Cost of a rolling MG-B chassis?

[Legal Bill]

Hi all.

Some of you may have seen my thread about MG-B body kits. I am still considering the project and I was wondering what I should expect to pay for the donor car. The ideal car would be a rolling steel-wheel chassis with all suspension and brake parts in place. No engine or transmission needed or wanted, but it would have a radiator. No front fenders, hood or bumper, but hardware for same would be nice to have. The chassis would be rock solid, not needing any welding repairs. The condition of the paint would be unimportant, except to the extent that the surface had rust, which would be bad. The interior would all be in place and in good to perfect condition. Same with the top and front windsheild and doors. All electricals would be in place, with the exception of engine electricals.

I know it is unlikely that I would find a chassis in exactly this condition, but you get the idea of what I am looking for. If I had to rank the above requirements, I would say that the rock solid chassis is number 1, the complete suspension and brakes is number two, the doors winsheild and top are number 3 and the interior is number 4. The least important is that the car come without the parts I don't need, but I would not want to pay the price of a nice running car just to get the donor.

Please let me know your thoughts, and if you have such a chassis you would like to sell, feel free to PM me.

 

[glemon]

I had somebody offer me such a car (pretty similar anyway) except it had a drivetrain including a rebuilt motor for $700...of course this was nearly 30 years ago.

As you stated you will probably not find something exactly like what you want, your best bet would be a stalled restoration project where the bodywork and chassis are done. Hard to put a price on such a thing, whoever has it will have sunk a lot of money into it. I don't know, $2500-$5,000 if well and truly rust free. But that is a broad range and a wild guess.

Can't you buy a complete MGB shell or parts thereof? I am sure not cheap, that and a donor car would get you close to what you want/not cheap I am sure.

 

[CZ_Dave]

I have just what you need, with the exception of the interior, could you use a 77, with a Arizona Title?, I'll keep the motor and trans. Have earlier and even a 68 GT.

 

[Legal Bill]

Thanks Dave. I replied to your PM.

 

[Legal Bill]

I had somebody offer me such a car (pretty similar anyway) except it had a drivetrain including a rebuilt motor for $700...of course this was nearly 30 years ago.

As you stated you will probably not find something exactly like what you want, your best bet would be a stalled restoration project where the bodywork and chassis are done. Hard to put a price on such a thing, whoever has it will have sunk a lot of money into it. I don't know, $2500-$5,000 if well and truly rust free. But that is a broad range and a wild guess.

Can't you buy a complete MGB shell or parts thereof? I am sure not cheap, that and a donor car would get you close to what you want/not cheap I am sure.

Thanks for the post. Sometimes I guess I live in the past. 30 years ago I bought and sold running MG-Bs all day long for $500 to $1,000. But even then, most of them were rusted out. Living in the northeast does that to cars from the 60s and 70s.

I can't imagine that buying a new shell AND a donor car would make any economic sense. I'm trying to do a project that ends up costing less than what I could just buy already made. Cal Ace gets $5,800 for their body kit crated and shipped. The engine, tranny and electronics I want will probably cost another $5,000. Paint (probably by a body shop), fabrication, new brake and suspension parts for the chassis and additional parts needed to make the engine work in the MG chassis will probably be another $5,000 to $7,500 and that does not include my own labor. At this point, I'm getting close to the price of a nice used Porsche Boxster. These prices assume that the donor is really nice and straight and only needs to have suspension bushings and hydraulics replaced or rebuilt. If the donor needs an interior, well there goes another $1,000 if it has seats that can be recovered. If it does not have seats... Anyway, if the donor costs $1,000 then this might make sense. $2500 to $5000 makes less sense and the cost of a new tub on top of the cost of a $700 rust bucket makes no sense at all. That would push the project cost to a point where I can buy a nice used Boxster S and not get my hands dirty. And if I want a replica, I'm pretty sure I can get a fairly new Beck Spyder for that price.

Anyway, I need to test all my cost assumptions and this thread will be helpful regarding the cost of the donor car. I have friends in the business who can get me a price on the engine, tranny and electronics. MG parts prices can come right out of the Moss book. Cal Ace is now a known price (a bit high if you ask me). Once I have it all then I can use educated guesses on body shop and fabrication work that I'll have to farm out and then I'll make me decision on if I do this or not.

Thanks again for the post

 

[swift6]

Your right, for that sort of money you could be looking at a Boxtser and possibly even an S if more is needed. But you would not have a unique vehicle, which if your looking at custom body kits for an MGB, the uniqueness seems like it would be a high priority for you. A Beck Spyder would be much closer to being unique. Boxsters won't supply a fix for that craving.

 

[Legal Bill]

No doubt, I want a unique car that fits with what I think a sports car should be. I love the lines of the AC cars and thought about getting a Factory Five Cobra kit, but there are just so many of them out there now. The Cal Ace kit has the Cobra lines without the wheel flares and I like the more refined look the car has in stock form. I think the stock look would stand out more in this day and age of Cobra replicas.

But If I have to go through all the effort of designing and building this thing myself, I want to keep the cost of parts and materials within reason. I don't let my ego control my wallet.

 

[vagt6]

Bill, not to overstate the obvious, but you can purchase a PERFECT MGB for about $15,000, better than new.

Then, drive it and stuff will break. Fixing the broken stuff on the perfect MG will give a similar sensation as fabricating a car from scratch! Not as exciting (or as expensive), but similar.

But, if you must build one from the ground up . . .

 

[Legal Bill]

Not to offend, but I don;t want a stock MG-B. I've owned several over the years and ended up gravatating to the Austin Healeys. I restored a 3000 MKIII to about as close to concourse as I wanted it to be. So if I want to drive something old and fix it, I've got that covered. The next project is going to become the car I want, not the car the factory built.

 

[CZ_Dave]

When designing a car, the individual should remember that the vehicle when finished will portray on the outside of the vehicle what is going on, on the inside of the individuals mind, in other words, the outside of a car reflects the inside of you.

 

[DNK]

Then I am in a lot of trouble

 

[ecurie_ecosse]

Then I am in a lot of trouble

Golly Gosh!! Don, I didn't know your mind was that warped.

Stuart.

 

[Legal Bill]

When designing a car, the individual should remember that the vehicle when finished will portray on the outside of the vehicle what is going on, on the inside of the individuals mind, in other words, the outside of a car reflects the inside of you.

But Dave, if the individual is focused on what the world will think of his psyche based on the appearance of his car, then he is already building the car based on how he wants to be perceived, rather than a true expression of his inner psyche. It is better to allow the builder to build without thought of how the world will see his creation. Then we can all laugh at him when his work is completed.

 

[CZ_Dave]

Well, yes, but I have to admit, at least it's not a Aztek.

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Then I am in a lot of trouble

Party on, Don!

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