1971 MGB GT - Autumn drive photos - see page 36

[Wibble]

Looks ok to me but I wouldn’t be able to stop myself stripping and refinishing the wood. I’d also change the gear knob. Great progress though👍

[vtec-e]

The cappings and centre console strips look good to me. I'm not sure about the gear knob - it looks too large and out of place in the photos. I'd personally leave the wood as is, and look to get a better condition rear offside trim piece. 

[hairnet]

The strips are ok the centre looks a bit oh i had some lftt over

The gearknob needs to fall off preferably at high speed

[Peter C]

@New POD

Thank you, all understood, however a little bit of silver to jazz up a dowdy interior is not taking things too far, I hope.

The entire cabin has a well aged appearance, thus the wood must remain unrestored.

@Marina door handles

Agreed, however I wear leather gloves in the winter, even when my car has a heated steering wheel.

@Wibble

Regarding the wood, see above. Regarding the gearstick knob, see below.

@vtec-e

Thank you for mostly positive feedback. Regarding the gearstick knob, see below.

@hairnet

The strip in the centre of the console was an afterthought but it was necessary because some of the contact adhesive that I used to stick the vinyl to the metal has failed and the gap between the console and the underside of the dashboard became uneven. I've sort of made it better, see below. Regarding the gearstick knob, see below.

I must accept that the silver gearstick knob looked awful, it didn't suit the rest of the interior. It's gone and I have re-fitted the original, which at least has great patina. 

I have cut the silver strip above the console at angles along both ends, to make it look less like an afterthought. Still far from perfect, I know.

The inspiration for these mods came from bling that forms part of the MGB's original features.

There is a silver strip that extends across the width of the glovebox lid. It serves no purpose, other than to look pretty.

Ditto, the map storage unit is neatly finished with a silver strip.

I have not put the plastic chrome away and won't be adding anymore decorative features. 

More soon.

[hairnet]

not the chrome under the grill - the wood on the armrest

[Peter C]

I can't see this arrangement ever getting boring.

[montytom]

What a lovely read this was, Love the MGBGTs and yours looks lovely in the red. Stunning

[danthecapriman]

40 minutes ago, Peter C said:

I can't see this arrangement ever getting boring.

I love it too! 
There’s something so delightful about taxing a 7.0 V8 for free😄

Hopefully that vile incompetent bint chancellor won’t fuck it up soon though.

[colino]

Just remember you have to keep on taxing it every year for that 0p, otherwise it becomes untaxed! 

[Peter C]

The Clarion radio cassette player that is fitted in the dash is only good for playing BBC Radio 5 Live when the car is stationary and the signal is strong. In all other scenarios it sounds shit. The cassette player works but sounds awful. Then again I played a Lionel Richie tape that I found in the glovebox - say no more. 

The plan is to fit an incognito head unit and some better speakers. I have decided on a place to put the head unit and no, it's not going in the glovebox. More on this in the next instalment. 

To get better sound, I needed to fit bigger and better speakers.

Plan A was to fit these.

Here:

These boxes accept 6x9 speakers and having done a bit of research, the cheapest known brand ones start at £40 but they're not going to be great. I've made use of these boxes before and the sound quality was disappointing. I think they are too small to allow 6x9 speakers to do their thing. 

So, onto Plan B.

I had an old suitcase.

And a pair of 4x6 Alpine speakers, which I removed from a previous project car.

Trouble was, the Alpine speakers didn't come with any grilles. A bit more research on Google revealed that a pair of grilles for these speakers cost upwards of £20 and they look awful. I don't think they would suit the MGB.

Luckily, I had a pair of old house speakers, which sounded shit but did have nice old fashioned grilles.

I carefully took the old speakers apart.

The eight fixings per speaker have been fitted in such a way that they cannot be removed without removing the fabric, which I didn't want to touch, knowing full well that once it comes off, it will never go back on properly.

So out came the grinder and hey presto, I had a smooth surface to fix the new speaker to.

I needed to cut the central piece of plywood to accommodate the 4x6 speaker.

I put metal plates between the fabric and the plywood (to protect the fabric) and got the grinder out again.

The speaker would now fit.

A bit of gaffer tape tidied up the underside of the grilles.

Originally I wanted to have the speakers mounted in the bottom of the suitcase, so they wouldn't be as visible and would be playing towards the front of the car. Unfortunately, the suitcase wasn't big enough, so I cut a couple of holes in the lid.

First impressions were good, however as the lid was saggy, there were large gaps between the grilles and the top of the lid.

So I made up an MDF panel, which adds a bit of strength to the lid.

That worked out ok.

And looks more interesting than a pair of modern speaker boxes.

If I find a slightly bigger suitcase, preferably in black, I would buy some decent 6x9 speakers and upgrade the installation.

More soon.

 

[Sunny Jim]

Great idea with the suitcase. Why not embrace the theme fully and get a set of matching luggage which can house bass subs, mid range and high tweeters in suitably sized matching cases?

[Peter C]

27 minutes ago, Sunny Jim said:

Why not 

££££

[stuboy]

bloody good idea with the suitcase

[Peter C]

ICE install part 2.

Firstly, a step back to the rear speaker installation. When I fitted the house speaker grilles over the 4x6 speakers, I was convinced that I was doing the right thing. Now I'm not so sure. The grilles are too big.

I went through my stash of old ICE stuff and found a pair of old Pioneer 4x6 speaker grilles.

Which fit the Alpine speakers perfectly.

I removed the big grilles from the suitcase.

Unfortunately, the speaker grilles do not cover up the holes that I made previously.

I now have two options.

Either, I can tape up these holes (I kept the bits of panel that I cut out) and fit the speakers and grilles to the underside of the suitcase, like this.

I'm not fussed about the suitcase being installed upside down, it's not as if I have much that I would want to store in it. 

Or I can find a replacement suitcase. I've checked the measurements, the biggest that would fit measures 600mm x 350mm.

To be continued.

The old Clarion speakers fitted within the front door panels were knackered.

I have a pair of almost new 4 inch JVC speakers that would be more up to the job.

These were fitted in the front doors of the Sierra, before I upgraded them with these JBLs.

The JVC speakers fit a treat in the original holes.

Unfortunately, the JVC speakers came without grilles. 

I couldn't re-use the Clarion speaker grilles as they don't fit over the JVC frames and screw tabs.

For the same reason I couldn't make use of these old Pioneer grilles.

And ditto these Vibe grilles, which I was happy to spray black, had they fitted.

Fortunately, these Kenwood grilles fitted just fine.

The speakers and grilles took two minutes to fit.

Job done.

This is the original Clarion radio cassette player. It looks very happy in the centre of the dashboard and it is staying there. It will play via the central front speaker and two speakers that are fitted in the rear side panels.

And this is the mech-less Bluetooth Kenwood head unit that I propose to fit somewhere where it won't look offensive.

Putting it in the glovebox won't work for two reasons. It won't fit without cutting the back of the glovebox and I don't want to open the glovebox each time I want to change a setting.

I could fit it vertically up against the A post but that would look really shit.

I could fit it alongside the central console, on the driver's side.

Or on the passenger side.

Or have it completely out of sight, under the driver's seat.

Decisions decisions.

More soon.

[danthecapriman]

I’ve always wondered about fitting a more modern head unit into a classic inside the original radio space, but further back slightly inside the dashboard. Then get an old period looking radio, take off the entire front face of it and make that into a cover plate to hide the newer head unit. Maybe use a small piano hinge or something to attach it to the dash so it can hinge open for access to the head unit underneath. Best of both worlds then! Classic appearance but modern sound system.

[Peter C]

@danthecapriman

I hear what you’re saying but that sounds like a complicated to assemble solution. Also, I want to keep the old radio for when I park up and get cosy with a cuppa.

[High Jetter]

I wondered what you were going to get cosy with for a moment! How about below the glovebox, tucked back a bit to allow for the hinge? Discreetly visible and in reach to change settings from driving seat. (Stationary, obs!)

[Peter C]

@High Jetter

The bulkhead gets in the way for the unit to be fitted far back enough to make it less visible and in that position it would be too far away to reach comfortably.

[MorrisItalSLX]

You could mount the new head unit in the suitcase, accessible from between the front seats.

[Peter C]

ICE install part 3. 

I have a week off now, 9 days including the two weekends. On this occasion we are not going away and I propose to spend as much of my time off in the garage as possible, tinkering with the MGB, the Sierra and the W123.

The MGB was in first. Unfortunately, this means that the Sierra must stay outside, under the carport, for a few days.

First, I taped up the oversized holes in the suitcase.

Holes, what holes?

Then I fitted the 4x6 speakers and the old Pioneer grilles.

Next, I had to make a mount for the head unit.

I'm becoming quite the craftsman.

Perfect.

With all wires fed through and tucked in under the passenger floor mat, the job was done.

I even like the metal finish of the mount.

The speaker box suitcase will do for now but will be upgraded in the future.

The head unit is within arm's reach but does not interfere with the ambience of the patinated dashboard. Exactly what I wanted.

Excuse the filthy trousers, I've been kneeling on the workshop floor for half the afternoon.

The system sounds ok. At first, I switched the crossovers on, which cut low frequencies to all four speakers but after a bit of fiddling, I found that all four speakers were happy to accept the low tones, providing that I don't crank up the volume too high. The plan is to source a bigger suitcase / make an enclosure and fit a pair of decent 6x9s. I have a spare sub and amp but that would be too much and would look ridiculous in the back of the MGB.

More soon.

[Peter C]

!!! WARNING !!!

Some viewers may find the content below upsetting.

Only scroll down if you are not of a nervous disposition. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ICE Install part 4. Final part, probably.

I wasn't happy with the ICE install. The speakers in a suitcase idea would have worked fine if the suitcase was bigger and I fitted a pair of meaty 6x9s. I love my music and most of it only sounds good if played on a decent sound system. 

The original install featured a pair of 4 inch Clarion speakers, which were fitted in the rear quarter panels. 

I removed these speakers, enlarged the holes in the panels and fitted the Alpine 4x6 with the old Pioneer grilles, which complement the condition of the MGB's interior. Perfect.

And I fitted a 12" active subwoofer. 

To enable access to the battery, I installed a pair of hinges, which enable the sub assembly to tilt forward. The hinges are re-purposed from the MGBs back seat. Nice touch.

And here is the sub in all its glory.

In service mode.

And in fun mode.

It fitted behind the seats with a few millimetres to spare. 

I have set up the crossovers on the head unit to play mid and treble through the four speakers and left the sub to take care of the bass.

Ok, it's only a 12" Vibe, nothing fancy but as it's positioned a few inches behind my left ear, it sounds superb, deep and punchy. The four speakers are much happier, now they don't have to play low frequencies anymore. 

Total cost of the install is £0. I had all the hardware and cables in my workshop, leftovers from previous projects. The sub's amp is connected directly to the battery, which is fairly new and the alternator is also brand new, so the charging system should cope ok with the extra load. The old Clarion radio cassette player now plays only through the central dashboard speaker, as was the norm in earlier MGBs. 

Having a fuck off subwoofer in the back of an MGB will not be to everybody's liking, noted but I don't mind how it looks and love the way it sounds.

There is also a happy ending for the old suitcase. I taped up the second set of holes and reinstated it on the workshop wall, where it does a great job of storing gloves.

More soon.

 

[danthecapriman]

Not my thing, admittedly, but it’s your car and what’s important to you that counts. Well done on the install👍

[EyesWeldedShut]

6 minutes ago, Peter C said:

Only scroll down if you are not of a nervous disposition. 

Top job!
I think it is 100%, absolutely only your own call on what you do to your own car.  Looks better than the suitcase too - rather your ears than mine though 🙉

Every day is also a schoolday on AS: You mean the sub-woofy thing should be on the inside? Bugger.

[Somerset Suffolk]

17 hours ago, Peter C said:

And here is the sub in all its glory.

In service mode.

we all love a happy ending .......

[camryv6]

Something like this would finish it off in my opinion 

[Joey spud]

A tartan blanket drapped over the sub would be my finishing touch but I am a shy and retiring type of chap.

[beko1987]

Can't beat a banging sound install! You need to blast properly dirty hard house with a phat bass line out loudly as you pootle down the main road of some busy country village. Or obnoxiously loud classical music 🤣

[Peter C]

3 hours ago, beko1987 said:

Can't beat a banging sound install! You need to blast properly dirty hard house with a phat bass line out loudly as you pootle down the main road of some busy country village. Or obnoxiously loud classical music 🤣

Class.

Imagine the expressions on the faces of the locals, they hear a thumping bass line and expect a spotty youth in a Fiesta only to see a middle aged bald man in an MGB.

[Peter C]

Order has been restored, no more adventures in ICE.

First task of the day was to do something about this bungy, which I have been using to keep the boot panel down.

From my box of bits, I sourced a couple of bolts, washers and wing nuts and fashioned a more aesthetically pleasing solution.

Much better and more secure. 

The recently installed dashboard light stopped working yesterday. 

Evidently I'm not an expert when it comes to electrics, even whilst dealing with just two wires.

See here:

https://autoshite.com/topic/65354-why-light-not-working/#comment-3360069

Now sorted. Oddly enough, I haven't touched the original ground cable and I have no idea why it stopped working.

I lifted up the MGB to have a look at the condition of the undersealing that I applied around this time last year.

I am pleased to confirm that the Rust Oleum coatings remain firmly attached and there is no evidence of any exposed corrosion. 

When I took the MGB to have the clutch changed (and other bits), on route to the mechanic's garage I drove past an HS2 construction site, in the pouring rain and the underside of the MGB got covered with sticky mud. I managed to wash some of it off once I collected the MGB but the most stubborn residue needed painting over. 

Looking fresh and clean again.

Theoretically, the MGB is ready to be enjoyed through the winter months, however that ain't gonna happen. By not using the MGB when the roads are wet, let alone covered with salt, the condition of the underside hasn't deteriorated and I want to keep it that way. Boring, I know. 

More soon.

 

[MrBig]

On 25/10/2025 at 17:29, Peter C said:

 

I'm afraid to say...

 

I LOVE THIS!!

I like old cars, but I also like modern sound systems. However good old ICE stuff looks, it sounds shite and I also love my music. Besides if you are colourblind like me, the cone on the sub is almost the same colour as the wood trim!

I'm going full bastard with my 69 beetle, which will have a touchscreen apple carplay unit in the dash in full view. Just underneath my 5" tacho with massive shift light. Come at me purists! 😁