This site is about OUR MG a glacier white 1973 MGB tourer we call "the old girl". She was built December 1972 in Abingdon on Thames, England. We have owned this car for over 25 years.

Pg 1 OUR MG "the old girl". Pg 2 Autocross pics. Pg 3 Current family cars. Pg 4 First drives. Pg 5 Other cars we have owned. Pg 6 Original '73 MGB Brochure.
We drove Our MG to Queenston Heights, Canada June 2007 for a multi-club picnic hosted by the MG Car Club of Toronto. Our MG joined 100 British cars on display. Lots of fun and good people. We even met a Canadian couple with the same license plate as ours! What fun and a great road trip with the MG car Club Western New York!
In October 2006 I lost power in cylinder three. We diagnosed it as a burned valve and pulled the head for a rebuild as a winter project. The head was ready by November, and December I installed the rebuilt head. I decided to leave off the air pump after the rebuild. British Auto Salvage did the head work for me. New seats, valves and valve guides. The head, gasket and intake/carb/ exhaust installation went fine. I had a little brain fade installing the ignition wires, but with the help I got it right. I replaced all the gaskets and hoses and replaced the heater control valve and thermostat. I added a vented alloy valve cover from The Roadster Factory, and had to re-route the heater hose because I couldn't place the coolant line along the top of the cover. Compare this pic with the older one farther down this page. I filled the radiator with coolant and after a quick fuel and coolant leak check, fired her up! Despite it being only 5 degrees out at the time, she caught after about 20 seconds of cranking and ran fine!

We bought "the old girl" from a friend in the MG car club in 1982 when it was less than ten years old. As far as we know, I am the fourth owner.
This is a photo from 1983. When we first got "the old girl" she was badly in need of a tune up, a little body work and some paint. For her "first restoration" in 1983 I had the complete inner and outer sills and castle members replaced and bought a used front valance from a friend's '68 MGB parts car. New gas tank and sending unit and replaced the U joints and wire wheels. We got her repainted Glacier white in the winter of 1983-84.
Over the years we have done restoration a little at a time. A new convertible top one year, electrical repairs another year. (almost had a dash fire!) I have replaced the grille, gas tank, sending unit, thermostat, fuel pump (twice), brakes, brake master cylinder, hoses, radiator, distributor, alternator, exhaust, headlight switch, turn signal/dimmer control, u-joints, front suspension, rear leaf springs, rear hubs, and wire wheels. I added the SEV Marchal driving lamps and bullet chrome mirrors and converted the two 6 volt system to one 12 volt battery. For several years I would scour the swap meets looking for something like a taillight lens or an interior light. Now, besides the occasional tune up, I just love to drive in "the old girl".

Our MG has the standard 1800 cc four cylinder with twin 1.5" HIF SU carbs. I've added chrome air cleaners. The engine is stock, with 8.0:1 compression, complete with air pump and emmissions gear and puts out 78.5 hp and 94 lb/ft tourque. Early MGB's were good for about 98 hp. Horsepower to weight isn't too bad though because she only weighs about 2000 lbs. My son and I detailed the engine compartment a few years ago and try to keep it clean for shows. White shows all the dirt and dead bugs!
Although MGB's started out with two wipers in the 60's, from the 1970's on MGB's had three windshield wipers to better clear the short, wide windscreen. I drive the old girl as long as I can from spring until the snow flies then put her away for the winter. I had a fiberglass hardtop for a while but since it never sees winter it was just dumb to put it on and put her in storage, so I sold it! I drive with the top down no matter how cold it is, but don't take her in the rain (except once when coming home from a cruise night!)

I also swapped the '73's octagonal knock offs for the '68's eared ones because I like their style. I replaced the Michelin tires I had on the MG for years with 175/70/14 Pirelli P7's two years ago and they run sweet. When I got this car the hub and wheel splines were very worn, and because the wheels were twisted on the splines I had a real hard time getting the octagonal knock offs and wheels loose. After finally getting the wheels loose and rotating the wheels I had the shock of hearing an awful grinding sound when I first applied the brakes. The hubs stopped, but the wheels continued to rotate and rounded the wheel splines off! Needless to say, thats why I had to replace the wire wheels and hubs. Two of the replacement wheels came from my '71 MGB. I had given them to a friend from the MG club, with mounted studded snow tires. (shudder). He gave them back to me when I needed them for the '73 B. I had a another friend beadblast the wheels clean before painting.
The next big thing will be an engine over haul when she hits 100,000 miles, but that won't happen for a few years.

I am past Chairman of the MG car club, Western New York Centre, and my wife and I attend club rallys, shows and events throughout the year. I have autocrossed our MG a few times, and plan to do more. I mostly go to cruise-ins. Our club the MG Car Club of Western NY, along with the Victor Lions club sponsors the Sports car and vintage auto festival every June since 1972. We have had years with over 1000 cars but we consider any show a success with over 500 cars in the show. Go to www.mgcarclub.com for more info on this show and other club activities.
We have put the MGB in many shows and drive it often in the summer. On the Left Our MG is the one on the on the left at the 2004 Sports Car and Vintage Auto Festival and on the right is at the weekly cruise night at the Log Cabin restaurant in Macedon NY. They regularly have 500 cars when the weather is good!
Around 1985 our club won the coveted but long forgotten "Nuffield cup" from the parent MG club in England for our activities and membership promoting all things MG. Here we are accepting the cup after it was lost for almost 20 years. There's quite an interesting history surrounding the cup which was named after Lord Nuffield's association with MG. I'm second from the left, the one with the mustache and big grin.