No, I don’t mean like Doug Clark’s LBC collection that was submerged in a flooded underground garage several years back during a major deluge. Nor like my friend who parked his Healey on an inline leading to a pond without setting the parking brake. More like a real estate term where one has more money invested on a piece of property then it is worth. Perhaps an upside down MG would be a better description, although it doesn’t sound much better.

Several years ago we decided that the carpet in our forty year old MGB was getting a little tired looking. At a swap meet I bought a new carpet set. It all started simply enough. The following spring I took out the old carpet. And there it was. Or wasn’t. What should have been nice smooth solid metal was in fact a poor imitation of a cheese grater. If you like large pieces of cheese. Maybe a sewer grate would be a better description. With my mechanical skills this is a little more than I can fix. Heck, I can barely fix a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. A piece of marine grade plywood will suffice as a temporary repair.

I locate a shop that will weld in a new floor. Then “the might-as-well-as…” bug bit. New floor and carpets plus seats from several years ago, let’s put in new door and kick panels. Suspension bushings worn, replace. Poor compression in one cylinder, head cracked, replace. Let’s redo the carbs. Rebuilt speedo. All told, including my original cost of the car and various repairs over the years (but not counting insurance, tires and routine maintenance) I figure that we have about $20K invested in an $8K car. Defiantly under water. But before you take pity on me, I bet that if your MG isn’t under water, it’s at least wet up to the axels. However, if you amortize the cost over the twenty five years that we have enjoyed the B, it works out to less than $500 per year. And it should last another twenty five years. Pretty cheap.

The Philosophy and Psychology of
British Car Restoration
By Robert Morey, 2017, softbound, 88 pages, some photos

This book was donated to the club library by the author, Robert Morey, who owns a British car restoration shop in South Carolina. This is not a technical or how-to book, but rather a collection of short, humorous, stand-alone pieces on the practice and wisdom of auto restoration. But beware. He is a devotee of originality. Don’t take offence at his opinion of electronic ignition upgrades, let alone installing a Japanese five speed transmission.

~~ Bill Mennell