Jeff Wilkins's Journal

All my previous journal entries lead to this one. I am proud to say Green B, my 1977 MGB, is finally complete to the level that I can drive and enjoy it. My original target was to build this project car in 3 to 4 years. Well that was a doable goal but because of all the learning, and life events that interfered with the schedule it ended up being all off 7 years. It is safe to say the first 6 years were spent on all the mechanical side of the motor, drive train and running gear. I rebuilt the motor completely but have disassembled and reassembled the valve train since to ensure things were done correct after reading things here on MG experience. Yes, it has been a methodical and trying experience. The assembly of the body parts and interior went quite quickly but I still have work to do on the interior. This has truly been a life experience that has transformed me from an auto enthusiast to something much more. I know a lot of enthusiasts but I have come to believe there is a real difference for those who have rebuilt the motor to completion where they have a working piece. I have a whole new level of appreciation for caring for my automobiles. Changing the oil in an engine has new meaning. I do all my automotive maintenance myself now. It isn't so much that I don't trust the Jiffy Lube guys but more that I want to take a look at things to be sure everything is in good condition and to my standard. The savings have been mounting from the repairs I do myself now. I attribute all the savings to my MG experience. Also, I have owned three other MGBs since the Green B project began. I look at them as rescue projects. I flipped two of them and kept a fine 1971 MGB because it is a very nice chrome bumper car. I also helped a friend get his MGB in good condition so it could be sold. I have to say that the learning could not have been achieved without the help that has come from MG Experience forums. What a great set of forums. There are some people on here with real knowledge from years and years of experience working on MG cars and often many other interesting makes and models. I hope there are some new members that like me embrace this hobby and become a regular on MG Experience. Great forum!

Well I didn't expect to have to go through the complete motor but when I realized the pistons were in 180 degrees backwards I started having some concerns. I did the tear down in August 2009 and with a full time paying job i am finally almost done with the reassembly.

Well it has been two years now and I must say that this is not a project anymore. This is a hobby. If it was a project I would have kept to the half dozen schedules I set and never met. The good news is that progress continues to be made. I missed a couple of the targets I set for the fall so I did not get the engine fired. This spring a lot has been done but I continue to find rework from the POs poor work. Here is the list of what I have done this fall.

Installed fuel tank
Installed fuel pump
Installed rear springs
Installed rear axle
Installed rear anti sway bar
Installed front anti swat bar
Installed hand brake linkage.
Installed steering column.
Installed coil
Installed radiator, overflow bottle and hoses
Installed temporary thrush muffler
Connected wiring to fire engine.
Fired engine on second try. First try hot wire was not on coil
Installed electric cooling fans
Fired engine again to test cooling fans

Discovered a severe oil leak out of the bottom of the timing chain cover. Determined oil leak was due to bolts on bottom of cover not correct. Pulled cover off cleaned all surfaces and reassembled with all correct longer bolts through block front plate.

I then hooked up the drive shaft to test clutch and transmission to see if the car will go forward and backward. Every tested out.

As of June 22 I am waiting for parts to do the following tasks.

Install full exhaust.
Install rear wheel seal (driver side)where PO pushed in too deep.

Next test is a road test up Old Big Creek Road. Still no doors or front wings :')

The month of October 2008 has been very good for progress on "Green B". I painted the engine bay area and the trunk area over the summer and now I can go to town on the assembly. The biggest hold up has been parts but now I am on a roll. Here is what I have accomplished:
Bent all brake Pipe.
Bent clutch pipe.
Bent fuel pipe.
Assembled and installed peddle box.
Installed main wire harness
Made fuse box were terminations
Installed rear wire harness
Mounted all pipe and and wire under car.
Completed installation of front brakes.

Here are the jobs to be done before the snow flies
Install rear brakes
Install fuel tank.
Correct rear springs - remove one leaf to lower ride height.
Install manifold and carburetor (Zeneth Stromberg
Restart engine.

Reply to MGB Forum question "How many MGB's do you have"? - Funny you ask. I have 4 MGBs and it all happened in less than year. This is my story. I purchased a project car 1 year ago last June. It is a british racing green 1977 MGB. I had to talk myself into the purchase because I didn't know if I wanted to do such a big project. Well I purchased the car and gave myself 3 years to do the project. Next, in Sept. I purchased a parts car for the project car for $450. That was a good investment because on hardware alone I will save $100. Well I spent last summer and fall putting the motor back together and getting "Green B" running. So the project is moving along. So Spring of 08 rolls around and I start watching e-bay. In May I purchased a 1980 black MGB LE. My friend named it "Pepper". It didn't run so I got it for a decent price. My reasoning was that I needed a reference for how to put "Green B" back together. Well it took some time to get Pepper running and road worthy but I did it with help from my friend. It was worth it because now I have a working example of what Green B will become. I hope. So Pepper has been a distraction from the project but for good reason. Well I continue to watch e-bay and have to say the chrome bumper cars have a personality that I am attracted to and they seem to be on the rise in value. Yup you guessed it June 14th 2008 I purchased a 1970 red MGB with overdrive. The car runs but needs a lot of work. So it will sit until "Green B" is done. I have dedicated the month of August to Green B and continue to make progress. Well that's my story. I think I'll put this as a entry in my journal. Thanks for asking

Well the work on Green B continues. Slow but for sure but I couldn't wait any longer so on Sunday 5-18-08 I purchased another B to drive, a 1980 LE with just a little over 74K miles. The experience of buying the car was interesting due to the car would not start but I bought it any way. Took all day to go get the car in Dubois,PA, 4 hrs. down. 1 1/2 hrs. to do the deal and 5 hrs. back with a stop for lunch. We had the car running by 9:30pm that night. Switched out a leaky carburetor and the learned the plug wires were on wrong. Don't have the heart to tell the PO what the problem was. The new B has been named "Pepper" by my buddy John because my wife won't let me call it "Blacky" named after Eric Clampton's famous guitar. I understand.