MGB Tempted again. [major] 76 MGB - pretty nice

[RickB]

I've saved up enough "MG money" now that I could go buy a nice little MGB roadster. I really should keep saving and move on with the restore job on my MGC.

But...

From the current owners's Ad:

1976 MGB Convertible w/ wire wheels & lots of new parts! - $2000

The car runs & drives well, and except for being cranky in the morning it's really fun to drive!
The car never had a stereo in it when I had it, and I never got around to installing one.
I'm selling the MG because I'm moving to California, and I can only take one car... which is my wagon. Asking $2,000.

This is a great around town/weekend car, and it has a new top.

Things done in the last 6 months:

-New vinyl top (from Moss Motors)
-New carpeting
-New electronic ignition (Moss Motors)
-Rebuilt Weber DGV carburetor
-New air filter
-New windshield wipers
-Restored seats
-New driver's seat track
-New slave cylinder (not installed)


From Emails back & forth

The rust situation is that there isn't very much at all.
The floorboards are good, I reinforced a section under the driver's seat, but it wasn't even very rusty, just a little weak.

Comes with a slave cylinder because I was going to replace it as a precautionary move... I've only had the car 6 months was in the process of gradually restoring it, but I got into school in California and now I have to move.

A couple things not mentioned is that it also has new plugs and wires.

The wheel wells/rockers are free of rust. The only thing wrong with the body is that (before I owned it) it had some front-end damage that had been repaired; you can tell when you look in the engine compartment. The damage seems superficial as the car drives normally and tracks straight.

I bought the seats from someone who had them recovered and new foam installed a couple years ago.
There is a small tear in the headrest of the passenger seats, but otherwise the seats look good and are comfortable.


I just asked these questions:

Do all the dash instruments / switches & lights work?
Anything interesting in the electrical system?
(It's Lucas so it has to have something interesting going on)
How are the brakes? Any idea when they were last redone?
I see a couple holes in the passenger side interior door, what were those for?
Are there any other interior problems?
Was the front end work done well?
Is it all metal up there now?
What about the suspension? Any upgrades or replacements in 30 years?

After he responds to these I will ask:
How is the power train? Motor oil consumption? Clutch? Transmission, drive line / u-joints & rear end?
Any leaks of any kind?

Pics:
Exterior 1:

Exterior 2:

Interior:

 

[Nunyas]

interesting find. sounds like a decent price given it is a 'drivable' example. The car does not appear to be lowered at all.

I wonder about the black paint running along the lower portion of the body (below the doors). That's the normal area that rust likes to appear on our Bs. It could be my eyes playing tricks on me but the line that the black forms against the white does not appear to be perfectly straight, which sort of leads me to think it may be a rattle can addition. Which, again, begs me to ask, "why?" and want to poke around down there with a magnet and possibly a tool of some sort to see what's going on.

Other than that, I think that has the potential to be a good find /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

 

[RickB]

Thanks Nunyas, that's why I come here and post this stuff.

I didn't even notice the black at the bottom until you pointed it out!

Over on the Spridget side I posted a picture of the underbelly of my 78 Midget and someone pointed out that one of the transmission mount bolts was about to leave the car, again I hadn't noticed! Yes, I would definitely take a magnet with me if I were to go and take a look.

 

[RickB]

I just received this set of answers:

Do all the dash instruments / switches & lights work?

-The instruments all work, most switches work. The turn signals recently decided to be intermittent. Wipers work,
headlights/taillights work, heater fan works, etc. The little map light is not connected, never got to it. Needs a radio.


Anything interesting in the electrical system?
(It's Lucas so it has to have something interesting going on)

-Not actually that bad. Someone did some poor rewiring to the front turn signal where the damage was, most things appear to be decent.

How are the brakes? Any idea when they were last redone?

- Brakes are great. Like I said, I've had the car 6 months, so not sure. But they work great.

I see a couple holes in the passenger side interior door, what were those for?

-It appears that someone had made holes for speakers. I was planning on either getting new door panels, or filling one hole and placing a speaker in another.

Are there any other interior problems?

-Everything else seems to be in order, besides the usual wear & tear.
Like the ad says, it has new carpeting and top.

A couple more questions:
Was the front end work done well?

-From the outside it seems to be OK. You can see where they cut and replace metal near the front bumper under the hood.

Is it all metal up there now?

-It appears that some bondo was probably used. I was eventually going strip the car down and repaint, but again, plans changed.

What about the suspension? Any upgrades or replacements in 30 years?

-Can't be sure about the last 30 years, I went through and
tightened/greased the components I could. I was planning on replacing the king pins, as the steering was just starting to get a little stiff.

 

[RickB]

More questions answered:

Do you have a clear title, is it currently registered?
-Clear title. I just purchased new tabs/license plates (good for a year).

How is the power train?
-Seems fine. A little cranky on cold start-up: a little pumping on the gas gets the car going fine. Besides carb rebuild & ignition, I have not done anything with the engine itself besides a valve adjustment.

Motor oil consumption? Engine temp / coolant issues?
- On cold start-up it puffs a little blue smoke until it gets warm.
The engine temp is fine, the coolant is good.

Clutch?
- Does not slip, engages normally.

Transmission, what kind - does it have OD?
-Not an OD, standard 4-speed.

Drive line / u-joints & rear end?
-Have not done anything with the drive line. Rear end is quiet, besides an occasional clunk (u-joints?) on sudden acceleration.

Any leaks of any kind?
-Hey! It's British. The engine leaks some oil, but didn't they when they were new? /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

Someone had the car repainted at some point. The car looks like it used to be that yellowish brown color, now its white. It's no show car, it shows some age. I was more concerned with having the basics taken care of.... it seems that the really pretty MGs (even when mechanically bad) sell for ridiculous money, I don't get it.

 

[tony barnhill]

Forget about all the other questions - they're irrevalent...here's the 2 questions you need answered (& the only way to do it is lay your eyes on the car):

1. Why is that black stripe along the bottom? What's it covering?

Look up under the car at the rocker area (sills, floors)...take the front inner fender splash panels off & look inside the fenders with a flashlight for rust in the front edges of the rockers....get a magnet & a $100 bill.....place the $100 bill on the body where the black paint is & see if the magnet sticks thropugh the bill to the body...do it all along that black stripe....dollars to donuts there's bondo under there!

2. Was the accident damage to the front of the car confined to/in front of the steering rack or were the inner fenders behind the rack 'crinkled'?

If the damage still shows on the inner fenders & is even with or behind the steering rack/suspension beam, you'll always have front end alignment problems.

Everything else is easy to solve!

 

[Bob Claffie]

Write the check. Compared to the MGB I sold a couple years ago for $2000, this one looks great. Lets face it, there are no new MG's for two K, accept the fact it will need some work but you won't be starting with a piece of C***. To me, it looks like it's waaay underpriced. Bob

 

[RickB]

Ok, the wife convinced me I should really spend the time and money on the MGC. She's right, but it's nice that she said that I "should spend money on the MGC".
That's a very good sign.