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MGB Potential MGB purchase

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Rut

Rut

Obi Wan
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I'm on the Midget side with a '60 Bugeye Sprite in the middle of a restoration and I've been looking for a driver. I've looked at TR6s since I had one in the early '70s and I've looked at Bs since I've never had one. I like the early models, but I've not found one in the condition and price I'm needing so I'm looking at '68 to early '74s since they seem to be more plentiful. I've found one that is described as a driver with decent paint, no rust, good interior, but possibly a worn camshaft. That said I would think a rebuild would be in order vs a quick fix.
Taking a WAG, how would you value a car like this? How do you check for wear on a cam on a B without tearing down the engine? Thoughts?
Thanks, Rut
Ad:
Primrose yellow. Chrome steel bumpers. Old restoration (1994). Wire wheels. Chrome luggage rack. Original tool kit. Short and full-sized Tonneau covers. Car cover. 72,038 original miles. All original. Original matching numbers. Brand new battery. No rust. Always housed.


This car is in excellent condition, and is going to make someone very happy. The price is low because the engine has camshaft wear and probably needs a new camshaft. My mechanic says $2,500 for the repair. Otherwise engine well-maintained and in great shape. A few minor paint chips. One very small, shallow dent over right headlamp.
 

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I could see the issues of my cam while i was doing the front suspension. I took the oil pan off and could see the lobes were worn. My understanding (and smarter men then I will undoubtedly chime in) is the later models had a "softer" camshaft that was more prone to wear out.
 
On one of these engines with 72,000 on it , if the camshaft is worn out , plan on rings , rod bearings, timing chain , and a valve job at least. Its just generally worn out. It would make no sense in my opinion to put a new camshaft and lifters in an engine with this many miles on it .
 
Hey, Rut -

From the two pictures (couldn't open the smaller images) it looks nice. Primrose yellow is a great color for the B, and the split bumper '70 model is a one-year thing, so it has a particular look and appeal. A driver in good shape should probably go for around $10k.

Can't answer your cam question definitively either, but stay tuned...

Mickey
 
The add says older restoration. Maybe the engine was built and the cam was not bedded in correct or the lifters were the soft cheap ones. May not need rings and bearings etc. Hard to say until you get the little beast! I would think if the body has not been rusted and repaired $3000-$4500 would still give you room to not be upside down. Looks pretty nice in the pics. Put a eye on it before committing to the car! Happy hunting,
Bob
 
Pretty simple to put a dial indicator on the pushrods to check on the camshaft lift. My philosophy is to fix what's broke and not to go looking for trouble. Seventy is not a lot of mileage to warrant a complete rebuild. If you decide against buying it PM me and I will. Bob
 
Bob, I have to ask. With an attitude like that about our beloved little cars, whats your personal mg collection looking like?
 
Thanks guys, any more advice? I had to postpone my look see since I had a new granddaughter pop out yesterday, 2 weeks ahead of schedule. Please join me in welcoming Annie to this wonderful world! She had a little difficulty at first with the cord around her neck and will spend a few days in NICU, but a great prognosis.
Rut
 
Hey congratulations!
 
Update,


Spent an hour or so going over the car and it is an older restoration with driver quality paint in the original Pale Primrose. Looked in the trunk, under the carpet, battery boxes, engine compartment, doglegs, fenders, under the car, everywhere I could and there is rust only in the battery box, no surprise there. The car has been garaged under cover since the father of the current owner bought it and it might have been bought new by the father. The car sits unused for months at a time and recently started running rough and a local MG mechanic said the cam was worn from oil starvation.


I connected the battery and the car was very hard to start, but once it did ran rough and backfired thru the carbs. The engine would not rev up not matter what I did, just sputter and backfire.


The top and interior look great and the pillow dash has a dash mat, but no cracks, carpet is good.
If I buy this car and worst case have to rebuild the engine, what would I be looking at cost wise? I'm hoping that the fuel system needs cleaning and that will solve most of the running issues, but I have to be prepared.
The owner (lawyer) gave me first right of refusal since he has had more calls on the car. Thoughts?


Rut
 
To answer Willr, I currently have no LBC's but over the years I have had 2 MGB's and my son still has one. I've rebuilt the engines in all three of them . NO rebore, NO deck work, (almost) NO paid machine work. I honed the cylinders and lapped the valves in. Parts for each around $200/250 each and zero labor. Opps, sorry, one of them needed the crank turned - add another $100. (costs reflect 15 year old prices)
 
Nicely done sir. How did you get away with no deck work? I heard 99.9% need it. If not that would be great news.
 
Rut, if you get it, the fuel system would be where I'd start. Get rid of the old gas and go thru the carbs to clean 'em of all ethanol crud. A '70 should have a points distributor, clean and set those and time it. Then see if the engine behaves better. Bob C's dial indicator suggestion is the right way to check the cam lift, too.
 
I just had a fellow bring his 63 MGB over for a carb check over. He did a r&r on the head to replace a broken exhaust stud. Car ran like crap when he got it back together. What I found was # 2 and 3 plugs wires on the wrong plugs! It would spit back thru the carbs but not always, slow to rev and did not sound like it was running clean or smooth. You never know what you will find when someone messes with these cars. Might be worth looking at the firing order on the yellow car! Bob
 
Thanks guys! I know it can be more complicated/worse than I'm thinking, but with the car being unused for months at a time and the sudden onset of this problem lead me to believe its fuel related.
The car does not have overdrive and I would like to add one in the future, really liked it on my TRs. Is it complicated/expensive to swap out?
Rut
 
The wiring for the OD should be there (I'm pretty sure it was present on the non-OD cars). You'll have to swap to a transmission/OD pair, and will need to pull the engine to do that. OD gearboxes are around and not *that* expensive so it's not too hard to do.
 
Drew,
Thanks for the info. This is not an immediate need, but something I would like to do if I actually like the car and it becomes a keeper. Do I need to look for any particular trans/OD combo?
Rut
 
The one you want is called a "Black Label" OD -- gives OD in 3 and 4 and is correct for the early 70s cars. The "Blue Label" ones work as well, but only OD in 4.

My last MGB had that OD in it, was really nice to use and made for relaxed cruising.
 
Willr, block decking and head planning are grossly over done. Unless your building a very high compression engine today's head gaskets can compensate for a few thousandths of warping. Unless an engine was chronically driven while overheated engine and head will last forever. Key is to torque the head down several times following the correct pattern.

Rut, I resurrected my sons MGB this past summer after 12 years of dead storage. When it was put in storage there was NOTHING done to it as it was never intended to "rest" that long. we drained the gas as a precaution only. It looked OK and didn't smell "strange". Flushed all the lines backward so as not to push crap toward the carbs. New points, plugs, and wires were added for insurance. Hydraulics needed some attention as many seals stopped sealing. As of this week he still has the 12 year old oil and antifreeze in it but is planning to change the fluids soon . Don't make a bigger deal out of it than it really is. Bob
 
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