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 TD TF 1500 - How many miles before reliability

I have just been looking at various classic cars for sale. A number of advertisements proudly state "one hundred miles since total rebuild" (or similar). I've been running the TF, still in primer with decayed upholstery, prior to an expensive paint job and retrim, just to ensure everything is OK before final completion. I don't know how many miles I have done but I have used two tank fulls of fuel. There have been all sorts of issues ranging from loose door catches to leaking rear shocks. One of the most stupid was an oil drip which I thought was from the rear crank seal but was actually from a not fully tightened sump drain plug. The point I am making is isn't it better to buy a car a year after restoration with say 1000 miles under its belt rather than one "straight from the oven". Surely the 100 miles since total restoration is a reason for looking at a different car.

Jan T
J Targosz

You know, I would be curious as to why a car, supposedly, with only 100 miles on it is up for sale. We all know that MGs aren't the greatest investment, actually we all loose money on them if we sell one. To me, their just a happy time fun car that costs a fortune to restore. I do love mine, even though it has put me closer to the poor house! PJ
Paul S Jennings

A friend of mine was in charge of the quality inspection after restoration in a shop dealing mainly with Mercedes of the 50’s and 60’s. He told me that after a total restoration, they drove the car for 1500 km (about 900 miles) before delivering to the client.

Jesús
J Benajes

Paul, some people make a bit of money on them. I just looked at an MGA that I remember being sold for $12,500.00 about a year ago. The guy did a fast cosmetic resto in his 3 car garage plus a few stop and go items.

It sold for $16K. He does it for the fun of it, even if he breaks even, he enjoyed himself. He doesn't like to drive them.

I wouldn't have paid that for it, but someone else saw it as a bargain, we'd know better.

I know someone who builds hot rods and barely makes a few grand on them.


.......
MAndrus

Gentlemen,

After I retired from teaching I worked for a restoration shop that restored antique automobiles, 1955 to 1957 Thunderbirds and 1920 to 1930's Auburns specifically, with many other marques as well.

The general rule of thumb was that it could take an entire driving season to finally sort out all of the issues that might crop up after a total restoration.

You just couldn't expect that everything was going to continue to work perfectly once the restoration was done. Silly, drive you crazy issues would show up just when you thought you'd corrected everything. Its just the nature of the beast when you're working with 60 year old or older cars.

To me, that's just part of the fun. (Call me crazy.)

Gene
G Burgess

After a rebuild, there is always a "shakedown" of the vehicle. I got lucky with my last one, and found only a couple of minor deficiencies. On the other hand... with my TD I found I had a rather severe problem after 5000 mi., which led to tearing down a fresh rebuilt engine and inspecting it. Now back together, found that the rebuilt transmission had an issue that required removing it again. Is the car reliable? In a word...Yes. Always starts, stops and has never left me stranded.
... CR
C.R. Tyrell

I would be more comfortable buying a car with 1000 miles on it after restoration than 100.
John Quilter (TD8986)

This thread was discussed on 06/05/2015

MG TD TF 1500 index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG TD TF 1500 BBS is active now.