A Mostly British Obsession
A lovely lad, bit long in the tooth
The work on the shop is coming to a close, though it’s nowhere near “done”. However, I have too many other projects backed up, such as getting Reg the 1963 MGB back on the road after the fuel pump packed in last fall. Here I have the MGB on stands, ready to dive underneath and remove the offending component.
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It’s fairly surprising that there isn’t a contiguous pool of oil covering the floor entirely on this side of the new shop building, especially from the prodigiously leaking pair comprising the SD1 and Reg the MGB roadster. (The BSA leaks, but that doesn’t count; the GT doesn’t leak at all.)
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Sigh…still no shop (or even a garage) and many, many things with wheels (not all pictured). I’m thinking of selling the Ferguson–it seems pretty unlikely at this point that I’ll have a use for it…and it’s overkill for even an acre of lawn. Especially one you don’t want field-tire tracks in.
Time for another meeting, being the first Saturday of the month. Glorious weather brought out a bunch of cars–“European” in the “club” name is a suggestion only!
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Seeing as tomorrow is the monthly Whidbey get-together, and it’s going to be a nice day, I went and got the MGB out of storage and stuck the Miata in for a day or so. The fuel pump on the MGB is sticky, so it took awhile to get it going. I’ll put a new pump on later this year. (Famous last words!)
In one of those fortunate coincidences, a gentleman up in Anacortes was offering a set of good wire wheels with nearly new tires to fit an MGB on craigslist for $200, and since I desperately needed tires, I emailed as soon as I saw the ad. Fortunately, I was the first to be able to get to his house–the GT now has new boots.
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Time to put the stuff that corrodes easily away for the winter. A shot of the 1963 MGB last month, before I finally got around to mowing the field!
My friend Jeff was kind enough to donate a period license plate frame from Seattle BMC, the local MG dealer when this car was new. It is now mounted on Reg the 1963 MGB, as you can see. It adds a nice period touch–even if my car was sold new in San Diego.
I removed the license plate mount assembly to make the job easier, and it seems that when this car was last painted (cheaply in Tijuana, Mexico, in 1973–no kidding) they didn’t remove the plate; it’s still the factory color back there! This is two philips-head screws, mind. When I finally get around to the bodywork, I’ll be repainting the car its original Old English White, which is much mellower and “of the time” than the appliance white that’s on there now.
Note the lichen collection. We have a pair of robins who have been trying to build a nest on the pillar for the carport–it falls down every day, and every day they try again. It’s been more than a month now…the insult “bird brain” has its genesis with creatures like this!
Took the ’63 MGB out today for a spin. Not much more to say other than a good early MGB is a great car to drive, and a great way to get into ye olde British cars if you haven’t already.
The ’63 MGB has yet another dead 6-volt battery, the third in six years. I think for drivability’s sake I’m going to put in a single twelve volt. I’ll considering going back to twin sixes when I get around to restoring the car. In the meantime, I have no desire to spend $100 for another sixer that will only last two or three years.
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