Have I lost my mind???????

[terriphill]

OK, as you know, I bought an 80 B a little over a year ago. It supposedly ran (it didn't) and it was supposed to be original (it wasn't). We have spent the last 13 months getting the motor reworked, running and new interior installed. But the body is another whole can of worms that we now have to address. I should mention, mechanics and interior are not an issue for us...body work is another thing.
We have recently found a perfect shell of a 1979B. It is an immaculate body with no rust and straight. The guy has sandblasted, primed and painted it. Basically its a shell on wheels...The wiring is in tact, but he has removed everything else.
So, we are thinking about buying it and transferring the motor, transmission, exhaust,trim, lights and interior from our 80 B to this one.
I know this sounds crazy, but the body on our 80 has been nothing but one rusty little surprise after another which we have cut, welded, patched etc and we are not really pleased with our handiwork.
I guess the question is how much of a hassle would it be? I mean, its a shell ready to be rebuilt and we have all the parts to put on it....opinions?

 

[14dna]

Terri;

If it is as good as you think, and you're not afraid of the changeover,
Do It!!!

I think it will work out for you.
Dave

 

[JPSmit]

I'd go for the switch - you'll have a car you like and you'll have it sooner

 

[tony barnhill]

Switch everything, Terri....& crush the old body when you get finished with it....but, pull att the tags before you crush it!

 

[jhorton3]

I'd say go for it. I'm going to go ahead and tell you though, you're going to be buying a lot of new parts. You'll pull ones off of your current car, put them against that shiny new body and realize they're not up to snuff. It happened to me. You'll have a great looking car in the end though.

 

[V6MGB]

Same sentiments from me. Go for it. Since it is basically a nuts and bolts operation the work isn't all that difficult and progress is rapid.

One pain with panel work is you basically end up going in a circle.
Pull parts off , find rust , cut out rusted area , fit and fix new tinware , prep and paint and then refit the hardware you took off in the first place.

A lot of time and effort and you are basically back where you began.

Give me an engine rebuild or a clutch replacement any day !

Cheers , Pete.

Veni , Vedi , Velcro.
I came , I saw , I stuck around.!
Ex digitum et nil illigitimum carborundum !

 

[terriphill]

Give me an engine rebuild or a clutch replacement any day !

Cheers , Pete.

Veni , Vedi , Velcro.
I came , I saw , I stuck around.!
Ex digitum et nil illigitimum carborundum !

Amen to that! We have rebuilt 4 cars...but they all had good shells to start with. Motors and clutch, even interior seats and dash were a breeze compared to the issues we are looking at here. I truly understand what y'all mean now when you said these cars rust from the inside...the outside looks ok, until you start to sand on it and then you discover more rust where the water sat inside the frame. One positive note...I certainly am becoming better at what to look for in future projects.

 

[glemon]

Ditto me, if the 80 shell is as rusty as you say you will have to take a lot of stuff off, do rust repair and bodywork, which on the unibody MGB is a lot of time and complicated sheetmetal work to do well, the sills for example. This will take you lots of time and skill to do yourself, or major bucks to pay someone else to do it.

So swapping out the mechanicals to the good car should be less work with a better result--and you will get a chance to know all the systems and assemblys on your car really well!

 

[davester]

I agree with everybody else. You need to have a solid base for your restoration. A rusty hulk isn't one.

As to your original question "Have I lost my mind???????", I think that is self-evident, as proven by your association with people that post to www.britishcarforum.com.

 

[terriphill]

Well, we spent the past two weekends erasing the past year's work. I now have a MGB in boxes in my dining room, a motor and transmission in the garage and a very intricate knowledge of how these cars are assembled.
This is definitely the only way to do this. I think a media blasted and painted shell that we can assemble will definitely produce a final product that is what we want and taking it apart first is a great learning experience for reassembly!
We have to get the 80 out of the garage now and then we will post pics of the new shell once we get it home.
Thanks guys!