MGB, thinking of buying, advice needed?

[Witnes$]

Well I was looking to buy a spitfire as a starter classic car but ive been offerd a blue MGB, amarican import, re-shelled and converted to RHD in the early 90s, 3 wiper edition, was running untill 4-5 years ago, comes with soft and hard tops, chrome bumpers, set of steelies and a set wire wheels, V5 present, folder full of history.

Ive not seen the car and dont know if its been converted to unleaded or has overdrive. Ive beed told interior and exterior are both ok but the chassis is good.

Agreed to view the car on Wednesday with my dad the seller wasnts £1000.00, whats peoples initial thoughts? If the car is as the seller describes I would glady pay that for it but not knowing too much about MGBs im at a loss.

My initial plan was to get the car running and through an MOT with a look to running it this summer and make good over the next 2-3 years as my Dad has space to dry store it. Very exited!!

PS: I may drop this on a few forums in the next day or two so apologies if your bored to hell reading it.

[ZS]

Sounds like a good deal, one I would be tempted with (although no cash for that at the moment!)

However. at that price I would expect the inner wings to be completely fecked, you won't know till you take the outers off, also check around the windscreen for signs of rot as thats another place they go...

MG B's are fantastic cars, but rot like anything :D

Also add yourself to the "Classic & Sports Car Modders" Facebook page, tons and tons of knowledgeable folk on there about the MG B's

and Martin's home page http://www.kewengineering.co.uk/upgrades4mgs/index.htm has tons of tips and tricks about them too :)

[peterzs]

I've had 3 or 4 MGB GT's, easy to work on because of the very agriculture engineering.

Rust is the biggest bug bear, look at the sills, and castle rails (just inside of the sills), did both sides on one of mine, have to cut front and rear wings to do it, plus a stiffener in the doors so the shell doesnt go banana shape. The wing finishers on top of the wings by the windscreen rust and are pigs to sort. check rear spring hangers, front of the rear spring area is a ****** to weld if its rusty.

As its been reshelled would have thought door skins etc will be OK.

Overdrive is good option on 3 and 4 gears.

Not very powerful engine, less you go for a fast road upgrade, if you have to have the head looked at for unleaded. OSELLI do heads £465 std ones £2125 for a fast road engine. Plenty of suppliers that can supply nuts and bolts to body panels.

Safety side is also fairly basic, seat belts and thats about it.

Just a different mind set when you are driving a MGB, dont get into races as you will get pushed along by Fiestas, Novas etc.

Love my TF160 wouldnt go back to a B. But good luck if you take one on, must have a look underneath and at least get the engine running and see whats it like.

[MG mad]

Wires and steel wheels have different hubs, so not a lot of point having both sets BUT wheels are worth a bit second hand so grab them anyway.

Mechanically very simple and can be tweaked to give pretty good performance if you so desire.

Check the splash plates directly behind the front wheels are in place, they stop crap getting between the front guard and the footwell - big rust trap. Check the sills for rust, can be a problem but pretty much everything is still available, and a lot of repair panels as well, which are generally pretty cheap. Check the top of the wings are ok, esp around the beading as that's a ****** to replace properly.

[Witnes$]

Nice one for the pointers guys, giving me and my dad plenty to think about. Certainly won't be having any traffic light gps in an mgb, it's a civilised machine for a civilised man :whistle:. I'll hopefully know more Wednesday and will get some pics up for more opinions.

[daytona365]

Oh dont forget to die hair grey, get a nice cardigan, driving gloves lol.

[petet16]

As it's been reshelled, it would most likely be a Heritage shell, which is good news, however it is still a 20 year old shell, so rust, rust, and rust, mechanically pretty much everything is available, and plenty of uprated suspension bits from Frontline Developments in Abingdon.

[Witnes$]

Lol. Flat cap and a pipe to complete the look.

[Witnes$]

Nice one Pete. My major concern is the 'r' word, I've got my fingers crossed its not full of it.

[petet16]

Yeah, rust would be my major concern, but if someone spent some time seam sealing and rust proofing the new shell it could be in better than expected condition.

[petet16]

Try and find when it was reshelled as well, Heritage shells were dipped from 1993 so are much more rot resistant than anything built at Abingdon.

[Witnes$]

Well pretty disappointing result from the 1st one to be honest. The chassis looked solid and the wire wheels with the additional hubs was nice but that was about it on the physical side.

Some very dodgy filling had been done on most panels in the past and I could fit my hand in the holes near the front of the rear arch's. Makes you think if its that bad on top whats underneath! Floor pan and boot pans were fairly solid, some evidence that its been a home for mice at one point. Interior was shot and dials corroding too. It was a nut and bolt job and a full engine rebuild as hasn't been run for 5 years and the rad had huge holes in it so who knows the corrosion inside.

It my have been of interest to a professional restorer (Seller asking 1k) as the history, v5 papers, Californian import 3 wipers, tax free and spares included were quite extensive. For me though way too much work so the search continues........ :book:

[peterzs]

Some good ones out there, and for not much money.

But must get underneath to check the sills and spring hanger areas.

Good luck with the search.

[Witnes$]

Some good ones out there, and for not much money.

But must get underneath to check the sills and spring hanger areas.

Good luck with the search.

I got underneath with my torch cills looked ok, surface rust and spring hangers were solid to be honest, gave em a few firm pulls and pushes.

Cheers Pete, if you see one for sale please give me a haeds up.

[peterzs]

MGCC April have a 1972 MGB GT K reg tax exempt Brooklands green, tidy car £2595 ono tel 01308 427021

Always better to pay a bit more and not buy a basket case, they can eat time and money.

Gumtree had some cheaper ones, think its a matter of checking one or two as it doesnt always follow that the cheap ones are rust buckets, matter of luck, whats out there.

For a fun top off car the MGF/TF's are cheap.

[Witnes$]

Cheers Pete! We've had a silver Sunstorm TF before, fun little car but never really grew on me, loved the soft top appeal. We're after something soft top and classic so should hold its value better, granted I'll spend more money and time on it but will be a labour of love. Midgets, sprites are bit too small that's why were swaying to the MGB and maybe a mk4 spitfire, entry level classics so to speak.

Had a search on gumtree but didn't throw up anything around my area (Sheffield), then again I didn't try that hard as the search function is pretty dump.

[peterzs]

Go for a good. rust free one, mechanically they are easy and cheap to sort.

Might be worth seeing if there are any MGB meets, someone might be selling a good one.

[ZS]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MG-B-GT-1978-WHITE-OVERDRIVE-BARN-FIND-SPARES-REPAIR-RESTORATION-/200914172391?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item2ec76af9e7

Thats looks quite nice from the pictures... I wonder what the inner sills are like?

[petet16]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MG-B-GT-1978-WHITE-OVERDRIVE-BARN-FIND-SPARES-REPAIR-RESTORATION-/200914172391?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item2ec76af9e7

Thats looks quite nice from the pictures... I wonder what the inner sills are like?

It doesn't look bad in the pics, I guess the condition underneath will be down to how long it was used before being stored, and the conditions in the barn.

[petet16]

I should have read the write up before commenting, off the road since 2009, and I would agree with the seller that it has been previously restored.

[scotttait]

This is local to me. Nice motor, pass it every day .

MG B GT Classic Car
www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/mg-b-gt-classic-car/1014704626