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MGB 1980 MGB with OD popping out of 2nd gear.

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Hornet_Handler

Freshman Member
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Hi all,

I’m looking at a very clean MGB, the best of a dozen vehicles I’ve seen. It didn’t witness this during a test drive, but the owner says it occasionally pops out of second gear.

He tells me he installed a new rubber shifter boot under the leather boot and a new nylon gear shifter bushing, he says the MG may need to be driven more to wear things in, it does occasionally pop out of 2nd gear. He says it is very rare. The gear selection is very positive with no play whatsoever.

I asked why doesn’t he try driving it with the boot off to see if the gear popping goes away.

I’m new to the MG community but my understanding is 2nd gear can be weak. Is this an easy or costly fix?

The owner rebuilt the engine, news brakes (everything new except the metal brake lines), no rust, one paint chip I could find, very clean engine compartment, no leaks, great looking car. I checked all the notorious spots for rust, and had a magnet to check for bondo. I found his Facebook post where he bought the car 1 year ago, he paid $6,500 Cdn. It was not running and had not been driven since 2021. He managed to get it running by cleaning the carbs. He is now selling it for $11,500 Cdn.

My heart is saying buy it, my gut is saying walk away, there will always be another MGB.

Other issues I know of are the RPM reading cuts in and out, the electric cooling fans only turn on when the temp gauge is mid range (not sure where they should come on at).

Any feedback is appreciated.
 
I would trust your gut on this one. First off basically flipping it for double in a year seems a lot - especially if all he did was the carbs (did he rebuild it or the previous owner?) Popping out of gear is (I think likely a syncro) will almost certainly be an engine out job.
 
Lots of questions. Popping out of gear usually isn't just a rubber boot, something in the transmission is worn out. You said it had overdrive, does that work correctly (if so that is a fairly valuable item). What year is this car? The later years that had electric fans also had single carbs, so having dual carbs and electric fans means something has been transplanted from another year range. Not a show stopper (my current project has parts from at least 4 different years) but certainly detracts from the collectible aspect (and should be priced accordingly). Aftermarket electric fans can usually be set to kick on either lower or higher, again not a show-stopper but I'd look closer at what is actually installed. 11500 Canadian is about 8000 here in the US. Its not a bad price for a decently rust-free body thats drivable and has overdrive, but that transmission issue would certainly make me want to take the price of a tranmission overhaul off the purchase price. A rebuilt overdrive transmission here in the US cost me around $2000 plus providing exchange of my worn out leaking unit (which would be about 2800 in Canadian). I'm not sure what it would take to get one up there but I would certainly want the price reduced to reflect that cost. My cost was just the transmission (no labor) since I had the resources to pull it myself. If you have to pay a shop to do the remove/reinstall figure in that cost as well. Or let someone else buy this one if they are OK with the full price and look for a better deal.
 
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