The Starting Point

Rebuilding
my 1966
MGB

(red or blue?)		 Red or blue ??
good, complete instrument panel klikk for norskOnly a few small items were removed during the stay at KTF. The rest got their dose of CRC medicine regularly. It is when the car at last gets "home" that the real changing of hide may begin. into the basement garage
After a few months of dry indoor storing combined with regular wetting down with generous and strategic applications of rust releasing agent; most UNF threads turn from being impossible to just a little bit resistive.
The idea is that every removed part and screw is to be restored and reused if possible 		lifting tackle in the ceilingWith the engine out, the attention could be turned to noting and picking out every other part and note of routing and clipping of all pipes and cables. An electronic camera is a nice tool.
It is amazing that the components of a car may remain in such a good condition so long even though it is a convertible and has been left outdoors.
some areas still fine all details present dismantling takes time
The head appears to have be exchanged at some time in the past. Cast in production registration states it as made in September of 1971. It is equipped with the large valves and appears to have been reworked. Maybe it was when the red MGB at some time in the past got its very classy three tone green upholstery and the metallic BRG paintwork

As all the small items and parts are dismantled, they get a round of beadblasting and a new coat of epoxy primer. A few of the parts even need some repair work. Rust and wear has to be compensated. My eperience is that there is one primer worth using for this purpose, and that is an epoxy filling primer which effectively will seal and protect the cleaned parts and prevent rust from reappearing...

parts beadblasted primed with epoxy filling primersome rust repairs
Where more serious filling is necessary this is done with polyester fillers. Final finish is with a few layers of 2K acrylics, a wet sanding and then a careful last glossy coat. Painting of all parts should be in their right colours, some yellow, some black and some in the colour of the car

Deciding on a car colour isn't easy, but original 1966 it should be, Everybody loves the Tartan red, so there are many red roadsters around. Mine WAS red. I'll paint the rear boot lid in BMC 38 Blue Royale just to see...

Dave Parkers ProjectEarlier in my restoration I have been searching the Ebay for MGB bargains for my project. I have made a few hits and bought parts from a British company called Mechspec. The company is run by a friendly and busy chap called Dave Parker.

It appears he has good background in running and wrenching MGBs

He is a licensed dealer with the producers of new bodies for MGBs and made me a good offer for a new MkI body. Apparently it takes British Heritage Motors some time to get these early MGB specials through the works because of the changes in jigging. Mine took its time

With Mechspec in Wiseton UKAT LAST the Heritage body is delivered to Mechspec. Looks like this is a place to enjoy though...

DFDS Transport arranged a fair deal on freight and after Customs had taken what was theirs, the body finally was mine.

 out of storage at DFDS
Lifting the body off In the jig
At home the body was lifted off the car trailer. Kept it suspended for quite a some time just inspecting the details

Then I made up adapters going instead of the bumpers to provide for a good jigging for further work.

With the new adapters I simply dropped the body into my homemade jig. The jig is a simple adjustable thing, made entirely of square tubing, enabling the body to be turned around for easy access. It may be moved around on three wheels for instance outside if I need to do some spraying

Let the FUN begin

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