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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Parts suppliers - my experience

Here is my experience over several decades of various suppliers:

Moss Europe
Excellent range of parts, but sometimes poor quality. For example I sent back rear springs and a radiator because they were poorly made and didn't fit. On the plus side their customer care is very good as they never argue and always replace or refund promptly. Good website with BMC part numbers and pictures. I don't use them much now - I stopped because they had a £10 minimum order value.

AH Spares
No particular problems, but I don't like their revised website. I need pictures!

Sussex Classic MG Parts
My current favourite. No quality problems, and if I order after lunch the shipment arrives next day. Nice photos on the website, reasonable shipping charges.

SC Parts Group
I never use them. I nearly did recently but they were wanting £13 shipping for a £6 item. I suppose they are used to Big Healey owners!

Somerford Mini
Very good for engine parts. Great range, very keen prices, quick delivery, good customer care.

Frogeye Spares
I use them if they have what I want at the right price, but if I have a long shopping list I often go elsewhere.

Ahead for Healeys
Decent quality for the few parts I have bought from them. Not as wide a range as some, and they still haven't got round to putting most of the pictures on the website.

Les

I have also used Mini Sport and Mini Spares for engine parts, more the latter as they seem to have what I want more often. But they are sometimes a bit more expensive than Somerford.
L B Rose

Hi Les

See my earlier post about mini spares and comments made by other professional engine builders.

Many of the supplies seem to source from the same supplier. I wanted to replace the rubber seals around the sidescreens a couple of years back. The ones supplied by AH spares did not fit well as the rubber moulding was too large in places to go into the groove in the sidescreen and yet it was too thin in other areas resulting in the rubber coming out of the groove. I ordered a set from Moss and they were identical.
A shout out for Ahead for Healeys though, I wanted to replace the headlight dip wiring loom (from the foot switch to the main loom). The original wiring was braided covered in cloth. Moss, AHS only supplied cloth covered plastic. They were sourced from Autosparks who said they were not prepared to manufacture small quantities as they were only fitted to the Frogeye. Ahead for Healey's were happy to place a order with them for 20 such looms and supplied me with one. A happy customer!
Bob Beaumont

I have had good experiences with MGBHive, Sussex MG, Ashley Hinton.

Moss are ok. Their catalogue is a great source of information. They are normally more expensive than anywhere else though. I havent had any problems with them.

As a general rule of thumb, in my experience if a supplier is prepared to sell via eBay and their feedback is 100% they are reputable and trustworthy.
Chris Madge

Is it good customer service to sell stuff you know won't fit(?) - they don't argue about returns because they know this plus IIRC regs on distance selling.

I think Toss are good in that they cover a very wide range of parts and have parts made or source better made parts to offer as an alternative to the poorer quality part allowing the average tight-fisted classic owner to buy the cheap priced (and quality) item.

Sussex I think buy from the likes of Toss or their suppliers probably better to deal with than Toss but I've had so few parts from Sussex to really tell.

AH Spares might be good now I've no idea as they messed me about years ago yet acted like it was my fault not theirs.

Mini Spares are good for prices and info but once for me were a little slow to inform when something was out of stock despite it being shown as in stock but the odd mistake never worries me, it's when they multiply or escalate.

Ashley Hinton I used to recommend but he's a law unto himself, best of British manufacturing and retailing - but from the standards of the 1970s though.

MGOC Spares are my preference over Toss, same in that they have wide range of parts and parts made for them, good return system but not every parts is top quality. However, can they win with good quality, I wonder how many sets of the Meditech fwb they still have in stock despite supposedly Spridget owners crying out for better quality yet the cheaper set continue to sell well and available from the other suppliers mentioned.

I liked Rimmer Bros as when I asked about the quality of steering rack gaiters the sales person was honest even though he didn't know me. I would suggest 1500 owners try them for the Triumph parts they need.

There's also a small Mini supplier I've used a couple of times at the NEC, forget their name, that were knowledgeable, helpful and friendly even though I wasn't asking about the beloved Mini.

I like to give some support to the smaller suppliers but also to the bigger suppliers because without we wouldn't be able to keep our cars going and without them many of the smaller supplier would exist, yes they might charge a bit more but they also cover you ordering a single bolt and screw of unusual sizes.
Nigel Atkins

midget & Sprite Club members get discounts at some suppliers.

Depending upon what you are after it is worth looking further afield. I am currently fitting up a Sierra T9 gearbox , for a Masc member resident in France, to go in a 948 Frogeye. Needing a 1098 clutch, for the conversion, I went to a Morris Minor dealer.
I saved over £100 on the equivelent from Moss. A club member chose the same route for a clutch for his 948 Frogeye as well but used a different dealer again saving a massive amount.
Several I know use Morris Minor dealers for gaskets believing theirs to be better quality.

Quality is often an issue and I have returned wishbones to Sussex MG before restoring my old ones.
I get complaints about many parts from club members.

I am aware of two engine builders - Bill Richards and A.C.Dodd who use Minispares engine parts so Depending upon what I want I use Minispares as well.



Alan Anstead

Another shout for MGBHive.
The Moss catalogue is an updated version of the one produced by M&G International (based in Birkenhead and Manchester), who of course were taken over by Moss.
Jeremy MkIII

Suppliers I have had good parts and service from include:

Leacey Classics
MGB Hive
Powertrack Brakes
MInispares
Automec
Merlin Motorsport
Oreca (French Motorsport parts supplier who sell British made harnesses)
Allscot Distributors (grp supplies)
Namrick (bolts etc)
Autosparks (wiring looms)
Vehicle Wiring Products
Somerford Mini
Ayrshire Motorpart
Arinsdale (manufactuers of Tensys down straps)
Turner Autosport (Racewear)
Bills Tools (imperial spanners and sockets)

I have yet to try Magic Midget but reckon they are worth a try.

Cheers
Mike
M Wood

Magic Midget is top spot for me, Keith is a top trader.

Mike thank you for reminding me.

Nigel Atkins

Question guys:

where can you buy proper/reliable lucas toggle switches?
there is so much muck out there, crap chinese copies... :(
A de Best

Arie,
you could try asking here, depends how original you want to be. :)

(Not even the rust is original on my Midget.)

31 results on 'toggle switch' search there

http://www.lmslichfieldltd.com/
Nigel Atkins

Nigel it's Kim n ot Keith at Magic Midget.

Arie, I have a lot of good secondhand Lucas switches if you want originality - email mgsmithy yahoo dotcodotuk
David Smith

Thanks David, I've no idea why I put Keith (other than old age) as I know it's Kim, apologises too to Kim.
Nigel Atkins

Glad I started this thread, as I now have a much longer list of potential suppliers! I was pretty constrained about the quality problem, and only mentioned two items that went back. The worst was in 2019 when I thought I would be clever and fit a heater water valve from a Mini, so I could control it from the cockpit. Can't recall who supplied it, but it leaked within a week of fitting so went back. It was then out of stock for months while they addressed quality with the manufacturer. Eventually it was back in stock. This time it failed catastrophically on the motorway, dumping all water within minutes. Blown head gasket, recovery on truck. Ended up with replacing pistons.

Les
L B Rose

Les

Sorry to hear of your heater tap woes. I had problems with new heater tap bases.

Another supplier I hear good stories of, but not yet tried, is the Distributor Doctor with high quality distributor parts.

I mentioned Leacy as I think some of the parts they have supplied me may have been new old stock. They are also good on delivery charges.

I often now look for new old stock and good secondhand genuine parts on a certain auction site.

I have found some useful bits to on the ex military supplier LMS Litchfield mentioned above. For example Ripaults plug lead set that works on screw distribuor cap Sprites.

Another place that might yield new old stock switches, even if not quite correct ones, is Dunsfold Landrover.

Bacons Diozen used to be great for imperial spanners, but not sure if still going.

Pennyfarthing Tools for secondhand engineering tools.

Sheet metal clamps and assorted useful light aircraft tools: LAS Aerospace Ltd

Cheers
Mike
M Wood

Arie I have a few old rocker switches where the icon on the front has completely faded, but they would be good for making a good one out of your old ones, they are from a low mileage arkley that was completely rotten.
Tarquin

A problem with distant suppliers is postage cost especially for small quantities, made more difficult if you need to return something. In my case, I tend to use Moss a lot because they're local to me and have always given good service and accept returns even after a year on one occasion. I also use ebay suppliers as postage is usually "free" and some suppliers mentioned in above posts trade via ebay e.g. Sussex and MGB Hive. I do use Frogeye spares sometimes, if they're cheaper, but postage is fairly expensive. But I recognise quality can be an issue generally.
Bill Bretherton

Mike,
I've not heard a bad word about the Distributor Doctor. I've used him on numerous occasions, and I know of others who have also used his services.

He provides a good range of reliable products along with good service.

In my book (of parts suppliers) he's a keeper.
PN Sellen

X2 on Distributor Doctor. Excellent service.
Bad boy classics have done well for me too.
And a shout out for Bill's Tools in Glasgow. What a treasure house!

When Moss are good they're very good. When they're bad they're horrid!

Edit: Sussex Classics and Rimmer Bros have been good every time I've dealt with them.
Greybeard

Top of my list is Classic British Sportscar Trim, Plymouth. They collected two seat frames on a Monday upholstered them, providing all the parts, and returned them on the Thursday. Cheaper than I could buy the parts for DIY.
L Langley

The seat frames came powder coated from Derbyshire, with an original steering wheel, unobtainable anywhere else, and a workshop manual. It could well have been Dave O'Neil, if it was I would recommend him.
L Langley

Yes I'd forgotten Distributor Doctor. He's very good and supplied a red rotor arm and distributor cap (made in India) which are both good quality items.
Magic Midget Kim supplied an RC40 system which is at least 10 years old and still going strong.
Classic Car LEDS provide very good quality bulbs and service if that's your thing.
Jeremy MkIII

I would add Simon BBC for ignition parts.

Trev
T Mason

Oops I forgot to mention our own Jonathan Heap of JLH Morris Minor Restorations (if I have the name correct).
I bought my wheels from him at a better price than anyone else. He could not have been more helpful. A proper gentleman and a delight to talk with.
Worth a visit to his website just for a gawk at the Lotus twincam Minor pickup. Brilliant!
Greybeard

Also dont forget your local friendly motor factors who can be very helpful and sometimes just as cheap as the online suppliers, especially once you add postage for some things.

Trev
T Mason

For interiors/ seats try PJM Motors - did a great job on mine and very helpful.
http://www.pjm-motors.com/

For second hand parts I've used Richard Woolley in Derby, always had good service - he also powder coats quite a few of his parts now as well.

R.
richard b

L Langley

Thanks for the recommendation, but I think it was more likely to be Richard Woolley.
Dave O'Neill 2

Another vote for Magic Midget (Kim Dear) and one for JLH (Jonathan Heap).

As has been said by others, both great to deal with and gentlemen both.

So far, in the past 8 years of Sprite parts buying, there have been none about whom I would say 'Think carefully before placing an order' or 'Do not touch!'

All the following have given me good service with no dodgy parts or cause for complaint:

MGOC Spares
Distributor Doctor.
Peter May - not the cheapest but very helpful advice.
Demon Tweeks
JJC (Demon Tweeks by another name but online only and often a bit cheaper [sorry, less expensive!])
RollCenter (Roll-over bar)
Welsh MG Centre (Not the warmest welcome, but can be helpful and a good source of no-longer-available used spares)
Mini Sports

Also Manbat for batteries. I don't think they do mail order but they have a few distributors around the country. Their headquarters just happens to be nearest to me in Shrewsbury - good prices and very obliging.

Colin
C Mee

Dave I had often wondered if it was you. It was to the left of the A38, going north, a bungalow in a cul de sac.
L Langley

Tayna also for batteries.
I had a battery die a couple of months short of its 4 year warranty.
Replaced with no quibble and the new one was delivered the following day. Great service.
Jeremy MkIII

I will give Rich Wooley a great endorsement as well. He's a totally straight up guy, his stuff is excellent quality and he stands behind what he sells and the quality of his recons.

I would also add Leacey Classics, because their shipping deel is hard to beat, and their no-quibbles returns approach
Dominic Clancy

I think, first of all, you/we should be happy to have so many suppliers with detailed catalogues available: I struggle more to find parts and ref for my moderns than for my Midget ! They are not all (often) good, but there are a lot of options to choose from ! And it also usually push/keep prices down: lucky us :)

Then, I think it depends a lot on what you buy. From my small experience, the one I used (Moss, MGOC, Minispares mainly) do get some bad quality ref and some good quality ref.
Lately, I purchased few air intake gaskets: some from Minispares, some from the SU rebuild kit (didn't expect them) and some from Moss (as I was buying other stuff, and lost - for some time - the gasket from Minispares...)
You can see on the picture the difference of quality of the gaskets, for the exact same ref, depending on the supplier... On the other side, I am usually happy with Moss parts ! But this picture shows my point: they do use cheap suppliers for some ref




CH Hamon

I do like Minispares for consumables, as they are between my work and my home, so no shipping fees and available when I need :)
Simple example of price of spin on filter GFE166 for 1275cc:
£2.90 on Moss website
£2.60 on MGOC website
£2.30 on Minispares website

Enclose is the picture of the MG OC filter I removed, aside the Minispare filter I installed: exact copy paste, made in the same country (factory?)

I also run their "homemade" 20w50 which is pretty cheap. I can't argue if it is a good oil or not, as you all know my experience with the A serie engine is pretty...insignificant :D

With Bill feedback, I will consider twice for other kind of parts...



CH Hamon

I'm an MGB owner so perhaps my experience is less valuable to you guys. Suppliers I would recommend are as follows :-
David Manners - reasonably cheap, large stock, not had a bad part from them yet. Discount for MGCC
Welsh MG Centre : very cheap on some parts, second hand parts available.
Moss I only buy from them when there is a sale on, but have found quality good.
MechSpec MG Centre had some rare piston rings from them once.
Paul Hollingworth

I received two parcels of engine bits this week.

The MGOC collection of nuts, bolts, washers, lock tabs etc were all together in one polythene bag and some larger bits just loose and unlabelled in the box. I've just spent the last half-hour ticking everything off on the packing list but having to refer to the website to cross reference part numbers and identities.

The Moss collection was well packed with each part or collection of multiples in their own bags, each with a clear, printed label to identify it.

The orders were sent off within a few minutes of each other on Friday evening. The Moss order arrived yesterday, the MGOC order today.

Moss earned some Brownie points there!

Colin
C Mee

Colin, I've also used Moss for nuts, bolts and washers because, although a tad pricey, they're labelled as you say. I know you can get them cheaper from a more generic supplier but, especially with bolts, some need to be the right length or have the correct unthreaded shank.
Bill Bretherton

Forgot to check back here for a few days. I must print this thread!

Mike - Pennyfarthing Tools used to be in Salisbury where I live, in Pennyfarthing Street. But most of their stock is far too esoteric for me to understand.

Les
L B Rose

Just sent back a set of con-rod nuts to Mini Spares. They are meant to replace the original nyloc type nuts used on the 1275 engine. The torque for the nuts is 45ftlbs. They deformed at 25ftlbs!
Bob Beaumont

That’s a bit worrying, Bob.

I’ve still got a few NOS Rover ones left. It will probably have to be ARP after they’re gone.
Dave O'Neill 2

I'm struggling to remember what grade the con-rod bolts are. Is it V, W, or X. I think its stamped on the head.
for your guidance Here's how Ultimate Tensile strength varies with grade.
V 65 tonf/in2 1000 N/mm2
W 70 1080
X 75 1158

UTS can be directly related to hardness, either Brinell or Vickers. You can find this relationship on the internet.
So if you are worried get you bolts hardness tested. Its a quick procedure and could be done on the end of the bolt as not to leave a stress raiser.
Torque tightening is an imprecise science.The relationship between induced load and torque depends on lots of factors not least underhead and thread lubrication. That's why these days manufacturers use either yield control or torque plus angle.
Paul Hollingworth

Last year I bought a number of parts for a front suspenson and brakes rebuild.

New calipers, from a well known supplier were not fit for purpose. They refused to provide a refund until the parts were returned to the manufacturer for testing. When I chased this up months later they admitted they had been "lost" and gave me my money back. I don't plan to use them again. So, I had a pair of old calipers overhauled by BIGG RED in Worcester. Next day service, brilliant job. I have used them again for another car since.

New kingpin assemblies were purchased from another outlet. Unfortunately the dust tubes didn't fit the seats in the casting. I dismantled the assebly to take a look only to find the king pin bushes had been wrecked, I assume in the reaming process. They would have failed sithing a few miles. That supplier gave me an instant refund and had the faulty parts collected. Much, much better service.

In the end I crept into the bowells of my storage and pulled out an old set of wishbones, kingpins and uprights. Lots of cleaning, fettling and greasing and a few new seals and so on a failry good set was made with very little wear so these will go onto the car.

For me the biggest problem is the time wasted. The brakes caliper episode meant the car was "bed blocking" another project and the kingpin job which should have been done last autumn is still pending.

What beats me is it cost so much to tool up to manufacture parts so it doesn't make sense to tool up for new rubbish. Just make the bloody things right!
Clive Berry

Yesterday I decided to treat the station pressure washer to an oil change and a new spark plug.
It's a Honda Gx160 engine, so NGK BPR6ES.
I went to the local friendly garage where I was told sorry, don't have any. Will a BP6ES be okay?

Sure it will. How much?

Nothing. It's old stock, you can have it and welcome if it helps.

He'll never see this, but a big hand for John McGeachy of Kintyre Motors, Campbeltown.
That sort of thing just makes your day, don't it.
Greybeard

This thread was discussed between 05/02/2020 and 21/02/2020

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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