Well since I finished restoring and selling a 1950’s wooden yacht tender, I had these funds burning a hole in my pocket…. what to restore next? In my youth I had several British cars. A 1970 Triumph GT6 bought new, a TR4 bought for a dollar and my favorite a 1963 MGB all rusted out but wonderful to drive. I began my search with the MG Experience and found my car. An Arizona car living in Michigan. No outside rust but the floors are Swiss cheese. Guess I’ll have to learn how to weld. The car ran but couldn’t stop. And once in gear there was no getting out of gear. First job last fall was to restore the hydraulic systems. New breaks and clutch. Master cylinders, discs, drums, calipers and pads. I wanted to get it drivable and shake out what the problems were. Well with all of the smoke and horrible crunch noises, it took just a few trips around the block to see a complete drive train rebuild was the course to go.

My plan is to get all of the mechanicals rebuilt and then start on the body. To that end I have stripped down the engine. Had the head rebuilt, the crankshaft ground and the camshaft ground and hardened. The car came with an extra overdrive trans which I took to the University Motors Trans rebuild seminar. John Twist is the most generous man and I am privileged to have made his acquaintance. The trans turned out beautifully. Looks brand new. With the engine bay stripped out, I borrowed the club’s soda blaster and put my poor little compressor through a few days of constant running. The results were great and after a coat of urethane enamel primer I sprayed an Old English White to begin taking the car back to its original color.



The next job will be to put the motor back together. How hard can that be, it came apart easily enough. Then there’s the suspension. The Differential needs thrust washers. It seems that every piece of rubber on the car will need to be replaced. The windshield rubbers are a chore I’m not looking forward to. I hope to get it to paint by the fall and spend the winter working on the interior.

~~ Noel Tetrev