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MG MGB Technical - What year is it?

I have just purchased an MGB as a 1975 but as i look into the parts catalog from Moss or Victoria nothing matches.
All the numbers(engine/body) indicate a 1974,older engine,air filters,distributor with points and braking sys) but i have rubber bumpers, does this mean they are wrong to say rubber bumpers came in 75 or are we precarious in Canada having those bumpers before anybody else?
One day I too will enjoy wind in my hair.
Jeff
Jeff M

Rubber bumpers were installed on cars after 1974 1/2. It is possible the engine or other parts were replaced at some point.
Steve Simmons

Jeff, I am sure that around the time of the change from Chrome to Rubber that the factory used up what they had in the parts bins. My 74B, chrome, was built in August 1974. It is to spec apart from the gearbox which is the newer type with the filler hole on the side. It could have been changed at some point but probably not.

One way to check the build date is to call the Heritage Motor Museum at Gaydon here in the UK. You can buy a certificate which tells you all of the manufacturing info for you car including dates - about £28 UKP. If you don;t wna to buy the certificate they wil lquickly check the records and tell you verbally some basic manufacturing dates.

http://www.heritage.org.uk/

Richard
Richard Evans

Hi.

Most major electrical components are date stamped, though some of them may not be original of course, and those that are original may have been 'in store' for a while before fitted.

Don
Don

Jeff

To my knowledge, the 1974 1/2 model MGB was the first of the rubber bumper cars imported to NA. They were an interim somewhat unique model in they still had the twin SU (HIF carbs) engine of the last chrome models. This was changed in 1975 to the less desirable single carb arrangement.

Barry
73B
B.J. Quartermaine

US cars have the build date on a plate on the LH doorpost, is this US only? I have a customer with a RB 74, Car # 361866. Unfortunately I do not have the build date handy. It has HIF carbs and points.
FRM
http://www.usachoice.net/gofanu
FR Millmore

I also have a 1974.5 MGB. Half way through the 74 model year MG switched to rubber bumpers.The Victoria British catalog has a chart so you can determine the year. If the cars V.I.N # on the dash reads from GHN5UE 360101 to GHN5UF 367900 then you have a 1974.5.
John

B.J.'s got it right. Safety laws (DOT) went into effect on the model year change (usually Aug-Sept) while emissions went into effect on the calendar year change. This gave MG the opportunity to keep the dual carb setup for a few months in late '74 and call the cars '74 1/2.
I suspect this overlap was not necessary in Canada so all late 74's were registered as '75's ?
Terry

I saw some 74 1/2 registered as 1975. (and for some other years too). B.J. is right about the carbs; two SUs in 1974 1/2, one ZS for 1975 on. John said: "If the cars V.I.N # on the dash reads from GHN5UE 360101 to GHN5UF 367900 then you have a 1974.5." Not sure. An "E" in the first digits means 1974, 1974 1/2. An "F" means 1975.
MG

Most all 74.5's have rubber bumpers. They have dual hif's and emissions control like the earlier cars but they differ from 77 and on cars because the radiator is still mounted close to the motor with a motor driven fan versus the front mounted radiator and 2 electic fans (unless you have a/c in which you have a center mounted electric and a motor driven fan). In 75, they went to the single stromberg.
Jarrod Hills

There are really 3 versions of the 74. I have an early 74 manufactured 12/73, GHN5UE 338328. It is essentially a 1973 car titled as a 1974. Then there were the early 74s with the Sabrina overriders, the big black blocks in place of the bumper guards. I have no idea when or how many were made--one of you guys with the technical books will have the info. After the Sabrina overriders came the 74 1/2 with the rubber bumpers but still dual carbs. One of the guys in our club has a GT that has the rubber bumpers but dual carbs. And at one of the club meetings last summer there was an early rubber bumper that had the radiator close to the engine exactly as Jarrod describes.
Ken T
Kenneth Thompson

A car manufactured 12/73 would be a 74 model, they began in August 73. The Sabrina overriders were fitted in Jan 74 as one of many piecemeal changes that go on through a model year. The defining feature of a 74.5 is the rubber bumpers, even though that would normally have been the start of the 75 model year i.e. September 74, but there were a whole raft of changes to all cars just like a full model year change. The 75 model year proper didn't start until Dec 74 and comprised very few changes unlike a normal model year change, and only for North America. The most significant change was the engine and single carb.

The chassis numbers quoted above i.e. 360301 for roadsters, 361001 for GTs, and 2101 for V8s was the start of the 74.5. These through to 367647 (roadster) and 367818 (GT) should have had the E prefix, F not starting until 367901 and 368601 for the 75 model year. Note that not all numbers were used in sequence, when model years came into being each model year started with round numbers, several hundred numbers being 'lost' each time.

When it was registered is another issue altogether, which can be several months or even years after the manufacture and model year.
Paul Hunt

This thread was discussed between 18/09/2004 and 22/09/2004

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