1962 MGB

I recently acquired an MGB that was built in October 1962...it appears that it was originally registered here as a 1963...probably when it was actually sold...but I want to register it as a 1962 when I formally change it to my name...I have the documentation from British Motor Heritage to confirm the build date..I just think it should be registered as a 1962...I will let you know if the State of Texas allows my logic...have any of you made this same decision?

Also, the car came with an after market steering wheel...it is a wooden wheel with rivets around the rim made by Superior Performance Products...it is stamped as The 500...I will keep the wheel for the time being as I am interested in putting it back on the road pretty much as I got it...however, the horn assembly was off the wheel and may not have all of its parts...I haven't put an after market wheel on a car since the 1960s and do not remember how the spring goes in, etc...I would appreciate any help offered...

There will undoutably be many more questions asked in the months to come as I disassemble the car and begin trying to put it back together...

Thanks for all comments...

Dave Renner
drenner@sbcglobal.net

How about a pic?

I am no expert but my thoughts follow:

Take a lot of pictures before you take anything apart, where wires run, arrangement of coil, fusebox, regulator, solenoid, master cylinder, under dash, trunk, i.e. everything.
Don't assume you'll remember anything, I didn't at least. Keep a list of what you need to order, all the piddly plinths, cables, fasteners, grommets, light cover, etc. It seems everytime I start to put something back on my 63 project I don't have a key ingredient. If you know the Moss part values you can compare Ebay deals. Personally I would get your big orders together and buy through Chris Roop or Tony on the board here and get a nice discount form Moss.

If you need to take things apart, bag and label everything, I find the simple drawings I Sharpie on the bag help to show how things go back together. The early cars, like yours, are quite different from later years, much of the advice and descriptions on the Web and even in books does not apply. This site has some good technical tips in the library. Chicagoland MG is good. Bob Munchausen's site is good. Barney Gaylord's mgaguru.com is good, the A stuff is closer to the early Bs then the later B info sometimes.

Anything built after July was registered as the next year in those days.

The "spring" is permanent part of the early steering columm.

Take as little apart as you have to. Many 'restorations' get abandonned half way through out of frustration, loss of interest, etc.

I don't know the condition of the car, but a driving restoration can be a good way to go, and sometimes the more original the car is, the more valuable it can be.

it was sold as a 63. Even it it was sold 10 minurtes after it landed.

Cars built after a date (usually in mid/late August) were titled as a following year model.

My 73 was built in Oct 72.

It probably WAS a 63 model. As with American cars, MG's also introduced their next-year models in the fall, and actually started building them in late summer. I have a true 1980 model - build date was in July, 1979. It is a true 80, however - it even came with the 85-mph speedometer that only appeared on the 1980 cars.

Yup - no such thing as a 1962 MGB in North America (unless there is some jurisdiction that registers differently, that I don't know about). First one came off the line in September.

What is your serial no. BTW?

Sorry to be slow to respond...just figured the website out...

Thanks for the suggestions...I am pretty careful about bagging and labeling...the steering wheel came incomplete...I think a friend of mine came up with the solution...I will know when I get other parts back together enough to put the battery back in...

Some day soon...

Thanks, that makes sense of course, who would want to register an "old" car from the year before when buying new...I will leave well enough alone...the car's build date is 22-25 October, 1962 according to the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust document...

I have realized that it makes sense that the car was registered as a 1963...who would want to register an "old" car in 1963...the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust document indicates that the build date was 22-25 October, 1962...

I will post a picture or two when I figure out the digital camera...one bit of technology at a time...

The excpeption to the rule is the 74.5 rb gt.

Hey, is the wheel 16" or smaller? I would love another to replace the one that cracked on one of the spokes. Mine also had about 10 holes drilled in it to fit several different cars over the years.

When you do go to replace it, keep me in mind.

If I ever go back to the original style steering wheel, I will certainly keep you in mind...this one may be smaller than yours was...it is a 13 1/2 " (approximately) after-market wooden wheel with three drilled chromed spokes...it was weathered to a grey color when I got the car...one of the small jobs I did while I evaluated the car was to refinish the steering wheel...it is now restained mahogany with a satin clear coat finish...doesn't look too bad actually...a very '70s period piece...as I am basically trying to get the car back on the road and sticking to the changes it accumulated over the years, the wheel will go back on for now...

In answer to an earlier question, the vin # on this car is GHN3L1864...the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust document we sent off for indicates that the build date was 22-25 October, 1962...

One more bit of information I wanted to share...I had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to England back in 1992 as part of Gary Watson's documentary team while he was collecting interviews and information for his film "Inside the Octagon"...quite a wonderful time...we visited with John Thornley, Jean Kimber Cook and Wilkie Wilkens among other MG folks...went to Abingdon, Oxford, the factory where new shells are manufactured and several other historic sites to film...saw some awesome cars in private collections...my notes and other memorabilia is now in the archives at Watkins Glen...I had a chance to visit that area several summers ago while my older son was in graduate school at Alfred University...it really has been fun learning about MGs over the years and getting to know MG people...