This weekend I spent a good chunk of time tackling one of the last major things on my "MGB To Do" list, rebuilding/replacing the rear end. I have been driving around with bolt-ons on the front and center-lock wires on the back since shortly before I took the car in for body work - sourced a good used bolt-on rear axle and had the local shop replace the bearings and give it a good going-over. Since the axle's going to be out, I'm taking the opportunity to replace the leaf springs, U-bolts, spring pads, rebound straps, brake shoes and cylinders, etc etc as well. <br><br> The tear-down went a lot smoother than I was expecting - I must be getting good at persuading rusty parts to part ways. Tomorrow I'm going back to get a few parts I wasn't expecting to have to replace and get the thrust washers replaced in the differential (might as well, while its out) <br><br> Day 2 - Picked up the extra parts (if there's one thing I've learned, its that you will always require more parts than you have on hand - which is a big p.i.t.a. for me since the B is my only means of transport) and began reassembly. Moved the differential over to the new axle, and mounted the new leaf springs with the axle on top. Fitted spring shackles and U-bolts with more than a little effort and moved the axle stands to the axle. <br><br> Day 3 - Tightened all spring and axle bolts, reattached propshaft and brake lines. Assembled rear brakes, after cleaning all parts in petrol and greasing all the moving parts (adjuster and handbrake lever). Bled brake lines and filled the axle with the proper oil.

The car is back as of Sept 22!!! Structural bodywork has got to be the hardest part of any restoration, not only because its the most expensive and labour intensive, but it doesn't look any better when you're done! The carpet was all torn out and isn't glued back in, since its going to be removed again for Phase II (painting and exterior panels) and replaced. The doors don't fit very well (going to be getting new skins anyway) and neither does the trunk lid or hood. Before the bodywork, everything was smashed up the same way so it sort of fit in a crazy way. Now that some parts are fixed and some aren't nothing lines up. I'm getting a straight but temporary (wrong year) boot lid on loan at the end of the month so that at least it will close properly until a proper one can be located. <br><br> It's a whole new car under there - from the pictures below you can see how much of the floors and sills were left. It feels 10x stronger going around corners, no more body flex. It's a bit quieter, too, now that there aren't gaping holes right underneather me. <br><br> Once I got it back, I had the windscreen and windscreen to body seals replaced at the local glass shop - what a job that was for them, if you're doing this do yourself a favour and get some 4" C-clamps to compress the seal while you line up the bolts. No more drips when it rains! Of course, the leak was on the passenger side so it wasn't that big of a priority but I wasn't winning any points with the ladies for that one. Put on some new wiper blades, although the right hand wheelbox is completely messed up and has been for a long time, I've got some new ones on the way. The right hand (passenger) wiper only sweeps an arc of about 45 degrees. The valves cover has been leaking since I got the car too, it looked crooked which would explain it. I decided to get an aluminum valve cover since they look so sharp - had to file down the cover studs, the DPO had hacksawed them to length and screwed up the threads at the ends which was OK with the old bolts but the new cover bolts wouldn't go on. Got it all lined up though (had to shave a bit off one of the rubber washers to get it to line up) and it looks great. Valves are quieter too - the rocker assy needs to be rebuilt at some point, though, I think. <br><br> I've got some KN air filtesr coming from Europe, Euro PN 56-9095 which are recommended by British Automotive as giving great flow and also the bonus of being able to fit those TWM induction horns inside them. Might get a few extra HP out of that, although I wish I had got the ANSA exhaust system rather than the stock a couple years back. Anything would be better than the cheezy foam air cleaners I've got on there now - I cant imagine they flow very well. If I didn't have to work this weekend, I'd be rewiring the overdrive (getting rid of the ugly lighted rocker switch in front of the shifter and hooking up the proper crook switch on the fascia), shimming the fresh air vent hinges so the door closes all the way (new foam seal sticks out a bit too much at the top) and a few other misc things... waiting for some backplates to arrive for the new rear axle so once those are here and I can finally get the new bearings in (OMG is handling it) then I can finish the bolt-on swap that is taking forever... <br><br> I'm waffling about my decision to go back to the original BRG when it gets painted, I've always been attracted to the black paint with an all red interior - retro yet very sharp and modern. If you have any pictures of MGB's in this colour scheme please send them to me. I've still got lots of time to decide. <br><br> Oh and for all of you that are wondering, yes, I am completely insane for tackling a restoration on a car that is (was!) this rusty.. and I don't regret it for a second!

I recently stopped by White Rock to check out the progress and say "hi" to my favorite MGB. I can't wait to get it back, I'm going nuts with all this nice weather and no roadster to enjoy it with.

This was the big weekend when I took the car to Bryce Mack of Classic Auto Restoration Services for major bodywork. After an initial consultation on a nice sunny day, where we looked over and under the car to get an idea on what would be involved and how far I wanted to go, I decided that I wanted to do a "first phase" repair which includes: <br><br> - new sills<br> - new rockers<br> - new floor pans<br> - new doglegs<br> - new left-rear fender right up to top seam<br> - new rear valence below boot lid<br> - maybe a new tunnel adapter piece for later 4-sync OD tranny<br> <br><br> ... all finished off in beautiful dark green epoxy primer. It's going to look like a Christmas tree when I get it back, half red half green, but it will be solid as a rock with doors that close properly, seats that are actually fastened to metal underneath me, no bondo or fibreglass in structural members, and proper gaps all around. Phase two will include new front fenders, bonnet, boot lid, door skins and a full respray in the original British Racing Green, hopefully in the Fall or Winter. It's going to be in the shop for up to two months but he takes digital photos during the process so I will be posting updates regularily showing the progress. Hopefully no suprises will be found once the car is stripped, namely rust in unexpected places. There has definately been at least one medium size accident in the front and the back of the car, and whoever fixed it was not particularily concerned with "doing the job right". <br><br> When I get it back, first priority will be getting the new rear axle in, putting on some nice high performance sticky tires and getting out there for some autocross! It will be nice to be able to slide it around without worrying about broken spokes or the car breaking in half. <br><br> Some people ask me why I'm sinking all this money into "that old car" - well if you're reading this you probably already understand but suffice to say I was bitten by the bug when I first laid eyes on this car and no money value can be placed on the feeling this car gives me when I'm bombing around the twisties with the top down... I consider it a "thank you" to the car and a tip of the hat to a time in motoring history that I would have loved to taken part in. Needless to say once this work is done, I'll be doing a regular rubber undercoat and Waxoyl treatment so the car will last another 30+ years.

Changed the oil and traced the problem that developed over the last few months with the heater fan not coming on - turns out the switch had gone south, so I picked up a new one and installed it. I love easy fixes. I've been going on some long road trips lately, the B hasn't missed a beat, but I noticed that I was losing some coolant so I took a look under the hood after driving for a while and noticed the heater valve was dripping on the distributor. I'll be installing a new valve tonight before my trip down to Oregon. I've got some new bits and pieces on order, like an aluminum valve cover, heel-and-toe gas pedal, 3pt seat belts, plastic battery bin, heavy duty shock valves, and a used front indicator body (when I bought the B the lens was cracked and the parking light had totally rusted out). I've also received my new (used) rear axle which is being rebuilt by Octagon Motors; if I don't take the B in for new sills next weekend, I'll probably be installing the bolt-on axle, replacing all the rear brake bits, fixing the handbrake, and putting new leaf springs in. <br><br> Seems like a few things always break when the weather warms up... a small price to pay for having the top down.

I've been a little short on free time lately so I've been getting some work done at Octagon Motors; I got the front rotors and U-joints replaced. Turns out one of the hubs and the front yoke of the propshaft were worn badly, so I got those replaced with used parts. I also had the carbs rebuilt, with some work done to the throttle plate area and oversize shafts put in. I knew there were air leak problems because I could never synchronize them properly, and I was having trouble getting through AirCare this year. The result has been great: no pedal modulation under heavy braking, no wheel shake down the highway at high speed (although I can still feel a bit of shaking from the rear end, which will be solved once I complete the bolt-on wheel conversion and rebuild), and I passed AirCare with flying colours. There seems to be more power and the engine runs a lot smoother, too.