1974 MGB GT "Coulson"

Just picked this up as a surprise for the girlfriends birthday. Needs some work, but well it's older than I am, so that's no surprise. I need a lot of work myself.

Comments

  • bam-bambam-bam Council Member
    Cool old car that will keep you on your toes electrically. These were pretty common 'kid cars' back in the eighties, when I was a kid. Never owned one, but did a few engine and clutch jobs on these and Triumphs.
  • My first two cars were English, the second being an MGA. I learned a LOT about keeping a car running. I figured it at about 1:1, one hour driving to one hour wrenching. Enjoy!
  • Yeah there are definitely things to do to it. My first real project with it I think will be suspension. There is a kit out there by moss motors to convert the whole thing to Monroe sensatrac. They have a lot more expensive ones it there but I think those will sort it. No thank you rear leaf springs.
  • Delivery was a success. The girlfriend has been having a rough time lately. I had it staged so we were going out to eat with some friends, it was parked in the parking lot. She saw it and was like "This is bullshit, now the universe is taunting me with my dream car." She specifically sat down to eat in a position that she would not have to see the car at all.

    Then she proceeded to tell my friends how pissed she was that it was out there.

    I'd given the waiter the keys ahead of time and so when we were done eating he came by and said "Did someone drop their keys?" at which point my girlfriend said "No, what are those for?" and he said "It should be staring you right in the face at this point."

    At which point the tears quickly ensued. And I was told it wasn't fair that I trump her with every gift and now she's never gonna be able to outdo me.

    I'll take my victory.

    109.jpg

    The car is now named Coulson, it's Tahiti blue. Maybe some nerds will get the reference.

    110.jpg

    111.jpg

    It looks like Moss Motors is gonna be swallowing some paychecks. I just wish the big MG forum was half as put together as this one. It's like being on a BBS with grandpa over there.
  • BillBoardBillBoard council member
    That is an awesome story! Well done man! And super neat car, your lady has great taste!
  • BillBoard wrote: »
    That is an awesome story! Well done man! And super neat car, your lady has great taste!

    Well at least great taste in cars. Taste in guys is debatable :cool:
  • BillBoard wrote: »
    That is an awesome story! Well done man! And super neat car, your lady has great taste!

    Well at least great taste in cars. Taste in guys is debatable :cool:
  • HaydzHaydz Moderator
    Has it lost a wheel yet?
  • Not as of yet =D and it just fits on my ramps with the centerbridges installed. Which I'm happy about. On the inner most track with the wheels right at the edge. Fortunately once it's on there I can jack the whole set of ramps up flat and then wiggle the car around on there to get it right in position.

    I have a full exhaust system coming in. It's gonna be the first bit of work that the girlfriend tackles on it. The previous owner tore up the center muffler taking it off a trailer. So I'm going with a stainless steel setup with a single muffler design to give this some more ground clearance.

    It's crazy how low this thing sits. Though I guess some of slammed deviants would be used to that. But still sitting in the civic is like sitting on a throne compared to the MG.
  • HaydzHaydz Moderator
    Yep very different style. I am jealous, one of my favorite cars.
  • First bit of treasure has arrived.

    122.jpg

    And I ran in to the first bit of frustration. One of the bolts for the old exhaust hanger had completely stripped off and seized in the little bit of metal that it seated in. And of course the way the little bracket is situated, there's no real way to get to the back side of it. So I'm gonna be welding the new style mid hanger up, cause feck it!

    But yeah, nice stainless exhaust to replace the busted as hell old exhaust. The mid muffler was literally split right down the middle. I do love the little cup holder thing that's perfectly designed to socket into an area right in front of the shifter. People are thinking here, too bad there's not enough of a civic wagon market that we get our own custom molded cup holders!

    Oh and check that three tube header. Nothing like sharing a middle exhaust port between cylinders!
  • HaydzHaydz Moderator
    Get used to seized bolts...
    Hone your skills of drilling and tapping. And replacing with stainless or zinc hardware.
  • True enough. Though I'm hoping the layer of oil on the entire underside of the vehicle will help with some of them =D

    I'd have drilled and tapped this one, unfortunately it seems to have been in an insert anyway so there wasn't much material left. That's why I'm just going with welding. I'll use the bolt that's good on one side and put a couple tacks on the other, that way if I need to pull it off it'll be easy to cut off.

    I definitely hear you about the stainless hardware though. Stainless and plenty of antisieze. Wheeee!
  • BillBoardBillBoard council member
    You got me looking at these (not to buy, but fun to look at). I came across one on craigslist here. I just have never seen a hatchback (if you will) Mg... in for more!
    http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/5318572254.html
  • Wow that is a nice one and if that mileage is true, which is hard to believe, that's a steal at that price. I love those little GT badges at the top rear I was thinking about getting some to put on this car, and how about that for a license plate. Super nice.

    I was literally checking all over the states to find one, a few kept popping up in colorado springs, but they were asking a bit much and if these cars seem to even look at rain, let alone snow they develop the cancer. Fortunately this one spent its life in New Mexico so that isn't a problem with it.

    This one does have a mediocre repaint on it right now, so at some point I'm gonna have to take it to a pro and have them just knock it back to base metal and hit it. That's some years down the road I'm sure though, either way, I'll keep posting more as I have it.
  • Did the radiator hoses today, decided to shoot a video with the new go-pro as I need some practice. I plan on trying to shoot my honda repair videos with it as well.

    Also installed a new radiator drain setup. Nice that the fitting is just standard 1/4" pipe so I was able to run to Home Depot and get some elbows and a ball valve. The old petcock was a weird design and did not seal properly.
  • Just saw this and wanted to say great job ob the reveal. It is one nice looking car. Have fun with it.
  • Thanks, yeah it's a blast to work on and even more fun to drive. Though I have a sizeable CC bill now that I'm gonna have to pay off with my holiday pay.

    I just sprung for a dual mikuni carb setup that'll replace the single downdraft weber. Fortunately I have the original carbs still so I don't have to go source a manifold to bolt the mikunis to. These mikunis give pretty much 20% increase in power across the board, while having better efficiency so I'm looking forward to them arriving. That'll be a fun video to shoot as well.
  • Been working on this mostly lately. Here are some videos I've put together. If anyone has comments I'd love to hear em. When I get the garage cleared out I need to do the clutch on my wagon, and may film that as well. So I'm trying to brush up on my skills in both shooting and editing as I can.
  • HaydzHaydz Moderator
    Good work on the updates.

    I was hoping to rip on you for your accent but it's actually fairly flat.
  • Thanks, I'm filming a brake and clutch cylinder install right now. I have a brake conversion kinda similar in theory to the bracket that lowflyin' had done. I'll probably shoot that too since it'll be good to do all the brake stuff all at once.

    I'm originally from central Illinois, far enough away from Chicago to not pick that up as well.

    So yep, flat land midwest lack of pretty much most accent =D sorry to disappoint.
  • Replaced both master cylinders, wheeee!
Sign In or Register to comment.