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MG MGB Technical - just bought first MGB

Guys,
I just bought this car 2 hours ago. One of those stories that does not happen often. I go into a garage sale and there it is. A 1967 mgb roadster..on 2nd owner who had it for 23 years. All original. Even the paint. California Black plate. I bought the car right there. He had just had $3k worth of work done, new fuel tank, radiator, fuel lines, freeze plugs, battery, brakes, exhaust, rebuilt carbs, motor was rebuilt several years back, etc... He had 3 people come by within 2 hours that wanted to purchase the car, but I got lucky and took it first.

I have no idea what this thing is worth but I know it is needs paint. The paint has faded somewhat after almost 40 years. It's black with the original red interior that is in excellent condition. The carpet tunnel needs to be replaced but other than that, very nice. Can anyone tell me what to look out for and what it may be worth. The clock has about 130k miles on it since new.

Is there anything that I should look out for? The top is original as well and needs the plastic replaced. Is this something that can be done from any interior shop and are the panels readily available?

Thanks for you insight!
John
R Baez

Find ether the Moss Motors or Victoria British web sites and get there catalogs both are free and both should have EVERYTHING you should ever need to restore you car. They also offer online shoping as well. Moss is located in CA and Victoria British is here in Lenexa, Kansas also try right here on the board for parts and Ebay there ia a very good British auto sales/shop there in Arlington, Texas however the name slips my mind right now.
Jeremiah Randolph

John,

Congratulations! Look to spend some money, but it will be worth it.

Get a copy of Porter's mgb restoration Manual (available at Amazon):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1859606075/102-4623835-0895342?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance

and the Haynes Manual:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0856966231/102-4623835-0895342?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance

and the Bentley Manual:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0837601150/102-4623835-0895342?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&st=%2A&v=glance

That will give you all the technical reading you'll ever want. Porter will show you where to look for rust, and other stuff.

Then, ask lots of questions on this BBS. These guys are great about helping those of us new to this "hobby" along. I've had my MGB about 6 months now, and the members of this board have patiently held my virtual hand all along the way, not matter how dumb my question sounded to me.

Happy motoring!

John
John English

Welcome to the Club.
I seriously suggest that you join a suitable local car club, the help and comerarderie is invaluable.
As far as what your car is worth, if you go to the section "MGB General" you will see a discussion on "What is your MGB worth" after reading the comments you will be none the wiser on the monetary value of your car but you will gain an insite into the passion with which these cars are kept running.
David Levy

Congratulations and welcome to MG ownership, I think the fact that it has only chaged hands once before gives you a clue as to how attractive this car is. I agree with everything that has been said, join a club enjoy the car, do what you want to improve it's condition, everything you need is available plus a fund of knowledge. Do not concern yourself with it's value. The MGB is such a strong simple car that it tends to survive where more complicated exotics become uneconomical. So supply and demand keeps their prices rooted in reality.
67 was a changover year from MkI to MKII. The early cars have a 3 synchro gearbox and a narrow transmission tunnel.
Stan Best

meh, sell it and buy something else before it ruins your social and financial life :-) lol

seriously though, well done on the buy! enjoy MG ownership (I haven't . . . yet)
OT Hayter

John,

Congrats on the purchase. This forum is a fantastic place to learn about your toy. Hope you don't have other hobbies.
Over the last 1 1/2 years, I've learned about electrics, rust-proofing, shocks, to name but a few. I'm getting new tires based on information gleaned from this site. EBAY is a good place to buy used parts. Search on MG/MGB and you'll get 1100-1200 hits. Read the descriptions carefully though. Sellers idea of "new" might not be yours.

See ya on the forum.

shook
Shook

Congratulations on your new purchase. I like the early cars a lot more than the later cars for a variety of reasons especially the steel dash and the fact that pollution controls are not installed.

It's worth what someone is willing to pay.
Mike MaGee

Congratulations, John!

Lots of folks will argue that '67 was the best year for the MGB. It was the last year they improved the car just for the sake of improving it. For '68, the one improvement worth having was the four-synchro transmission, but everything else was to meet emissions and "safety" standards. Personally, although the incredible smoothness of the four-synchro boxes is impressive, I love the tight "snick" of the earlier three-synchro boxes that makes them a lot more fun to drive. In a '67 (providing yours is the original engine), you have a bulletproof five-main 100 hp (well, almost) engine together with the ultimate simplicity that characterized all MGs until 1968.

Make yourself a promise to learn everything you can about this car. Even among the most collectible and loveable British sports cars, the MGB has a special place because it, alone, meets modern driving demands. You can rely on your MGB for daily use; a lot of us do.

And if you ever have problems, here's the place!

Allen
Allen Bachelder

John

I just finished going over a california 67 BGT. Sounds like yours is in similar shape to mine. If paint is "dead", a good sanding may be all it needs to be ready for paint.

Bid issue with MG's is rust. Pull the carpet and see if the floorboards are solid. I also recommend pulling the panels under the fenderwells in the front and looking inside. At the least you will probably find a lot of dirt in there. But this is also a good place for rust.

Rocker panels have a double lining and are also a big rust potential area. They are sealed, so it is hard to truly inspect them.

If you do not find rust, you have a true find. I coated all the insides of the fenders, and all seams in the doors and trunk with WaxOil. There are a number of articles in the archives on this rust preventative.

If you are going to paint the car, I would recommend not using the waxoil until after the paint job.

I put about $3,000 in paint interior, carpet and other misc. parts. That is with doing all the labor my self.
Bruce Cunha

I just got some Dinitrol (3125) to spray inside the sills/box sections this winter. So far I have just unpacked and counted the containers but it sloshes a lot easier than Waxoyl and seems a better bet for cavities. Dintrol claim 35mm creep at 16 C and above all I need now is adecent day with nothing else to do! Once I have done it I will start a new thrtead.
Stan Best

John,

Where are you? I'm just west of Fort Worth by about 10 miles.

Fred
Fred Doyen

Congratulations on the purchase. Sounds like you got a great deal, a nice original car. My advice is to proceed slowly. Does it really need a repaint or could a pro detailer work the paint back. I can tell you this, a nice original, unmolested car is going to turn alot more heads and ultimately be worth alot more if you proceed slowly with thought and not start tearing into a nice original car. Alot of the new parts are rubbish compared to the new repro parts. Replace only if needed. Of course this does not count consumable items that must be replaced.This is just my 2 cents worth.
Emmanuel Kafant

This thread was discussed between 06/11/2005 and 10/11/2005

MG MGB Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGB Technical BBS is active now.