MGB 70 MGB Dilemma. Questions, Questions! HELP!

[PAUL161]

Let me explain a little bit about the car first. Checking with the previous owner, he told me that he has known this car since 1975. Other than new upholstery and a new exhaust system there have been no changes in the car since then. Other than a dent in the hood and a big dent in the right door where his wife backed in to it with thier other car, it has never been wrecked. With this in mind, here's the questions;
1. The inside mirror is a rod mount. According everything I can read, this mirror was ended in 1967 or 1969. There is no mount for a later style mirror. I'm told that this is the one that came with the car when new. ????
2. I read that 1969 was the last year for the aluminum hood. This car has one and I'm again told that it came with the car when new.
3. The right door has no mirror as it's on the right fender. Is this right?
4. Did the 70 have large nuts or wing knock offs on the wire wheels?
All the numbers on the car are correct for the year. Build date was 2/70. Vin numbers and commission numbers are correct. Could someone give me some info. on these matters?
It also has no sun visors and no mounts for them as it has the early style upper windshield bar. The windshield appears to be original as it is milky all the way around the edge and the rubber trim is mostly rotten and the bolts look like they have never been touched. Help! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif PJ

 

[tony barnhill]

1. Your care should have an inside mirror that was attached to the windshield frame, not the rod.
2. Aluminum hoods ended sometime in '70 so it coud be original.
3. Yep, could be correct.
4. There was a time in Aerica's dark history where eared knockoffs were illegal (believe it - pedestrian safety)...so, all eared nuts were replaced with octagon ones by the dealers...however, that was well before your car...originally, it came with octagon knock-offs.

You should have sun visors - looks like at some point early in its life, your windshield frame was replaced.

 

[Mickey Richaud]

[ QUOTE ]
4. There was a time in Aerica's dark history where eared knockoffs were illegal (believe it - pedestrian safety)...so, all eared nuts were replaced with octagon ones by the dealers...

[/ QUOTE ]

Must have been after they saw the movie "Ben Hur"! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jester.gif

About the only way a pedestrian could be hurt would be if the knockoff flew off the car; then it would inflict the same amount of damage whether it was winged or octagonal. I'm so glad those who know better are watching out for us! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devilgrin.gif

Mickey

 

[R6MGS]

With wire wheel adaptors the knockoffs stick out a couple inches from the wheels wells(at least in MGA's for sure-probably same for B's) It looks cool from behind....If someone was unattentive enough to be standing that close to a moving car those knockoffs could bang up ones legs a bit....But Hey-you shouldn't be that close to a car anyway.

 

[PAUL161]

Tony, If the windshield frame is wrong for the 1970 year, then I have the right one in the barn. It's set up for sun visors and has a mirror mount top rod bracket. It's restorable with a lot of work. Do you think that the frame on the car is 67 or earlier? Also, the right door has no mirror or holes to mount one. The mirror on the right is on the fender. Is this correct? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonod.gif? PJ

 

[tony barnhill]

I'd have to see the windshield frame to tell you what year it was off.

As for the mirror, page 26 of Clausinger's has this statement under a tiny photo at the bottom of the page: "This rather unusual door mirror was factory-fitted standard equipment on North American cars from 1968 to 1971, combined with a wing mirror on the passenger side."[/]

I don't necessarily know all this stuff off the top of my head - but, I probably almost have Clausinger's memorized!

 

[PAUL161]

So thier saying that it had two mirrors on the passenger side? One on the door and one on the fender? The right door, which will get trashed, appears to never have had a mirror on it. When I pull the door off, I'll look inside for tell tails of a previous mirror. Thanks Tony. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif PJ

 

[Tom Bedenbaugh]

The rod mounted Mirror was through 69. It's highly possible that they had some winshield frams left over and used them on 70 models. I have seen aluminum hoods on as late as 71's. I have a customer who is the original owner of a 71 and it came from the factory with an aluminum hood. Through 71 the passinger side mirror was on the fender.

 

[tony barnhill]

No, the right door never had a mirror - only on the driver door & passenger fender.

& Tom has a point - BL had a proclivity for using whatever happened to be laying around in a corner somewhere when a car came down the line!

 

[mgbnew]

THis is the mirror set up on my "70"

Also the two mirrors are on the doors. All original

 

[Steve_S]

I've never seen Lucas wing mirrors mounted on the door in that way. Interesting! The dealer must have done it. I wonder if the same dealer did other cars the same way?

 

[PAUL161]

I've done a lot of research on the proper mirror setup on the 1970 MGBs. All the info that I have recieved and read indicate that the 1970 MGB roadsters came from the factory with one door style mirror on the drivers door and one fender mount mirror on the right fender. With the info that I have recieved, any deviation from this was done after the car was purchased the first time and is not original. Dealer installed accessorys, to me, doesn't make it original. Only factory installed equipment during the manufacturing process counts. Sorry! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gifPJ