MGB GT for 17-year old Son
Discussion
I thought it may be of interest, rather than going the traditional 106, Corsa, whatever with a wheezy 1.0 engine for my son, we instead bought him an MGB GT, 1971 vintage.
Pros:
- Doesn't depreciate
- A bit different
- Really slow
Cons:
- No safety aids of any kind
- You had better be a good mechanic or have access to a passionate garage owner
We are 1.5 years in now so thought I would put down the reality of running this since the start.
She was purchased for £5,000 with no working clutch. So no test drive possible. Price was £5,300 but when we went to buy the clutch was dead. Was a gamble, could have been hiding a broken gearbox and engine borkage or could have just been a bad master cylinder.
But it added £150 to the price as had to have it recovered home...
Who knows how many miles as the odometer only goes to 5 figures. I am guessing 125,000 but it is 50 years old so could easily be 225,000.
The engine number has an E on it so at some point it was exchanged.
Pros:
- Doesn't depreciate
- A bit different
- Really slow
Cons:
- No safety aids of any kind
- You had better be a good mechanic or have access to a passionate garage owner
We are 1.5 years in now so thought I would put down the reality of running this since the start.
She was purchased for £5,000 with no working clutch. So no test drive possible. Price was £5,300 but when we went to buy the clutch was dead. Was a gamble, could have been hiding a broken gearbox and engine borkage or could have just been a bad master cylinder.
But it added £150 to the price as had to have it recovered home...
Who knows how many miles as the odometer only goes to 5 figures. I am guessing 125,000 but it is 50 years old so could easily be 225,000.
The engine number has an E on it so at some point it was exchanged.
He passes his test and we put the car in his name. Him and his mum on the insurance £1,200 a year. ( I have driving all cars cover fully comp anyhow on my own policy).
The £1,200 compares not too badly with his sister who was £850 on a Mini One at the same stage.
The clutch ended up being a new master cylinder, slave cylinder and finally we discovered the culprit was the flexible rubber hose at the bottom which connects the slave to the down pipe.
Around £80 for parts and a couple of hours of swearing and removing skin from knuckles.
Top tip when bleeding the clutch on an MGB, press extremely hard and fast down, then slow up on the pedal.
And whilst Mr Gunson claims that bleeding is eze, it didn't work that way for us.
Anyhow now she was moving and driving fine. So the £300 discount ended up being approx what it cost us to recover it home and fix.
Turns out the engine is sweet as a nut.
Main issues after a couple of weeks:
- Many water leaks into cabin from under dashboard
- Many many automatic undersealing processes (oil leaks)
- Gearbox was a little clunky
- Was extremely noisy inside (many rattles)
- Stereo didn't work
- Dashboard is a little rusty, gauges nasty and corroded
But son was extremely happy.
We then decided it was time to start sprucing her up a little..
The £1,200 compares not too badly with his sister who was £850 on a Mini One at the same stage.
The clutch ended up being a new master cylinder, slave cylinder and finally we discovered the culprit was the flexible rubber hose at the bottom which connects the slave to the down pipe.
Around £80 for parts and a couple of hours of swearing and removing skin from knuckles.
Top tip when bleeding the clutch on an MGB, press extremely hard and fast down, then slow up on the pedal.
And whilst Mr Gunson claims that bleeding is eze, it didn't work that way for us.
Anyhow now she was moving and driving fine. So the £300 discount ended up being approx what it cost us to recover it home and fix.
Turns out the engine is sweet as a nut.
Main issues after a couple of weeks:
- Many water leaks into cabin from under dashboard
- Many many automatic undersealing processes (oil leaks)
- Gearbox was a little clunky
- Was extremely noisy inside (many rattles)
- Stereo didn't work
- Dashboard is a little rusty, gauges nasty and corroded
But son was extremely happy.
We then decided it was time to start sprucing her up a little..
yes indeed I forgot all three of those!
I am sifting through photos of the last nearly 2 years of working on this car.
Whilst it has been entirely free of breakdown it has required some fettling and many upgrades.
Hopefully I am able to do the journey justice on here and it may be of help to someone else considering doing the same thing.
It also helps that I have a fully equipped and large workshop as fiddling with cars is rather a hobby......
I am sifting through photos of the last nearly 2 years of working on this car.
Whilst it has been entirely free of breakdown it has required some fettling and many upgrades.
Hopefully I am able to do the journey justice on here and it may be of help to someone else considering doing the same thing.
It also helps that I have a fully equipped and large workshop as fiddling with cars is rather a hobby......
Pleased to see not all youngsters want the same thing. 
Many would have you believe that they either spurn cars for Uber and public transport, or only want 'white goods' cars on PCPs. 
A prudent way to build up NCD too, on a non=depreciating car. I'm sure you're aware that if he still likes the idea of an old car when 21, he can get classic insurance for peanuts (relatively) and use the NCD on a modern car. (Most companies have 21 as a minimum age)
Many would have you believe that they either spurn cars for Uber and public transport, or only want 'white goods' cars on PCPs. A prudent way to build up NCD too, on a non=depreciating car. I'm sure you're aware that if he still likes the idea of an old car when 21, he can get classic insurance for peanuts (relatively) and use the NCD on a modern car. (Most companies have 21 as a minimum age)
ReformedPistonhead said:
He passes his test and we put the car in his name. Him and his mum on the insurance £1,200 a year. ( I have driving all cars cover fully comp anyhow on my own policy)
As a note - every policy I have had with driving all cars fully comp (lots of different private client type brokers / policies such as Chubb / etc. - all have excluded any car owned by a family member... so worth checkingback to topic - great idea, and lovely looking car
my second car was a primrose yellow 1969 convertible - a lot of fun
Without jumping ahead too much in the saga, his insurance renewal was £600 and I just updated it today to reflect some "modifications" (brakes, suspension) which we are fitting and incurred a £100 premium increase and a bargain £50 admin charge.
He will be 19 soon and we both look forward to him turning 21 and getting onto the classic insurance.
I just keep telling him, NO CLAIMS PLEASE!
He will be 19 soon and we both look forward to him turning 21 and getting onto the classic insurance.
I just keep telling him, NO CLAIMS PLEASE!
Job No. 2.
It was rather noisy and rattly. So we decided to do the full interior in Dynamat. Cost around £120 for the pack and many hours of removing the interior and re-fitting.
Found an old roll of black carpet so fitted that too. Has made a massive difference to the interior noise. Was nice to find no holes in the floor at all. Not bad for a 50-year old motor!
[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/A45rBkgs[/url][url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/snTisbqL[/url][url]
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It was rather noisy and rattly. So we decided to do the full interior in Dynamat. Cost around £120 for the pack and many hours of removing the interior and re-fitting.
Found an old roll of black carpet so fitted that too. Has made a massive difference to the interior noise. Was nice to find no holes in the floor at all. Not bad for a 50-year old motor!
[url]|https://thumbsnap.com/A45rBkgs[/url][url]|https://thumbsnap.com/snTisbqL[/url][url]|https://thumbsnap.com/QaZwZNxn[/url][url]|https://thumbsnap.com/WjbtYvQN[/url]
Excellent car! I was looking for a BGT as my first car but couldn't find a good one locally and then found my mk1 Cortina.
with regards to the clutch they can be a pain as mine is hydraulic too and had a new but leaky plastic pipe, I recommend the silicone hydraulic fluid as it doesn't damage paint and if you struggle to bleed it the normal way I found back bleeding works and is much quicker.
To do that you must drain the clutch system,
attach the hose to the slave cylinder like you would when bleeding normally but attach a filled syringe,
Keep the syringe pointing to the ground to prevent air bubbles being put into the system and slowly apply pressure but make sure you have someone keeping an eye on the master cylinder!
I did it recently and it was done in minutes with no mess.
I'm looking forward to seeing what else you do with the B!
with regards to the clutch they can be a pain as mine is hydraulic too and had a new but leaky plastic pipe, I recommend the silicone hydraulic fluid as it doesn't damage paint and if you struggle to bleed it the normal way I found back bleeding works and is much quicker.
To do that you must drain the clutch system,
attach the hose to the slave cylinder like you would when bleeding normally but attach a filled syringe,
Keep the syringe pointing to the ground to prevent air bubbles being put into the system and slowly apply pressure but make sure you have someone keeping an eye on the master cylinder!
I did it recently and it was done in minutes with no mess.
I'm looking forward to seeing what else you do with the B!
Thanks vm will try that next time the clutch goes on the fritz...
Anyhow we are still on the "did" rather than the "doing" stage of the car...
Next up was the dashboard and switches and associated years of bodgery of wiring....
Got a replacement/exchange from the mgbhive and along with new switches and much re-wiring sorted the dashboard. Even recovered the dash top in some old black leather I had lying around, my first ever attempt and doesn't look too terrible, although Aston Martin will not be calling me to brogue any of their special editions soon...
On day of purchase (not too shabby really):
The scary bit:
A bit more Dynamat:
Loverly new crackle black finish and piss-poor leatherwork on the crash pad:
Getting back together with a nice 2nd hand Moto-Lita:
New carpets going in (that is much harder to do nicely that you imagine):
Also fitted heated elements to the seats, rather optimistically since it generates barely enough watts to put the lights on....
Brand new old looking bluetooth DAB etc radio:
New door cards, speakers in doors and 2 more big ones in the side panels behind the seats and all back together including polished ball gear knob which is outstanding to use:
Anyhow we are still on the "did" rather than the "doing" stage of the car...
Next up was the dashboard and switches and associated years of bodgery of wiring....
Got a replacement/exchange from the mgbhive and along with new switches and much re-wiring sorted the dashboard. Even recovered the dash top in some old black leather I had lying around, my first ever attempt and doesn't look too terrible, although Aston Martin will not be calling me to brogue any of their special editions soon...
On day of purchase (not too shabby really):
The scary bit:
A bit more Dynamat:
Loverly new crackle black finish and piss-poor leatherwork on the crash pad:
Getting back together with a nice 2nd hand Moto-Lita:
New carpets going in (that is much harder to do nicely that you imagine):
Also fitted heated elements to the seats, rather optimistically since it generates barely enough watts to put the lights on....
Brand new old looking bluetooth DAB etc radio:
New door cards, speakers in doors and 2 more big ones in the side panels behind the seats and all back together including polished ball gear knob which is outstanding to use:
At this point I was wandering why water kept coming into the car and discovered the joys of something genuinely called Tom's knob.
For the avoidance of doubt there should not be a hole on the left of the first photo nor that large gash above the heater inlet
I debated welding a piece in, but frankly I have just bought myself a TIG and am not very good at it, I have also just sorted the interior and didn't really want to set it all on fire so soon after completing it. So I discovered the joys of Isopon and mesh and riveted a piece of steel across the hole then tidied it all up:
For the avoidance of doubt there should not be a hole on the left of the first photo nor that large gash above the heater inlet
I debated welding a piece in, but frankly I have just bought myself a TIG and am not very good at it, I have also just sorted the interior and didn't really want to set it all on fire so soon after completing it. So I discovered the joys of Isopon and mesh and riveted a piece of steel across the hole then tidied it all up:
Now when Tom's Knob gets blocked up with crud, the fine design of the MGB's fresh air inlet means that rain and crap builds up at the bottom of the air box and rots the thing from the inside out. Hence there was much isoponning of things you couldn't see in the last photos.
At this stage we are maybe 6 months in and neither of us have any skin on our hands at all.
Tom's knob for reference:
At this stage we are maybe 6 months in and neither of us have any skin on our hands at all.
Tom's knob for reference:
akirk said:
As a note - every policy I have had with driving all cars fully comp (lots of different private client type brokers / policies such as Chubb / etc. - all have excluded any car owned by a family member... so worth checking
back to topic - great idea, and lovely looking car
my second car was a primrose yellow 1969 convertible - a lot of fun
You made me nervous, here is my wording, it is with Novo on my Tesla Model S Performance which is now 2.5 years old, it is a brilliant policy although all I have needed to claim for is a Windscreen so far:back to topic - great idea, and lovely looking car
my second car was a primrose yellow 1969 convertible - a lot of fun
Section 10 – Driving other cars
We will cover the Policyholder under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 whilst they are driving any private car not belonging to them or held under a hire purchase or lease agreement by them provided that:-
 they have the permission of the owner of the vehicle;
 they are aged 19 or over;
 the vehicle must have a valid insurance policy in force in its own right;
 the vehicle is being driven in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands;
 they are not a company or a firm;
 the vehicle is being used within the limitations of the certificate of motor insurance;
 no cover will apply for the release of a vehicle which has been seized by or on behalf of the police or any public or local authority.
So I emailed them to check and they said:
I can confirm the policy covers the same as last year which is as follows:
. Fully comprehensive cover for yourself and [insert SWMBO here].
. Guaranteed value to cover £80,000 - So, we would pay this sum to you in the unfortunate event that it was to be written-off.
. Replacement Tesla loan vehicle whilst your own vehicle is being repaired - regardless of whether you're at fault or not.
. All repairs carried out at a Tesla Approved Repairer ONLY.
. Fully comprehensive cover for yourself to drive any other vehicle (assuming that the other vehicle is insured)
. 60 day per trip EU cover, without any additional cost.
. Replacement of charge cables with zero excess.
. All Legal Expenses
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