An MGB Engine Rebuild with a Heart

A project that embodies both the tangible experience of automotive reconstruction and the humanitarian spirit behind car enthusiasm—that’s what Dale Spooner and Dick Moritz have set out to accomplish.

Dale Spooner, owner of Motion Machine Inc. and a seasoned automotive machinist with experience in a range of engines (British and domestic, alike), and Dick Moritz, a vintage MGB racer with a background in engine building technology and automotive technical journalism, have teamed up with Moss Motors and the online forum, The MGExperience (www.MGExp.com), to bring to the MG and British sports car community a thorough learning experience in MG engine building that ultimately will be for an even better cause.

Spooner reached out to Moritz after he came up with an idea for an interactive MGB engine rebuild. Spooner envisioned a detailed photo essay marking the various steps that go into the machining of an MGB engine. This photo essay would be augmented with narrative, which, in Spooner’s words, would educate the forum members “on the in’s and out’s of how engines are machined in the dark, dingy and mysterious back rooms of your local machine shop and to clarify common misconceptions about the various processes.”

Moritz, inclined toward engine rebuilding, agreed to assemble the engine after the machine work was completed, and likewise offered to document the build for the forum’s followers.

The question then arose of what to do with the engine once it was built. Since this project from the start was founded on the communal experience of learning, the idea of auctioning the engine off on the MG Experience Forum seemed natural. Spooner and Moritz took another step and decided that the proceeds of that auction would go toward the Make-A-Wish Foundation®, by way of their chapter serving Philadelphia, Northern Delaware, and the Susquehanna Valley.

Spooner and Moritz posted the idea on the MGExperience forum and received a great response. So far, fellow MGExperience contributor, Glenn Towery, has supplied a complete core engine and Moss Motors has offered to supply the needed engine parts for the rest of the rebuild.

So, with the support of the webmaster and founder of The MG Experience, Skye Nott, as well as the rest of the MG community, Dale Spooner and Dick Moritz have begun their project. Once it is completed, Nott will post the entire series to the MGE Library, where it will be readily accessible as a reference.

We will be following this build here on Moss Motoring as well as on our Facebook and Twitter and you can follow the MGExperience forum post here: http://www.mgexp.com/phorum/read.php?1,2832884

Both Moritz and Spooner welcome questions throughout the process. According to Moritz, the forum discussion “is offered as a service to those looking to preserve and perpetuate these treasured cars for current and future generations of owners.”

Here at Moss Motors we applaud that spirit and look forward to seeing this project grow.

By Carly Bonilla-Flores

Photo courtesy of Make-A-Wish Foundation®