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MG MGB Technical - Restoration Sequence

Anyone have a rebuild sequence checklist for the mgb roadster RB.
mark smith

Mark,
Don't know of a list as you wrote, but Practical Classics has a book on mgb restoration that is very helpful and I suppose you could creat a list from reading this book.
Steve
Steve Brooks

For disassembly: Work from the outside in.
For assembly: Work from the inside out.

Between these two general stages, do all the refurbishing of all the component parts, collection of new parts, and get all your body work done.

There are sequences that are more detailed than this, but many aspects are as much common sense as anything else. For instance, installing the dash and all its components before replacing the seats and carpeting is much easier than afterwards.

Think about and take notes as you disassemble recording the easiest ways to take things apart to strip the car and I think you will find that the reversal is often, but not always, a good way to reassemble. However, remember that there are many ways to do things, and there is often more than one way of doing things and still coming out right in the end. FWIW
Bob Muenchausen

TAKE PICTURES! Boy..I wish I had, good thing there are web sites with some. Like Bob M's.
Philip A. Smith

I've done what BobM suggests, but I'm foxed on where to start my rebuild first, just in case I install something only to find the damned thing has to be removed.

Surely somewhere there must exist a list of the systems which have to be installed first, for example fit the front and rear suspension to achieve a rolling shell, then fit the brakes etc.

That's the sort of info that will get me going, apart from half an hour with Pamela Anderson, of course.
Fred

What you ask for is a handy thing to have, I admit. I didn't mean to be flip, but in most cases, the sequence is pretty obvious. However, there are those fine points where things are not so obvious, and the trite old phrase "assembly is the reversal of dissassembly" is not really true.

As some of the others have suggested, there are several books available on the subject of restoration, and within them you will find at least a reasonable sequence to follow. However, I think that there may have been some good lists worked up over the years which have been published, perhaps in club newsletters, and perhaps you may find such a list available from someone like the MGOC or MGCC. It couldn't hurt to drop them a line and ask, someone there may have just the thing you are looking for. You certainly would not be the first to ask, I am sure.
Bob Muenchausen

During a period of computer 'down-time' the other day I resorted to day dreaming and scribbled out a list of how, I think, I will re-assemble my B... as and when I get the body back.

This might be a good basis for us both Mark and could well be refined by the comments of those who have done it before.

Now, I have the advantage of having been lent a frame that will allow complete rotation of the suspended body. I will also get the body back ready painted. I am doing the dogs body work, of the rubbing down, under the watchful eye of the painter.


ON FRAME.

Accelerator pedal and stop. This is just a nonsense personal thing... a sort of sybolic 'get on with it'.

Brake and clutch master pedals, cylinders etc.

Wiring harness.

Fuel tank.

Rear springs.

Copper tubing for brakes, fuel, etc.

fuel pump.

Exhaust pipe brackets.

Bumper irons.

Heater unit.

OFF THE FRAME.

Rear axle. Roll bar. rear shocks.

Rear brakes.

Rear (old) wheels.

Front suspension cross member.

Front suspension.

Steering rack.

Front (old)wheels.

Engine and gearbox.

Steering column and wheel.

Prop shaft.

Radiator and hoses.

Oil cooler.

Front grill.

Exhaust pipe.

Door surround trim (see note 1 below)

Windscreen.

Instrument panel. (see note 2 below)

Speaker console.

Body rubbing strips.

Door windows, quarter lights.

Hood and tonneau studs.

All lights.

New wheels and spinners.

Brake clutch fluid.

Fuel in tank.

Interior trim.

Seats.

Top and tonneau.

Batteries.

Collect old age pension.

Note 1. I seem to recall that the front chrome trim retainer has to be screwed in place before the screen in fitted. If this recollection is correct, it could be catastrophic to find that you had to release the windscreen again to fit the felt door surround trim.

Note 2. I had thought to install the instrument panel with all the instruments in place and then lay on my back, head the front... feet to the boot, and finish the wiring.

These are just my thoughts based upon having taken the car to pieces and trying, at the time, to imagine how on earth I would get it all back together.
I think that my plan falls roughly within Bob M's simple logic of 'start from the outside and work my way in'.

If anybody can see what I have missed in my over simplification... I mean anything that will cause serious fraying of the nerves... please let me know.

Well... I hope this helps,

Best regards,

Angus



Angus

John Twist says that you should restore the parts as you take them off the car - probably good advise, although I'm not that patient as I want to get it all apart and see what needs to be done. I have learned that taking pictures and bagging and labeling parts is very worthwhile. I use sandwich bags (or larger) and a black permanent marker.

Have fun!
Jim
Jim Budrow

I don't think it matters too much what order you do things in, except some things need to be fixed before other things get in their way. The car is basically a pretty simple construction and it is quite logical how it all fits together. But I must agree with the others about pictures. Use a camera, make drawings, write notes of every little detail as you dismantle things. Where do the wires connect & which colours? What's the correct arrangement of the rear brake components? Put nuts and bolts in plastic bags and write on them what they are, you know the sort of thing - "starter bolts" etc. If you don't do this, you will have a hell of a time reassembling because you will not remember how it all went.

Good luck
Mike
Mike Howlett

Do the body first, then the running gear, and finally the engine and brakes. Leave all the fluids out until the car is fully assembled. Many people start with the engine and that's as far as they get. You see started restorations with finished engines for sale quite often. The body takes the longest. If the engine or brakes sit some time before use, you may have an engine and brakes that are rusty inside. An engine if it sits too longer can have reduced life. We all know what happens with corroded brake parts. When assembling brake parts don't use the brake fluid for a lubricant unless the brakes are going to be used quite soon.

G'day
Blake

This thread was discussed between 03/02/2003 and 09/02/2003

MG MGB Technical index

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