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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 MGA - Part to avoid

FYI:

I just ordered a new badge for my MGA from VB. It arrived last week. Unlike the original, the threaded piece is simply a soldered on machine screw. It broke off. They sent a new one, which arrived today. The solder on this one broke as well...while in the package! A third is on its way. These are $17 from VB and I assume that Moss gets theirs from the same place (West). The badge front looks fine, but that's more than offset by the fact that it can't be attached to the car.

Here's some pictures:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v307/dandomatic2/MG_badge/
Kemper

Looks like the same badge thats on my TF. The two I got from Moss use a bolt. The problem then is that you have to grind the head down for it to fit in the round opening's on the grill and the spare tire knock off. Good news is that they haven't broken off.


LaVerne
LaVerne

I had the same problem with mine. I finally found an orginal one on ebay.
N. Wessely

will they ever learn - these little things give them a very bad reputation - if they can make a supercharger for the cars - why the hell cant they make the simple stuff!
J Delk

Easy J Delk. The POS in question came from VB not Moss.
I personaly will not buy anything from VB as I got screwed when they went from Longs British Auto Parts to VB ever so many years ago. Anybody remmeber Longs? Same outfit.

LaVerne
LED DOWNEY

I remember Longs. Fellow was a high school friend of my father (no 'special pricing', though). When I had my B, we ordered exclusively from there.

I don't know when, but something changed and you could not get any technical assistance or a straight answer. It was probably by design as Barney mentioned on his site.

I, too have had my fair share of 'subjective' quality parts and it is very frustrating. For the most part, as long as the supplier is willing to work to correct issues as they come up I'm ok.

Tommy

Why not JB WeldBond the thing back together?
Paul Hanley

Keep getting replacments, you can play MG-checkers!
Steve Meline

Kemper, -- Nice pictures and a common concern to lots of people. Okay if I post your pictures and notes in my Faulty Parts web section?
Barney Gaylord

Well, as far as Longs is concerned, I can't find anything wrong with the idea of being able to order parts for my '73 Chevy truck and my MGA from the same place. My experiences with them have been almost completely positive so far, unlike Moss and the place in Rhode Island.

I received an order from Moss a week and a half ago, and they charged me over $50 for shipping a package by priority mail that cost them about $20 to ship. When I called them up, I was told that it was a "handling" charge. So V.B. is going to be handling most of my parts purchases in the future.
Del Rawlins

WARNING - OFF TOPIC

Del, -- I dunno what you bought, but I suspect it was an expensive part with relatively low weight. The problem there is billing shipping charges based on total order value rather than shipping weight, which is done to avoid having to tabulate the shipping weight of each item, put that additional detail on each linie of the order form, and add it all up before calculating S&H charges.

You should of course be informed of the S&H charges at time of order before you make the commitment to pay. If this makes a large difference in shipping charges for an expensive item, it may be appropriate to re-negotiate the S&H fee before accepting the charge.
Barney Gaylord

Actually, it was a bunch of engine parts. Oil pump, new valves, guides, hardware, gaskets, etc totaling 300 odd dollars.

The rest of the story is, I ordered all of these items online, to avoid mix ups due to human error (they still managed to send one wrong part, but they got me the right one quickly. It was wrong on the invoice too, strangely enough). When I placed the order, the only shipping options the website presented me were a couple variations of UPS air shipment. I clicked the cheaper of the two, for 50 some bucks and called them up first thing in the morning to change my shipping method to priority mail.

Having to do this is pretty common when you live in Alaska, and usually I will just phone orders in if a website does not list USPS as a shipping option. But since I was ordering a bunch of part numbers, to avoid data entry error on the part of the order taker, I went ahead and submitted it electronically. What I believe happened, is they shipped the part via USPS priority mail as I requested over the phone, still charged me the 2nd day air rate, and pocketed the difference.

I freely admit that allowing this to happen is my own fault, because I didn't ask about shipping cost when I called them up to change the method of shipment, but even so, tacking $30 on for "handling" is basically theft as far as I am concerned.

Perhaps this is all spelled out in the fine print in their catalog and I didn't read it, but if their policy is to base shipping charges on order value rather than actual shipping cost, I am not interested in doing business with them at all.
Del Rawlins

I had the same problem. Twice! I saw a picture of how the badges are held on the front of the new TF and copied that. Double sided tape. It works well and you don't have to rely on the dodgy threaded stud. Not often something new is better than the old?
Cameron
Cameron Wild

My "MG" fell off the front of my MGA (Seems to be a standard happening then) - funny / lucky thing is, I just happened to be looking at it in the garage at the time - honest guv I never touched it!

A nice little soldering job with the modelling butane soldering torch and proper soldering flux, its been fine ever since. I put a couple of double spring locking washers under the retaining nut to provide a bit of give with hot/cold conditions.

For a small consideration...

Pete
Pete Tipping

Paul: Why not JB Weld it? Maybe it's me, but I don't think I should have to do repair work on a new part. That said, I did manage to solder one back together without damage to the enamel or discoloration to the chrome.

My point is that this particular part is completely unacceptable in that it doesn't even partially "work".

Barney: As always, you're welcome to use the photos. I'm not sure if it shows clearly, but the screw is nothing but a slotted flat-head machine screw.

To fix it, I laid the badge face down. I dipped the screw head in flux and positioned it as it should be on the badge. Then I used a propane torch to heat the threaded end of the screw. I held the solder at the other end (head end) and eventually the heat made it down and melted the solder. I believe this gradual/indirect heating prevented the enamel from cracking. Finally, I let it cool and fitted it to the car.

I'm hoping VB addresses the problem, but in the mean time, ask before you buy. Does anyone have experience with and remember the Moss counterpart?
Kemper

I had the same problem with the "A" badge from Moss ten years ago, seems some things never change. After the second one broke I put a wad of silicone on the back and stuck it in place, ten years later its still on the car. While the folks at VB don't all seem to be car people I can't fault their service, they offered to take back a mirror I bought on sale six years ago when I put it on the car this year and it didn't fit.
As far as the shipping charges go, it's a rip from both VB and Moss unless you order something heavy and cheap. Many of the smaller suppliers charge actual shipping so why can't they. If I place an order with the monster industrial supplier McMaster Carr I will get a return E-Mail in 10 minutes telling me the actual shipping charges. If they can do it, so can others.
John H

My badge was lying on the garage floor a few weeks ago too (must be starting to fall with the leaves...). I fixed it by removing the stud, laying the badge on its face, and propped the stud back in place so it stuck in the air. Two minutes work with a heat gun, and after a cooliing time, it was ready to refit (that's what got me going with the mesh rad grille).
dominic clancy

Okay, Thanks Kemper. I have it on line with pictures. See here: http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/faulty/ft_parts.htm
Barney Gaylord

Gentlemen:
Just a quick note of clarification.
Moss supplied MGA grille assemblies for many years from the only major manufacturer, as did other major suppliers. These grilles often had sub-standard bolt to emblem adhesion, causing a large number of failures. This problem was a continual agravation and despite many complaints to the manufacturer has continued to the present.

Moss Motors did have the emblem only reproduced to our own specifications a number of years ago. The bolt to be silver soldered before plating. These badges will under test crush before the bolt adhesion fails.

Kelvin.

KJ Dodd

Kelvin

Are you saying that the MGA Emblem, 201-035, is the one with the silver soldered bolt?

Thanks

Larry
Larry Hallanger

Kelvin,
Can you supply photos of the packaging and badge (front and back) as well as Manufacturer and # (assuming it's not an in-house)? Barney could add that comparison.

If I would have had this info and a side-by-side of Moss vs. VB beforehand, I would have chosen Moss and I wouldn't be in this cycle of receipt and replacement with VB. FWIW, their badge also appears to have been plated AFTER solder, so I'm hoping you will supply some pictures.

FYI, I don't fault VB for it as they didn't make or knowingly sell me an inferior part (I'm giving them the benefit here). I do think it's a seller's responsibility to inform a buyer of repeated known failures and utlimately source a better part.
Kemper

I still feel that, regardless of who actually manufactures an item, the distributor should be responsible for making sure that the item is one that can be sold without having the customer carry out the field study for easily diagnosed problems.

This applies to all distributors (Moss, VB) and all the others.

In reality it all boils down to what the distributor is willing to pay for a part - and what we are willing to pay to have them invest in its production.

I imagine most of the quality manufacturers are busy producing parts for a Lexus or some other current production vehicle.

Not to beat up on Kelvin, but this happens so often, it begs the question of what happens out in California when they open the boxes from Asia which contain all of these sub-par parts.

Do they grab 30-40 and try to fit them to a car?

I would be interested in seeing that on video.

JD
J Delk

We all have a responsibility to return faulty parts to the seller and ask for a replacement or refund. If we don't then the seller thinks we are satisfied and continues selling.
The trouble is that most of us are good at effecting repairs and don't return faulty items (I've been guilty myself of this).
If we keep on returning them then the seller will lose money and eventually get the message and either tighten up on quality control and/or find a better suppplier.
I've lost count of the times I've returned bad parts to Moss and on nearly every occasion I am told by Moss staff that 'no one else has complained'.
m.j. moore

This thread was discussed between 11/10/2006 and 14/10/2006

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