Tools

 If you're like some people who love owning a vintage or classic car you will appreciate the idea of maintenance is part of the joy. Tinkering away when you have nothing else to do or even when you do, can be immensely satisfying. Some people work on their cars more than they drive them so this caring for the car becomes more rewarding than driving. I love working on the car, but I love driving it more. I also love the idea of being able to jump it in at any time and drive it without having that nagging feeling that something might go wrong and I'll be stuck somewhere. If you want to own an MGB you can pay someone else to look after it, but that will be expensive and most people who sell their classic cars say they were too expensive, which it doesn't have to be. Hopefully this blog will encourage you to do most (or all) of this work yourself. It's not hard and it's much, much, much cheaper. You will however need some tools.

If you're just servicing and doing basic work on your car you don't need expensive tools. Basic Supercheap or whatever your local auto parts place sells will suffice. You don't need 1/2" drive sockets and in fact 3/8" will do most jobs and be easier to fit into tight places. If you're going further and doing suspension or bigger engine jobs, then get a decent set of 1/2" drive sockets to start with. You will use them down the track. The essential tools will be a decent SAE socket set. There are no metric bolts/nuts on your MGB unless it's been changed by a previous owner. You will also need a spark plug socket if your set didn't come with one. Get a decent set of posidrive and flat screwdrivers. A cheap set of pliers with long and wide jaws will also come in handy at some point. Also get yourself a set, or 2 sets of combination SAE spanners. You can get a 14-piece set (from 1/4 to 7/8) cheap, and this will cover 95% of the nuts and bolts on your car. I say 2 sets because you can't always get a socket on one end and will need 2 spanners. If you can't afford 2 sets get one to get you started. 

You will also need a good jack (don't use the original jack unless it's an emergency) and if you're working on good solid, clean ground the standard low profile trolley jack will do the job well. You can jack up the car from the original jacking points under the doors or just jack the front up under the front subframe and the back under the diff. You will also need some good jack stands. NEVER work under or beside the car with it just sitting on the jack. NEVER. If you can afford it buy 4 jack stands, if you can't start with 2. Also buy a decent grease gun and a tub of moly grease.

You will also want something to lie on while you're under the car, and you will be under the car. This can be anything from sheets of cardboard scavenged from your local appliance dealer to offcuts of carpet. I use BBQ mats from ALDI (wait for them to go on special) which are thin but comfortable and are oil proof. While we're on the subject of cloth, get a couple of large bath or beach towels to cover the front guards as you work on the engine and get rags and paper towels. lots of rags and paper towels.

All of these tools are a couple of hundred dollars and well worth the investment. You will use them all regularly in your love affair with keeping your B running.

If you're getting more serious you will need some more tools to do more serious work. At this point a set of ramps comes in handy so you don't have to keep jacking up your car and putting it on stands. A cheap battery powered impact wrench and some long SAE sockets can be very helpful if you're going to do suspension work and some small SAE spanners will be helpful with carburettor and interior work. There are some specific large nuts on MGBs (oil cooler hoses, hub nuts, crankshaft pulley etc.) but you can buy these as you need them. Get a decent quality torque wrench. You may want a cheap press for suspension bushes, but I have always used a socket and the vice. Oh yeah, you'll want a vice attached to a good strong bench. If you're going to do wheel bearings and/or diff work you may need a puller, but again, wait until you need it as they are a bigger investment. If you're getting serious you might also want to buy a small box of assorted 1/4 and 5/16 UNF zinc coated nuts, bolts and washers. Although the MGB had many more sizes these sizes in lengths from 1/2 in. to 1 1/2 in. will get you out of trouble a few times and you can buy specific sizes as you need them. These are available from nut and bolt places or online and are really handy when you break, strip or simply can't use a 50+ year old original. Also, some takeaway food containers to hold parts as you pull things apart.   

A decent multimeter is very useful but make sure you understand how to use it properly. A soldering iron and some good quality wire and connectors are good to have around. A timing light is not absolutely essential but until you get used to timing by ear, they are definitely handy to get the ignition close. Apart from this you want a well-ventilated, well-lit area although like I said, you can do most of this in your driveway if you have to. Again, all of these tools (well, except for the driveway) are relatively cheap and should only cost you another few hundred dollars. Remember, you don't need professional quality tools to maintain your car and tools are cheap nowadays compared to in the past.