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!

Took the ’63 MGB out today for a spin. Not much more to say other than a good early MGB is a great car to drive, and a great way to get into ye olde British cars if you haven’t already.

The ’63 MGB has yet another dead 6-volt battery, the third in six years. I think for drivability’s sake I’m going to put in a single twelve volt. I’ll considering going back to twin sixes when I get around to restoring the car. In the meantime, I have no desire to spend $100 for another sixer that will only last two or three years.

This is what a carport should look like. Reggie, Fireball, and Fergie. Old Yeller sits outside, knowing that come winter he will take the place of the two fair-weather machines. Or something like that, anyway. Bike is running OK, though the blasted carb is really a piece of junk. Time to try a different one, me thinks.

Just a photo of reggie taken today. Slightly overcast and temperature a bit cool for summer–summer 2005 summed up right there!

I drove the MGB down to Bellevue today to take a gander at the All British Field Meet. I think this year is the 16th (!) which I’m astonished at as I helped put together the first one in 1989. I saw a number of neat cars and got a halfway decent sunburn. However, this show is the least interesting, somehow, of the “big three” here in the northwest, especially as it’s on tarmac and it can get quite hot out…not to mention it’s awfully darn crowded anywhere in the greater Seattle area these days, which makes getting there not all that much fun.

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I took Reg up to Oak Harbor today to view a used–very used, it’s almost 60 years old–Ford 8N tractor for use around Pony Hollow. The drive was nice, if a bit chilly…isn’t this almost July? It felt like it was early April.

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I picked up Reggie the 1963 MGB today. I haven’t driven the car in a year, but now we’re in “MG country” (and with the sale of a couple of cars) I have a place for it. Aside from flat batteries and stuck points in the fuel pump, the car started right up. It really is a great old car–definitely a pleasure driving it home. It’s funny how familiarity does breed contempt; when we use something frequently, we can often only see the flaws. Take a breather and the good qualities overwhelm all of those nit-picky details. Before putting the MG in storage for a year, all I could see were flaws. How long will the new honeymoon last?

Reggie is my 1963 MGB. I will never sell this car–I always come back to MGBs and this one is great, despite the fact that I don’t like white cars with black interiors!

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