What is it worth?

Hello I am new here and have the MGB bug. I am looking at a 80 MGB roadster, was white and is red now,clear coat coming off. Engine appears to be locked up. Wire wheels (painted). Interior bad. Any help is welcome!:S


Spoke

Hi Richard and welcome, I would offer between $400-$1000 if the body is solid. My advice save your money and buy a project/driver... I searched for a year and found my 78 B 68,000 miles for $2700 on craigslist, Just a tune up later and the car runs flawless.

Expect to spend about $2500-4000 for a professional engine rebuild (half that if done yourself), $2500 for paint, $1500 for interior.. you get the picture. If you can get a used motor, live with the paint job and find a good deal on interior you might be able to get it back on the road for $2500. I would say $200 or look for something better. I would bet that the seller wants around $1000 for it but that is just not realistic. You can find a running, decent looking RB in the $1500-2000 range if you look long enough. I know it is hard to resist the itch when you get it but you have to be smart and wait for the right deal. This car sounds more like a parts car. Good luck in your search

I have a 79 with Overdrive and AC for sale on Ebay - the reserve is 4k - it closes in 30 minutes:

Bid # 200513873986

Feel free to contact me if you are interested.

Thanks for all the good input! I already bought a parts car for $300.......the 80 model has a real solid body, but when you open up the hood and see the white paint it hurts. I don't want to wast a lot of what I don't have. I see alot of parts cars go high on ebay.

Spoke

ok
so what do you want?

The car you asked about has a siezed engine and bad paint.
It is a parts car.
If the body is rock solid and you intend to repaint $1000 tops.
For me it is a parts car, $300-500 i MIGHT be interested, but probably not.
You already have a parts car.

I got my '79 with 43,000 $1600 did a tune up live with he bad paint and have driven it for 2 years only spending $450 on it including 250 for new tires.

Richard,

I was where you are now exactly one year ago. I had searched for almost two years for a car and finally tracked one down last October. It looked great. It drove OK. it had some obvious mechanical issues but the body looked solid with no rust. So I popped and gave the guy $2,000 for it.

Got it home and finally called a mechanic friend of mine I hadn't run into in a number of years and he immediately pointed out a long list of things that had to be fixed before my car could be considered road worthy.

Long story short.... I should have called Bob FIRST. If you know anyone who is familiar with MGB's... even if you have to pay someone to go with you to look at cars DO IT. Get an objective, educated second opinion before you fall in love.

It's now 11 months later and I am just now getting close to putting my car on the road. It's a much better car than it was and a car I am very proud of but I wish now I had A) taken Bob with me to inspect this car first and B) spent a few thousand more on a ready driver.

Good luck and welcome to the asylum.

Richard,
As noted, unless your skilled with British cars or resto work or have money for a mechanic to do the work, I would find a driver.

The "seized engine" could just be a clutch-plate rusted to the fly wheel.

Since you can't drive it to ascertain the running gear's condition I would consider the purchase as a parts car. If it turns out better than that, your just a little bit ahead (but probably not).

Its ALWAYS cheaper to purchase someone else's restoration work than to do it your self (or pay to have it done).

Richard, Clay is right. If you are intending to restore - don't - buy something someone else has restored. You will pay about 1/2 the cost of the restoration and avoid the hassel. The caveat is to have a qualified mechanic go over the car thouroughly.

I paid my mechanic over $600 for his review (which included some slight repair work and a fitness certificate - but mostly a complete check of ALL the components) and I KNEW I had a great car. Paid top dollar but got twice the value and now I can just polish and drive - of course, it's an MG and still does some quirky things (but not expensive things).

Before paying that much for a review I had signed a purchase contract with the owner - subject to a satisfactory mechanical review.

Being a mechanic, I have accompanied many people on checking out possible purchases. They always tell me not to let them talk me into allowing them into buying something that they see, that captures their heart, but will end up costing them a fortune to get on the road. Many of the cars have looked good from a distance, but after my list of what the car needs is complete, the beauty wears off. Some dealers have even offered me a job, in the hopes that I will give a favorable appraisal of the car. When I bought my '67 Roadster, I looked in 3 states for 9 months before I found an example that had been serviced by the original dealer and properly cared for. It took a while and required following a lot of leads, but the end result was that I got a car that has been trouble free and still has its original leather interior. RAY

I forgot to tell you that I worked at a JRTMG dealer in the 70's so I have alot of experiance working on them and can spot problems, but if you have never owned one and lost your butt restoreing one, you won't know what each one is worth and what to offer them. The possible parts car that I brought home today needs alot body panels replaced. I would like to learn how to replace rocker panels and dog legs. Oh and a rusty clutch disc won't cause a engine to seize.....you just won't get the clutch to release so you can get it in gear.

I think I will probably wind up with a MGB junk yard out back:D


SPOKE

There are two questions being asked and answered here, even though you only typed one out:

1.) What is the car worth?
2.) Should I buy this car?

The answer to #1 is "not much". MGBs in general are not worth a lot. Rubber Bumper Bs are even cheaper, and you really ought to pay fairly little for a car that needs an engine in all likelihood. Even MGCs with bad motors don't bring much cash...

As for #2, you need to figure out (and you likely have) if you are looking for a project because you want a project or if it's because you want to save money. If you want a project, this could be just the sort of car you ought to buy: Solid body, but needs work. If you are trying to save money, then just look around, and you will see plenty of RBBs available for small money.

Tom