this past winter), and
a "Special Edition" air dam. I also got all the little electrical glitches fixed. There are numerous other little
touches I've done... and others planned for the future.
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