MGB: The Goal

Looking at these pictures recently of all you guys' finished cars has gotten me motivated to finish my Midget. Hope none of you think it's blasphemy but I like the Sprite grill more and plan on installing one of those, mine didn't have any grill when i got it least of all the correct one.

So surfing pictures of square body side curtain sprites i came across this one and plan to emulate it completely. I have a new interior set in red so i hope it goes well with the green.

What do you think,,, red interior with this?

BTW, if this car belongs to one of you, my greatest appreciation, gorgeous car.

Nice look. I've always liked the biscuit interior in a green car. Doesn't get as hot in the sun as red either.

Great look! Post photo updates!

Here's a picture of mine from a while ago with a Sprite grill. I like the MG grill it it better though.

[quote=jayrz]
BTW, if this car belongs to one of you, my greatest appreciation, gorgeous car.[/quote]

http://www.herbytoys.com/spridgets.htm

That link has a few more pictures of that particular car.

As far as the red interior idea...Merry Christmas.

Hey, it's all about you. But I know what your going through wanting it to look good in the end. In color theory, opposite colors compliment each other. Red is the opposite color of green. Should work, for most people.
I put that grill on my midget, but painted it flat black. Left the chrome accent as is. I like the look more than the vertical bars.

Bryan,

your "Chuffed" is a very sharp piece and as my car is presently black, it would pretty much be a twin of your ride if i were to just slam the new interior in it now.

Alas the paint is only so-so and there are a few rust spots in the front of the foot box I way finished correctly so it is going to go down to a bare tub.

The side curtains really look cool. And did you polish the cockpit surround aluminum pieces or recover them in vinyl? vynal? How the HeXX do you spell vienall?

IMHO: keep it original. Far too many of the early sidescreen cars have been butchered already. You will be surprised how "classy" a black/red upholstery Midget with all chrome trim will look....
Option # 2: if you absolutely want the Sprite grill, make a Sprite out of it. That means omitting all chrome side trim, bonnet spear, boot badges etc. It will be more pleasing to the eye to delete the bumpers too....
Just my 2 Euro cents....;)

I also prefer the simplicity of the Sprite grille.

However, I'd try and swap your red interior for black (common) or biscuit (rare). As James wrote, red + green = Merry Christmas!

Otherwise, I'd paint the car black (early 60's look) or charcoal grey (modern look) , to nicely complement the red interior.

I don't know, green with red could be too much contrast. I know "technically" green and read "compliment" but in reality they can be garish and loud. On a car, maybe not, hard to know til you try. Photoshop time? The red on green hurts the tan on green doesn't.

[quote=jayrz]
Bryan,

your "Chuffed" is a very sharp piece and as my car is presently black, it would pretty much be a twin of your ride if i were to just slam the new interior in it now.

Alas the paint is only so-so and there are a few rust spots in the front of the foot box I way finished correctly so it is going to go down to a bare tub.

The side curtains really look cool. And did you polish the cockpit surround aluminum pieces or recover them in vinyl? vynal? How the HeXX do you spell vienall?[/quote]

Jay,

My car is a GAN 2 and came with the padded surrounds (see pic). A bit faded, but they are the original ones. Sprites, and early GAN1 Midgets came with the unfinished ones. Not sure when they started padding the Midgets (Niek??).
The car is yours, and you should do what makes you happy, although I am in the keep it original camp too. I don't know, but would hazard a guess that there are probably only a couple hundred original side curtain Spridgets left.

In the thirties there were some MG's (and probably other sportscars too) with dark green bodies and red upholstery but we are talking either very dark green (almost black) or a very dark red (wine red ?) here.
If your upholstery is as bright as shown on Bryan's car, you will end up with a combination that hurts the eyes (as Jeff and others pointed out). IMHO of course...

PS: Padding on the cockpit surround came with the introduction of GAN2/HAN7 cars (disc brakes and 1100 engine in normal language). Together with the lower dash crashrail and extra upholstery round the door pockets.
Time to get my anorak now.......:D

Hmmm,

good opinions guys. Bought the red interior because my car is black, but,,,, originally it was Old English White.

Think Old English White would look good/ better with this red interior?

OEW and Red, like black and red are traditional perfect matches.

OEW and red......................taaasty
and I have commented before on Bryan's car,,,,,,,,,,,,he should be CHUFFED, 'cos it's gorgeous.
Black was not a common color for these cars, and the red interior sets it off just right.
Oh, and if you do the Sprite grille I agree with our Dutch friend, Nick, make a Sprite out of it and do away with all the MG chrome strips.................but look at Bryan's MG again:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

[quote=Midget63]
IMHO: keep it original. Far too many of the early sidescreen cars have been butchered already. You will be surprised how "classy" a black/red upholstery Midget with all chrome trim will look....
Option # 2: if you absolutely want the Sprite grill, make a Sprite out of it. That means omitting all chrome side trim, bonnet spear, boot badges etc. It will be more pleasing to the eye to delete the bumpers too....
Just my 2 Euro cents....;)[/quote]

I *love* the pie plate hubcaps on the "holy" wheels. It's so period, so 1960s. I have a set of the plain steel wheels (unholy wheels?) and constantly debate putting them with pieplates on my RWA car...

Dove Gray with red is awesome too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv6q_LYNblA

My brother used to work at a Mercedes garage and they were working on (i think) a late 50's or early 60's Mercedes SL. It had the original White exterior and the red interior. It was a little car like ours and I remember taking a test drive with the mechanic and thinking how classic and nice that color scheme looked. I am not a big fan of red interiors unless it is paired with white... I had a 420SEL with wine colored interior that took some getting used to, but the exterior was white so it helped. lol Just rambling now.

Okay guys, made the decision,,,,,,

Old English White

Woof, glad that decision is over,,,,, until I change my mind again.

Sorry, but... Ugh!

My mom had a white over red car and I always felt like I was riding around in a whale. Old rag in the ventilation system made it smell like that too!

My PERSONAL preference is for the tan interior, however my ZA came from the factory green over green with green piping and I am going to restore it as such.

The "B" was blue over black with blue piping and, although classy, it got HOT.

BRG with red looks great, think Lotus. Sprite grille on a Midget is no more blasphemous than a Midget badge on a Sprite.