New here and new to these cars...

Hi all,
Im new here. I just had a 1973 MGB given to me by my grandmother. The car has been sitting in a garage since it was last driven in '85. In my opinion it seems to be in rough shape. after I got it home i put a battery in it and it cranked right over. no lights seem to be working, the radio works. There is a spark plug stuffed into a hose that comes between the valve cover and carbs. i think it has a aftermarket fuel pump installed under the hood, i dont believe its working right, it makes alot of noise but i dont think its moving much fuel. the air cleaners were off the car when i got it, so i poured fuel into the carbs and it instantly fired up when i cranked it. the exhaust fell off when loading onto the trailer. Im really worried about the rust on it. the panel infront of the rear tires (next to the rockers?) is nearly gone on the pass side, and someone bondoed the drivers side. theres more bondo in other places but not sure if its because of rust or damage. there was a new top sitting inside of it.I cant get the hood to close for some reason? I really would like to at least make it roadworthy but im not sure of what im getting into. i would to all of the work myself. I dont want to condemn the car because its been in my family for a very long time and everyone would like to see it on the road again. Any advice on where to start would be very greatly appreciated.
Thanks Everyone.

Heres a link to a bunch of pictures i took of it. http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p297/whitey550/

Follow the hood release cable with spray wd-40 or the like.From the latch ,all along the fender well and as far inside the fender as you can.Just spray the outside of the cable,soak it good and it will soak in through the outer winding.Spray some where the cable goes into the dash and work it slow at first. Welcome !

the sills under the doors are the worst place for rust, if your front fenders (in front of the sills) are rusted through then your sills are surely in bad shape. alot of guys would say its not worth fixing but i'm doing one right now that is just as bad. saving this car is one facet of my garage hobby (aka habit). if its worth it to me, then its worth it. decide what you wanna do. if you like fixing, your in the right place. go for it.

welcome. the best place to start is to get your grandmother and other members of your family to help you work on it if they want so badly to see it on the road. how old are you and what experience do you have with mechanics and bodywork? what kind of budget you got? it almost looks like you've been "given" a money pit. you must do this for passion because this car will never be worth what it's going to take to fix it correctly. why did they let it sit for 25 years?

at least you have saved yourself a purchase price and it looks like you have plenty of room to have it in bits for a while-if you cant weld id learn to and if not then lose it. the grill looks in good shape! )

I would start by draining all of the fluids and flush out the gas tank and lines. No matter how good the aftermarket pump is it is probably fighting clogged lines and fuel filter. Next replace any rubber bits in the fuel line and the fuel filter. Put some clean oil and coolant into it and see if it will fire and run on it's own. The carbs will probably be gummed up as well so you may want to clean out the fuel passages there too.

I am sure that I am missing something that should be done but this is what I could think of.

Make sure to have a fire extinguisher handy just in case.

Good luck, have fun.

Bran

To be honest in my opinion. You're in for a lot of work and little driving. I suspect that the problems you've outlined are only the beginning. You can count there will be others to be discovered as you go along. If you enjoy working on these things like I do, I think you're in for a lot of fun. But do you have the money?

The price was right. You can possibly get it running for a hundred or two hundred dollars, pending what no longer works. I would do it as cheap as possible. This way, if it doesn't run, you're not out too much money.

1. Plugs & Wires
2. Oil change including filter.
3. Two fresh gallons of gas.
4. Remove air filter entirely.

Jumpstart for cranking as the battery is surely ready to be cored out.

where in Maine do you live.

Joe in O O B

gooser- Im 19 and im actually a ford technician. I know a bit about mechanical but not a whole lot on bodywork, but have access to body tools and willing to learn. I dont have a huge budget, but i can certainly save money for this project if i need to. The car being a money pit is what ive been afraid of. Im not sure exactly why it has sat so long.

Joe- Im up near newport.

Thanks everyone for your opinions and advice.

Curtis, Don'torry about the MG being a "money pit". You would only spend it on girls,at your age cars last longer!

There are a number of us here who have nick-named our cars "Moneypit", we're just masochists

Reminds me of my first day!



Welcome!

Welcome! The dogleg area where you have rust can be repaired without welding. Patch panels are available and you can use FUSOR to glue them in place.
Definitely get it safe and running then decide, but it doesn't look that bad.

Kurtis , your car doesn't look bad to me at all,it is a lot more than I started with when I bought my first MGb from a junk yard at age 16. When I got that car running and together I drove it as my primary car for 11 years.
More recently I bought a 67 gt that has been sitting for 17 years. I replaced the motor mounts and went through the hydraulics,cleaned the carbs,put a used stock fuel pump on and it has become a daily driver. I will replace or improve parts as necessary , I'm currently taking care of body problems , I have rust spots too.
All this to say...go for it,these cars are easy to work on and the parts are usually cheap.When I started on my first MG I knew very little about fixing cars (and there was no MG experience) , now there is no job I wouldn't tackle. LBCs have brought me years of fun and satisfaction . I wouldn't want you to miss out .

Well thanks again everyone for inputs and opinions.

Kind of an update---
I brought the car to work last week so I could put it on a lift to check everything over. Surprisingly, the underside seems to be pretty solid. The fuel pump didn't appear to be moving much fuel so I bought a new aftermarket one. The fuel that was in the lines was quite rotten. And the carbs were so gummed up no fuel would even enter the bowls. I clean it out as best as I could and ran the fuel hose into a jug of gas. After letting the pump run for a few seconds it started up and runs ok for not running for 26 years. It will idle on it's own. I drove it around the parking lot with no bad noises (or brakes) and the clutch feels good and the car moves well. Next step is getting brakes working. I was really on the fence about restoring it or selling it, but I think now that i've heard it run I'm going to keep it.

You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile once you've driven the car.
Seriously, it doesn't have to be a money pit. As you've already discovered, repairs are usually simple and cheap. I'd recommend getting it in driving condition and then enjoy! My 71 GT is really rusty, so I am simply renovating it vice restoring it. I can live with the rust until I find more money and/or more time to do something. Any running MGB is better than no MGB!

love the acid trip colours in your engine bay!

Kurtis,
Welcome to the finest MG forum on the planet!
Ask lots of questions, post lots of pics cuz we love pics.

I have no idea what your long term plans are but, Just to throw in my neophyte-2 cents:
1. I'd strongly recommend the following books asap:
- Robert Bentley manual (green cover)
- Rick Astley's MGB Electrical Systems.... both available on eBay or Amazon.
2. Getting the motor running well is likely high on your list, but all I can say before trying to drive it is Brakes, Brakes, Brakes...they'll likely need overhauling..... no sense making the car "go" if ya can't "stop"...lots of info here on that.

I can guarantee, whatever you come across, whatever question you have - someone has had it here before. The search function is great with lots in the archive history.

Good luck and keep us posted! i lived in "Biddafudd" for a while years ago...great country up by you.
Again, welcome aboard! :)

Well, your car looks like mine when I bought it back in 2001, except mine was bondoed and sprayed resale red. Yes, I was one of those dumba$$e$!

From the pics I saw, the car doesn't look too bad, it's complete (at least), but the rust is an issue. These cars tend to rust from the inside out. Once you see it on the outside, the inside is a mess. Check the sills carefully to see how bad things are. Remove the floor mats and check the floors, especially close to the sills. Get yourself a workshop manual (Haynes book on MGB for example), you'll need it! Surf around on parts suppliers sites and you'll find out about the costs.

Welcome!

Kurtis , welcome from northeast Pa. you'll find a lot of information in the library on issues that others have already had and fixed.