Time to put the stuff that corrodes easily away for the winter. A shot of the 1963 MGB last month, before I finally got around to mowing the field!

I picked this car up on Saturday with the help of my friend Jeff. Seems like a good machine so far, the usual “oh my god, what have I done” moment hasn’t yet arrived (you’ll know when it does). I even got 28 MPG on the trip back!
(more…)

Consider: This car was $69,000 new in 1996 (in today’s dollars, that’s about $90,000). I’m paying almost exactly 5% of the 1996 price for this car, in 2008. That depreciation is absolutely mind-boggling; in constant dollars, the car essentially lost 97% of its value in a bit more than a decade. Much as I love Jaguars, I cannot imagine buying one new unless I had chests of gold doubloons.

This Vanden Plas is not absolutely perfect, but it is in very nice condition, with 84,000 miles. I think it’s “Kingfisher Blue,” which is a darkish blue-green, depending on the light. The inside has all the usual excess, including lambswool over-rugs and picnic tables for those carefree afternoons picnicking in wine country gorging on gut bombs at the drive-in. It’s also the long-wheelbase version, which means the rear doors are about ten feet long.

Just have the front badge and the opening part of the hood to bolt back on, and of course getting the linkage for the governor sorted out.
(more…)

My friend Jeff was kind enough to donate a period license plate frame from Seattle BMC, the local MG dealer when this car was new. It is now mounted on Reg the 1963 MGB, as you can see. It adds a nice period touch–even if my car was sold new in San Diego.

I removed the license plate mount assembly to make the job easier, and it seems that when this car was last painted (cheaply in Tijuana, Mexico, in 1973–no kidding) they didn’t remove the plate; it’s still the factory color back there! This is two philips-head screws, mind. When I finally get around to the bodywork, I’ll be repainting the car its original Old English White, which is much mellower and “of the time” than the appliance white that’s on there now.

Note the lichen collection. We have a pair of robins who have been trying to build a nest on the pillar for the carport–it falls down every day, and every day they try again. It’s been more than a month now…the insult “bird brain” has its genesis with creatures like this!

It is wise to become familiar with the controls and dash of your F250 before taking to the road. You may wish to refer to the illustration while reading the reference below.
(more…)

I finally got rid of the rusty body shell from the “parts MGB” today. I had to surrender the title to do so, which I guess is proper–but also flushes my idea of finding a decent shell to put the saved mechanicals in. (Not that I’m ever going to get around to that, realistically.) So, with that, I’m going to remove 1964 MGB #2 from my current list–a victory for common sense, alas.

Shown in the photo is the trailer I part-own with my neighbor. It’s a neat design, all aluminum, so it’s pretty easy to haul. Need to do something with the sleazy wheels that are on it, though.

My old–and, now that I look at it, fairly brief–website about the restoration of my BSA has been updated, though all that has been changed is the layout. Still, it’s an improvement as the old one was difficult to navigate and used an annoying frameset.

After a few years of being stored in damp sheds due to our moving around, I’m afraid my BSA will probably never be this nice again, unless I re-restore it. This photo was taken shortly after I finished the restoration.

I guess I should get around to updating this blog more frequently at all. Goldie is still going great, a wonderful old truck. I put a new bumper on last summer, which improved the looks from the back about 100%. I’m now in the process of putting in a new brake controller and a receiver-style hitch to haul around the car trailer, which I’ll undoubtedly be using to ferry more of my precious junk hither and yon.

Truck has passed 100,000 miles now. That’s only 2,500 miles a year–mind you, that’s also 10,000 gallons of gas, so that might be part of the reason for the low mileage.