This just in from BaT user RFTC, who purchased this modified 1978 MGB on the website in February 2021.
I picked up the MGB in St. Augustine, FL on a Sunday between race events at Sebring International Raceway. @jacko241 was kind enough to hold it for a few weeks after the auction until I arrived in Florida. He also answered all my detailed questions and even hooked me up with some additional bits and pieces in preparation for my ultimate plans. Very helpful!
Knowing the car was recently assembled and had hardly completed many miles, and then only a handful at a time, I wanted to start out easy, so I planned a nearby overnight and clocked a few miles on a variety of roadways as a sea trial. The second day I traveled the rest of the way back down to Sebring for another work week. Over the first few days I addressed a couple of minor teething issues but nothing out of the ordinary.
Following the 12 hour race, I packed up my tools, bags, assorted road trip necessities and headed out. Destination home. In Detroit. While I had hoped to meet with friends the first night just north of Charlotte, NC, that proved a big ask for the available time and inspection-intensive refueling stops – despite steady 75-80 mph stretches – so Columbia, SC was my first port of call.
Monday saw me make it to an overnight with friends in Columbus, OH despite two longer service stops to address roadside maintenance issues. The first had me fortuitously discover a Lowes, where I spent a couple hours in the parking lot, diagnosing and benefiting from their well-stocked hardware aisle.
The second was an inexplicable temperature rise that had me stop nearly at the border of WV and OH, where the gentleman at the next pumps pointed out the one inch opening in the radiator to his wife and said to me, “what you need is a transom plug for a boat…” To which I replied, “that’s a great idea but as it turns out, I don’t have one with me.” He went on to tell me there was a marine store “just up the hill” and drove off.
I discovered the previously unused and now displaced automatic fan switch sensor and its seal resting on a motor mount and was contemplating how much safety wire would sufficiently retain it to make Columbus when my fellow sports car enthusiast returned. With a transom plug. That fit the orifice perfectly. It remains there today. A couple gallons of coolant and I’m on my way. He refused anything for the help and we never exchanged names. Awesome!
Tuesday morning was the last push to Detroit and the MGB and I finished the trip to Michigan passing under the Ambassador Bridge and taking a quick photo downtown on my way to the house.
On arrival I compared the odometer from when I picked up the car to the current number. Exactly 1,800 miles added! Not without some small issues but nothing catastrophic or unsurmountable. I now have a revised list of things to do and look forward to enjoying this four-wheeled motorcycle on the back roads. Thank you all very much for a great experience!
What an adventure! 1,800 miles is quite a trek in a new (to you) car, but we are thrilled that you undertook the challenge with such enthusiasm and determination. Glad to hear that the MG is ready to tear up the back roads with its new owner in Michigan. Also, five gold stars to Mr. Transom Plug!
Thanks for the awesome update and thanks to jacko241 for listing the car with us.
-BaT
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