During 1998 I thought about what car I would like when I left university. I came to the conclusion that I'd like a soft top sports car that would really stand out and make people's heads turn. Being only 21, reality dawned on me that however much I worked I would not own the likes of a Lotus Elise or an MGF until I was much older. However, a friend of mine had a Triumph spitfire which was in quite good condition and really was different. This got me thinking and, after browsing through some magazines, my eye cast upon a beautiful red MGB roadster. This car, with it's classic looks and chrome bumpers, was a car that not only was affordable, but also would really stand out.

I started looking around for roadsters that were just within my price range - i.e. all my savings, however these cars are few and far between, and being somewhat of a perfectionist, I wouldn't be happy with a tatty model! After weeks of searching to no avail, a friend suggested I buy a really tatty car and restore it. After all, by that time I'd bought Lindsay Porter's best seller 'Guide to MGB purchase and restoration' and was pretty clued up on what such a task involved.

Again, out I went looking for a car that would provide a good basis for a restoration project. My luck came in in June 1998 when I phoned up a dealer advertising for restoration cars and asked him if he had any he wanted to sell himself. To my good fortune he had one MGB chrome bumper sitting in his yard he hadn't done anything with for a few months as he'd lost the spirit of restoring the cars after a long time doing so (he'd been wooed by the glamour of second hand VWs!). I arranged to visit it and check it out. As the yard door swung open my eyes cast upon a rather sorry, but endearing sight. A rather delapidated orange (either 'Blaze' or a very faded 'Flame Red') chrome bumpered roadster sat amongst rusty doors and rear axles. As soon as I saw the car, I knew then that it this was the car for me. I checked it over, rather unconvincingly (I don't remember kicking the tyres though) - after all I didn't really know where to look for dodgy areas, being new to the game; although I had picked up a few tips from Lindsay Porter's book.

We agreed a price and I went back to university to finish my term. The seller arranged for the car to be towed into our garage where it stayed for a week before I returned.

When the car arrived I gave it a much closer inspection, and compiled an approximate cost of the restoration. Little did I know, this figure was to be half the final cost! I knew the longest (and hardest) job would be the welding of the bodyshell and so I had to evaluate the time spent, plus the expense on new panels and extra for preparation of the bodyshell for respraying against purchasing a new Heritage shell. Doing a basic inspection I costed for complete sill replacement, half rear wing replacement, footwell panel repairs and new rear valence. Fortunately, the front wings looked brand new without a trace of rust. I phoned around local and national car repair and MG specialists for the approximate price of a complete bodyshell respray. Obviously to spray an old car would take much more preparation time than a brand new bodyshell, due to welds and any knocks during it's life.

After collecting all this information, the bodyshell restoration route would not only be a cheaper option, but it will face me with the challenge of learning to weld! The stripping down process then continued, first removing the interior trim (which was in no state to be reused for an 'as-new' rebuild), then the exterior fittings (all chrome had suffered from exposure to the elements and was pitted, some badly rusting, other areas could be helped with a good chrome cleaner). The aluminium windscreen had also started to corrode, and was from an earlier 1969 car.

In the engine bay, a lot of metal was subject to surface rust, the heater was especially bad in the area below the horizontal firewall (some call it the 'waterline' due to water collecting in this area!). The carburettors had non-standard air filters, fortunately, the engine was a remanufactured one which had covered only 25,000 miles and had an unleaded head, which was especially important with leaded petrol being phased out by January 2000. The coil was a Lucas sports replacement which seemed to be in working order, as did most of the electrics.

With the body stripped down to a shell, panel repairs could commence....