Article No.11: 1972 MGB Roadster

Welcome to another of our ‘Articles’ – a blog post illustrating the ins and outs here at Carn Bosavern Garage, based in St.Just, Cornwall. Ranging from details on a full restoration, to the intricacies of an engine rebuild, we take a look at both current and previous restorations on vehicles such as MGA’s, MGB’s, plus Triumph TR2’s, TR3’s and TR4’s. We will also give an update on our current stock of classic cars for sale and used cars for sale.

In this article we take a feature look at an MGB Roadster we restored for a customer in Yorkshire.

From the off, we worked with the customer and developed a detailed spec. Over the course of the restoration we were in frequent contact, so that not every decision had to be made straight away. To work with the engine mods in mind, they wanted suspension and brakes that would compliment the updated engine, so upgrades included Spax suspension all round, parabolic leaf springs, poly bushes all round, front drilled and slotted discs and upgraded EBC brake pads in the original calipers.

The customer wanted the car to have more power but still retain its low down torque, and was not interested in top end performance as they felt it was not what the car was built for and the driving experience would not be as pleasurable. The requested mods in the engine bay included: Unleaded conversion with gas flowed cylinder head, hi-torque camshaft and vernier timing gear, CSI electronic ignition, SU6 carbs instead of the original SU4 with upgraded K&N filters, high performance stainless steel exhaust system including manifold, aluminium radiator and electric fan.

To compliment the overall look, the customer went with chrome wire wheels, front clear lens indicators, red deluxe wool carpets, seat and door cards were black leather with matching red piping, Mota Lita MK9 dished steering wheel (no rivets) with central aluminium centre and MG logo, a hidden Bluetooth music system working through the central dual cone speaker and a black mohair roof.

The end product was an MGB Roadster built to exactly how the customer imagined. The customer has since used the car regularly around his local area as well as the Yorkshire Dales, including the odd classic car show where it went on to win first in class at the Northern MGOC show. The best part is, it drives just as good as it looks!