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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 - rubber

There are long standing rants on every classic car site with relation to the abysmal quality of rubber products. Rebound straps with little or no reinforcement, gators and boots which decompose themselves in 12 months, wipers which are so rigid they don't wipe, glass seals which split and are dimensionally compromised, etc., etc..
Whilst going down this well trodden road with Jody Walker of BCC Parts at Silverstone, he mentioned that this was an issue he was keen to address, but needed some support, in the form of e mails and letters, to convince his "powers that be".
He has approached several UK based companies, all of whom are quite enthusiastic, but are quick to point out that it is unlikely that they can compete on price grounds, with sweat shop goods made from re-cycled tyres and flip flops, but quality and longevity will be up with, and in some cases, better than OE!
I for one would be happy to pay the price for a product which fits, works and LASTS!!
If you would like to support his "crusade" please drop him a mail. on;

jody@bcc-parts.com
Allan Reeling

I personally don't mind paying for things. Providing they are fit for purpose

I am sick of having to modify almost everything in order to get it to fit properly.

I shouldn't have to modify things when they should be made to the same standards as the original.
R Williams

The problem with items that last is that you only have to buy them once (in a while). I'm sure that there are plenty of people, me included, who are willing to pay more for a good quality item but once we have bought our quality items will there be a sustainable level of demand to make it worth while for manufacturers to continue to produce?
Chris Hasluck

It's the supply and demand quandary Chris mixed with profit margins, size of production run and tooling costs. Personally I don't want to be constantly replacing items which should have a reasonable lifespan. I have just replaced both hand brake backplate boots, for the second time in 18months after they crumbled to nothing. Now they are easy to do, but who wants the same frequency of replacement for screen surrounds or screen to body seals?
Allan Reeling

My new BSA front fork gaiters split before I even got chance to ride the bike! It wasn't the fastest rebuild I'll grant you but they should last more than 6 months when sat in a dark garage!!

It would be quite easy for the parts people to offer two levels of quality and I would definitely pay more, especially for difficult to replace things.

I'll email the crusade.
john payne

I spend a high amount every month spread over a variety of UK and european suppliers as I maintain MGAs, midgets, MGBs and TRs for a variety of friends and acquaintances here in Switzerland. I also source and import parts for local DIYers to get past cartel-like pricing by local stockists (seven times UK prices in some cases). I frequently reject poor quality parts and am fed up of getting into a job to find out that the new parts deviate from original spec or are just dimensionally wrong or unsafe to use

Examples from the last few months
MGB / MGA front spring pans are too narrow to clamp between arms and fit the trunnions and definitely unsafe to use as all the weight of the front of the car is then on four standard 5/16” bolts in shear!
MGA front calliper too narrow to allow fitment of pads between calliper and disc
TRW MGA MC new out of the box with stuck pistons (I installed a Caparo unit instead))
mgb top radiator hoses (went to Moss USA and bought their OE spec ones, but had to wait months for delivery) I now keep stock
Early MGB/MGA door latch pins - too big to fit locks and REALLY unsafe as the doors don’t latch properly - everyone is selling them all the same
MGA trunnion seals - I buy them, coat them in grease and put them away. If they are still OK after a year, I fit them from stock and replenish.
Fuel senders that are nowhere near OE resistance spec so give a completely false reading on the gauge
Dynamo regulators that burn out in weeks or are delivered with contacts floating loose in the cardboard box - I now have a source for rebuilt and calibrated originals, but fit alternator dynamo-lookalikes where I can. Then I can reuse the cr*p ones as junction boxes
A carpet set that is missing two pieces and the drivers footwell carpet is 4cm too wide - checked against three cars. Impossible to trim as it has a sewn edge all around - has to go back for rework. Car is stuck with me till it’s finished, and I am short on space!
Brake pipe sets that have the wrong pipes in them for the part number on the box and hence don’t fit the ****** car when I have already stripped everything down…. Again car sits while I get two new pipes made up locally at the same cost as a complete kit imported.
MGA front hub seals that are not OE size on the OD and have to be glued (!) into the hub to get them to stay put.
Wiring loom bulb fittings that (though better) still don’t provide a secure contact to the bulb. I normally spend the time to reclaim the old ones from the old looms and reinstall on the new looms, which are always missing headlamp pigtails - who rewires a car and keeps the old ones?
Starter motor where the commutator disintegrated on the second time the car was started after fitment - at least the car was still in the workshop and not a few km away.
Wheel bearings of completely the wrong type and spec being delivered without any reference to application.
I have started buying condensers from Moss USA’s quality line to avoid asian garbage
Layshafts without discernable hardening from most suppliers (all supplying the same part at hugely different prices). The only other supplier’s part didn’t include the drilled oil ways….. Still looking for a solution but fortunately the car don’t do too many miles
I am sure many others can sing similar songs of woe!
dominic clancy

Dominic

Been there done that an have the wardrobe.

As for the radiator hoses, go silicone!
Expensive and a slightly different look but they work and keep on working

And I have given up on points ignition. Just fit a cheap simon bbc electronic set. They work and keep on working
Onno K

Dominic,
I'm sure that's an abridged list!! Besides rubber seals etc., I've had issues with the 6RA "lookalike" relays, they either won't pass the current or weld closed because the contact patch is so small; I've also had the problem with looms, brake pipe sets, MGB rad grills, road springs, engine and gearbox mounts, oil gauge capillary pipes, brake servos, dash switches and worst, most expensive, and most time consuming, HERITAGE SHELLS!! Remedial work on their inaccurate shells can consume days. A GT shell, recently finished, took in excess of 150 man hours to get it ready for painting, involving relocating whole panels, spreading door openings, moving captive nuts amongst many, many other things.
Onno..............like rubber hoses there is rubbish out there, go for the stuff with a good name, Viper, ASH and Samco.
Allan Reeling

I would expect these days with die production being cheaper with EDM and wire EDM that the cost of the tooling would be fairly modest and with the set-up and material on top the cost to produce a custom section would not be expensive but then someone has to pay the money, hold stock and distribute.

I recently had some silicone tubing made to my material requirements, OD and ID, and it came to about £200 for 20m including set-up and material but the cost per metre dropped dramatically if the product run was longer, that was round tubing using standard tooling components.

I used to know a guy that had a Gordon Keeble and it needed window rubbers which were obsolete and he contacted someone to make them and got the price and he was willing to fund a run to supply the owners club but the owners club, as I understand it, weren't happy for him to fund the run as they were concerned about him being a sole supplier. I lost contact with him before that was resolved so don't know the oputcome.
David Billington

Couple of things of the top of my head... I had track rod end covers fail before the car even turned a wheel, and my suspension bushes are seriously creaky after 6 months.

Malc.

Malcolm Le Chevalier

Suspension bushes are a case in point. I'm still wondering whether to use rubber or poly for the Frog when the time comes. The clever money seems to go with Poly but you'd think rubber should last a while - it used to.......
Bill
W Bretherton

Bill, if your not after improving (faster)drivebillity Poly's is still the only option.
Rubber for MG's nowadays cant be trusted anymore.
Mate of mine did the suspensionbushes on his Magnette with rubber ones even after my warnings not to.
Had to replace them with in 1000miles, now poly's in and the car is fine again.

Im sure its just a mather of time before they try to start looking in how to get cheaper poly's...
Arie

I rebuilt mine with rubber bushes and had to change them before first MOT now fully polly and the track rod boots only lasted a year just seen these has anyone tried them.

http://stores.ebay.com/Polyboots?_trksid=p2047675.l2563
mark 1500 on the road Preston Lancs

I rebuilt mine with rubber bushes and had to change them before first MOT and the track rod boots only lasted a year just seen these has anyone tried them.

http://stores.ebay.com/Polyboots?_trksid=p2047675.l2563
mark 1500 on the road Preston Lancs

Arie/ Mark

You've convinced me! Poly it will be, well front anyway.

Bill
W Bretherton

Some years ago I bought a full car set of blue Polybushes from an MG parts supplier.(capital P as that was the trade name). They arrived sealed in a number of plastic bags. Most of the bags had the Polybush name printed across them, but a couple were plain unmarked bags. I fitted them all, front and rear suspension and rear spring pads. Shortly afterwards, only a matter of weeks) the front inner wishbone ones began going crumbly and breaking up.

I was pretty certain that they were from the unmarked bags and wern't genuine Polybush ones. I complained to the supplier who, after some dispute, did agree to replace. But only when I threatened to go direct to Polybush and let them know that one of their nominated retailers was selling what appeared to be substandard and possibly counterfeited versions. Nothing proven of course! Replacements supplied were fine.
Guyw

This thread was discussed between 06/06/2016 and 10/06/2016

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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