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MG MGB Technical - order of dis-assembly for restoration

Hi all,
I am about to begin the ground up restoration of my '70 B/GT. Before I took the engine/tranny out of it, it was driveable. My question concerns the dis-assembly. Is there a certain order I should go, i.e., after the engine and trans, what would be the best sequence? I intend to strip it down to bare metal, repair the rust, paint, and then begin re-assembly. It would be nice, too, if I can have the car/shell as mobile as possible as the shop where I intend to do the work also houses a boat and cabinet making equipment.
On a related topic, I do have the rivergate datsun 280 5 speed trans conversion. It was a little more difficult to do than the web site made it out; I had to grind a little on the starter and had to remove the trans mount brackets from the trans crossmember. However when all was said and done, it was pretty SWEET. 70 mph at 3100 revs. The kit, btw, uses a stock MG flywheel and pressure plate with a datsun 200sx clutch disk. All I had to do was remove the center pad from the MG pressure plate, and off I went. The deluxe kit (with al backing plate, datsun slave cylinder, speedo cable, new clutch disk, lightened/balanced flywheel, new pilot bushing, new drive shaft with datsun front yoke already installed, right angle drive adapter, and all hardware) cost about $1000. Trans was extra ($250) at a local junkyard.
Anyway, thanks in advance for the advice.
Ben
Ben Pender

Since your stripping it down completely I dont believe it makes a difference what order its done. Reassenbly may have to be done in a certain order to insure you dont put on something that interferes with another part. For a rolling shell leave the wheels, suspension, and axles in place.
william fox

We are in the process of doing our 76 B. We bought 4 dollys that go under the wheels and let us move it all over the garage. That has helped tremendously.
Dave Clark

I agree about the order of disassembly is not too important. It is a good idea to keep notes on how it goes back together. There are a few good how to books around but they don't cover what you may find.

My best advice is to get different size food freezer bags that have an area to write on so you can put small items in them and mark where the bits came from.

I use a digital camera to take pictures for later reference. It's also nice to have them for those times when you may want to look back.

Cheers
Rich
Rich Stinchcomb

Ben,

I wish they had had the dollies Dave mentions when I used to do restorations. Even if you have a set of the dollies (they do come up on sale at Harbor Freight among other places) you may well find that it is easier to do some of the rust removal and bodyshell repairs while the suspension components are off the car. Many restorations have been done in the spirit of what you describe and the owner/restorer found it necessary and desirable to either mount the bodyshell on a "rotisserie" jig to be able to gain better access and positioning for cleaning away tough stuff like old undercoating, and to do a good job of welding in new parts, or some other sort of "roll-over-on-it's-side" cradle, or even old inner tubes to rest it on. These probably give the best and easiest access for first rate work. I think I would look into the restoration literature in general and also specifically for MGBs to see what others have done. Some have been pretty crafty in how they have accomplished this.

Once you see the processes that you will employ to do the various individual tasks related to this full restoration, I think you will also begin to see a pattern of dismantling and of reassembly that will take into consideration the details and conflicts which must be considered. Think about what each process entails and how it may affect those that precede and follow it. And don't be bound by concepts that tie all of a given project to straight line. By that, I mean, when putting in carpet, you may not want to finish the job in a linear fashion if there are bits of it that could be done easily later AFTER doing some other operations or installations. If you watch an assembly line at most any auto manufacturer's, you will see that they have grasped this notion as it provides for a smoother and less time consuming manner in which to build a car.

I would say that the easiest way to begin is to get your hands on what is now the Haynes mgb restoration Manual. It gives you a workable process as a guide and a notion of what all is involved.
Bob Muenchausen

Ben,
I agree with the comments above regarding disassembly.
The order is not really critical.

A couple of suggestions before you tear into it:

Buy an instant camera (Polaroid) and photograph each section before taking anything off.

Buy a bag of tags and a waterproof marker and tag the item removed and if needed which end goes where. (eg: Brake pipe, M/C to LHF.) and underline which end the tag is placed.

Keep all related items including bolts, screws, brackets etc together or with the part they attach to.

If possible lay out all parts in sequence of removal.

Good luck, Cheers, Pete.
Peter Thomas

Ben-
My only comment is to do the body first, engine second. The body takes the most time, while the engine takes little time and can potentially take the most money. I decided this after seeing more than one guy show me his rust-bucket-to-be-racer with a $10,000 motor on a stand next to it, all waiting for the next paycheck...
Tom
Thomas Lennon

If you are interested in rotisseries, here is an address to my variation. I would not hang a car complete with engine on it, but it held everything else just fine. And man was it easier to work under-oops- I meant on!
I also agree with the rest of the crew- Mark everything. Bag small pieces. Take pictures. Take more pictures. A digital camera, even a cheap one, is the ticket. No film so you can take unlimited photos.

Good luck and have fun
Mark
http://emtee.wirefire.com/My%20MG/My%20MGB.htm
Mark Thomas

This thread was discussed between 20/08/2002 and 23/08/2002

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