MGB Impressions of the '74 MGB [longish]

[100DashSix]

In summary! This morning I took a trip to visit a mid-year '74 MGB, inspecting it with the help of some advice I've received the last two days on here.

The original paint still has a nice finish, and there are only one or two dime to quarter sized spots where the paint is slightly blemished from a bubble or roughness. The rockers, sills, and insides of the fenders are all solid, and the underbody looks good. It hadn't been run in a month, but the clean and shiny engine started right up with a tug on the choke, and was soon idling smoothly. The exhaust note was nice, and the muffler sounded good. I fit in the car height-wise (with an inch or two to spare, even with the top up) but the steering wheel is a little too big to be comfortable--it pressed against my legs when I switched from the brake pedal to the gas. 'tony barnhill,' yesterday mentioned he uses a 1" smaller wheel in his MG...that'd almost certainly solve the discomfort, fortunately!

The steering was very tight and responsive, and the brake and clutch pedals felt strong. It wasn't warmed up, however, so for most of the trip the car didn't have good response when I pressed down on the pedal...the pull from 1st very suddenly dropped away at about 3500 RPMs, and 4th didn't do too much. When I would accelerate it felt as if the twin SUs would suddenly gasp and flutter, almost as if the mixture was too lean. It started to get better towards the end, though, as the temperature needle was approaching the middle of the gauge.

I'd like to know if this is the result of driving it after its been sitting at 30 degrees and below, though. Does this sound likely? The oil, as far as the owner knew, didn’t have the viscosity recommended for very cold weather.

However, impression-wise, it sounded rich, smelt British, and drove very solidly. And it was fun!

 

[Bugeye58]

Sounds suspiciously like maybe the oil level in the carb dashpots may be low, causing a transient lean condition when you get into the throttle. Certainly nothing major.
So, when do you pick it up? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Jeff

 

[jaybird]

Yea, when exactly are you bringing her home?
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[kennypinkerton]

Dang, I walked up to mine, pulled the big hunk of 1970's house carpet laying over it off, saw the nearly missing interior, then layed on the ground and poked at all the sills with a screwdriver (yeah I probably looked funny to the guy selling it who knew nothing about it), then I got up and made him an offer. ($700)

The towtruck picked it up the next day and dropped it at my house. Whatcha waitin on - the next guy to make him an offer?

In my case, the guy I gave the money to, said 4 more guys came by later and wanted it for what he was asking ($1000) - Glad I bought it from an honest guy that already had my money - LOL.

 

[DrEntropy]

This all sounds good. You've got LBC experience and so: "if it smells right, BUY IT!"

The cold would influence it and the damper oil "deficit" would be a good answer to the "flatness" issue... mebbe go back and check dashpots, get it to normal operating temp for one more run? If it settles down give him money. You didn't mention tailpipe smoke so we'll assume there was none. Sounds like a "keeper" from here /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Steve]

Oh yes, sounds like this is a nice one! Good find.

 

[100DashSix]

Woo, the one thing I'm waiting on, though, is the following question! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

What's it like driving on highways without overdrive? I didn't know what to look for to engage the overdrive; in fact, I’m completely in the dark about how it should work in 74 MGBs, and how common it is. And (perhaps most importantly) what's it like driving at highway speeds for multiple hours on end (frequently) without it?

What sort of cost would it be to install an overdrive, provided one could be found?

 

[kennypinkerton]

I've been on the interstate twice with mine for a total of 20 miles - right after I got it running and drove to Tony's.

1) my car had a front end shimmy above 55 mph - I pushed it and vibrated the whole 10 miles (but both ways) to about 60-65mph.
2) the MGB is very small compared to EVERTHINGELSE on the freeway - makes you feel very invisible to the other drivers. Looking UP to see the center hub of bigrig wheels is a little humbling too.
3) my car doesn't have OD, but if the shimmy hadn't been there, I would have felt very confidant to do 70+ thats required to keep up and pass people - The engine will run forever at 4500 rpm - the engine noise, and wind buffetting might be a little annoying though on a long journey or a regular basis.

I did the rest of the 300+ mile round trip at 45 mph on back roads and enjoyed every minute.

That said, I think OD would be very useful if you frequently long distances on the interstates.