> CALEB’S APPRENTICESHIP
The car: 1973 MGB roadster The owner: Russ Johnston, Toronto The story: Over the past six years I have restored a 1973 MGB roadster. Surprisingly, this was done with the help of my very young son. Here’s how it came about.
I purchased my first MGB when I was 15. With my limited knowledge, it took me a year to get it to run. Then, unfortunately, the $5,000 insurance premium made it prohibitively expensive to drive. I was lucky enough that my parents gave me two weeks’ worth of insurance as a Christmas gift.
Fast-forward 17 years. I purchased a very rough 1973 MBG Roadster that required mountains of work. An uncle loaned me the tools and my very patient wife let me read the Haynes teardown manual and parts catalogues every night before bed.
When I was working on the car, I would look over and see my son Caleb tooling away under his wagon or jeep. This, of course, meant putting his little jeep up on the hoist to get to the “broken parts.” This effort earned him the apprentice title, making him my righthand man for all major tasks on the MGB, including pulling the engine and transmission.
It was a very proud moment when my Caleb and I hoisted the engine out of the car. It was my first time doing something like this and I was thrilled that my 3-year-old was there pumping the “cherry-picker” (engine hoist). Caleb now has a great understanding of what tools can do and how they can make your life a lot easier, if you respect them and use them properly.
After five years in my garage, I’m happy to say that we did a full restoration including engine, transmission, interior/exterior, suspension, body, paint, etc. Basically everything.
While I worked hard to keep the authentic look, I upgraded several components to make the ride more enjoyable. Suspension was modernized, I had custom leather seats made and added a supercharger. While it has more getup than it did, an old Honda Civic would still outperform this British sports car.
Now 7, Caleb frequently asks when the “old car” is coming out and whether we can take it to another local car show. Show us your candy: Do you have a beautiful original, restored or customized car? Send us your words, and some pictures, which are especially welcome if you or yours are in them. Email wheels@thestar.ca and be sure to use “Eye Candy” in the subject line.