MG MGB and MGB GT Tech Talk
I'm am new to the MGB world, looking at four MG's and will buy one shortly. The cars are :
1975 - 90,000 miles
1976 - 118,000 miles
1979 - 100,000 miles
1980 - 65,000 miles.
All in good shape; Florida cars with little/no rust; run strong; tops good to new. With vintage MGB's does the above difference in mileage really matter? All cars are in the $2200 to $2800 price range. Thanks
I would guess probably not. It might be the case that the car with 65k miles still has the original motor oil, while the one with 118k had its oil changed religiously every 3,000 miles, as well as all the other little regular maintenance items. In that case, I would take the one with 118k. This is perhaps an exaguration (spelling?), but I think you get the point.
The best way to get a good idea of the internal condition of the engine is to do a compression test. All four cylinders should give 130-150 psi and all should be within 10-15 percent of each other. If not, the rings (and probably bearings, etc.) are going bad.
You say you are in Florida, so rust is less of an issue than for us snowbirds. Still, I would look for the soundest body. Pay particular attention to the sills and rocker panels. These run under the doors and unlike most cars, these are structural members. If the sills are damaged or rusty, this can be very expensive to repair.
Engines, transmissions, suspension are easy to work on and parts are readily available. Body work is an art form and an expensive one at that.
A really good paint job will cost almost as much as an engine rebuild, so a car with a good body and paint but a tired engine may be a better bargain than one with a perfect engine but a poor body and/or paint.
Paul's right. There hasn't been a new B in twenty years, it all comes down to which is the best car.
Paul gives excellent advice. Last I looked, Florida had a lot of coastline, so look very carefully for repaired rust, use the magnet test for bondo.
As these cars only have 5 digit odometers, you're trusting the seller when they tell you the car has 65k instead of 165k.
Hey, we're not that salty here in FLA. Yeah, if you live one block from the ocean on a barrier island then our cars rust from the top down. But back on the mainland there ain't no salt spray on our windows. Besides it rains, really rains, really really rains here. Salt doesn't stand much of a chance. Back in my home state of Michigan we used to try to come to FLA to find a good used car. In Mich they rust from the bottom up and inside out. God, I count my blessings everyday that I don't have to live in Michigan anymore.
Pete
Here in Kissimmee FL, I found my 74 with new rockers and recent paint, the rest was god too. It needed a clutch and the vacuum lines were wrong. Also 2 wires were corroded enough to give Lucas fits trying to find the problem. I bought it from a guy that had a pregnant wife in mid August and their house a/c had just gone out! She said sell it and get the a/c going! I got lucky at the right time. Sometimes that happens; sometimes you find a guy that thinks his car is worth the $$$$$ that he invested but it's not. Never let them think that you want the car or they will hold out for every penny.
Hey, never been to Florida but would love to. If I have disparaged your state wrongly, I apologize, but when I look at a topo map, we have greater elevation differences between the downtown area and the airport than you have in the whole state, coast to center!
Aren't you the state that has Mt. Trashmore?
You got it! Actually we have suffered some new seismic activity lately...a couple more Mt. Trashmores have formed. We have several of these splendid geological specimens along the "Gold Coast" now. Anything to promote tourism. You see, the Southern part of the state felt left out. All the themeparks ended up in B. Gleason's neck of the swamp-Kississimee/St. Cloud. So we put our heads together (sort of a think tank, more like the drunk tank) and came up with---"Let's build some Mt.Trashmores!" And let's do it better than Disney ever could. You can see how bored we are down here in the swamp.( nit, nit....nit S-U-W-A-M-M-P). The most boring drive there is (next to maybe central Indiana) is the Florida Turnpike. God, it makes you comatose.
No, I didn't think you were disparging FL; but go ahead, I don't mind. Where are you located, anyway? One of my favorite States is Tennessee.
Pete
I'm on the dry side of Oregon, in Pendleton. Wheat fields mostly, but up against the Blue Mtns.
Central Indiana? Now that is my origin! I love the area just south on Indianapolis; Nashville where the glazier stopped and left hills, vallies and natural lakes. Yep, I now work for the mouse (Eisner) and it is Mt. Trashmoore to be sure!
Opps! Sorry about central Indiana. It's just that when driving from Florida to Michigan (I know, why make the trip anyway) central Indiana always seems to go on forever. Maybe it's because of when that part of the trip occurs, just before the end. I didn't know that there were Mt. Trashmores up there in EisnerWorld. Maybe a different kind. Our's down here start out a piles of trash, yes, a good old fashioned dump literally. Then it gets higher, and higher, and the smell spreads further and further, and the birds start circling above. To appease the public some politician decided to cover the whole thing with sod and pass it off as a natural formation. One thing I have always said about Florida is that it would be the perfect State if it had a mountain range down the middle of it. Think about that. We would be better than California. Mountains and the sea shore with water that is really warm enough to swim in. The Mountains would also give us high ground to flee to when the Hurricanes threaten. Our Governor in all his wisdom tells everyone along the coast to evacuate inland during a Hurricane. Well inland down here means swampland and don't forget Lake Okeechobee, it's above sea level and land level being held in by dikes. If that Lake ever let loose again as it did in 1927, God help us all.( and the Florida Turnpike would still charge tolls during that evacutation!) Run for your life, but first stop and wait in line for your toll ticket! The last Hurricane I evacuated for was David in 1979. It took over 2 hours to get past Stuart, FL which is normally a 35 minute drive, just because the Turnpike was charging tolls. The first vacancy I found was just North of Orlando where US27 intersects the Turnpike. Well I at least had avoided the storm... But wait, David is now heading upstate to Orlando. Had to sit there for two more days, while West Palm was in the clear!!! Hell, now I just stay home. Soooooooooo, Chris is from Oregon. What can we say about that?........nuts, never been there, just have seen pictures and darnit, it's beautiful.
I've never been to Oregon, but the pictures are beautiful. Want to trade? We have lots of humidity here, that should be a bonus selling point!
