Hi Guest!
Hey - did you know if you click on the title of a thread it will take you to the first unread post since you last visited that thread?
but were afraid to ask: 
STOP!! Never post your email address in open forums. Bots can "harvest" your email! If you must share your email use a Private Message or use the 
smilie in place of the real @
Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
YakkoWarner
Jedi Warrior
Offline
I have been doing a bit on non-registered reading from here, and the questions (and answers) always seem to be polite, complete and accurate, which is very unlike what I usually see online. So why the heck am I here? Well, our story so far.... I have had in the past a 1971 and 1977 MGB which I loved right up until they rusted in half on me. So now, a couple decades (and multiple state moves) later I bought a 1970 with hopes of resurrecting it, and realized how far over my head I had gotten. The 1970 was complete with a clean title, but not running and very rough looking. I actually had managed to get it running after scrapping and replacing all fluids in both the engine and transmission, using an outboard motor fuel tank/external pump combo to feed the carbs. The engine ran well (good oil pressure, evenly match compression tests) and it has the overdrive transmission. I never got it to the point of being drivable so the transmission is more or less untested (but it does engage in all gears - with the plugs out you can push the car and watch the engine turn). As I dug into it, I realized it had in fact been in a flood and a minor wreck at some point and the body decay is WAY above my ability to fight. Of course I came to this realization AFTER spending considerable sums of money on all sorts of new parts like fuel tank/pump, exhaust system, glass, floor pans, hydraulics, dash cover, etc. So I carefully wrapped it up to prevent it from getting worse, drained the coolant so it wouldn't sit and rust, and real life got in the way for another decade or so. Which comes to now - after staring wistfully at the remains of the 1970 sitting in the driveway for almost a decade, I found what looks like the answer to what I needed...a 1973 body shell that is in surprisingly good shape apart from the floor pans, but pretty much stripped. No drivetrain, no interior except for the steering gear itself, no bumpers, no grill, no radiator or surround, no top, front and rear suspensions intact (and front looks to have been redone fairly recently), hydraulic systems present but INOP, wiring mostly present, intact (non-overdrive) transmission included but not mounted, all glass present but front glass cracked, all lights except headlights present but most lenses gone, no emblems or badges. Went over every inch of the lower body on both sides, couldn't find any evidence of filler, rust or problems. Its been repainted with new trim strips on both sides. A couple dings in the top of a front fender and on the trunk lid where it looks like something heavy was set or dropped, no evidence of having been wrecked. The goal now is to transplant as much as I can of the 1970's components into the 1973 body (hopefully being able to use that overdrive transmission), replace what isn't salvagable like interior panels and seat cushions, replace the floor pans and build a decent driver out of all this. No intent to try to go for a show-quality restoration. I want to be able to drive it without worrying about any little rock ding or car park scratch, and I don't have a place to keep and preserve a show quality car anyway. I know it won't be a perfect match on everything but chrome bumper to chrome bumper transplants generally go easier than chrome bumper to rubber bumper. Fortunately I'm used to working with British machines already from the 1971 and 1977 I had previously, and I also have British outboard motors as well so compared to that nothing seems really "weird". I'm just not equipped to do major structural level body reconstruction which is what the 1970 body needs.
