Andy missed a couple of high points of his recent MGB-GT
purchase:
- Driving up in a pair of BRG tourers and parking one on
either side of the car to be inspected.
- Both of us wearing Fizzball Racing T-Shirts (useful
so that when the seller says "Gee, where do you guys
find parts for these things?" I can turn around and
let Andy Plug The Sponsor, British Motorsports, Campbell,
California).
- Driving up to my house just in time for the ice cream
truck to putter down the street, tinkling an electronic
tune ("Home on the Range" in synthetic carillon) to attract
youngsters. I took Torrey out to buy her first Fudgsicle
from the ice cream truck; it sounded so good I had to have
one of my own. (Kim went for the old favorite, the
drumstick.) When that was gone, Andy and I toasted his
new MGB into the extended Fizzball family with glasses of
my homebrewed porter. "Gee," I said, "after going directly
from a Fudgsicle to this porter, I guess growing up has its
advantages after all." Thank you, Mark, for getting me
motivated.
About the car: The body is straight, the paint is shabby,
the door panels are in very good shape, the dashboard has a
few cracks in the rubber pad that rides across the top; the
headliner is missing entirely, the seats are covered with what
look like red jersey material. Most exciting part was getting
into the car and learning that the seats weren't ("WHOOPS!")
bolted down. ("Yeah, the headliner sure is gone, isn't it?")
About the seller: He really did ask us where we found parts for
these cars (this after Andy described the number of things
he happened to have sitting around in his garage: oil coolers,
seats, door panels, window glass, etc.) Am I just twisted from
breathing too many Castrol fumes, or are there cars for which
it's easier to get parts than MGBs? (He ought to try getting
parts for a TVR Grantura some time, right Steve?)
About overdrives: This GT has the early transmission with
electric overdrive. We've determined that the overdrive
works well, but that it's not locked out of first and
second gears as it's supposed to be. Anyone got a recommendation
for the easy thing to look for to fix this? Andy is planning
to replace the clutch and hydraulics anyway, so a quick transmission
drop to check a wire won't be a problem. (Heh... last week,
whiel I was assembling the new bracket on the passenger's side
of Andy's race car, I noticed a loose wire. "Your brake light
wire is loose," I told Andy. "Oh, green with purple trace?" he
asked. I smiled.)
Also, I recently acquired a four-synchro overdrive transmission
that will one day go in my '71 (unless I break down and buy a
Magnette first). I suppose I should take it apart and put it
back together with all new parts replacing anything that looks
worn. If anyone has done this, particularly to an overdrive
box, I'd be grateful for some comments.
Last, Roger asked about early versus late rear ends. The
early rear end is lighter than the later ones. Since the
axle is all unsprung weight, this makes a tangible advantage
in a racing car; if we ever figure out a cheap way to get
things back and forth, add your early axles to the westbound
list. (Also, Roger, I can't find the citation in
any of my books that tells what went into the Special Edition
MGB-GT. Got a page reference for me? :-)
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