MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

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 - Wheeler dealers

Did any of you guys see wheeler dealers channel 38 quest . Talk about half doing a job ,takes engine and gearbox out didn't even give it a coat of paint whilst out fitted rubbish exhaust back. Took seats apart didn't clean and paint frames changed front brakes to disc no new bushes fitted . Very poor way to carry out a restoration.For the love of cars was a much better series what do you think ?
C Walsh

was that mike authers that bought the sprite.looked like him. got one same colour sold on his website but dont show plate or price.
bob.
bob taylor

Yep it waas mike authers who bought it.
Bob Beaumont

We have had several of those shows here that come and go and I find them just appalling

They normally show... getting it stated, then something bad happens that can derail there plans and force them into bankruptcy , like a seat belt malfunction... omg, the car may be complete toast, then good luck happens and crisis averted then they move on to fix some rust, paint it nice and sell it to some poor unsuspecting smooh for huge massive profit and an over the top price tag and everyones happy

Id like to see the follow show, where the royally raped smooh idiot later finds out he paid huge money for the beginnings of a PROPER classic rebuild, not the end result....you know, like completely tear apart the rear axle assembly and rebuild, plus new shocks, new springs and leafs, new bushings, new or rebuild the brake calipers... and the whole landry list of a PROPER classic rebuild that we are all familar with

To watch some of these shows and think wow, thats all there is to rebuilding a 50 year old car... avg joys are probably asking them selfs on there sofa with a beer in there right and a remote in there left..."whats with those pansies over at the mg enthusist bbs site, it looks easy enough to me" .... hahaha

Prop

Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Think the show gives a bad name to the word restoration.....more like bodge up. Awful!!!
j hall

the clue is in the title of the TV show Wheeler Dealers not restorers

you are looking at an entertainment program not a documentary on social justice

the show is still far better than the fiction of those Mark Evans shows I've seen

if you think that garages buy ordinary cars including ordinary classics and then restore them before selling on then your mind is a lovely place but not reality, the profit is from doing the minimum

the show is though laughable for it's costings and and vague ideas of gross profit and ignoring true net profit, same as the Mark Evans ones I've seen, which unfortunately might fuel some to copy their example by buying a car and doing it up for sale expecting the claimed profit
Nigel Atkins

I've got no problem with Wheeler Dealers, in fact I think they are quite good.

Prop, as usual, has got the wrong end of the stick. You don't get any of the false issues you get in a lot of the other programmes and made up fights between the workshop employees. And let's face it those sort of programmes were invented in the US and we've had to follow suit for some reason. I suppose we must pick up the blame for foisting Downton Abbey on you guys though!

If you start watching WD thinking you are going to see a restoration then you are just not getting what it's about. If for example I decided to relive my lost youth and buy a Mk2 Golf GTi, I wouldn't want to turn it into a restoration, I might just want a car that was cheap and that might need some work. Something that with a few small jobs would be back on the road and useable, not something that would necessarily pass muster at GTi International! I agree that to buy a car like that and spend money on it wouldn't necessarily mean you would make a profit but you might well do. I've known people that have done that sort of thing alongside their normal job and the last thing they do is factor in the time spent doing it, they do it for enjoyment.

It's a good programme in my opinion, Mike Brewer makes me laugh most of the time (though can be a bit annoying at times I'll admit) and I'd say that 90% of the work I've seen Edd do has been pretty good.
john payne

John I know what you mean about people who do a car up for enjoyment and then sell it for more than they bought it for but they don't necessarily make a profit or as much profit as they thought because as well as discounting their time they often also forget to include other items and elements and this is where others can confuse amateur "profit" with the professionals' true net profit and only see elements of the amateur and professional gross profit

I've meet both Mike and Ed at NEC shows and both seem very reasonable guys and they help out the club I'm in at the shows, this started when Mike came on to our stand to ask me for a marker pen to sign posters for a group of young kids that where following him, I suspect few knew who he was or what he did but such is the fame and celebrity of being on the telly
Nigel Atkins

I actually like the show but I do laugh at how at how Mike Brewer will by anything and just drop it in Eds shop. Yes Ed, its all rotted out but you should be able to pull off a miracle! You are Ed almighty!

Why doesn't he ever take Ed with him!


I would love Ed to just once to stand up for himself and tell Mike off and get this POS off his lot!
Ha ha ha!

The other thing that makes me laugh are the commercial breaks. We will be right back after this.

The engine and trainy out with bits all over, basically hours from being done.
When they return....
Yes we installed new pistons and a clutch for good measure and it was all a snap.

All the big problems magically went away.
Awesome! Ha ha ha!

I think the show is actually only 15 minutes as the commercials themselves are always put in on a cliff hanger...Which again makes me laugh and makes me mad at the same time!

At the end of the day its just something to do to make time go by. I'm just another sheep amongst all the other TV car junkies. It hypnotizes me!

In other words Im a fan! They are my new super heroes!
a ha ha!
Steven Devine

Nigee,
Leave it to you to make your own cliff hanger...SO DID YOU GET HIM A PEN OR DID YOU HAND HIM A MANUAL TO OPERATE ONE!

Ha ha ha!
Steven Devine

though we had a few different marker pens none would work well on the poster material so no it didn't work out but he did say at least he'd bought people to our stand - 8-10 year old kids with no interest in old cars - so I quickly told him what we were about and the type of punters we needed

surprising to many but when I want I can be very concise and direct, I can make David Smith look like a waffler ;)

I'm not saying that Mike remembered any of it or took any notice just what happened

IIRC I meet Ed first when he was out on a fag break, he spoke and I almost cricked my neck to look up at him, I expect he thought I was out for a fag break too and wanted a light

btw before your flag waving mate gets the wrong idea a fag over here means a cigarette
Nigel Atkins

Relax Nigee... I was just joking around. Again you and he will have to work it out as I have no interest in the drama between you two.

So Eds a smoker.. Probably driven nuts by Mike wondering what wreck he will want fixed next....just kidding.

So what was your impression of these two characters, Genuine good guys......or Hollywood royalty?
Steven Devine

as I said both seemed reasonable guys in the brief times I've meet them

even when the TV program was on one of our 5 major national TV channels it would have been a very, very minority program so nothing to be Hollywood about (not that Hollywood is necessarily always better), I'm not sure if Ed was in the program then as it had a different format

yes to the best of my recollection, which isn't saying much, he was having a fag, whether he still smokes now I don't know and if I've remembered wrong then I apologise, if he did smoke it certainly hasn't stunted his growth

Nigel Atkins

(if he did smoke it certainly hasn't stunted his growth)


Nice one!

You made me spit my coffee out all over the floor, Ahh Ill have to clean it up now but that was really funny!


Cheers to you for that one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3saQwN8o98
Steven Devine

Hi

I did notice the brake and clutch master cylinder was changed without being mentioned or put in the cost of parts at the end. Not sure if they fitted the correct sized one for disc brakes or put the correct rear wheel cylinders and back plates in.

No mention of what the original car colour was. Note the door cards were missing and the dash wad a bit too heavily padded. I would have kept the original wheels.

Edd China has made some great fun custom cars, before our vehicle safety and licensing rules in the UK for custom cars got tougher (IVA and SVA tests), see:
http://www.cummfybanana.com/ The street legal motorised sofa and bed were great.

Cheers
Mike
M Wood

The leaf green Frogeye on the opening sequences is mine.
Alan
Alan Anstead

The trouble with this type of programme is that it's a balancing act between making a detailed programme of a complete restoration and making something that's entertaining to a lot of people.

Imagine a programme all about restoring a midget right down to the last detail in Horlers book, virtually everyone on this BBS would tune in every week but probably not many others! On the other hand, a programme about restoring a Midget in the style of that idiot Bernie and his crew would have us lot turning off in disgust but maybe others watching for entertainment.

Car enthusiasts like us find this type of programme difficult to watch (especially if it's about a car we are particularly familiar with) because we're fairly knowledgable and spend half the time picking fault!
john payne

I like WD for the cars they show. Many of them aren't available on this side of the pond and it's interesting to see what's on European roads. And there are some hints on how to solve a problem that can be adapted to other cars. Never too proud to steal ideas.
Martin Washington

If you ignore the dodgy accounting - I like wheeler dealer. With moden cars it's so easy to get into the mindset that all jobs need a specialist. I like the way it demonstrates how relatively easy it is to fix things like knackered suspension bushes and make a real difference.

I've had an impreza for years and haven't done much more than change the pads and discs myself....but have taken a stand on the wife's Audi A4. Have bought a 50 quid diagnostics cable and sw and this weekend will replace a 40 quid sensor and reset the computer appropriately.
Dean Smith ('73 RWA)

the problem with those modern diagnostic machines is they'll say a sensor is faulty so a lot of people believe that because a 'computer' is telling them that but sometimes (often?) if the connection to/from/on the the existing sensor is cleaned it works fine again

people used to old cars will consider this but those only used to modern cars will follow the machine's analyst - remember people follow SatNav down unsuitable rods and even into rivers
Nigel Atkins

Quite agree Nigel. Lack of perception of alternative possible causes other than 'computer says'. Personally l blame adherence to the machine's Handbook. It stifles the development of the natural human traits if experimentation, investigation and intuition. ;-)
Guy Weller

Guy,
people don't get or read the Handbooks for these machines, if they did it would probably tell them to interpret the results

you probably read handbooks all the time, dribbling over those with complicated engineering tables and formulas - just that they're not always called handbooks to save the delicate ego of the macho, manly types - not that I'm suggest you are that type, from your photos you rather remind me of the look of the killer in Manhunt and in Last Action Hero, not that I'm suggesting you've ever killed anyone or anything

be interesting to see if and how you take this post - no smilies to help you, you'll have to rely on your intuition - which may give you an incorrect result but you might learn from it, or not and ignore it

if you're still reading down to here I'll give you a hint, I'm almost always pulling your leg like you do mine, the fact you don't always get it means perhaps your intuition is off, no not really, it's all my fault of course
Nigel Atkins

Oh I think I know when you are teasing Nigel. Its just that sometimes I get bored and decide not to give you the pleasure of rising to the bait. But in this instance, I don't understand what "Manhunt and in Last Action Hero" means. The fact that you have capitalised the words implies it is a title to something ? - a video game perhaps? Intuition fails me on this I am afraid.
Guy Weller

Guy,
you spend far too much time in your sheds you show widen your horizons more

Manhunter (sorry I left off the er last time) and Last Action Hero are films, no doubt you'd look down your nose at both being films and not being about engineering or cars - you'd probably be right to dismiss the Last Action Hero - but both have characters in them that happen to be killers, (played by different actors) but their appearance in the films remind me of your photos

Manhunter was at least was from a novel, but not a book about engineering heroes sorry

a certain scene in the film Manhunter where the killer features with the music that's played always makes me think of you up there in Cumbria

I bet you wished you'd never asked

and no I didn't miss the dig about my written presentation in posts

language and it's presentation evolves - and anyway I'm using my intuition of how best to write as I stopped reading books at about the age of 12, you should be pleased with that, if I wanted to know something I'd just ask - and get told wrong, after many decades of this I finally learnt to refer to things like Handbooks to get the correct answer :D
Nigel Atkins

Mike Brewer rides a Lambretta, so he's alright in my book...
L McInally

Nigee..
There is a perfect example of you communicating in your own language again. Though this time peppered with some generational gap! I'm just glad its all confirmed by your fellow MG Enthusiests.

Many times...... working on cars that throw codes to help diagnose issues,( modern vehicles) you will find that one problem can mask other problems or send a different codes as a result of the root cause failure.

I've always found that in troubleshooting modern or antique vehicles, going back to the basics that both share always got you to the root cause.

If you can understand what the function of a typical device is to provide...it helps you confirm or condemn that particular device and frees you up to move forward to correctly diagnose root cause.

(Hopefully you can get the spec on the device which I hardly see in the manuals)

Recently there has been legislation introduced to make modern manufacturers display in some form a way that regular mechanics can access proprietary info to repair their cars. (Thus helping the little shops compete, instead of being locked out of a piece of the pie!}

Its been brought up here but has stalled without resolve.

(I'm not going to speculate why but just say he with the deepest pockets usually gets what they want.

Anyway I'm just glad I'm not the only one that needs a Nigel translator as you tend to speak in a language all your own.....but it doesn't make you a bad guy just tough to get what your saying!

Cheers!



Steven Devine

perhaps you and Guy should commit a little more effort into something that's not written in a way you approve of, instead of skim reading and/or only noticing the faults work out the construction and possible meaning

but I must admit to a lot of typos and I'm sure Steve would miss many of my speeling mistakes judging by his

either I'm working on a higher level than you guys or my typing and communication construction really is that bad

I'm happy to let David Smith decide - as long as he gets straight to the point without waffling that is ;)
Nigel Atkins

On the subject of handbooks, the handbooks for modern cars tell you to take them to your local dealer if there is a bulb out!
Dave O'Neill 2

That's because dealers make most of their money on "service", not sales of cars.
Martin Washington

I've got spell check now Nigee....I thought you would have noticed how accurate my spellings have been lately!

I'm not faulting your spelling Nigel....Its the way you present your thoughts....you can be hard to follow.

Guys posts have always been straight forward and concise...I have no problem reading and understanding what he writes.

Yours can sometimes be like looking at a light house far out at sea on a foggy day! I know its they're but I cant quite make it out! Ha ha ha. Your content is good, when I can follow

I know I'm not the only one for others have mentioned it. Keep trying though, you are getting better.
Thank god! :-)
Steven Devine

This thread was discussed between 10/07/2014 and 13/07/2014

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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