Discussion
Hi there everybody,
Im looking to buy an MGB GT – Ideally for around the £2k region. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on what to look for and also what I should expect in terms of repairs and costs if I was to use it as an everyday car – I don’t expect exact figures but Im thinking of putting £500 away in a mattress for emergency repairs if they come up. It would be my first classic!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
Im looking to buy an MGB GT – Ideally for around the £2k region. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on what to look for and also what I should expect in terms of repairs and costs if I was to use it as an everyday car – I don’t expect exact figures but Im thinking of putting £500 away in a mattress for emergency repairs if they come up. It would be my first classic!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
Owned several of these whilst they were still in production ~ thus all pre 1980 but, sold my last one to a neighbour back in 1983 ~ A T-reg 1978 white GT. Got pictures of them all somewhere. Old technology and mechanically, a doddle to maintain both engine and all the other mechanical bits. Main potential costly areas are body work. My 1978 started to show progessive corrosion around the door hinges which would need attention and previous cars were prone to corrosion in the sills. My earliest car had an aluminium bonnet..... very light and corrosion free.
Old technology certainly ~ the first ones appeared 40+ years ago remember ... but, nice to drive which is the main thing. I particularly like the overdrive facility on third and fourth gears ~ effectively six forward ratios and the rifle bolt action of the gearbox ........ nice.
My buying advice is simple. Look closely at the car as you would on any used car, and then some. If you plan to keep it, it's better to buy a well maintained or well restored example and pay the extra. Tatty cheepies are lowly priced for good reason ~ they're a lot of work potentially. Also, if not already done so, visit MGBBS site and ask again ~ probably the best wealth of MGB experience there ... "In the world" .. as his TG tallness would put it //// .....;)... lorralarfs.
Old technology certainly ~ the first ones appeared 40+ years ago remember ... but, nice to drive which is the main thing. I particularly like the overdrive facility on third and fourth gears ~ effectively six forward ratios and the rifle bolt action of the gearbox ........ nice.
My buying advice is simple. Look closely at the car as you would on any used car, and then some. If you plan to keep it, it's better to buy a well maintained or well restored example and pay the extra. Tatty cheepies are lowly priced for good reason ~ they're a lot of work potentially. Also, if not already done so, visit MGBBS site and ask again ~ probably the best wealth of MGB experience there ... "In the world" .. as his TG tallness would put it //// .....;)... lorralarfs.
2k will buy you a nice rubber bumper car to use daily, the rubber bumper is by far the most usable of them all although there is little doubt they aren't as pretty as the chromes, however a good looking car in their own right.
Running costs next to nothing if you buy the right car and maintain it carefully, they make great daily drivers.
By all means drop me a line I often get them in.
Oliver
Running costs next to nothing if you buy the right car and maintain it carefully, they make great daily drivers.
By all means drop me a line I often get them in.
Oliver
You should be able to find a tidy one for that money. I used a B roadster as a daily driver for 10 years.
Things to look for - rust! The sills in particular are rife. Any tell tale bubbling between the front of the rear arch and the sill is a bad sign. The inner wings from the front of the doors into the engine bay are v awkward to repair and rot badly. Check the battery compartment behind the driver's seat too. Mechanically they're pretty sturdy due to the basic design of the engine and components. Ideally a car that's had its sills / bodyshell worked on in the last five years would have been extensively rust treated. The door skins crack where the mirror fits onto it. Check to see that the demister works on both sides of the screen.
Things that help it make a daily driver - overdrive (although virtually all late 60s /70s cars had it), electronic ignition for easy starting, K+N air filters plus freeflow head / fastroad cam / better needles, freeflow exhaust will make it breathe a lot better so it will be more economical and you'll have better overtaking capability. The brakes are ok as standard, but I ran with EDF green stuff pads up front which gave me a better pedal and therefore confidence. I also uprated the suspension front and rear (rear first) with gucci rear springs and koni shocks, so it wasn't quite as lumpy and handled fantastically on rutted surfaces. The front was given uprated lever shocks, although quite a few people put gas on the front too. A chrome bumper car is much less likely to require any suspension changes than a rubber bumper one. I hated the standard rubber bumper B set up - it rolled so far over that I thought the wing mirror would touch the ground, it would snap out on ridiculously low speeds on wet roundabouts and was completely feeless. Admittedly it was a 1975 version, which was the worst, and it had standard 165 tyres, which were dire. It certainly wasn't a patch with my continental tyred, specced up suspension roadster, which gave you complete feel, flat cornering and progressive oversteer that could be flicked back in without any thought.
Things to look for - rust! The sills in particular are rife. Any tell tale bubbling between the front of the rear arch and the sill is a bad sign. The inner wings from the front of the doors into the engine bay are v awkward to repair and rot badly. Check the battery compartment behind the driver's seat too. Mechanically they're pretty sturdy due to the basic design of the engine and components. Ideally a car that's had its sills / bodyshell worked on in the last five years would have been extensively rust treated. The door skins crack where the mirror fits onto it. Check to see that the demister works on both sides of the screen.
Things that help it make a daily driver - overdrive (although virtually all late 60s /70s cars had it), electronic ignition for easy starting, K+N air filters plus freeflow head / fastroad cam / better needles, freeflow exhaust will make it breathe a lot better so it will be more economical and you'll have better overtaking capability. The brakes are ok as standard, but I ran with EDF green stuff pads up front which gave me a better pedal and therefore confidence. I also uprated the suspension front and rear (rear first) with gucci rear springs and koni shocks, so it wasn't quite as lumpy and handled fantastically on rutted surfaces. The front was given uprated lever shocks, although quite a few people put gas on the front too. A chrome bumper car is much less likely to require any suspension changes than a rubber bumper one. I hated the standard rubber bumper B set up - it rolled so far over that I thought the wing mirror would touch the ground, it would snap out on ridiculously low speeds on wet roundabouts and was completely feeless. Admittedly it was a 1975 version, which was the worst, and it had standard 165 tyres, which were dire. It certainly wasn't a patch with my continental tyred, specced up suspension roadster, which gave you complete feel, flat cornering and progressive oversteer that could be flicked back in without any thought.
Oh yes, several folks have put the Rover M16 and T16 engines ( incl. Turbo ) into them with around 200ps available ~ Slots in very neatly despite originally designed for the front wheel drive Rovers ~ in fact more power than the factory MGB GT V8 ( 
) which came out just in time for the early 1970s fuel crises ~ How unlucky is that ... 
I recently had a clear out and threw away the fuel coupons issued back then.
When the plug was pulled on MG-Abingdon back in 1980 ~ grrrr.... another Govt bad move at that precise time ~ there were several factory mules in developement using the ARGroup O Series engine which was far superior to the B series. I would have bought an O series MGB new had it been allowed to be put into production. Despite close on a forty year old design and thus old by today's standards, I'm a great fan of the O series particularly in turbocharged form... O series were available in both transverse and in-line configurations and I believe some owners went down that route when modifying their MGBs too. I bet they are a nice drive too.
...
) which came out just in time for the early 1970s fuel crises ~ How unlucky is that ... I recently had a clear out and threw away the fuel coupons issued back then.When the plug was pulled on MG-Abingdon back in 1980 ~ grrrr.... another Govt bad move at that precise time ~ there were several factory mules in developement using the ARGroup O Series engine which was far superior to the B series. I would have bought an O series MGB new had it been allowed to be put into production. Despite close on a forty year old design and thus old by today's standards, I'm a great fan of the O series particularly in turbocharged form... O series were available in both transverse and in-line configurations and I believe some owners went down that route when modifying their MGBs too. I bet they are a nice drive too.
...
bassbassbass said:
Hi there everybody,
Im looking to buy an MGB GT – Ideally for around the £2k region. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on what to look for and also what I should expect in terms of repairs and costs if I was to use it as an everyday car – I don’t expect exact figures but Im thinking of putting £500 away in a mattress for emergency repairs if they come up. It would be my first classic!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
I use a 79 bgt as a daily driver - best place to buy one would be through mg enthusiast magazine - i get it monthly or ebay - seen some beautiful ful spec cars on there for peanuts. And i have done the resto through ebay.Im looking to buy an MGB GT – Ideally for around the £2k region. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on what to look for and also what I should expect in terms of repairs and costs if I was to use it as an everyday car – I don’t expect exact figures but Im thinking of putting £500 away in a mattress for emergency repairs if they come up. It would be my first classic!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
I would suggest a rubber bumper model - dont believe the handling argument against the chrome bumper model, you can get poly bushes for suspension if you feel its needed - I would also suggest you fit poly bushes anyway as a full fitted is only a couple of hundred.
Try and get the least rotted example you can find although every part is available through mgoc or moss and even power steering leccy window kits, honestly the list is endless.
YOU will have a club by you and that would be a great place to start - although some mg owners can be a bit, well you know boring.....
How are you with a spanner? big factor in repair bills - it is a very easy car to work on.
Most are fixed to run unleaded, it'll cost about £200 to have the heads done if not.
http://www.mgenthusiast.com/
http://www.mgcc.co.uk/
http://www.jagspares.co.uk/Abingdon/company.asp
http://www.chicagolandmgclub.com/
http://www.mgexperience.net/
http://www.mgownersclub.co.uk/index.html
bassbassbass said:
Hi there everybody,
Im looking to buy an MGB GT – Ideally for around the £2k region. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on what to look for and also what I should expect in terms of repairs and costs if I was to use it as an everyday car – I don’t expect exact figures but Im thinking of putting £500 away in a mattress for emergency repairs if they come up. It would be my first classic!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
Just had my copy of Classics monthly delivered and there is a buying guide to purchasing and mgb gt - I would suggest you get hold of a copy or pop to WH Smiths for a while.Im looking to buy an MGB GT – Ideally for around the £2k region. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on what to look for and also what I should expect in terms of repairs and costs if I was to use it as an everyday car – I don’t expect exact figures but Im thinking of putting £500 away in a mattress for emergency repairs if they come up. It would be my first classic!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
Cheers
Mike
http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/store/displa...
Gassing Station | MG | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff