Any MG owners?

dmcummins · 04-09-2005, 10:43 AM

I was out running around town and stopped to talk to a local guy who was washing his 61 MGA . He mentioned that he really never drove it much and his wife couldn't drive it because her legs were too short or something to that effect. Anyway he mentioned that he may be selling the car. So I said to let me know as I may be interested.

Now I no nothing about these things, I have no idea what kind of price range these things run or what to look for. It has a 1600cc enging that was just rebuilt by a local shop. It has a so-so paint job and the interior could be better. I don't know what kind of shape the top was in or even if it has one.

I'm guessing I could buy the thing for around 7K. Is this in the ballpark?

WaA420 · 04-09-2005, 11:24 AM

I own several MGA'S and would say that 7k is in the ball park. This is depending on how much rust the car has or doesn't have. Is it fairly straight and does it have wire wheels? The prices of these cars have been going up like crazy and now non running projects can fetch 5k. These are just my opinions based on 29 years experience with mg's.

dmcummins · 04-09-2005, 12:31 PM

It has wire wheels but need to be cleaned up, maybe rechromed. I really didn't look it over as we were just talking. It definatly runs, they were getting it cleaned up to go for a drive. I didn't crawl under it or anything so I don't know how it looks underneath but there was no rust on the body that I could see and the paint was an old respray. It was painted black over what appeared to be an original red car. There was some red showing behind the wood dash around the gauges. The paint was looking tired and starting to fade on the hood but no rust bubbles.

The car looked straight from just my casual observation. Any areas I need to look at for rust?

What would be a average value for one with a nice paint job and interior. If I bought the car I would have to at least repaint and redo the interior. How hard is it to find parts for these?

WaA420 · 12:46 PM

The place to look for rust is in the rockers and the bottoms of the fenders. Also look in the trunk. If you don't see rust look for bondo.

If it is indeed rust free and all you have to do is repaint and put in interior, it would be a good deal at 6-9k.

Here are a couple projects I recently picked up.

greglepore · 04-09-2005, 03:51 PM

I have a B. Wires are painted, not chromed, so no biggie there. Engines are very robust, but suprisingly expensive to rebuild-not 911 expensive, but still it'll open your eyes for a tractor motor.

I'd eliminate the stock fuel pump if you don't care about originality, and go with a small domestic electric one. Learn from someone who really knows how to set up the SU's-they're not as fearful as others think. These cars are probably reaching the top of the value curve right about now-B's that were $3500 cars 2 yrs ago are now like 6500.

KNS · 04-09-2005, 03:54 PM

Just wondering... a guy down the street from me has an MGA with a fixed hard top; not a convertible. It's never driven and has been sitting for years outdoors. I know these were produced in pretty small numbers but do the have any value compared to a roadster?

typ550 · 04-09-2005, 04:31 PM

The coupes do not have greater value, for the most part, than the roadsters, unless it happens to be a twincam. Parts are readily available for these cars, but as another has already warned, look out for RUST. Aftermarket body panels to replace rusty units are, for the most part, crap (ask me how I know).

Here's a pic of my pretty severely modified '60A. Has an early B 3-main motor and B diff, so I can keep up on the highway.

greglepore · 04-09-2005, 05:43 PM

Chris, that is a schweet ride. Maybe not as cool as the C type, but probably tons more usable.

typ550 · 04-09-2005, 05:50 PM

Thanks, Greg. Yes, much more practical, if you can say that about a car that doesn't have a roof.

dmcummins · 04-09-2005, 07:15 PM

Love the windsheid Chris. I sure don't need another car, Ive got my 73 coupe torn down now and it looks like its going to be awhile before I get it back together. Im just a sucker for old cars. I just like something alittle different.

Hugh R · 09:44 AM

Check out Mossmotors.com (I think) You can get lots of parts from them. They're in Goleta, (Santa Barbara, CA) area. I have several SU books on carbs and fuel pumps. If you get it, let me know and I'll photo copy some pages for you. Things like rebuilding and setting up the fuel pump so it works, (its sort of like an old door bell the way it works), you'd never figure out how to adjust it in a million years, but its very easy if you have the book.

Hugh R · 09:45 AM

WaA420

Do you know anything about British trannies, I'm having a tuff time rebuilding my Aston Martin DB4 trannie. I can't get it to go into fourth gear on the bench. All I replaced were the large caged ball bearings at the front and rear of the main shaft. I might have jumbled one or two syncro rings, can't be sure, but its driving me nuts. Went into the gears fine before taking it apart. It may turn out the rumble in the trannie was actually an off balance flywheel or front damper anyway.

dmcummins · 04-09-2005, 07:25 PM

After seeing the pics of Chris's car I want one now. I'll have to see if he plans on selling it and for how much. He told me he bought the car a few years ago for $4K and paid $3K for the engine rebuild. He was thinking if the car was in good shape that it would be worth $10k. But like I said, it needs paint and interior at the very least. So if he does want to sell I figure Im working backwards from his $10K good shape figure. We will just have to see how it goes.

WaA420 · 04-09-2005, 08:38 PM

Hugh R,

I don't fool with the trannys much, when one gives me a fit I just put in a different one. I do know a guy who is a Limey drive train guru though and he would be happy to help you out. I can give you his number tomorrow. He is located in Portland, OR.

Hugh R · 04-09-2005, 08:42 PM

WaA420

Thanks, but I'll see what I can do here.

typ550 · 04-10-2005, 07:06 AM

dmcummins, as with any car (early 911s included), make sure you get the right one. There are tons of bondo buggy MGAs out there and mine would have fallen into this category when I started with it. If I had it to do over, I would have searched longer for a better MGA to start my project with. I hate to admit it, but for what I have in the black MGA at this point, I could buy myself a nice early 911S. That said, you can still find decent "driver" MGAs in the $10-12K neighborhood (pushrods, that is, not twincams). Just be sure you take a magnet with you and carefully check the rockers, lower porition of the fenders, and the nose (also make sure the panel in the engine bay right behind the nose is flat; cars that have had front-end shunts often have not had this panel repaired, so it will be bent or crunched).

Good luck! Let me know if I can be of any assistance.

stevepaa · 04-10-2005, 07:15 AM

Did a 60 1600 years ago. Spent more than I thought to start. I found it and checked it out before it was for sale and left a note on the windshield. No rust, just about ten coats of various colored paint. When you repaint do not do a metallic. Stick to a solid color.
You will find that the rubber made nowadays for these cars does not last very long.
They are alot of fun to drive, not very fast, but fun.

david c. · 04-10-2005, 08:34 PM

I love it when people hot-rod other (i.e. non- 911) sports cars. That MGA is cool as hell. I have a P1800"S" that I'm looking forward to giving that sort of treatment. There are always good reference points and ideas from cars that have a racing history and vintage and aftermarket parts for the vintage race crowd.

Rot 911 · 04-11-2005, 05:03 AM

Like Chris said, lots of decent MGA's in the $10K price range. Showroom condition A's are hitting the upper teens and low 20's now so you can actually fix one up and still not be too car poor. On MGA's and B's the engine and tranny are the cheap parts so I never get excited it the car needs work on either of those components. It's the body work that gets expensive. So if the car you are looking at needs body and interior work than to me $7K might be a bit on the high side of what I would pay for that car.

typ550 · 04-11-2005, 04:55 PM

Sorry for the low quality pic, but this is the single most kick-a$$ MGA that I have seen. Built by Warren Kennedy in the UK, it features a lot of custom fab on the body, plus the benefit of a Rover V8 engine