Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Modern Classic Cars Frontline Abingdon Edition

More pictures and progress update. Unfortunately none of my car but still interesting.

I took my Dad to Sydney on the 3rd of November to see the MGB workshop. We had a look at the car before mine that was just finished being painted, it is done in Aston Martin Sage Green and rather nice but I still think a variation of BRG is better. My body was supposed to be back from the strippers but was delayed due to the tow truck, it would have been nice to see it all striped of paint but really seeing the finished body of the other car was probably a lot more impressive.

We had a look at my engine and other parts set aside for my car, then I took dad for a drive down towards Wollongong in the red demo MGB with the 2.5L 215KW engine. All I can say is wow that car can move, a bit of fun listening to the engine accelerate and it is at 130kph before you can blink, then decide better slow down and not get booked. I just hope the 159KW 2.0L engine feels as good, probably not but should still be pretty quick and maybe safer for my licence I think the car must have a very light flywheel as it is rather responsive but hard to drive smoothly, it will be a good challenge for me to get used to mine one it is done. Dad said sitting in the car he felt more like 18 than 80, he said it is amazing how it feels like a 1960’s car but with nice finish, very solid with no rattles and very comfortable. I remember 7 years ago driving the same road in an Audi R8 as part of a super car drive day my wife bought me as a 50th birthday present. I think the MGB was more fun probably because it has no roof and a real gearbox instead of flappy paddles.

Dad was also very impressed with the quality of the body, as you can see in the photos the wings are welded on and made part of the car, same with any other part of the car so the finished product is completely smooth. He also showed us sections of the body underneath that he has reinforced with another layer of metal where the suspension bolts on, his idea is if a customer hits a bad pot hole he would rather see the suspension bend and need replacing that damage the body I agree that I would rather replace a suspension arm etc. than have to get the body straightened.

All up I drove 635km in the Octavia and 72km in the MGB so a pretty long day.






Last week the workshop owner phoned up rather excited. I thought something was happening to my car but no it is currently at another shop having all the seams welded. However he has a nice Green MGB at the workshop for about two weeks before going to the Gold Coast once ready for Australian Design rules. The owner was in the UK and the car was built by Frontline but moved back to Australia once COVID started bringing his car with him.

The workshop owner said it is BMW Alpina Green. He sent me some photos thinking I might like it and said a great opportunity to see that colour on a MGB, so my son and I went to see it on Saturday. The day started out nice and sunny but once we reached Liverpool at 10am it got very overcast, it didn’t rain until about 6:00pm on the way home but the sun was hidden the whole time we were at the workshop so couldn’t see the car in the sun which was annoying. In the overcast weather it looked very nice like a good quality dark British Racing Green which I liked but I would have liked to see it in the sun. I am worried it might be a bit too sparkly for a MGB in full sun, probably good on a car from the 1980’s onwards but not sure about a car from the 1960’s. However the general consensus is it looked quite nice in bad weather and people who have seen it at the workshop like it so just go for it. Just a bit annoying to drive nearly 7 hours and not see it properly due to the weather.




The other interesting news is my car was a UK import probably in the 1970's. The body number on the plate seemed much too high for Australia but seemed to match the Australian prefix. Once fully stripped of paint there is a number that is on the back parcel shelf rather than under the bonnet where Australia puts it. The number appears to have been stamped in Australia with the import permission number rather than a body number. Bad news is I will probably never be able to trace any history of my car but the good news is there was no rust anywhere apart from inside the back guard. Not that the history really matters when the car is going to be modified so much anyway.