Retrofitted and Supercharged

By Lorn Guidry

I am a retired airport screening officer and I still enjoy my Brooklands green 1980 MGB like the first day I bought it back in 1995.  It was not much to look at back then, with its rubber bumpers and an under-powered motor that burned oil.  The Roth Style wheels were painted black and the interior was a shabby beige cloth.  The first year of ownership,  I gave it a thorough cleaning and was thrilled to be able to drive it.  The following summer I bought a backyard rebuilt 1972 short block and refitted the engine with a new clutch, had the head rebuilt and many other components.  The engine looked great and I put her in myself.  The excitement disappeared fast when I saw more blue smoke from the tailpipe.  Turns out the short block was a bad build.  Discouraged, I drove it that way for the summer.  That winter I started over, by taking out the engine again, but this time because I had read that the 72 block was supposed to be superior, so I brought it to a pro and had it built right.  I also found some second-hand HS4 SU carbs and rebuilt them myself.  What a difference all that made.  I painted the original rims the proper color and I was a proud driver.  I enjoyed the car that way for over ten years, driving with my three other MGB buddies all over eastern Canada. 

Time went buy and I needed more excitement.  After negotiating a realistic budget on a complete renovation for the MGB with my wife Debbie, I started.  I tore into the car in November and completely stripped her down, took out the interior removed the windshield, took off the fenders and had a fabrication and welding  pro by the name of Eric Doucet rebuild the inner and outer rockers, replace the dog legs and rebuild the front fenders with the bottom section repair panels.  This was followed by a complete body job.

I decided to retrofit the 1980 MGB like a 70s car.  The interior I went with was a new ochre cloth with vinyl trim.  I bought a 1974 parts car and took from it the nicer bigger headrest, three spoke original steering wheel,  signal lights, and acquired a real 1971 chrome grill from my buddy who also had another parts car.  I removed the rubber bumpers, bought new chrome ones, lowered the car with new front springs and re-arced the rear ones, rebuilt the front end, added a new gas tank, new fuel pump, new 45d4 distributor and plug wires with a Protonoics electronic ignition, new windshield, new 15 inch Minitor minnie light wheels,  roll bar cover,  rebuilt both the starter and alternator, new water pump, and a refreshed and new water temperature sensor.  A Moss SuperCharger kit came next, along with a Peco exhaust, boost gauge and finally with an air/gas ratio sensor and gauge.  

 It was an extra big step to add the Supercharge kit, Peco exhaust, new distributor and the electronic ignition, after all that I had already put into the car.   The major refit actually was done over a few years.  My wife Debbie loves the MG but I did spend way more money on the refit and the upgrades than I paid for the car.  After the major professional rebuild of the engine, we put on about 35,000 km.  It worked pretty well but I wanted more power AR AR!  Back then I contemplated on a V8 conversion and sold the idea to Deb telling her it would be a safer car on the road because we would be able to pass another car without the need of a 5km open road ahead.

          Deb said, “price it out and we will see”.  Anyway, after many hours of research and coming to the conclusion that the conversion would be exorbitant and that it may devalue the car, the idea was dropped.  I also had been reading about the Supercharger kit at the time and came to the conclusion the cost would be much more palatable.  As you know the cost was still a chunk but, wow, what an upgrade!  I remember, after installing it myself there were a few glitches getting the tuning dialed in.  Installing an air/gas sensor, along with monitoring the color for the spark plugs finally got the mixture right.  Also, I installed a boost gauge, confirming the engine was getting 5 to 6 lbs of boost.  It was incredible, in the past, the little car never got respect on the road but I’m sure now, there are a few amazed drivers out there when they see that MG move out of sight. My pride of ownership has soared tenfold and it is a blast every time Deb and I are out for a stroll.  All winter long I dream of summer, the trips to come and the special engine supercharged wind of our green MGB.

About 90% Moss parts came from Canadian Distributors with a few bought directly from Moss when the dollar was at par. Yes, there is still more, but you get the picture.  The next summer was incredible and the smile has not come off, even after twenty-two year of cruising.  I hope to drive my retrofitted MGB for as long as I can drive.