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MG MGB Technical - Who's right?

A while back, before my BGT's MOT ran out I took it to the MGB hive in Birmingham to ask them how much work needed doing to it. To my horror they said it needed full sills both sides, 1/2 rear wings both sides, rear inner wings both sides and it would cost about £1500. they also said that that the inner rear wings were so bad that if I was in a crash the seat belts mounting would rip out and probably hit me in the back if the head.

So I decided the only way was to do it myself and last summer I bought all the above parts but ran out of time to fit them and only got round to replacing the clutch over winter.

Now I got an initial quote of £150 for sills both sides (seeing as I've got the parts) from Autocare in Bath but after taking it down there over the weekend I was told the sills were in good condition apart from the castle rail on the drivers side and it only needed that, 1/2 the inner arch on the drivers side (or even just bottom repair parts), a 1/4 repair on drivers rear wing and 1/2 on the other but it would cost £300.

After taking the carpet out of car today I was amazed at how solid the boot and inner wings are and annoyed that the Bhive played it up so much as I'd heard only good things about them.

Who can you trust in this business?

Does the quote from Autocare seem reasonable and does anyone know of anyone closer to Hereford (where I live) who they can recommend so I can get a 2nd quote?

Cheers,

James
J Elliott

James,

I have to say I'm amazed at the prices you mentioned. I got estimates from three different mg specialists for some recent bodywork and their prices were way higher.

My BGT needed a full sill, repairs to the lower 1/4 of the rear wing, lower 1/2 of the front wing, inner wing strengthener and the bulkhead (all n/s). Estimates were 800, 1000 and 1800 +VAT.

Although you already have the parts it's usually the cost of labour that pushes up the price. If you consider a labour charge in the region of 25-30/hr that means Autocare were planning on repairing both sills in 5 to 6 hours!

Anyway, if it were me I'd be highly suspicious (or highly impressed?).

As a side note, it might be worth replacing the entire sill regardless. It takes quite a bit of work to expose the castle rail so it makes sense to do as much repair work as possible while you're there.

Apologies for rambling/telling you what you already know!

I haven't had any dealings with garages in your area so I can't help there, I'm sure someone else will know more though...

Matt "what's that bit do?" Bagshawe
Matt Bagshawe

This begs the question, are these so called specialists charging specialist prices?

I'm not sure how both sills would be done in that time either but the guy who works there is an old MG pro and has a garage full of B's, Dolomites and and some fast Italian guys. He's done some work on my friends GT and another friends Dolomite Sprint.

Old pro for back street garage prices?

I guess if it sounds cheap but he reputable that can only be a good thing. I will be driving it down without any carpets and remove the front wings when I get there.

will have a whole host of spares though...

Will go with Autocare and let you all know how the work turns out.

James
J Elliott

James,

Perhaps you're right about the specialists, If they all charge high prices it starts to seem reasonable.

I think I'd go with autocare if I were in your shoes, reasonable prices and a recommendation are hard to argue with! If he keeps anywhere near to his estimate you'll have got a bargain.

Let us know how it goes

Matt
Matt Bagshawe

Please keep us informed - I need some work on the seams on my GT and have had some varied quotes as well!

Cheers,
Tim.
Tim Jenner

James
having been ripped off more than once by these so called club recomended five star costa fortune experts I would personally try recomendation and reasonable price everytime, biggest isn't allways best.
Paul
PAUL GAYNARD

I would use Beer of Houghton or Hall's Garage, they are both local, both very much specialists who know all there is to know, and above all both very good.

A good poke with a screwdriver will test out boot floor, inner wings etc.; I can't see how this would fail to show up serious rust around the seatbelt mountings. To check out sills I have used an allen key up each of the drain holes between the outer sill and castle rail, if it only turns half a circle then good, if it turns full circle there is no inner sill left.

With as much rust as was suggested the box sections under the front wing must surely be suspect, and easy to check with a gloved hand.
John Prewer

This thread was discussed on 07/06/2004

MG MGB Technical index

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