1963 roadster for restoration

Offered for sale is a 1963 MGB. The car is in need of a complete restoration. I bought it because it was such an excellent candidate for work. but I am turning my attention exclusively to my MGAs and wish to get away from MGBs. I have the British Motor Heritage certificate for this car (photo 5). showing that it was built in January 1963. making it one of the earliest of the MGBs. The car has a new. clear Oklahoma title in my name. There is one thing to note about the title. As I said above. it is new and clear. and it correctly identifies the car as a 1963. The VIN number on the title matches the one on the aluminum ID plate attached to the inner fender well. so that it is completely legal everywhere. This VIN number. however. is not the original one for the car. The original VIN number place is long gone. and a previous owner replaced it with one from another 1963 car for which (I expect) he had a title. These Mark I MGBs also had their VIN numbers stamped on an inner right body member. I was able to find this and clean it off to read the correct VIN for this 1963 roadster: GHB 3L 5328. This is the number for which I got the British Motor Heritage certificate. If I hadn’t mentioned this. I think few people ever would know it. but I want to give full disclosure. Let me stress again that this car’s title is 100% legal and can be registered anywhere. I am sure of this because just last month I transferred it to an Oklahoma title with no problems at all. All that the DMVs care about is that the car’s VIN number on the ID plate matches the number printed on the title. and this one does. Mark I MGBs characteristically have lots of rust in the floor pans. rockers. and lower fenders. and this makes their restoration a real challenge. This car. however. has already had the floor pans neatly replaced with new ones. The new floor pans are not just the sheets of metal that I have seen on some. but instead are reproduction replacement parts. correct down to the captive-nut holes for the seat mountings. The sticks in photos 6 and 7 point to these holes. Careless floor pan replacements often lead to doors that won’t close correctly. but the photos show that these doors shut as they should. even though I have not adjusted them for a perfect fit. The trunk compartment is in excellent shape. with no rust-outs anywhere. A fifth wheel is included as a spare (photos 8 and 9). The passenger side of the car shows no significant rust in rockers or door (photo 10). The driver’s side needs replacement of the rocker panel. as the one in place is rusty (photo11). The necessary replacement piece costs about $100 from one of the major suppliers. The bottom of the left front fender is rusted. but a new replacement quarter panel comes with the car (photo 12). The left rear fender needs a replacement dog-leg (photo 13). which is about $50. So the necessary replacement sheet metal will cost less than $200 with shipping. Very little welding is needed to put this car back into excellent shape. Other photos show that the rest of the body is straight and true. with no significant damage. The car clearly never has been in an accident. All of its original paint has been stripped off. inside and out. and the exterior is in primer. The underside is clean. too. It was the outstanding condition of the body that led me to buy the car. as I know very well how badly rusted out these Mark I MGBs can be. The front-end had been rebuilt using the more expensive Prothane bushings and pads. Prothane bushings are for performance handling. and they are harder and longer-lasting than the original rubber bushings. The front shock absorbers have not been rebuilt. and they should be. The car does not have its original 3-main engine. This was replaced with an early (1965) 5-main engine of the GB series. The engine has been cleaned up. but it is not running and must be rebuilt. The photos show that the only thing missing from it is a pair of air cleaners for the carburetors. These are easily obtained new or used. An oil cooler has been added. The engine compartment has been media-blasted to clean metal and painted black. The transmission is the original type for this car: a standard 3-synchromesh model that fits the GB series engine. It shifts through all 5 gears. but it should be disassembled for examination and renewal of seals and bearings. The car’s interior has been media-blasted to clean metal and painted black. All of the interior sheet metal is in excellent condition. as the photos show. The front quarter upholstery panels and the driver’s side door panel are missing. but the passenger side’s panel is there and in good shape. as are both rear quarter panels. The seats have very good black vinyl covers with red piping. but there are several deep scratches on one of them (photo19). All of the car’s glass is present and in good shape. There are no abrasions on the surface of the windshield. as is so often the case. An old windshield gasket comes with the car. but I’d get a new one. A significant plus is that the car has a new wiring harness. which sells for over $400 from one of the major suppliers. The harness has been installed. and its connections are marked on the tags visible in some of the photos. The car comes with two tops. One is the standard convertible top. and the other is a hard-top. The convertible top works smoothly and has its hardware. The hard top is in very good condition. without any significant dents or scratches. It does not have its glass or hardware. but these pieces are not hard to get. All in all. this car is a superb candidate for restoration. Anyone who claims that a car is an “easy restoration” either is not telling the truth or has never done one. but this is one of the best unrestored Mark I MGBs that I have ever seen. and I have owned 5 of them.