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MGB Engine on the hoof - parts car comes home

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drooartz

drooartz

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My latest acquisition, a 1970 MGB GT that I just bought from a friend here in Utah. She is the friend I sold the '67 GT to a few years ago. This GT was her first car from when she was 17 (she's my age) and was her daily driver for many years -- and it shows. The body shell is toast. If it was a roadster it likely would have collapsed by now. What it does have is a good running engine and an OD transmission.

My plan is to pull the engine and transmission, maybe do a light refresh on the engine (bearings?, rings?, thoughts?), maybe just use it as-is, and put it into my MGB so I can get driving it. This way I can take my time and rebuild the original engine that's in my MGB. The plan is to do this swap in the next few months so I can be driving the MGB this summer.

Once I have the parts I need (it has an aluminum bonnet that I'll keep as a spare as well), I'll try and part out the rest and then the shell will go to the great twisty road in the sky.

rustyass1.jpg


rustyass2.jpg
 
That body isn't toast. Here in New England that would be classed as a simple rehab with several more years of useful life.
 
Sadly it's much worse than it looks like in the pictures. There is not much left underneath - the "salt" in Salt Lake City is not just a name.
 
We can relate, Drew. Lost too many cars to west Pennsylvania winter road salt. Mitsy's MGB engine and gearbox sit here yet, the body long ago went to make soup cans.

If you intend to rebuild the original engine for the roadster, just stuff the GT unit into it without doing anything to it. You can rebuild that one after you've got the original back in.
 
It is a sad thing, but my friend got a good number of years out of it, and now the engine will live on.

I think that's the plan for me, Doc. Lob the GT engine into my roadster and sort things out when I have time.
 
I would do what Doc suggests and then start deciding what to do with the rest of it. It looks like there are lots of good parts left to salvage, but itā€™s hard work to part out a car and sell/ship and it cuts into your time that could be spent working on the keepers. That said Iā€™m one of ā€˜those peopleā€™ who pulls them apart, refurbishes each part and puts them on a shelf just in case!
Rut
 
Even though I have lots of storage space, I'm trying hard not to packrat too much stuff. There is good stuff to pull of this car, so I'll grab what is most useful to me and then give or sell off the rest. Money's not the big driver, just don't want useful stuff to go to the dump.

I should have my current 2 projects (Morris suspension, Bonneville full service) done in the next month, then I will focus on the engine swap. Want to be able to put some miles on the B this summer, it's been too long. I bought the B (the first time) 7 years ago right about this time of year. I've had it back in my possession for 2 years, but really haven't driven it. Will be nice to spend some time, top down, on the local twisty roads.

And with the B running and the Morris and Bonneville sorted I'll be able to turn my attention to the Bugeye -- that's the big project for sure.
 
You're probably aware, but those rear bumpers command a nice price!
 
Mickey Richaud said:
You're probably aware, but those rear bumpers command a nice price!
Click to expand...

The recessed grille (complete with bonnet finisher) does as well. The one on this car is a little messy, but it is complete and ha the bonnet strip. I'll have a few things I can sell from it to recoup a bit of the purchase price. Not likely to completely part it out, takes too long, but a few of the key things will get moved on. Don't want anything useful to go to the crusher if I can avoid it.
 
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