MGA 1959 MGA Twin Cam on eBay...??

[Silverghost]

What am I not seeing?

This is the second car like this I've seen in less than a week that, to me, seems ridiculous.... <shakes head in wonder>

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1959-MGA-...=item1c14802024

For similar money, you can have one of these:

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1959-Aust...=item1e5d719873

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Babied-Or...=item335fa09d4a

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1964-Triu...=item4151c0d5fc

 

[JPSmit]

more money than brains?

 

[bob67bgt]

There may be a big problem with that Twin Cam. It looks like the engine core has a 1800 3 main MGB block. The Twin Cam crankshaft is different and I do not think its just going to bolt into a MGB block. This car would be worth a fair amount finished but if the engine is missing critical bits then beware. I wonder what the reserve is? Bob

 

[billspohn]

If this sells for around what it is at now it would still be a decent value.

Restored, they are worth a bundle, and rightfully so. I'd want to see exactly what was missing, though.

Why did you think it was an MGB block - better eyes than me? It does look like an 1800 on the side (probably 1600) but the blanking plate for a mechanical fuel pump is correct and there doesn't seem to be mountings high on the block for the MGB rear engine plate, although it is hard to see.

 

[bob67bgt]

Looks like 1800 on the block. Definatly need to know for sure on that one before doing the deal! Bob

 

[PAUL161]

I thought the largest twin cam that came out of the UK for the US market was a 1588 or so called 1600 engine. Is this engine a home built version with the 1800 block? PJ

 

[aeronca65t]

Sure looks like 1800 to me too.

Twin Cams *are* worth a ton, but for me, I'd take a nice Bugeye or more finished, ordinary MGA over this car. Better value in my opinion.

 

[Marvin Gruber]

Had a guy offer me a twin cam engine years ago (1978) for $100 in Mobile, AL. Didn't have a way to get it home, boy, wish I could do that over again.

I do believe the one pictured is MGB block with TC dressings.

Marv

 

[billspohn]

The numbers do indeed seem to be '1800' rather than the correct 1600. That can be a problem, although not an insurmountable one (I built a 5 main 1950 cc Twin Cam 30 years ago).

If he has just sat the head on a block not modified to take it, and doesn't disclose it, he is being sneaky. They never came with 1800 displacement, and it takes a huge amount of modification to use a different block, plus I doubt it would ever have the same value to a collector without the right bits.

 

[billspohn]

I checked with the seller and he says it is a correct Twin Cam block, and that he also has the original with the hole where the other rod came out.....that would indicate a careful crack testing of the crankshaft!

BTW, vis a vis the original post, there is no way a Bugeye, or a TR-4 or even a big Healey can substitute for an MGA Twin Cam. Until you have driven one, you just can't appreciate how different they are from the stodgy (relatively speaking) pushrod car. I don't think there was anything to rival it for another decade in Britain - it would more closely resemble a later Alfa than anything else - jewel of a DOHC engine, impeccable 4 wheel disc brakes, inherently good handling, easily converted to excellent with minor mods, and good looking.

Nothing I can recall would zing up to 7000 RPM and want to keep going like the Twin Cam would, not even the slightly later Lotus Twin Cam, which had slightly less power and a lower red line than the MGA did (the Elan chassis was indisputably miles ahead of anything else at the time of course).

Now if they'd managed to hold back production until they'd sorted out that piston holing problem, and maybe used the same rpm limiting rotor that Lotus did, history would have been different and we would almost certainly have had an 1800 cc version in a special version of the MGB.

 

[Silverghost]

My initial comment was one of economics. Looking at the buy in price and then adding to that the expense to get the car functional, there are many other "drive it home" options available. Also allow that I am not knowledgable about TC MGAs.

 

[billspohn]

Looking at the buy in price and then adding to that the expense to get the car functional, there are many other "drive it home" options available. Also allow that I am not knowledgable about TC MGAs.

None of the ones you suggested are nearly as attractive as the Twin Cam, which is a very special model that brings double what a normal car does. Think of it as the equivalent of a 4 cam Porsche 356 at a somewhat lower financial level.

 

[Roger]

Bill,
Though of somewhat less capacity, I think the original Lotus Elite would be a fair challenger for the MGA Twin Cam, particularly in the handling area.

Having said which, I'm a great admirer of these cars, and have been since I was driven in one as a teenager in about 1958.

 

[billspohn]

Yeah, I love the original Elites.

They weren't made to last unfortunately - suspension assemblies bonded into the fibreglass monocoque - for awhile...

I used to race against them at Laguna. The slower ones lasted; the fastest ones always broke.

 

[Roger]

Bill,
Not always. The Elite's 24 hour Le Mans record is pretty good.

 

[Deleted member 8987]

Enlighten me.
I remember from back in the day, twin-cam MGA's seemed to be relegated to the weedy space behind someone's garage far earlier than other MGA's.
I did a little research to clarify my memory, and came up with this:

https://auto.howstuffworks.com/mg-sports-cars5.htm

Apparently, they pinged like all hades on 1959 gasoline and burned oil like a flahead 6 Dodge.

So, what's the mystique?
Just because only 2000 or so were ever built?

There were more pinging and oil burning Vegas made.......


Just a question.

 

[Deleted member 8987]

and this:
https://www.retro-motors.com/article/MGA_Twin_Cam_117

"The model did not enjoy a lengthy production run and production was ended after on 2,111 vehicles had been manufactured, of these 1,801 were Roadsters the remaining 301 vehicle being Coupes. Poor sales due to enhanced offerings from the cheaper Triumph TR3a and Austin Healey and the poor reliability of the engine caused MG to bring about the end of production. The MGA Twin Cam developed a reputation for being somewhat troublesome the biggest problem was with the engine frequently holing pistons. To run efficiently and without issue the engine needed perfect timing and the use of good quality fuel."

It seems the factory "fix" was to retard timing and de-tune, losing some of the higher horsepower, just to keep them going?

 

[billspohn]

Roger, the factory had much better sense than today's private owners. They ran the Elites in pretty stock form in the 50s and early 60s and they served very well indeed, particularly in small bore classes in endurance races like Le Mans. Today, many vintage racers tune the engines far beyond what the factory did in period and the record of fragility results.