Nostalgia – History of the 1971 MG B Roadster
Every car has a story. The series of events from the day its first owner stared wide-eyed at their new car to the teary-eyed day
Every car has a story. The series of events from the day its first owner stared wide-eyed at their new car to the teary-eyed day
Now that the aesthetic restoration of the 1977 MGB Roadster is complete, we thought we would pull the 1970s convertible out of the workshop and
As the restoration of the 1977 MGB Roadster nears its completion, we thought we would take this opportunity to look back at just how far
As the aesthetic restoration of the 1977 MGB Roadster in the Bridge Classic Workshop at our Suffolk HQ gets closer to completion, the in-house trim
The Bridge Classic Cars trim shop have put a new rear screen into the original convertible hood for the 1977 MGB Roadster. The use of
The 1977 MGB Roadster which is currently in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop for restoration has begun the first phase of its interior installation. The
The 1977 MGB Roadster that is currently in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop at our Suffolk HQ is piece by piece being reassembled. Our technicians
With the reassembly of the 1977 MGB Roadster going on in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop, our technician Jon has been working on refitting the
Mauro, one of our restoration technicians here at Bridge Classic Cars, has been hard at work reassembling the 1977 MGB Roadster we have in for
The 1977 MGB Roadster currently in with Bridge Classic Cars has finished its time in our in-house paint shop and has now been moved into
The first layers of colour are now on the body of the 1977 MGB Roadster in the Bridge Classic Cars in-house paint shop. Our head
Every car has a story. The series of events from the day its first owner stared wide-eyed at their new car to the teary-eyed day they said goodbye, a cycle that repeats throughout the years, decades and generations. So, when we find an extensive and in-depth history file in the car it always makes for amazing reading.
In this case, it’s the story of the 1971 MG B Roadster. Its previous owner has meticulously catalogued his work with the car but also did something we find utterly beautiful.
The previous had managed to track down the car’s original owner! The car was collected from a local MG dealer in Colwyn Bay in Wales on the 1st of January 1971, a British Racing Green with black interior 2-seater sports car. The first owner kept the car for a few years before then selling it to a friend who also adored the car for several years before selling it on.
Inside of the history folder is several handwritten letters between the previous owners to fill in the gaps in the car’s history.
There’s also a wonderful leather-bound photo album that documents the car’s aesthetic restoration in 1989/1990.
Again, it all goes to add to the incredible history of the car and show that each and every one of our classics has a story beyond our own with our cars.
Now that the aesthetic restoration of the 1977 MGB Roadster is complete, we thought we would pull the 1970s convertible out of the workshop and take some photos to show the work we’ve done on the car.
Every panel, piece and seam have been worked on by the teams here at Bridge and it really goes to show it on this car. Inside and out, we think this car looks absolutely fantastic.
As the restoration of the 1977 MGB Roadster nears its completion, we thought we would take this opportunity to look back at just how far this beautiful sports car has come during its time in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.
The car arrived at our Suffolk HQ looking aesthetically tired. The paint had begun to fade and there were a few areas where the corrosion had begun to bubble through along with the interior beginning to fade and the wooden fascia being torn and loose. The first stop for the car was our paint and body team.
Chris worked on completely stripping the shell and every single body panel back to bare metal. The best way and the only way to ascertain the condition of the material underneath.
Once the panels had been entirely stripped of their old paint, Chris could not find any areas which would not need attention due to the condition of the metal underneath the paint and body filler being in a much poorer state than first anticipated.
The paint and body shop found multiple areas with corrosion and filler on the bottom sections of the car and around the front wings, both on the inner flanges and the recesses of the headlights. This, would all need to be rectified for the car to have not only the aesthetic restoration we had been asked to carry out for the customer but for it to carry the Bridge Classic Cars name.
Whilst the panels and other pieces were being worked on in the Bridge Classic Cars in-house paint shop, the shell of the Roadster was transferred into our main workshop for our restoration technicians to begin removing and replacing the affected body panels.
Our technician Scott took on the task of getting every single part of this MGB Roadster back to being purely metal. Carefully, he worked his way through the rear quarter panels to remove them from the car. Making sure to take note of any body line, bracket and opening in his cuts. Once the extensive corroded metal had been cautiously and sparingly cut out of the car, he could then begin preparing the classic sports car for its new panel work.
As with many reproduction panels, they take a certain amount of finessing and manipulating to get them fitting perfectly for the car. This is where our Bridge Classic Cars technicians truly shine. Scott, skillfully and sympathetically trimmed and moved the panels for the new rear quarter panels before refitting them onto the car on top of the freshly rust prepared area.
Scott fitted the car with its new panels on by methodically spot-welding them, as it would have been done originally, to avoid any warping which would cause excessive movement in the panel and therefore extra work by our body team.
Whilst the shell of the car was in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop, some of the panels were being worked on by the body team. Chris worked the panels to make sure everything was in the best shape as possible. This involved multiple rounds of priming, sanding and minimal filler shaping. This was repeated multiple times in order to get the best possible result.
All of this was being done to create the best, most uniform shape to bring together the new and old panels together.
Once the body shell had its new rear quarter panels fitted by our in-house restoration team in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop, it was given back to our paint team.
Chris worked on preparing the back end of the 1970s convertible. This involved preparing the metal to be ready for accepting the epoxy primer. The rear end of the car involved hours of hand sanding inside of every recess and compound shape by the in-house team here at Bridge Classic Cars before heading into our spray booth.
With the rear end of the car now in its first layers of epoxy primer by our paint body team, Chris could then begin getting all the panels on the car uniform and ready for its first colour coats to go back onto the car.
Now that the body was in perfect order, straight and true, it was time for Chris to get the MGB Roadster into our paint booth.
All of the hours of hard work getting every panel in the best shape and meticulously cleaned and prepared have led up to this very point for the 1977 MGB Roadster. Chris laid down the first layers of paint onto the car to allow the panels to set up for the next coats to go onto the bodywork.
Whilst our paint team were hard at work getting the exterior of the car into pristine order, the trimmers were in another department focusing on the interior of the MGB Roadster.
Brian carefully dismantled the entire interior of the car including the seats all the way down to their bare components. The frames and mechanisms were to be reused upon request. He took extra care when removing hardware from the corroded frames. With everything disassembled, he could begin work cleaning up the frames and refinishing them in gloss black to match the new pieces being put onto the car.
Alongside the work that Brian was doing in the Bridge Classic Cars in-house trim shop, Chris in the paint shop kept working on the various panels and pieces for the 1977 MGB Roadster.
The blue paintwork was laid onto the panels individually to make sure that it was even and deep. The panels were then taken into the preparation room, for hours of colour sanding and preparation before finally, the paint team took the panels back into the booth to be clear coated with a new UV resistant clear coat.
With the paint cured and the clearcoat hardened, the paint team completed the final sanding and polishing before handing the car over to the workshop for our restoration technicians to begin reassembly.
Our technician Mauro took over the project to begin getting the car back together. The technicians in the workshop had worked on assessing and inspecting every component that came off of the car during disassembly whether they could be refurbished or if new pieces would need to be sourced.
Many hours of polishing, sanding and refinishing had gone into being able to reuse as many pieces as possible for the car.
With the car inside of the restoration workshop, our senior technician Dave could get the floor pan of the Roadster into a better condition. One area, in particular, needed a small patch panel welded into the car.
Cutting out only what needed to be on the car to make sure the material was absolutely rock-solid on the car. After the new piece had been cleaned and prepared, a thick layer of seam sealer was used in order to stop any moisture from getting in between the new panel and the old.
With this job done, our workshop began the process of getting the new sound deadening into the MGB Roadster.
Whilst getting the car reassembled in our workshop, our technician Jon discovered an issue with the front bumpers. We had removed the bumpers from the car during the cars teardown but had not entirely disassembled it. There were some areas of corrosion on the back of the piece which were treated and neutralised but whilst trying to refit the bumper, he took the whole piece apart to work on aligning the piece to the car.
That is when we discovered the front side of the bumper supports were heavily surface corroded. The decision was taken to clean up the originals as during inspection and assessment the corrosion had not gone through or compromised the piece in our technician’s opinion. So, Jon began the work of carefully cleaning up the piece and coating it in a layer of rust proofing to protect it for many years to come.
During the cars rebuild, the technicians found both rear wheel cylinders on the drum brakes were leaking and needed to be replaced. Whilst in there, our technicians had the drums refinished in a satin black coating.
The shoes and springs could be reused. But, some of the adjusters and hardware were very close to seizing and would make it difficult to adjust the brakes in the future which is something that routinely needs to be done. So, these parts were changed during the rebuild of the brakes.
While Paul was fixing the brakes at the rear of the 1977 MGB Roadster, Jon was working on getting the newly repaired and refitted bumpers back onto the car.
This was a crucial part of the reassembly of the car, because it is the point where all the body lines and panel gaps converge. They also need to fit tight to the body but have enough room to move slightly and not risk damaging the paintwork underneath. So, for this, Jon created a set of custom mounts and brackets to adjust the front bumper to a place in which it was visually happy and space away enough from the body of the MGB.
At the same time, new wing mirrors were fitted to the car due to visible dents.
With the reassembly of the MGB Roadster complete in the workshop, it could then be turned over to the trim shop to work their skill on the interior of the Roadster.
With the floors now completely finished and solid, Brian could begin installing the sound deadening material into the car. This is laid down like sheets of carpet, and placed into areas of the car that can carry vibrations and noise into the cabin. He skillfully put the deadening material in as if it were carpet. Trimming each piece for the perfect fit to the piece next to it.
Then, it was time to fit the carpet kit for the MGB.
When the original seats were torn down and the frames completely refurbished, Brian had the task of recovering the seats for the Roadster.
Piece by piece, he fitted the covers and new padding to the original frames. Managing to work the new covers onto the seats with a perfect fit and finish.
This stage was done a while back, so the seats were carefully wrapped and put into storage awaiting the next part of the story of the 1977 MGB Roadster with Bridge Classic Cars.
The time had come for the final stage of assembly to begin on the Roadster. The car was moved back into the workshop from the trim shop to begin this process.
Brian set about fitting the wood kit into the car. Test fitting each piece to make sure the fit was perfect. No overlap or short sides, each piece on the car exactly how it should be.
With the wood kit in the car, he could then turn his attention to the seats. With their protective wrappings still on, he took the seats out of storage to have their runners fitted. This also involved preparing the hardware in the car. He cleanly and neatly made the cuts in the new carpet to get the piece to line up just right in order to match up with the hardware.
Some of the final steps in the assembly of the Roadster involved seals, sills and the installation of the original hood.
Keeping the original hood was done at the request of the customer. The team refitted the convertible top but replaced the rear screen due to splitting and cracking. With that done, Brian then worked on getting the hood fitted to the refurbished hood frame.
With the sill plates in place, our restoration workshop could begin to install the necessary door seals and fittings.
There was just one more thing to do before it was all done.
The wire wheels. An iconic and crucial part of any MGB.
We had the wheels for the car professionally sandblasted and powder coated.
The final phase of hours if not days of sanding and grinding by the technicians, the relentless tweaking and moving to get pieces aligned, The precision of our trim shop to make sure an off the shelf interior was fitting for a hand-finished car.
Now, with the wheels on and all the jobs ticked off the sheet. It was time to get the 1977 MGB Roadster fully valeted and clean before we have to say goodbye after it has been tested.
As the aesthetic restoration of the 1977 MGB Roadster in the Bridge Classic Workshop at our Suffolk HQ gets closer to completion, the in-house trim team have been finishing off the final parts and pieces for the car.
Brian, our lead trimmer, has been working on getting the original hood fitted back to the car at the customer’s request. Not only did that involve stretching and fitting the hood over the newly refurbished hood frame but also replacing the rear screen with a brand new high-quality replacement we had sourced for the project.
With the hood now stretched over the frame, Brian could begin making sure all the associated clips and brackets for securing it to the car were in the correct place and correctly fitted to the car. Installing convertible hoods is somewhat of an art form but with Brians years of experience, he can stretch and refit an original hood to make it look as good as new.
One of the final pieces on the car that needed to be completed was the decorative sill plates. These highly polished pieces were riveted to the sills, as they were originally, to finish off the amazing work that Brian and Lydia in our Bridge Classic Cars trim shop have done on the car.
The Bridge Classic Cars trim shop have put a new rear screen into the original convertible hood for the 1977 MGB Roadster.
The use of the original hood was a request from the owner. But, the rear screen was very deteriorated and split in places. So, the trim shop replaced the rear screen and stitched it into the existing material.
With this now in place, the hood can be fitted onto the car.
The 1977 MGB Roadster which is currently in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop for restoration has begun the first phase of its interior installation.
The classic 1970s has been handed over to our in-house head trimmer Brian, to begin work on the new interior of the car. The first step is to fit the new cabin sound deadening kit into the car. With Brian’s many years of experience in automotive trim work, he knows the best steps to take into making sure that all the panels fit perfectly from the very first layer being laid into the car.
Using the best quality sound deadening material, Brian began at the rear of the car. Panel by panel he worked his way from the rear of seats all the way to the very edge of the toeboards under the dash.
With these crucial pieces in place, Brian could then begin getting the beautiful black carpet pieces into the corners of the car and covering the transmission tunnel.
This is the first step in getting the brand new interior of the 1977 MGB Roadster back in by our in-house restoration team.
The 1977 MGB Roadster that is currently in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop at our Suffolk HQ is piece by piece being reassembled.
Our technicians Jon and Paul have been carefully piecing back together this wonderful 1970s convertible.
Jon has been working on repairing the bumpers which had heavy surface corrosion. For that, he stripped back all of the loose rust on the piece and applied several coats of neutralising agent to the rust to help it from corroding any further. With the bumper braces sorted, Jon had them painted back and refit the rubber surrounds which give the MGB’s of this era their distinctive look.
Then, Jon and Paul began refitting components to the front and rear of the MGB. At the rear, the bumpers, lights and fuel tank have all been carefully secured into place on the car. While Paul was sorting out the wiring inside the car (under the dash, the rear speakers etc), Jon was working on getting the front bumper into place and secured to the car.
For this, Jon has made a series of special brackets to better support the nose of the MGB. These also help to align the front bumper and have it sit perfectly on the car. Whilst the bumper was being adjusted, Jon fit the grilles and headlights into the car, to have everything in place for when he began to wire the car.
The wiring was done and neatly secured out of sight but also in a safe and easily accessible place.
It’s all moving ahead on this wondef
With the reassembly of the 1977 MGB Roadster going on in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop, our technician Jon has been working on refitting the bumpers to the car.
Whilst refitting the bumpers, Jon made a rather unpleasant discovery. We were aware of some corrosion in the back of the bumpers but that had been treated and neutralised. However, when Jon took the bumpers apart during refit to try and best align them on the car, the backside of the bracket/support was covered in rust. The extent of the rust was something we were not aware of.
With this, the team have decided to repair the bumpers. The rust itself is thick surface rust mainly so the team will strip them all back and prepare them for reassembly.
Expect to see more on the process of repairing the bumpers very soon on the Bridge Classic Cars News Page.
Mauro, one of our restoration technicians here at Bridge Classic Cars, has been hard at work reassembling the 1977 MGB Roadster we have in for restoration in preparation for the next phase of the project.
Mauro has been fitting all of the trims and windows to the car since the paintwork is now fully cured and hardened. This really makes the little sportscar come alive!
As with this being new paint, our team take their time and carefully manoeuvre the trims into place as to not cause any damage to the beautiful dark blue roadster. Some of the pieces have been refurbished but those that couldn’t be have been replaced with the highest quality pieces we have sourced.
The windows were thoroughly cleaned and all mechanisms liberally greased to ensure they work flawlessly when needed and all the trim pieces have new clips and hardware to create a good, tight fit to the body of the car.
Mauro is systematically working through each part of the car to complete each section before moving on to the next.
Also, the team fitted the windscreen to the car as a finishing touch!
Expect to see more on the beautiful 1977 MGB Roadster soon, here on the Bridge Classic Cars news page.
The 1977 MGB Roadster currently in with Bridge Classic Cars has finished its time in our in-house paint shop and has now been moved into our restoration workshop to begin reassembly.
After previously assessing the condition of the trims when the car first came into us, they were bagged and catalogued for this stage of the car’s aesthetic restoration. Some of the trims and parts weren’t able to be refurbished or reused so high-quality replacements from trusted suppliers were sourced to make sure the Roadster looks and works perfectly. That includes cleaning and refinishing the fuel tank to match the standard of the rest of the car.
Our in-house restoration technician Mauro has been working alongside our other technician Paul to get the trims and pieces back onto the MGB before it goes into our in-house trim shop for its interior. Mauro and Paul will work methodically through the car to ensure every component and fitting is secure and neatly back onto the car.
Expect to see more in the very near future on the 1977 MGB Roadster in with Bridge Classic Cars.
The first layers of colour are now on the body of the 1977 MGB Roadster in the Bridge Classic Cars in-house paint shop.
Our head painter Chris has spent hours, along with our other painter Alan, getting the MGB Roadster’s body ready for its first coats of colour. It looks absolutely fantastic and these results only come with the extensive and meticulous prep work done by our in-house restoration teams. The colour sits nice and evenly across all the panels to give a beautiful uniform look on the 1970s convertible.
Next, Chris and Alan will prepare and begin the next stage of getting this 1977 MGB Roadster looking better than new.
Bridge Classic Cars are award winning Classic Car Restoration and Maintenance specialists. Your pride and joy is in safe hands with our expert Classic Car Technicians. Take a look at our awards here.
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