The March 2009 Octagon Queen B is the '79 B of Larry
Youngblood. Here is his story:
About six years ago, a former high school welding student of
mine, called me on the phone and asked if I still had my Midget and if I was
interested in another MG. Of course, I had to go look. Drove down to the small
town where he lived and there it was outside on the driveway, covered in a ratty
blue tarp. Pulled it back and what I saw was rough. Interior basically gone, no
top, engine froze up, sill and fenders rusted but other than the top, it was all
there. He wanted $700, I offered $500. At the time I had no way of having the
car delivered to me so I offered him $20 to trailer it to the school where I
work.
Once at the school (end of year), I had my few remaining
students (all the rest were out co-oping) start tearing it down. Pulled the
engine, removed the head and discovered that the #3 piston was "welded" to the
cylinder wall. After removing the crank and other pistons and rods, we took a
2X4 and an engineers hammer to the #3 piston and finally popped it out. We then
gave the engine to the Engine Rebuild Class for renewing. Continued stripping
the car.
Finally was able to move the car to my home garage and got it
up on stands. I then removed the rusty sills, inner panel and castle rail.
Welded in all new metal and of course, new dog legs.
Front fenders were gone, so had to find new/used ones. Found
a good used fender in Arizona and the other was a perfect NOS item that I got
from Matthews Parts in Birmingham, Alabama.
Had some minor rust issues at various places on the floor and
footwells. A few patches and good to go.
In the meantime, I was busy ordering new parts, interior
components, etc. Got to know the UPS man very well!
After all the welding work was done, I started to do the body
work but after working off and on for five years, I thought it might be good to
let the Autobody Class at the vocational school work on it. Took them nearly the
entire school year to finish the car but they did get it finished and I
trailered it home for final assembly. The original color of the car was Pageant
Blue. My wife picked the new color of ’02 Ford Mustang Mineral Gray.
As I was assembling the car, I found several flaws in the
paint but I wanted a "driver" so I am not too concerned. Overall, I was very
happy with the work they did.
The engine rebuild came out nice and has been running for the
last couple of years with no problems.
In 2007, I took the car to its first two car shows and a lot
of folks really liked the color and various little details that I have made such
as the Fiero seats, wood cup holder, Bimimi top/wind blocker combination.
I also own a ’75 MG Midget that I purchased new
when I was about 22 years old. The MGB was built to use as a "fair weather"
daily driver as it has a bit more room for my old bones and fat belly. In the
summer, it gets driven most every day and even in the winter on mild days.