1979 mgb
 

How crazy am I to be considering this purchase? I get that they are old, slow and British. Prince of Darkness.. What else?

Ready for a new toy. I'm sure a 1st gen Boxster would be a much better choice but not Vintage, not unique.

Classic 1979 MGB

Please no. The MGB is a lovely car. I had a 65. With emissions clamp down, bumper height restrictions, and BMC refusing to put any dollars towards r&d, the 1979 B is way way slower and less fun than my lovely 65. The later B's were dogs. Early ones were slow but fun. Please reconsider.

So I need to find a 74 or earlier version or one with a V8 conversion?

Or a TR.
Equally old. Marginally less slow.

The V8s can be fun. Not quick, but fun to tool around in.

Sunbeam Tiger.

So I need to find a 74 or earlier version or one with a V8 conversion?

I think all old car = (mostly) slow cars. Slow isn't always bad. What is bad is a 1970's sports car that is slower than a 91 Ford Explorer. And handles about the same.

MG, Triumph. Alfa, etc all made fun and lovely cars. What is your attractions. Classic coolness? Weekend cruiser? Like to tinker? All considerations.

I had a BRG MGB. Cannot remember the year. I bought it and within days realized I was getting 200 miles to a quart of oil. Only after purchase did I put my finger in the exhaust pipe and finger was sticky with oil. Where were you guys back in the 70's? PPI? No. Duh....

I did not find it an exciting driver. Pretty bland. Certainly no Porsche. And not as much fun as a Triumph TR3. If you can find a rust free one it might be okay. Whenever I see one running I go up to the driver and congratulate him on his commitment to the marque.

The neatest setup I have seen recently in an old British car was a Triumph Spitfire with a V8 shoehorned in it. I tried to flag it down but was too fast. If it was the original 4 cylinder I could have caught up with it. :)

MGs lost their uniqueness with the high production Bs.
If stuck on that era, I'd look for a clean MGB GT, possibly the V8 version.

But for really interesting and unusual, how about the MGA

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1477228732.jpg

Cheers Richard

very.

^^^not so crazy. Just get informed, like you are.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1477232970.jpg
Here's my 1980. From the 80s. With my now wife.

Very cool pic!

Yes that sums up my attraction. Some affordable tinkering, Sunday top down driving.

The MGB-GT with a V8 conversion interests me the most but will be much harder to find.

Thanks for all the feedback.

A hell of a lot of us with a Porsche (or two) worked our way thru the ranks by owning Brit iron in the distant past. (cars and motorcycles).

I'd only go back for a early XKE roadster like my '62. I've had MG, 59 AH 100-6, and the XKE. A BSA 441 two Norton Commandos, and two Triumph Bonny's. Even my Fiat 124 was an upgrade.

I knew someone who was a true MGB expert. Swore they were the greatest car, the most fun, etc, etc.

I let him drive my 'well sorted' 911. He no longer owns any MGB's. He's a P-car convert.

There is no comparison. If you can afford a 911 go that route.

No need to find a conversion.
MG built GTs with the Buick based rover aluminum V 8.
Same weight as the 4 cyl engine.

My brother had a MGB V8 roadster right hand drive.
Very nice engine, a bit more power than the 4cyl engine. And a very nice classic V8 sound.

One up side I noticed with MGs TRs is the smiles there bring out in folks looking at them, some how more loved by passers by.

Cheers Richard

Awesome pic - thanks for sharing!

BTW, does that LR wheel look a little tilted?

I was told once (as a qualifier) that the best MG's were the ones with metal - not rubber - bumpers.

The one in the CL ad has the wrong bumpers - but I'm also not digging the colour scheme, including the door panels.

Just my 2 centavos...

79 was not a good year for Bs. But once you get rid of the cat and put some good carbs on it, a cam plus more compression, some weight loss and it becomes a fun car. Plus the aftermarket has everything one would need for these so it passes the "no longer available" test. Also the price of entry is low compared to chrome bumper versions.

On the B, rubber bumpers started with '74.5. They also RAISED the suspension to meet headlight height requirements (DOT). And decreased power for emissions, eventually going from 2 carbs to one.

So, if you get one, get a chrome bumper car. Early 74 and earlier.

They are OK to tour around in at moderate speeds with the top down.

I would think you could have a lot more of the same kind of fun with this:

1994 Mazda Miata - Classic Red - with A/C

...and save some money too.

I got a call from an old friend of mine just last week. He is in to the Military collectible stuff and at a trade show traded a U Boat sailors cap (that he's had for a long time, says you can't give that stuff away at a show) to his fellow trade show partner, a Lawyer, for a 77 MGB. Says he had $200 in the cap, so if he can get it running and driving for about $2000 he thinks he did ok. Otherwise, he thinks he can part it out for more than the $200 investment. I told him good luck with that.

I had a well sorted one.. Enjoyed it and moved on.

If I go the modern route it will be with a 1st gen Boxster.
The only the Japanese cars that interest me are Datsun's. 510, 240Z

Again appreciate all the feedback. Probably not the car for me but will go give it a look.

or a black one if red isn't your style....

2004 mazda miata mx

I agree Scott 100% with your suggestion but that approach is way too sensible.
An old MG with a couple of SU carbs and a hot redhead chasing him may just change his mind...:)
Throw in the blue raggid azz jeans for good measure. Amp up the stress level...:)

I read all the Miata posts here on Pelican and can't think it'd be a lot more fun than an old MGB, especially a rubber bumper one.
I've reached the point of wanting to drive more than wrenching on 'em.

Here's another black one...

http://albuquerque.craigslist.org/cto/5839635158.html

A friend has a nice one, I think he is selling. He just finished this 914-6 conversion. You can just see the MGB-GT in the background.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1477270720.jpg

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned a Datsun SRL-311, aka the 2000, roadster. 2 liter OHC 4 cylinder with 130 HP and a 5 speed,produced 1968 - 1970. More solid than it's British counterparts, very simple to work on, and nice handling.

A nice example:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1477273207.jpg

I tend to side with the Germans. A nice Karmann Ghia would be nice.

I worked at a British Leyland dealer around the time that '79 MGB was new, I was in High School. Those were some awful years for British cars; as others have pointed out, they were very behind the curve in terms of dealing w encroaching regulations in terms of emissions, crash protections, etc.

I remember thinking that they'd really ruined the MGB at the time. They looked like schit w those bumpers, ran weak w the single carb and catalytic converter, etc. There is just no reason to buy that particular vintage, unless you're trying to make some seller really happy. Buy an older one, if anything, they are more common because they sold better.

It's like the mid-year 911s, ('74-'77), before they all got so expensive. There was no logical reason to buy one when there were plenty of early cars and SCs, etc. around for similar $$ once you'd done all the repairs to the 2.7. :cool:

The M GBGT V8 was a standard production car. The MGB roadster with a V8 was a Costello conversion, and usually had a more powerful version of the 3.5 V8(at least the 155BHP of the Rover P6) than the Landrover 137BHP fitted to the production GT. There were also of course the MGC and MGC GT fitted with the 145BHP seven bearing 3 litre straight six: they had a reputation for serious understeer but it could be carefully dialled out more or less.
An MGB GT is a significantly heavier car than the Roadster, so the accelaration suffers accordingly.
New roadster bodyshells are sold in the UK;many of the cars here have beeen reshelled. There are still a lot of these real slugs available to buy here.

I just sold my 1974 MGB last week....http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1477305915.jpg


Sold it to buy a nice 914. The B was fun, but a "city" car. At 60 mph you felt like it was was wound tight as a cheap watch. The teener is highway capable and actually likes it. The 5th gear makes a huge difference. Parts for MGs are everywhere and really cheap. the RB cars are really a different car. Emissions motor was even more anemic, ride height was raised for Fed specs, no sway bars made them really handle poorly. The list is long. There is a reason the RB cars are so much cheaper then the CB cars.

you want SU's??

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1477306463.jpg

How easy is it to tune twin SU carbs? Is it a skill that can be readily learned?

SU's are not hard at all, if you don't mess with them once they're set right.

Agree with all of the above. I had a 70 b for a long time, and it was a fun enough car, you could slide it around at lowish speeds, but archaic. And without overdrive, a buzzbox. I did make a couple Pa-Va trips in it but at 3500-4000 rpm the whole way.

The rubber bumper cars were both suspension and emission choked nightmares. A chrome bumper B is not a ball of fire to begin with.

As Greg said, SU's are pretty easy to tune. no harder than webers. You need a Unisyn to get them right or have a good ear. After that you just leave them alone. You will see a lot of B's that have the single weber DGV downdraft conversion. Mostly because most mechanics dont know how to tune SU's. Mine had one on it as well. I found a nice set of SU's with the linkage and manifold for $200. Bolt on, tune and forget em. Float levels are really the hardest thing about the HIF4 carbs. You have to take the carbs off and invert them to adjust the levels. Leave it to the English...

My buddies GT is a conversion he did, I think he used a Ford 5.0. It is very clean.

I really like B's but as said, unless you want to back date try and start with a chrome bumper car. SU's took me a little while to figure out, and I still need some practice, but if I can do it anyone can. Keep them full of oil, overflow hoses checked... they just work.

It's the damn SU fuel pumps that will eventually leave you stranded. The points, yes points, that stop working. You can bang the pump sometimes to get them started enough to get to a safe place. But the rule of thumb is the car will strand you some day.

The dominate factor for me was I was too old & burnt out to be working on cars.

I bought a Miata......the turbo on it eases the pain.

Same. I'm not ancient but in my 50s and my automotive perspective has shifted in terms of the time and energy I'll put into a machine vs. reward. I still have a few weird cars that I enjoy working on when time allows but my next sports car will be a 997 Carrera S coupe w manual trans. I just want to drive it and pay the insurance, basically.

I owned a 964 briefly last year but it needed significant $$ and time invested to be tight so I made the decision to cut it loose. No regrets. I'd rather have a 997, 8 ways from Sunday. The dollars/fun ratio of most air-cooled 911s has gone pear-shaped, unless you've owned it for a long time.

Sorry for the hijack. A rubber bumpered MGB would be a car I would not enjoy driving. It falls into the category of vehicles that you only drive if the woman who owns it is really hot and wants you to drive. Like an old Camry that needs an alignment. :cool:

Ha ha ha.....you sir won the Internet today! SmileWavy