MGC’s are fun cars with a straight six in place of the B’s four. This one came in for a replacement (correct) tachometer bezel and gaskets for the intake plenum. We also checked on the starter and the gas tank sending unit. We have a soft spot for these C’s, and like to keep them on the road.
This MGB came in for some interior work. While it was here, Chip looked into several clunks that turned out to be bad trans mounts, worn driveshaft joints, and broken leaf springs. The steering rack boots were shot , and it needed new rear wheel brake cylinders. This one will drive much better when it heads out again.
The C was a nice car, even if the critics weren’t always kind to it. This one came in with problems typical of 40 year old cars.
The carbs were mounted incorrectly, causing the bowls to be cocked, the plates that act as velocity stacks weren’t present, and the distributor needed attention for starters.
Moreover, some of the bolts holding the window frames to the doors were missing, the exhaust manifold flanges were broken, some wiring needed tending, and there were tired suspension bushings. This one is much improved now.
This Midget needs a clutch and isn’t currently running. We’ll give it the once over and see if we can bring it back to life and return it to the road for more miles. It’s still around after all these years, so we don’t think it’s right to just let it stay idle.
That’s how stories ended when I was a kid, and it’s the world Uk Motorsports inhabits in my dreams. Dreams that come true make my day.
So, there’s this MGB that shows up sounding like the flu. It impersonated that car the teacher messed up on purpose in High School Shop class so you could practice diagnosing problems. Turns out that its Pertronix Ignitor had broken and was allowed to “wiggle”, for lack of a better term. Result: wildly inconsistent timing. There was a riveted rotor on the scene (more on that here), and the spark plugs weren’t screwed all the way in. Chip replaced the broken Ignitor with points and remedied the other maladies. He got an A for the semester. The customer was happy. And they all lived happily ever after.
This MGB hasn’t run in years. But, it looks pretty good and we’ll go down the list until it starts. The normal first order of business will be inspection of the fuel lines, tank, pump, carbs and such, and then we’ll do the same for the brakes. If we find anything unusual, we’ll let you know.
What happened to the adjective swell? Does anyone say it anymore, or was that just the Beav? This swell looking MGB was in the shop because everything has problems eventually, even the good looking stuff. A new starter was in order. We installed one and it went back to acting just like your run of the mill handsome old faithful British car.
This MGB came in because it was running, but not well. It had an automatic choke that did not work very well. The owner was agreeable to converting it to a manual choke, which cured the problem.
Chip cutting out floorboards.
A while ago we witnessed Chip snipping and cutting and grinding his way through some swiss-cheese floorboards in this MGB. They’re welded in and painted now, see below.
Pretty, no?…
… and, non-translucent!
Metalwork seems to be the theme these days at the shop. Chip has been cutting out swiss-cheese floorpans on this MGB in preparation for welding in new ones. Take a look…
Once the passenger’s side was out…
Soon, we’ll weld the new ones in and get them painted.