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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Identifying a Heritage Shell

I bought my Sprite at an auction and it was described as having a new shell rebuild in the 1990s. It certainly has a new shell since there are no "repair welds" and it still has the original spot welds around the wheel arches. I have a large file of invoices for about £5000 for work cariied out in 2013 but there is no mention of the body shell anywhere. Is there a number on Heritage Shells which I can use to date mine.

Cheers

Jan T
J Targosz

Hi
My midget has a Heritage bodyshell that was fitted by a PO in the early 90's. It has a serial no stamped on the nearside front facing inner wing. The number starts with 'BMH' followed by a 6 digit number. (See attached but with partially blurred number). It was easier to take the headlight out to see the number, but if you have a Frogeye, I guess it will be easier for you!

In 2014 I contacted BMH with photos of the s/n and car, and had a letter back from their MD, who said that their records were 'somewhat sketchy' prior to 1992, so he could not provide an exact date or who the body was supplied to. However he could confirm the validity of the shell and that it was made prior to 1992

HTH
Jim



J Smith

As with Jim's mine is an early Heritage shell with the number in the same place.
It's a long time since I've seen it but I think there was also a number on the inner wings behind the seats (driver's side IIRC) but cannot be 100% sure.
It's a 94 shell and bought from M&G International in Birkenhead for £2185. Slightly cheaper than now but it is 27 years old.
Jeremy MkIII

Iirc our heritage shell came with the 1500 clearance bulge on the footwell/tunnel and prop flange access hole underneath.
I dont know if this was due to a universal retrofit or NTTPN shell.
Paul Walbran

NTTPN ?
David Billington

Sorry! Not True To Part No
Paul Walbran

Jan, is there a plate screwed inside the hinge area of the left hand A-post? If it's ABL nnnnn then a PO has swapped the original body number onto the new shell, but it may be CZJ395 which is the part number for a Heritage shell.
David Smith

This thread was discussed between 11/09/2021 and 12/09/2021

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS is active now.