Yes, I was a chrome bumper snob, Big rubber bumpers....how gross. That is
until my MG buddy called an told me that I HAD to go see a car that he had
heard about. A restored 77 which was put in storage and could be had at a
good price. I thought , yeah right, paint over rust and rubber bumpers.
Well I went to see this car and found out that it was ouned by
multi-millionaire who really didn't know or care much for LBC's. The car
was in a semi-trailer between two 50's vintage John Deere bulldozers and it
looked BRAND NEW. It hadn't been cranked in about 2 years and the battery
was stone dead but it was a complete car with all smog junk hooked up and
working, new tires, new top. Since my other cars are in eternal restoration
I started getting the fever really bad and those bumpers started looking
pretty damn good. Anyway, they got the car out of the trailer and put a new
battery in it and thats when the fun began. I probably shouldn't have but I
agreed to buy it before we cranked it, but what the heck, $3000 dollars for
a car in this good of condition, I just couldn't pass up. After spinning
over a few times, the motor fired and settled down to a good idle and then
died. It would run on ether so after convincing the truck mechanic to get
out of the way and let me take the bottom off of the carb ( An MGB is not a
Kenworth), we poured out a great deal of goo and old gas. The float needle
was stuck and I freed it up and re-assembled. Fired up and ran perfect !
This car doesn't even leak(MOWOG will get me for saying that) . Anyway, I
dropped the top and proceded to leave. 100 yards from the car's old home
and a tire which sat too long comes apart. This car did not want to leave
home. I changed the tire and the the good ol' SU fuel pump decided to die.
Enter the PO's rollback truck. I finally got the car home and got the fuel
pump working and drove the SO around the block (which is about 7 miles where
we live ). She went from" I don't know about this car" to " I'm so glad you
found me an MG !! ". It's really nice to have a drivable Roadster again And
white cars look pretty good with rubber bumpers. If anybody knows of any
quirks of this model, please pass them along, After all, I'm not used to
these rubber bumper cars.
Don Walton in NC
73 and 74 B's in pieces
1 WHOLE 77 B Roadster ( YES!! )
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