MGB – Birth of a B - MGBs Made In Australia

Mike McCarthywitnesses the...BI[ ]DIt doesn't reolly motter if you're tolking ofcors or whofever - the birds qnd the Bsore quite similqr. They come first in smqllpockoges ond soon blossom into full-scoleworking models, reody for q sporty future!G has long been Australia's rnost popularrvr sporting marque and neverloday. Last more so than_year, for example, well over 1200Bs were sold- her.e. The nexi best total was 290-odd for the Honda 600 and 800 roadsters andcoupes combined.So successful is the MGB that it recently wrotea nelv chapter on the sportster scene by bdcominethe first such car ever tb achieve sufrci-ent volumEto warrant local production by its parent manufacturer.Pressed Metal_ gorp_oration was f ormerlyres-ponsible for assembling-MGs (the B, and th'eA.before it, not to forget the Sprite sirice 1g60j.At Pre_ssed l4e!ql, as wilh the Triirmphs assembledFV al$ in Melbourne, sportster:s were mixedin with a variety of 'other -vehicles, sedans andeommercials. During _tlrgpast few years, however,the demand for the MGB has gro:wn tb such anextent that it eventually became feasible for BMCto handle its assembly. To minimise the mixineof sportsters and othei vehicles, BMC buitt a nerFplant especially for the Gs aird Midgets. Theyare not, of course, manufactured here. Sale-srtrnning- to tens of thousands annually are necessarybe_fore that becomes practical for any vehicle.Instead, they are importeh in CKD form- _ CompletelyKnocked Down. Apart from the CKDTtiufnpn models, and the Ilotus which comes inIdt form to be put together by the distributor,0

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Left: In th,e Hot Rundepo,rtment, th,e MGengi,ne'is operated, fora half-hour, drnlngwhich, time some 29d,i,fforent checks aremade to ensure euerAthtngis up to standard,.Unli,ke mostparts that go tnto th,eB, the engine/gearbor/ouerd,rtueunit isi,mported, in lully assembl,ed, cond,r,ti,on.Righ,t: Sportster ona spit. As chocolatebrownB sltell em,ergesfrom RotoDip rusfproofingtr)rocess, operator(on left) appliesq, f urther pt"otectiuecoatin.g to undersides,Righ,t: When shel,l, returnsfrom pa,tnt shop'it goes to tlte fi,nal, assemblglnne uh,ere it?osses througlu 14 assamblgstations. Inaddi,tion to the rnanAbtns of parts alongsidetlue hne, eanh caris accompani,ed alongthe first leg bE atri,ple-shelued, multr,-trayed arrangementthnt also containslnanA of the requi,red,components.Below: Neari,ng cornpleti,on,the B at thisstage is oi,rtu,ally agoxng concern apartfrom" seats and, bonnet,Wi,tlt, those partsfitted, the lteadli,ghtsadjusted and, frontsuspensi,on / steeringali,gned, th,e B is readyto roll, from the assemblyLi,ne f or testi,n,g.

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