1972 MGB project

tod0987

tod0987

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Money Pit? Electrical Problem? town cruiser? All of the above?

Dad retired and is now stir crazy after recovering from medical issues and decided he needed a project. I tried to convince him into an M-715 or power wagon but he wasn't having it. He's been looking for an MGB, MGB GT or TR6 for a few years in a price point that if it blows up, it's not the end of the world. It's going to be driven all over so he wasn't looking for a Pebble Beach resto. I've been looking for something to tinker on as well after working over a buddy's 998 HMMWV a few years ago. On Sunday, the guy knocked the price in half as his wife hated it so we went and checked it out and beat 4 other folks to the guys house as he said "money talks". Its a 1972 MGB convertible with 69K miles upgraded weber carb and alternator conversion. It has a few dents dings, a repaint, and 1-2 minor low speed bumps that were fixed it appears but for the price (sub 5k) we felt we could get that or close to it back if we get tired of it.

Is anyone here an MGB guy that I might be able to pick your brain in a trade etc?

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later edit. So I just put 2+2 together and realized this is July 4th and this is a British sports car :confused: I'm blaming the heat and fumes (she's running rich) for this one. (we don't have holidays off and today is a normal day off for me)
 
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I had a '69, I was the second owner.
Fun car, I was lucky to have a friend that was into British cars to help me out.

5K sounds like a good price.
Check for rust.

Has your dad sat down in the car and been able to get back out?

 
ronn47 said:
I had a '69, I was the second owner.
Fun car, I was lucky to have a friend that was into British cars to help me out.

5K sounds like a good price.
Check for rust.

Has your dad sat down in the car and been able to get back out?

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This would be the car's 3rd owner. Yes, the former owner was an Army Ranger with 3 knee replacements and couldn't get in and out anymore. Dad is pretty skinny, I caught all the extra lol

All the quarter panels look good with no rust or blooming. We did find the floor pans were in rough shape with rust and will need replacing. My main concern was the bottom corners of all the body panels which seemed to have a nice response when tapped. It wasn't a dull, sound absorbing thud. We agreed we didn't want to go into too much outer body work as once you start there's no stopping.
 
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tod0987 said:
This would be the car's 3rd owner. Yes, the former owner was an Army Ranger with 3 knee replacements and couldn't get in and out anymore. Dad is pretty skinny, I caught all the extra lol

All the quarter panels look good with no rust or blooming. We did find the floor pans were in rough shape with rust and will need replacing. My main concern was the bottom corners of all the body panels which seemed to have a nice response when tapped. It wasn't a dull, sound absorbing thud. We agreed we didn't want to go into too much outer body work as once you start there's no stopping.
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If you end up replacing the top.
There is a line on the top that they say to pull to the edge of the crossbar.
Pull it a 1/8" past that line.
Do the replacement on a Warm day.
Lock the top down and leave it for a week.
It will be hard to close.
But the rear windows will form fit like they should, nice and smooth.
 
The biggest issues with those is the rocker panels. Lots of "restorations" only replace the outer skin. Being a unibody, inside the rocker has several layers that are structurally significant and often cheated in a shitty resto.
 
I test drove a friend’s nice ‘72 B for sale in around ‘76. Smoked a wire on the test dive.

But I loved those little cars.
 
NC Boy Scout said:
I’ve been toying with the idea of picking up a Jaguar soft top. Either an XS or XJS.
Hopefully the electrical gremlins were killed off by the mid to late 80s
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Jags use Lucas Premium Smoke.

All British cars are made for the owner to check and preform maintenance themselves.
Or have a mechanic on staff.
 
When I was born I came home from the hospital in an MGA. mom's second car was an MGBGT. Her daily driver from the time I can remember until senior year in HS was 74 MGB. Mom broke ass poor, parents divorced, I cut my teeth mechanically working on the piece of crap 74. electrical was honestly not that big of a deal. Clean corrosion off of the bullet connectors in the harness and wiggle a fuse or ten and everything was happy, ok, and a bunch of beating the crap out of starters and fuel pumps to get them going again..
 
My old man had a MG Midget Sprit when I was but a pup. Loved that car.

I had a buddy that had an MG, can't remember the year, with a 289. Stretched the front end 4" if memory serves. Obviously the car no longer exists.....

I like the MG's.
 
ronn47 said:
If you end up replacing the top.
There is a line on the top that they say to pull to the edge of the crossbar.
Pull it a 1/8" past that line.
Do the replacement on a Warm day.
Lock the top down and leave it for a week.
It will be hard to close.
But the rear windows will form fit like they should, nice and smooth.
Click to expand...
Thanks yes it needs a bit of love due to the stitching rotting out. The lock down hinges were a bit tough to rotate so I think its been top down for the last 9 years and garaged. I'm hoping my old singer can do some work. I've been looking a used upholstery machine for canvas work, but everyone wants an arm and leg compared to new.
 
Had a '68 MGB. Silver.
Never took it anywhere a small crowd didn't form up. Everyone from young boys to old women loved it.
When it ran it was a sublime car.

"When" being the key word. I think I pushed it further than I drove it! But when it was running it was impossibly fun. Might be easier to tune with the weber, mine had the dual SU carbs. I was in my 20's and too young and dumb for a car like that. But man it was cool.
 
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