Tom,
Come on back into the fold. I also owned a 68B in 73 and had a few problems
with it. But it also was the most fun I'd ever had in a car...........so I
now own two. It has now become a hobby to me; now that the kids are out of
the house and I do have some time to tinker. I never did anything
mechanically to a car in my life, but now I'm tackling this and that on the
MG's to get them to look and drive like new again. I've had the 79B for
almost two years now and once I got a few bugs out of it, it is now very
reliable. The 67B, I bought off Ebay last June and I have not had a bit of
trouble with it. I drive them both a lot-much preferable to driving the
minivan and full sized truck. This list has a fantastic bunch of people that
have many years of expertise and are willing to share it. This is the reason
I now fell comfortable tackling anything mechanically on the cars. Too bad
we didn't have access to this resourse years ago! Several of the listers are
full time MG mechanics, parts salespersons, and restorers.
So, if you have some time to play around, get you another MG and put the fun
back in driving!
Monte
79B, Carmine
67B, BRG
74 1/2 Rust, parts car
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Reynolds" <kjtar@earthlink.net>
To: <mgs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Saturday, March 08, 2003 4:02 PM
Subject: Confessions: safe to get back in?
> Newbie here. Back when I was 21 or 22, I had a new BRG/Tan MGB in the NW
> suburbs of Chicago. I loved the car except for, and pardon me if my
> terminology isn't quite exact. What brain cells I have left are in
> (seemingly) dubious condition...
> The carbs had to be filled to a scribed line with 3 in 1 household oil,
> otherwise the engine would run roughly. (The place where I put the oil
had
> black plastic caps that you unscrewed.)
> The driver's door handle kept loosening, the underside of the driver's
side
> dash kept falling down and hitting me in the feet, and anything I did to
> try to re-fasten it was at best only a temporary fix
> The bracket holding the alternator (or was it a generator in '71?) broke
> and had to be re-attached (or maybe I got another bracket, as I said, it's
> been a long time)
> Driving over a cigaratte pack (empty) on a road, it apparently reached up
> and grabbed my exhaust and yanked it from its moorings underneath the car,
> necessitating a coat hanger repair.
> The engine suddenly and embarrasingly decided to rev up with no reason and
> I couldn't kick the idle down w/o shutting off the engine. It was a
> beautiful Sunday and I was giving a friend a ride to a wedding reception
we
> were both attending.
> My wife to be and I took another "Sunday ride" and were stranded for some
> reason, guess the car just didn't want to go out that day.
> Coming back from Lake Geneva, WI one night, the water jacket had some sort
> of problem, causing the engine to over heat and, yes, left me and a friend
> stranded, again. At least MG picked up 80% of the repair.
> The trunk lock wouldn't open when I traded the car in on a (don't laugh, I
> feel badly enough about it) a new '73 or '74 Pinto.
> Yet, the car was probably the most enjoyable one I've ever owned, when it
> ran, that is. Am I crazy to consider getting another one, and have
> problems like this found workable solutions? Is there a way that someone
> has possibly put another type of engine (1.8 Miata, perhaps?) in the MGB.
> I just joined the list to ask these questions, sorry, but the "bug" has
> been biting me recently, and I just had to ask the list their opinions.
> Best regards,
> Tom Reynolds
> Hereford, AZ
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