Well as the song goes, "Summer's here and the time is right for dancin' in the street." I might argue just a bit and say the time is right for top down motoring! And what better way, then is a classic British roadster?

Please be patient as I have loaded many high quality pictures.

This week, I'm selling my 1979 MGB Roadster. I purchased "Emma" here on ebay on 5/31 as my feedback will show. My goal was to find a nice MGB that was a one owner with lots of paper history that fit my budget. That meant a later rubber bumper version. This car fit the bill nicely. However, once it arrived, it had a few issues I had not counted on. There was a noise in the rear end of the car, original paint was faded, carbs needed to be dialed in as well as numerous items that needed attention. So I came up with a plan. And so, if you're familiar with the English show Wheeler Dealers on The Velocity Channel, like Mike and Ed, I felt compelled to do what this car needed, add a few personal touches as well, to bring up to the level I felt it deserved. Bottom line, I spent more money on Emma than I should have and now need to sell her as money is tight currently. Before I get to what I did, let me tell you about her -

HISTORY - She was built in Feb 1979, delivered and sold new by Wray Import Motors in Shreveport, La., to Don Minor, a then local attorney and older brother of former Seattle Seahawk safety, Vic Minor. Some time after purchasing the car, Don moved to Seattle, Wa., setup his law practice there and there both he and the MG remained there till it was purchased by Mark Thompson in Dec 2013 as Don's health was in decline as could no longer drive her. Mark did some things to the car, flushed the fuel system, added the Pertronix ignition and rebuilt the carbs, then listed it on ebay where I purchased it just 2 months ago. Mark never titled the car, so legal paper ownership went direct from Don to myself. Yes I have a copy of the Bill of Sale as well as the Washington title from Don. I then had the MG transported to my home. It is now registered, inspected and insured in my name here in Vermont, where it is kept in my climate controlled garage. Here in Vermont, cars 15 years or older are not given paper titles when registered. However do NOT confuse this with a car with no title. Many states do it this way and I guaranty you will have no issues when you register it. Interestingly, the white Buyer's Order is for a different MG, which apparently he decided against in 10/78, then went on to purchase this car some months later.

DOCUMENTATION - Among the many strong points of this MGB, is the documentation. There is a 2" thick binder full of receipts, many old registrations, and emissions tests, several original brochures, the Dealer Installed Accessories slip and the original window sticker, showing the price of $7585.70, plus the dealer accessories, bringing the total to $8037.55. There are according to Mark Thompson, about $28,000 in receipts, amazing! The oldest one is from Feb 1987. Mr. Minor spent thousands of dollars on rebuilding the engine, including an alloy head and converting the original problematic Zenith-Stromberg carb for '71 vintage dual SU's. It's all here in writing. And through all of this paperwork, you can see Don Minor's name or his brother Vic on all of them. The mileage of the car can also be traced through these receipts leaving no doubt that the current mileage of 131,784 is the original. That averages out to a very low 3765 miles a year. Looking at all the car's numbers, there is no doubt that it is the original drivetrain according to the Moss Motors info I show. And while I was a bit disappointed that the receipts did not go back to 1979, there are a lot of receipts here, engine rebuild, alloy head, dual carb conversion, clutch replacement a couple of times, convertible top, many oil changes and so much more. It's really fun, if you're like me to look through them all and piece it all together. They are neatly arranged in plastic sleeves in a binder, all in chronological order, amazing.

BODY AND PAINT - Other than the driver's side door and quarter panel, which was repaired and painted due to minor damage in Dec of 1998 according to the receipt, the remainder of the paint and body appear to be the original Russet Brown Enamel (BLVC 205) applied by the MG Factory in England, some 35 years ago. In other words, this is NOT a restored car. It is largely original and unrestored, cared for by one person all these years. Overall the body is very straight and it has no virtually no bodywork done to it, save for the aforementioned drivers door and quarter. There are however a number of tiny dings and touched up paint chips as one might expect when talking about a 35 year old car. Also the paint on the top of the pass side fender is thin. Panel fit and gaps are original as MG built. The paint itself is very good overall with a nice luster, but again has numerous chips that have been carefully touched up. Most of these will not show up in the pics. The hood has a number of touched up chips as well as some crazing that is developing on most of the hood, again, very shiny though. When I got the car, the paint was a bit dull, so I did a professional machine buffing and detail. As a car painter myself, I debated about what to do. In the end, I thought it best to make the original paint look as good as possible. I was pleased with the results. In order to do it right, the car should be completely disassembled and a bare-metal respray done in the original color. And that was something I had neither the time or inclination to do presently. I'm a big believer in preservation. And I kind of like telling people it's the original paint as most people think it's a repaint. From 10 feet away, you'd be hard pressed to argue. But upon close inspection, you can see differently. I tend to be a bit on the fussy side, but overall I like the original look of the car and unless it got a lot worse, I would not choose to paint it. There is one isolated area of rust bubbles, down low on the driver's side quarter, in front of the rear wheel. This would be a fairly simple repair as it's bordered by the stripe, wheel opening and door seam. But that's really about it for any rust. The rest of the body and undercarriage, floor boards, frame rails, etc., have escaped the ravages of time, no doubt being in the salt-free environment of Seattle helped.

INTERIOR/TOP - Like the body and paint, the interior is very nice for it's age. Seats upholstery is tear-free and very nice, door panels have some wrinkles, carpet too is very nice, dashpad has a couple of cracks that have had tape put over them. I added the seast belt guides which are nice as you don't have to go searching for the buckle. Gauges all work! YES, all gauges work, even the quartz clock, as do all electrics despite the British reputation for such things. A fan switch was added so you can override the engine fans off, have them come on as needed thermostatically or be on all the time. Windshield is the original Triplex. It has some pitting, a star crack on the pass side and a crack on the driver's side along the left vertical frame, about 6" long. There is now an aftermarket Kenwood stereo in the dash with an automatic cover that closes when key is off. The "wood" dash kit and steering wheel which I added are a nice contrast to the black upholstery. The top was replaced in 7/03 with the upgraded Robbins canvas top in black with the zip-out rear window to the tune of $743.49. It is BEAUTIFUL and in my opinion, a big improvement of the original vinyl convertible tops. I really like the look of it in the "up" position. It is a quality made top and gives the little roadster an elegant look, much nicer than the original vinyl soft top.

DRIVETRAIN/DRIVING IMPRESSIONS - According to receipts, looks like the bulk of the engine rebuilding was done in 2002 with 105, 358 miles on the car, just 26,000 miles ago. The dual carb conversion, alloy head, rebuilt motor, Pertronix ignition and new full Bell stainless exhaust system (which I recently installed) combine to make this MG run very strong and breathe easy. She accelerates smartly and shifts smoothly. This car is a real pleasure to drive. Suspension is tight and handling feels just as it should, no surprises. A slightly squeaky bushing inn the left front is the only thing I now detect in driving. The car has been lowered to the height of pre-75 B's. To me they look silly once they raised the ride height. The Spax shocks in the rear were not working properly and were the cause of the rear end noise. Among the numerous items Sports Car Services took care of, they replaced the tube shocks with 2 rebuilt original lever shocks. no more noise! I replace the entire exhaust system and am currently just running the front "silencer" and have left the rear muffler off, replacing it with a piece of straight muffler tubing, slash cut at the tip. The resulting sound is almost intoxicating. If you stick your right foot down hard she growls in no uncertain terms. But normal driving gives a pleasant "sports car" sound that is unmistakably British. I LOVE it!

MONEY SPENT THUS FAR - So let's get down to numbers, not body and engine numbers, but dollars. I'm going to list what I have spent on the car so you can see what I've done. I have documentation for everything I have spent. While I do have a reserve on the car, it is considerably less than my investment. I'm a realistic person and understand I'm probably going to have to lose some money on this car in order to sell. SO FEEL FREE TO MAKE AN OFFER, BUT RESERVE WILL NOT BE DISCLOSED. But in the end, like Brits Mike and Ed from Wheeler Dealers, I feel good about making it a much better car than when I got it. A car that has been gone through by British car specialists and given their stamp of approval. David Clarke himself, owner of Sports Car Services, drove the car personally and delivered it to my home upon completion. We went for a drive together and he told what a really good car it was and how impressed he was with it. I considered that very high praise indeed.

Paid for car - $4900.00

Shipping - 1150.00

Lowering kit 72.83

Steering wheel 204.90

Wood dash kit 115.95

Exhaust system 321.10

Seat belt guides 34.95

3 Wiper blades 18.30

Hazard switch 28.95

Stripe kit 82.00

SUBTOTAL $6928.98

Repairs 2750.00 (See Below for details)

--------------------------------

TOTAL $9678.98

Recent work done by Sports Car Services for $2750. as per invoice pictured

Balance / re jet carbs / tune engine

Replaced Pertronix distributor

Flush and fill complete brake and clutch hydraulic systems

Overhaul clutch slave cylinder

Inspect brake linings and cylinders

Repair cooling fan/ignition/turn signal wiring

Noise in back of car, Spax shocks were at full extension

Replaced shocks with rebuilt original lever shocks

Road tested

State inspection

WHAT DOES IT NEED? - Well not much really. It is a beautifully sorted driver that will give you years of enjoyment with proper maintenance of course. Is it perfect? Of course not. It's not a Miata. It's a 35 year old British classic that turns heads wherever it goes and attracts crowds and smiles. If I were to keep it, I'd probably consider replacing the windshield and the right rear tire as there is a bulge in the sidewall, don't know if a tube would help, but probably not and grease or replace that busing if needed. Beyond that, it's really a question of where you want the car to be. You could do that bare metal repaint and chrome bumper conversion and do a million other things to make the car so nice you'd be afraid to drive it. Or if your like me, you'll enjoy the car as it is now, mostly original, listening to that exhaust, tooling down a curvy back road on a warm summer day, enjoying a car that is meant to be driven. And in doing so, will reward you with miles and miles of classic British motoring pleasure as it continues to go up in value. Try that in your Miata.

OVERALL EXTERIOR PICTURES -