Hi Mason!
Welcome to the wonderful world of
MGdom.I'll just put in my .02
worth.Rubber bumpered Bs are NOT
that bad,I have a 79 which I love
and I do most of my driving on
canyon roads and it handles fine
though I did put V8 bushings
minilite wheels and modern rubber on
it as for catching on fire keep your
choke tight and your cat empty and
no problem,my cat converter ahs
passed smog 3 times with it
completley empty!and thet's in
Calif!I painted my bumpers myself
from spray cans and it looks great
I'm always getting compliments at
car shows(you can see a picture of
it at
www.mgcars.org.uk/pics/mgbbb.jpg)My
advice would be to look for a chrome
B but keep your eye out in case a
nice rubber B comes along,get a
later rubber one as they have both
front and rear anti-roll bars and do
handle better than the 75-76s As for
the stromberg carb I had mine
rebuilt 2 years ago and haven't
touched it since other than to check
the dashpot oil.There seems to be
some snobdom out there that certain
people look down their noses at
rubber Bs while I admit the chrome
ones look better you can make a
rubber one look great by simply
painting the bumpers i think they
did agood job of blending the lines
when they put the bumpers on my only
objection was that they were BLACK
and made the car look heavy in the
front painting them makes the car
take on an entirely different
character.Now remember that ANY B
you get won't be able to keep up
with the kids in rice rockets but
you will have more fun and won't see
yourself coming down the road every
ten seconds.When you go shopping
look for one that is as rust free as
possible mine's a Calif car and has
no rust,get a Moss catalog so you
can familiarize your self with the
car and if you find a good rubber B
you like you can use the snobdom to
your advantage by saying you'd
rather ahve a chrome B as they are
more desirible but you might be
talked into buying a "gasp" rubber B
if the price is right!Good luck and
if you want to know the procedure I
used to paint my bumpers (going on 4
years now and no cracking)let me
know
Pat
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