Hi Mark,
Your car sounds like most of the B's that I've heard stories about. A little
rust here and there. The floors are sound like they're in pretty good shape
with the exception of a few places...that's a fairly good omen for the rest
of the body.
What have you gotten so far for your $2000. IMHO you should have picked up a
car in that condition for aroud $700....maybe $900 if it was complete and
had a decent interior.
That notwithstanding, you should tear down the engine. If you do, you'll most
likely uncover the source of the burnt oil smell. You're halfway there with
the engine out of the car anyway.
The clutch is small potatoes...have a good look at the pistons and the crank
to see that there aren't any MAJOR problems. Have the bores "miked" and
measure the crank....you won't regret it.
This might be a good opportunity to read the Bentley manual and learn a
little about your LBC. You'll pay a fortune if you have "professionals" do
ALL the work.
I didn't know the first thing about welding until Santa brought me a welder
and a welding manual a few years back. I'll never be a "professional", but
I'll have the satisfaction of knowing I did my TR3A all myself....you can too.
It's not uncommon for us LBCers to spend more on a restoration than the car
is worth...I see it all the time. The question to ask is:"what is this car
worth TO ME"? Take your time and spend as little as possible to get that
"quality" job done. Join a club; ask this list and stay hungry for knowledge
about your car.
Most MGB's in fair to good shape are running around $3000-$5000...if you
think you'll be into it for around that when you're done, GO FOR IT.
FWIW
Bob Stahlbush
66 MGB GHN3L 78708 (soon to be overdrive)
60 TR3A TS81398L (almost there...next summer)
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