New to the MGB world

3 weeks ago I found a 69 MGB sitting in my sisters garage, and after tracking the owner down and "offering" to take it off their hands it is now mine free of charge and sitting in my garage.

The car has been sitting for 3 years and so I flushed the coolant system, fuel system, changed all oil (tranny, engine, diff), new plugs, and replaced the shot fuel pump. I have also had to replace/fix some questionable wiring that was done when it was switched to electronic ignition. Next is a carb adjustment (hopefully not a rebuild) as it is running really rich. Before I take it out on the roads, am I forgetting anything else? I have checked the brakes (lines, pads, etc.) and they look okay.

Also, I have seen and heard lots of people adding aftermarket CD players. I had an old one that I was going to use, but the hole is not deep enough, and the player sticks an inch out, and looks bad. Any recommendations? I have also seen speakers mounted in the doors, but when I look at my door there isn't enough room depth wise even for a slim speaker. Any ideas on where to mount speakers?

Thanks for any help.

A free B! Good deal, congratulations, and welcome to our world!

Sounds like you know what you're doing, mechanically, so that's a good start! When checking the brakes, did you check the brake lines? It's always good to do so before heading out in a car that's been sitting a while.

Others will have to answer your stereo questions, since I've only got the original little AM radio (with one speaker) in mine.

Welcome aboard Matt!! Sounds like a deal!! Good for you.
Anyway, most of us kind of discourage hacking holes in these little cars!! They are hard to fill back in!! I managed to mount speakers in mine by using the original location and the spare battery box!! It isn't perfect, but it is not bad!! It doesn't hack anything other that the battery cover!!
If you go to the front page on this site, there is an article on setting up SU's!! It is pretty easy to follow, so GOOD LUCK!!!!!

Take Kim's advice. She knows what she speaks of, and took a trophy at the recent MG convention in St Louis. As for music, i have a nonworking Sony tape player in my 71 bgt, and nothing in my 79 mgb. Some folks on this bbs have old British Leyland radios in their cars that aren't even hooked up to anything. The sounds of an MGB, on the open road, are as satisfying as any music or radio. Welcome to a most interesting bbs.

Matt: Check the polarity of your car! Positive or negative ground. Does anyone know which Matt's '69 is ? AL Bradley

'67 was the last of the positive ground cars, so you should be OK!!!

I'd suggest that you leave the CD's at home. Listen to the wonderful sound of a well tuned MG engine as you work it through the gears! That's a much prettier sound than and music I hear comming from cars now! But, then, I'm just an old grouch ;o)

Oh, and welcome to the club. Be sure to go to http://www.theautoist.com/ and sign up on the List, basically a roll call for our happy little family. Lot's of expierence represented on the List, just yours for the price of an email. May even find someone close by to help you if you ever need it

Congrats! You should be able to get Cross Fire speakers mounted in the door panels low and forward. The 77-80 door panels have cut-outs for them. If your car already has holes cut in the rear bulkhead, you could use that too, but I have spent time and money filling in those holes incars that I buy. Speaker boxes velcroed to the rear shelf would work just as well.
There is also a small speaker (Olympus) that is bracket mounted (available at Radio Shack) that you can screw into the rear bulkhead.
As for your carbs, run some fresh gas through for awhile to see if that clears things up before messing with the carbs. If you still have trouble, check to see if your throttle shafts have a lot of up and down play. If they do, air is sucking through there and changing your mixture. You may then get lucky and fix the problem with just putting in new throttle shafts.

Welcome Matt

I did what Chris suggested, velcro a pair of Bose speakers on the carpet over the battery compartment, works fine

Oh, Chris,
you were talking about "Optimus" speaker at Radio Shack, weren't you ?

Expect the brake cylinders to go bad in the near future, if they're not now. When you replace the rear ones, put new brake adjusters in if yours are seized. They're not expensive, and they make a HUGE difference.

Stereo... there are CD players that will fit. Apparently yours is not one of them, so you've got two options: buy one that fits, or build a spacer to fill the gap around the one you have.

Speakers... It sounds like you have holes already. I don't know where the holes are in the '69... depending on where they are, you can get some 4" speakers in there OK, but the better answer, again, is to get spacers, which are readily available most anyplace that sells speakers. A lot of them integrate with the speaker grille, so you don't even really notice them. Then you can go to a 5 1/4 or so. You may also want to check out "plate mount" speakers. Although I don't know anything about them, apparently stereo guys swear by them in tight fit situations.

As others have mentioned, avoid cutting. You can come up with all sorts of creative speaker positions if you start at it awhile. Cutting metal means someone sometime will have to put it right again. Cutting door panels is no big deal, except door panels aren't cheap these days.

You might also try a product called "SeaFoam" available at NAPA stores. Could work wonders on a car that has been sitting around for awhile.

Did you replace the fuel filter? This has become a running joke on this bbs, because I always diagnose fuel delivery problems with this same answer and I'm usually wrong. A bad fuel filter in my 71 gt was the first of many correct diagnoses that the wonderful folks on this bbs provided me when I got my first MG.

I built a shelf over the battery box area and mounted a couple of 4" speakers in the front of the shelf and covered it with carpet. The shelf is kept in place with rubberized magnets and is not noticeable expecially when the top is down.

I have a Blankput Cancun radio, big ole big ass amp, and a speaker box for a pickup truck, but I hardly ever turn it on. I custom made and ear tuned my exhaust and would much rather listen the pipe music.

Thanks much for all the great advise, this forum has already been a great source of information.

There was a lot of work done on the car by previous owners, most of it being questionable. Most notibly was the removal of the emissions controls. The car is exempt from testing, but many hoses were just plugged (the favorite choice was bolts and screws) and it looks really bad. Also the engine block number is gone, making it fun to try and figure out what belongs and what was added to the engine. My best guess is that it is an 18GH block. So some questions...

There is no fuel filter. I know there is a screen/filter on the inlet valve of the SU fuel pump, but should there be one on the fuel line? And if not would that be a wise addition?

The engine has the SU HS4 carbs and on the float chamber lid there are two nipples, one connects to the fuel line (duh) and then I'm not sure what the other one is for, or where or what it should be connected to.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but these two are good for now.

You might also want to contact John Bamford (jtbamford@yahoo.com) to get put on the list he has of '69 B owners. I think there are about 15 or so of us with cars in various states of repair and location, so if you are looking for restoration info specific to the 69, we might be able to help.

This is not to say the whole board isn't helpful -- this place is filled with tons of smart folks and an incredible amount of experience with these oddly addictive cars! However, there are some unique things about the 69 (or the 70, in truth) that this sub-list can provide photos of in a pinch.

Lucky you for getting one for free!