I looked recently and "Lil B" is the #1 MGB on CarDomain!!

If interested, please goto my CarDomain.com page. I update it every time I make an update. It is hard for me to keep these 2 blogs going as they are in different formats, but I wanted to start this page going here too for those who are intersted.

BTW, a sincere thanks to everyone that "rated my ride" (I know that, until recently, "ride" was a figure of speech, as this car has been a 2000 lb paper weight in the garage that I have been feeding time and money to for the last year).

Here is the story of my Little Blue, from our beginning, written as the projects unfold. I invite you to take some time, take a journey and share the experience...

Welcome to the Lil' Blue Page

Several years ago I sold a restored 1967 MGB and I have regretted it ever since. In the past few years I have had several other projects, but this is a story about my most recent. Car was given to me by a friend of a friend of mine from work. The previous owner was getting up there in age and did not have the time or resources to fix it up etc... The car was offered to me free of charge as long as if and when I get it running I will let him know so he can see at one of the local shine and shows.

01/15/2008

First off, I am adding new updates at least every week. About the car, The car has been sitting on his back covered patio for 27 years (Yes, 27 YEARS) and the odometer says 23543 miles on it. It's a modern day barn find. Below are the pics of when I picked it up.

I rented a u-haul trailer, got off work an hour and half early and enlisted a couple guys from
work to help push it off of the back patio of Bills place and on to the awaiting trailer (Thanks again Doug and Bryce).

Couple of things you have realize when moving a vehicle that that has been sitting for 27 years. The tires are flat (and I mean flat)and may or may not air up and if they do, then will it roll? Seizing of the once movable parts is par for the course. I once joked that MGB’s are fun and easy to work on because they only have 4 movable parts, in this case it only had 3. The passenger rear wheel was seized and was a rusty mess. After jacking up the car, beating on the hub, drenching it with lube, then beating on it some more, reinstalling the wheel, then pushing it again made the transition from 3 parts to 4.

I could not wait to see what I really got (as it was covered in 27 years of dust, house paint over spray, dirt leaves etc). I pulled into the nearest coin operated car wash to spray it off. I went through a few bucks before I got a good look at it. I sprayed it all down, interior included. Over all the car looked good considering. No rust issues anywhere, no dents, no dings and everything is intact (albeit dried out and rotten from the Arizona heat).

I got it home and put in the garage. After a near spousal melt down and several days of “I’m sorry, the car was free, what could I do?” it all worked out. It also helped that it was my birthday weekend as well.

The next day I went away for a weekend to San Fran to visit my Brother in law, his wife and their new baby. Sophia is the new member of the family. Very cute, maybe I will have to get one of my own.

Monday was the first day back in the garage to start the clean up.

I researched on line to find what would take off latex paint overspray. I wrote out a small list and went to the store.
The above pics are when I did the front fender to see how it would turn out.

LESSON 1

Things you will need in order to remove overspray from your automobile.
(keep in mind that this has been for several years and has been baked by the sun and the AZ heat. Also keep in mind that the paint is a single stage without a clear coat.)

 MEK (METHYL ETHYL KETONE) – kind of like Acetone, but evaporates slower. Found at any hardware store (you really need to try it in an area of the paint to make sure that it will not harm it).

 Rubbing compound (Turtle Wax , the white stuff in the hockey puck shaped container found at any and all car places)

 Lots of paper towels

 A few terry cloth towels

 A spray bottle for water

 A couple of green scrubbies

The first thing I did is to wash the car (accomplished at the car wash on the way home) I just used some water and a wet green scrubby. Depending on the amount of overspray you have you will want to reconsider the green scrubby as it can scratch your paint. Mine was covered so I used it with mild pressure and used lots of water.

I rinsed with a damp cloth then went for the MEK. Using a paper towel folded several times to form a 5 x 5 square I poured the MEK on to the paper towel. I went over the over spray and it began to remove it within a few seconds of crubbing.

I reapplied until all of the spots were gone.

I then went to the polishing / rubbing compound. I sprayed the area that I am working clean then, using a moist towel, I applied the compound in over lapping circles. Part of this process you are smoothing out the finish while cleaning the years of stains and left over paint residue.

After that is completed, you will need to seal it back up with a polish like a carnuba wax or something similar.

Repeat this process until the entire car is complete.

My project is 4 hours deep so far and have about 1/3 of the car done.

I have spent:
$6 for MEK

I am choosing not to count the car wash or the towing as part of my budget as the budget idea came after it was already home. Actually it was part of my agreement with the Mrs... I also already had the other items on hand, so I am not going to count them as part of the budget.

Clean up of the engine will be next

Day 2

Actually it is day 3 but I am commenting on day 2 and adding more pics. Last night I spent a couple of more hours. Here are a few to see the transfomation.

WOW. I am freaking out because this is a really good 15 footer with just elbow grease. The chrome is turning out very good as well. FYI, "elbow grease" is advertised as free, however, you will pay in other ways... I am typing with only one hand. ;)

Good news is that it does not effect the budget. Advil anyone?

BTW: The car is up on jacks stands in the last few pics. The gap between the tires and wheel wells are from the added elevation.

--SIDE NOTE--
I am totally confused. I was in the car and noticed that the gauge reads KM, that means that the car was imported as a gray market import from a country that allows exports to USA. The car was in AZ in 1973, but I am wondering where it was as prior. So... That means that the car has 23,543 KM but it may mean that the 100,000 mark was rolled meaning that it really is 123,543 KM.

Okay, I got it. Supposing that the car shows 23,543 km and that it flipped that can have 123,543 KM, the car really has 76,768 miles. That makes more since considering my understanding of the car. Anyway, it is still an artifact.
So, worst case scenario, the car has 76,768 miles (assuming the car has (1)23,543 KM on it.
Works for me!

DAY 3
Day was not very ambitious as life gets in the way of progress. However I did take out the spark plugs and pour in some motor oil in the cylinders in the attempt to free up the pistons if they are seized. I will turn over the engine manually this weekend as well as start the engine cleaning process.
Cheers!

Day 5

Good news, I manually turned the engine over. I went 2 full cycles and there was no binding.

Day 8

I have been busy lately, so not a lot of head way, but I spent 2-3 hours of detailing the rear section of the car. I pulled off the chrome badging and polished them. They were a little pitted, but looks perfect at about 2 feet away.

I pulled the top tire out of the trunk and took a good look.
Here is the trunk before cleaned up. Some paint has pealed off, but other than that it is totally rust free.

DAY 17

Yeah, got another tail light. Price... well, free, it was in my truck from the move.

The project is slow moving, but steady. I just recently read an article in an automotive magazine that talked about restoring an old British 2 seater that was parked for 20 years!. Wow, all they needed was lube, gas and the basics. I will do my best to try to start it this coming week end.

Ciao <--- that's Italian for food. :)