My first British car restoration was a 1969 MGB roadster that I bought while
in law school. Why I bought it I'll never know as I had no time or money but I needed something
to give me a break from the pain of Law School. So my brother John and I answered an ad in the
paper; "MGB, new top, no rust" .
I don't know what car the guy was selling, because this car had 4 flat tires, a torn top and tread
falling off the tires. I paid $200 for the car and dragged it home with a tow rope. John and I got
in running in the driveway, but couldn't get the motor to smooth out. It turned out that engine had
a broken rod! Well after taking the rose colored glasses off I realized I had bought a real pig.
Nothing more than a parts car, but that was fortunate, as the next weekends paper advertised
another MGB needing "slight" work.
This was another green 1969 MGB roadster, that I bought for $500 bucks this time and it was a
very solid car that didn't run. You can see from some of the pictures
that I did a bare metal strip down, and a very through mechanical restoration on the car,
including rebuilt motor, installing an overdrive transmission, rebuilt twin SU carbs, all new
hydraulics, exhaust, and a new tan Moss Motors interior, and top.
The car looked great and ran terrific. It was my only transportation from 1985 to 1988 and I
loved it! The car was great on the back roads of North Florida, but really had a bad time in the
traffic of South Florida, and it began overheating no matter what I would do to the car. Finally,
an exporter decided he had enough money to make me part with the car and the car went off to
France to live.
Of all the LBCs (Little British Cars) I have owned, this one is the one I think most
fondly of (except when I think about the tow truck rides).