new to this....bought one!

I am still on cloud 99. Yesterday, I purchased a '76 "B". I bought it in huntsville, Alabamma and drove it....drove it back to Atlanta(four hours) smiling all the way. here is a pic below. I need to do some degreasing to the engine. There is oil leaking somewhere. I suspect it is the oil cap on top. Any instructions on how to do it without soaking my wires(and the car not starting) too?

A.V. Carter

Welcome to the fun. If it stops leaking oil it needs to be refilled. :)

Common Engine Oil Leaks:

Rear Engine Main Oil Seal
Oil Pressure Gauge Flexible Line
Oil Cooler & Oil Cooler Hoses
Block to Oil Filter Housing Hose (non-oil cooler)
Oil Filter Housing Base "O" Ring
Various Copper Washer & Brass Plug Fitting Locations
Side Plate Cover Gaskets
Front Timing Cover Oil Seal & Gasket
Oil Pan Gasket
Valve Cover Gasket

Nice looking B. Seems to be in good shape from just the picture provided. Welcome to the forum

Congratulations!

Just one leak, nice!

Looks great, AV, welcome and enjoy. Like Roseanne Roseannadanna said, It's always somethin'. 8-) But, it's a blast and the MG community is great bunch. You've got a Weber DGV, from the looks of things, and might need one of those plastic pieces under/between the radiator and the bumper to throw some more air toward the radiator as it gets warmer.

Dave

4 he's in a just bought MG! That is killer. Looks like you have a Weber

Mgb's don't leak oil.... they mark their territory X(

Nice looking car,like the wheels.some folks keep there engine bay as clean as a whistle.I like to have mine with a fair bit of oil around,rust protection.you could do without any leaks tho.

4 hour first drive and no horror stories? Sounds like you got yourself a nice car.:)-D

Congrats on the purchase. I looked at this car last week - he wanted to do some trading with me but I just didn't need another B - especially at the price he wanted.

Enjoy

Ahhh....I see the "flat black engine compartment" option. Looks like the seller was trying to help with the underhood look. Stock is body color fender wells and firewall. Weber is not stock, either. Be very careful of the DPO modifications when you start troubleshooting. Some former owners have a really creative way of modifying the things that should not be modified. Join the fun....LBC cars can be a hoot or a horror, depending on your attitude. But one thing is for sure, thery're seldom BORING!

Hey...my engine compartment is black...B-)

Welcome, welcome, a thousand times welcome! If you enjoy owning and driving your car as much as I do mine, you'll be just fine. You gotta love'em!!

Now it's time to throw a V6 or V8 in it! Don't waste anytime....

Thank you all for your replies. Now that I have it....what can I do to make it the best it can be? I will drive every day as I live about 10 miles from work. Suggestions oh wise ones?

AV

Btw, it's cheaper to buy a compression tester than pay to have one done and super easy to do. Go through the library section of this website and look for maintenance things you can do to keep her upto par.
However like everyone else said, 4 hour drive with no problems means something good.

Nice car! Welcome to the Forum - lots of expertise to be found here.

What can you do?

Learning to fold the top properly will save a lot of wear and tear on the top and keep it functioning.

I always recommend a compression test and setting the valve lash on any car that is of unknown condition. It won't hurt anything and will let you know if you have weak compression, and may improve the breathing of the engine significantly.

I also usually throw a can of SeaFoam in the fuel tank to help remove any carbon deposits in the head and to free any rings that may be rocking a bit.

Then, go around the car and clean every electrical connection you can reach and reassemble with silicon dielectric grease.

Enjoy your car, and welcome to the community.

warmly,
dave

Anthony, You're on a roll. Bought a great looking "B", drove 4 hours, how about buying a lottery ticket? Welcome to the Forum!

Welcome too....and that does look nice....and we ALL love more pictures too.

Get a few books to help: Haynes manual, Roger Williams' book on MGB problems, and Rick Astley's book on MGB electrics.

And, this is one fine place to get help and advice!

Anthony - looks great!!!! I gotta see this one at the parking lot at work!

Anthony welcome to the best MGB Forum on the Internet. These guys have over a thousand years of MG Experience and are most willing to share that knowledge with you. Like the others I agree you have a nice B and your road trip pretty much confirms the engine is in good condition. As for the oil leak my solution was to take mine to the car wash, cleaned the engine, let it dry, then poured baby powder over the engine and the hubby and I were able to trace the leak from it's source.

Welcome again :) :)

PS: FWIW the hubby wasn't to pleased when I poured the baby powder on the engine. I understood him to say "all over the engine" and I did just that. What he meant was in the likely spots. I've attached a picture of what I did