Here is a short checklist of some things to look for before making your decision.

Congratulations on considering an MGB.  I think you’ll love the car.  I have a 78 and a 70 and enjoy both.  I used my 78 as my “daily driver” for the first two-plus years I owned it.  I’ve used the 70 as my daily driver for most of the past year and a half while I performed a lot of major changes on the 78.  Both have proved to be fun, reliable cars.

 

Preliminary Steps

 

ü    Take Your Time:  One of the greatest mistakes people make is getting in too big a hurry.  TAKE YOUR TIME and get to know the possible marques (brands) you might buy, what it’s going to cost to buy it, what it’s likely to cost to get it running, typical operational problems and costs, purchase sources, etc.

 

ü    Select Your Target Marque:  First, decide carefully what brand (“marque” if it’s British) you want to go for.  Make your choice match your budget; remember, you truly don’t know what you’re getting into.  I would say that 10% of purchase price for extra expenses in the first six months after buying the car would be really excellent… some report spending more like 25 to 50% or more!  Read about the car you want to buy – what models were offered and what was standard and optional.  Know the way the engine worked and what were the most common shortcomings and longer-term problems.  In short, get to know as much about the car as possible.

 

ü    Do Your Research:  Read about the car you want to buy – what models were offered and what was standard and optional.  Know the way the engine worked and what were the most common shortcomings and longer-term problems.  In short, get to know as much about the car as possible.  Sign up to a Tech Talk website and have emails sent to you so you won’t have to monitor their websites.  I’m a member of the Yahoo Auto Groups MG-MGB Group (http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/MG-MGB/) as well as about a dozen other Yahoo Auto Groups for MG Midgets, Austin Healey Sprites, Morris autos, etc. – do a Google search for Yahoo Auto Groups, then when you get onto one of the sites, do a Yahoo Auto Groups search for the brand or marque  that interests you.  Also, do an overall internet search for your marque plus such words as “car,” ”club,” ”association,” ”tech,” ”technical,” ”talk,” ”register,” your city name, and so forth.  Keep experimenting until you get some good hits.

 

ü    Join a National Association:  Join the major national association or registry for your marque; for MGB’s, it’s the North American MGB Registry ($32 per year; they publish MGB Driver, a bimonthly “paper” journal which has excellent Tech Tips; they also have an excellent website with all past Tech Tips posted) http://www.namgbr.org/ .

 

ü    Join a Local or Regional Club:  Also locate and join a local British car club (usually $20 to $50 per year and a lot of fun) – an invaluable source of ongoing information about your car and on parts.  Ask LOTS of questions.  You’ll quickly learn who knows what – use after-session informal time to mill around and talk with people.  Don’t be afraid to ask the dumb question… half the time, you’ll find that the person you’re talking with has to bring someone else into the discussion to answer it.

 

ü    Determine Possible Purchase Locations:  There are dozens of different places you can buy your car:  Local “for sale by owner” cars parked in a driveway or shopping center, local or regional auto tabloids, local general shopper tabloids, etc.  I’ve bought five cars on eBay – with one disaster and four wonderful results (including both my MGBs).  Also, there are numerous websites such as Hemmings.com, OldRides, and a host of others.  The British Marque Car News (http://www.britishmarque.com/britishmarque/index.cfm) has an “Autos for Sale section both on their website and in their monthly tabloid-sized newspaper; you might want to subscribe to it as its approximately $20 per year price is an excellent investment.  Other sites can be found by doing an internet search for your marque – be ready to be shocked at the number of sites you get.  You may want to limit your search to your state (or it and a couple of nearby ones), then keep on narrowing it down to your region, county, city, etc.

 

Getting Started on Your Car Search

 

ü    General:  These were pretty simple cars – more like the 50’s and 60’s – and are easy to detect problems and to work on.  However, they’re “systems” and, as such, relatively complex systems.  Thus, one problem can proliferate to others.  Unfortunately, many were left sitting for years and that’s about the worst thing you can do to a car.

 

ü    What to Take When You Shop:  Take a floor jack, 4-6 jack stands, creeper, cylinder compression gauge, spark plug remover, plastic container, set of wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, rags, and some Goop or other hand cleaner.

 

ü    What to Say When You Call:  Be sure to ask the seller if it’s okay for you to check the compression and to jack it up to check under it.  Tell them that the results aren’t necessarily disqualifiers – that you just want to know what you’re letting yourself in for… and that you want to make sure you’re not getting in past your abilities.  Most Classic Car people are reasonably cooperative and pretty honest.  But there are the bad apples.  If they’re totally uncooperative on this point, you might “back burner” this one.

 

ü    Ignore Paint Job & Interior:  While a great, shiny paint job makes the car look great and can save you several thousand dollars, in actuality, it’s by far NOT the most important aspect; the same goes for a beautiful, clean interior.   Too many people buy a great-looking car – perhaps assuming it will be as “clean” everywhere else as on the body and interior.  When I was new to Classic Cars, I bought a 68 Mustang that reminded me of my youth.  It was beautiful:  Really nice original paint, an interior that looked like 1968, clean and original black & white plaid trunk liner, great whitewall tires, original 68 hubcaps.  After towing it home and driving it a while, I realized that this car had serious problems – I ended up having to repaint it as the previous owner (often called “PO”) had simply put lots of polish over old and weakened paint; it also required a new engine, rebuilt transmission, re-cored radiator, new u-joints, all-around brake job, and numerous other items… I had simply let it’s “curb appeal” get the better of my analytic skills.  If you find yourself getting all excited about how “nice” the car looks, start asking yourself how you’d be reacting if it had a dull paint job with dings here and there.

 

Here Are Some Things to Look For:

 

ü    Rust:  I’d take 4-6 jack stands, a floor jack, and a creeper over and roll around under it.  Some of these were unibody cars, so rust can ruin the structural integrity of the car – causing sagging or even breakage of the body.  Look for hidden rust.  Rust on the rockers and where the fender meets the body is common, especially as road wind can push water up to the area at the height of the antenna mount.

 

ü    Engine - General:  These cars were NOT like today’s where you can sometimes go 50,000 miles between maintenance schedules.  Back when these cars were built, oil changes were rigorously at 3,000 and they frequently had whole-engine-rebuilds at 50,000.  Some run way past that, but you can expect to have to do some minor work on your engine right away and some major work eventually.  Most of these were thick-walled, long-stroke engines that were based on technologies from 1940’s through 1980 (the last year for many of these cars).  They’re pretty reliable.  Most problems come from having been driven for sustained periods like a muscle car.  Top speed ranged from about 85 to 105, redlined… unfortunately, people often drove them for hours like that and the cars show it.  Sometimes they have some rocker arm clatter, which often costs $350 to $450 to rebuild.  However, a better solution is to fix it by swapping them out with roller rockers, which last forever.  They usually cost about $450, but I got mine from British Starters on eBay for $235; I added a tuftrided shaft from Northwest Imports (about $70) and used my end stanchions from my old rockers).  The oil pump tends to last forever.  The water pump is a mechanical device without the same lubrication, so it goes out quicker – although the early models had a much better one than later ones.  You know about thermostats.  Like American cars, the earlier ones had lots of free space in the engine compartment and very little smog equipment, so they usually don’t run the least bit hot.  If it runs much above normal, start looking for something.  For many of these cars, normal oil pressure is about 65 to 80 at speed, about 20 to 50 at idle.  By the way, to do major work on the engine or transmission, on MGB’s you have to remove BOTH – without disconnecting them from each other (use a tilting mechanism on your engine hoist); it’s basically a two-person job if you want to keep from damaging your heater; remove everything from the engine first (I took digital photographs with a flash to get good light, as the diagrams in the book don’t always look like what you’re dealing with).  Others, like Triumphs, can have the transmission removed through the floorboard.

 

ü    Engine - Specific:  I’m assuming you know what to look for here.  Check the radiator for oil in the coolant.  If the level is low, drain some into a plastic container.  If you can’t get access to the radiator or the valve is stuck, try another avenue to the fluid.  Remove the spark plugs and test the compression – you’re not looking for a factory spec level, just a decent level.   You may also want to check the oil to see if there’s any fuel in it.  This isn’t necessarily a killer problem, but it does call for some maintenance (see the page entitled “Readying a Long-Stored Car.”

 

ü    Oil Leakage:  Do you know why the British never manufactured television sets?... they couldn’t figure out a way to make them leak oil.  Do you know why Great Britain had much lower road maintenance costs several decades ago?... they had driver-donated road oiling systems.  I have a beautiful stainless steel watch with an “MG” octagon logo on its face.  One of the members of the Reno MG – All British Car Club complimented it recently.  I told him that it kept good time… but it leaked oil.  Do you get a message here?  Pretty much ALL Classic British cars leak some oil!  You can either worry about it and stress yourself OR you can put drip pans under the engine and drivetrain (including differential) and sleep well.  Gasket technology was terrible back then:  Over time, replace key gaskets with newer technology (silicon, etc.).  Particularly pay attention to those on your oil pan, valve cover, and the rectangular “inspection” panels on the side of the engine (usually below the carbs if your engine has them).  Your rear engine seal will probably leak as well.  It’s a $4 part, but you have to pull either the transmission or both the engine and transmission to replace it!

 

ü    Lubrication:  The engine takes Castrol 20w50 HD NON-Eco-Friendly oil.  These older cars need an oil that has plenty of ZDDP in it… and modern oils have largely eliminated it.  Don’t use anything else as it can be destructive to the camshaft.  The tranny takes either 90 pound gear oil or 20w50 engine oil.  Most experts say that you should drain whatever you have and use Castrol HD 20w50 that does NOT have the “green” ecology-friendly label on it – the eco-friendly oils are missing three key ingredients that wear out camshafts very rapidly.

 

ü    Carburetors:  You may be lucky and get really good ones.  On the webpage entitled “Readying a Long-Stored Car” there’s information on what to do regarding the carburetors once you make your purchase.  The SU carbs that were standard on many of the early models are excellent and, despite what you hear, easy to synchronize using a simple vacuum float or gauge.  The nice thing about them is that they’ll give decent performance even if they’re in terrible shape.  To get excellent performance, you may want to rebuild or replace them.  Rebuilding each one runs anywhere from $350 to $650 – replacement runs about $400+ each for brand new ones… guess which makes more sense?!   I had HS4’s on my 1970 (standard) but recently replaced them with the higher-performance HS6’s (used on Jaguars and for racing MGB’s and other cars).  Later models had a Zenith carb that has a bad reputation – I can’t comment personally, as I’ve never had one.  I did have a Weber 32/36 downdraft on my 78 MGB and it was excellent, giving both reliable performance and very good gas mileage.  I now have dual Weber DCOE 45’s on my 78, since I converted it to a high-performance engine – they’re very hot!

 

ü    Performance:  Early British cars had very little smog equipment (for MGB’s, the first year was 1968).  By 1975, there was a LOT of smog equipment on them and horsepower and torque both suffered significantly – for example, the MGB went from highs in 1962 of 92 hp and 110 ft. pounds respectively to lows of 62 hp and 67 ft. pounds in by the last years.  Be sure you’re willing to live with this – they’re great fun to drive, but be prepared to have even the smallest modern car run off and leave you at every stoplight.

 

ü    Ignition:  Hand turn the distributor to see if you’re going to have to make adjustments to it.  Be ready to clean and replace the points and, probably, the rotor, the cap, and the ignition wires.  Check or, better yet, be ready to replace, the tiny vacuum line that comes off the distributor, as it usually has hairline cracks and won’t advance properly.  I’d strongly recommend converting to a Pertronix electronic ignition; it eliminates the touchy tuning problems and you never replace points again.  It’s about $100 and you can install it yourself.  While you’re at it, I’d replace the rotor and the cap and put on high-performance ignition wires (they’re about $35 and make a very noticeable difference).

 

ü    Fuel Pump:  These go out eventually.  They cost as much as $165 or so from Moss Motors; you can get an electronic one from Northwest Imports or British Victoria or British Northwest for about $130.  I had one go out in late 2007 and I found a new electronic one on eBay for $89.95.  Once you replace one, it should last for years.  On early B’s, it’s located behind the right rear wheel.  Jack it up, remove the wheel, and, voila, there’s the fuel pump right beside the battery case.  On later ones, it’s accessed via the trunk, on the right side up against the bulkhead.  NOTE:  B’s don’t function well with after-market electric puller fuel pumps mounted in the engine compartment; save yourself time and money and don’t try this!!!

 

ü    Electrics:  Lucas did the electrical systems for almost all British and many other European cars (as well as some American components).  They have a very bad reputation – however, it’s my opinion and that of many people who really dive into things that there was absolutely nothing inherently wrong with Lucas.  They used bullet connectors and had a habit of running ground wires (always black on MGBs) from the front of the engine to every single electrical item (i.e., read tail and marker lights).  This many connections tended to corrode over decades of use.  You’ll often get odd symptoms.  For example, when I got my 78 MGB, the right turn signal didn’t work at all and the left didn’t work at low speed… but flashed like mad at high speeds.  Other items didn’t work or worked very dimly (i.e., marker lights and dash lights, which were pretty dim back in the 70’s, as they used 2 watt bulbs).  Working on the theory that if it’s dim or partly works, it’s NOT broken, just a bad connection, I took all connections apart and cleaned both the male and female parts with sandpaper and/or steel wool – suddenly, everything worked properly.  One other idiosyncrasy:  The fuse box is located inside the engine compartment on many British cars (often on the passenger side wheel well); it gets blow-by oil and road grit on it.  Sometimes, your car will just suddenly die… after hours of checking other things, you’ll remember this email and take out your fuses, clean them, clean the clips that the fuses fit into, try your car, and it will start and run another 5,000 to 25,000 miles.  Remember this!  On my 78, I relocated the fuse box into the passenger compartment, as much to clear up room for my massive Weber DCOE 45 carbs as to prevent oil and grit buildup.

 

ü    Clutch:  Most British cars had a hydraulic clutch with a master cylinder up in front of the firewall and, roughly, above your feet (there’s a small fluid reservoir right in front of the firewall on the driver’s side).  The slave cylinder is down below by the clutch itself.  If you have a soft or no clutch, it’s one or the other of these going out (or a hose).  If you get drippage on your feet, it’s the master.  If you don’t, it’s the hose or the slave.  The slave is easiest to replace, but neither are horrible.

 

ü    Brakes:  Assume it will need work here if it’s been parked for ages.  The brake system is simple.  If you work on it, you may as well as replace the flexible portions of the brake lines – they’re 30 to 45 years old and are eventually going to go… probably some Sunday when you’re out on a country drive about 50 miles from anywhere.  Brake squeal is normal, as the rear rides about 1/32 to 1/64^th above the rotor.  There are anti-squeal strips you can buy for about $6.00 per set if you redo your brakes.  Despite what you may hear from purists, according to my mechanic (who raced them, headed up a racing maintenance team, and has worked on them for 30+ years), the braking system on a B is very adequate for hard driving, even with a racing engine on a racecourse.

 

ü    Dash:  In early British cars, the tach was often mechanical and might have problems (they can be rebuilt or there are websites where you can order rebuilt ones); in later cars, it was electrical and pretty reliable.  The speedometer is cable-driven; if it has squealing and flutter, the problem is usually a frayed cable – replace this (usually below $20 and a relatively easy job) before pulling the speedo.  Gauges and switches can be bought over the internet.  eBay can be a good source, although the seller often doesn’t know if the item actually works.  When you can’t find something, do a Google Search (i.e., 1970 MGB tachometer).  I’m always amazed at reading emails from people who ask where to find something and I do a Google Search and find 20 or 30 currently available at good prices.

 

ü    Upholstery & Carpet:  NOW, you pay attention to the upholstery.  If it’s great, then you’re in luck.  If it isn’t, you can buy and install it yourself – I bought mine for around $300+ and did both seats in my ’78 MGB in about three hours.  The best quality, service, and prices are from Prestige AutoTrim in England.  Even with shipping, they’re FAR less than US suppliers and have much higher quality (dense cut plush carpet vs. cheap looped; heavy leather-like seat covers with 5/8” of extra padding, etc.).  They also have a great variety of tops.

 

ü    Transmission:  Most of these transmissions are 4-speed all syncro and are virtually indestructible.  The dipstick location varies – on MGBs, it’s in front of the radio console (which may or may not have a radio in it).  From the passenger side, reach up between the console and the firewall area, lift up the tab of carpet, reach down through a hole about 3” in diameter, and pull out the short dipstick (it helps to lay cardboard over your carpets, as it’s hard to do this without drippage).  I can’t remember exactly how much it takes, but my memory says seven quarts (it’s in the manual).  Remember, your car was probably owned by people who had little or no knowledge about how to maintain a sports car and oil may well be 30 to 45 years old!  Drain and change it!!!  See lubrication recommendations below.

 

ü    Suspension Bushings:  These have probably been on the car for anywhere from almost 30 to over 45 years… imagine the compression on small rubber parts after that many years of hard driving – after all, these were sports cars meant to corner hard and tight.  They may still be serviceable even if they’re bad.  The original rubber bushings are most probably spongey or shot – you’ll eventually need to replace them; use high-tech ones rather than the rubber style and they’ll last you a lifetime.  Mine are, as far as I know, the original ones and they still do fine.  However, I know that if I replaced them the car would handle better.  I’m replacing the ones on my 78 soon with polyurethane ones and everybody I know says it makes an unbelievable difference in handling.  Assume that yours are shot.  A full set to top quality ones don’t cost that much, but, obviously, would take many hours to replace.  Everybody who goes to the trouble says they make an amazing difference.

 

ü    Springs:  Sit in the car and have someone else stand back about 25 to 30 feet and squat down to sight on the car’s side-to-side leveling.  Problems with the left rear spring are very common as these were typically one-person cars that were driven hard over the years.  Again, you can continue to drive it, just know what you’ve got to replace eventually.  My 78 has great springs, but I’m replacing them with 3” lowered ones to get it to the height of the chrome bumper models.  My 70 has terrible springs, but I’m putting up with them until I finish everything I’m doing on the 78 – for the time being, I bought a $29.95 set of spring boosters at my local auto parts house and fitted them on the 70… not “all original” but a satisfactory temporary fix for me.  Wouldn’t it be nice if I could put the good springs off the 78 onto the 70?... alas, they’d raise it 3” and make it look terrible. 

 

ü    Differential:  This, too, has probably been subject to very little maintenance.  Check the manual for lubrication recommendations.   Check for leakage (light discoloration is often normal and sometimes is simply engine blow-by that made it back that far).  If you buy the car, drain the fluid and replace it according to original factory specifications.

 

ü    Wheel Bearings:  With the car jacked up, wobble each wheel with one hand at the top and one at the bottom, them with your hands on each side.  A loose wheel isn’t a disqualifier – it just means you have a bit of work ahead and some small expenses.

 

Buying the Car:

 

ü    What to Pay:  Remember, you’re going to have to spend money on this car – probably some just to get it running and then some more during its first year to keep it operational.  Usually, you’ll end up replacing most of the hoses and belts, replacing or rebuilding the brake and clutch cylinders (fairly costly), maybe a couple or more brake or clutch hoses, perhaps some carb components, etc.  Some will be just a few dollars, others may be a few hundred dollars.  Usually the transmissions are reliable and hopefully you’ve done a good job – and lucked out – on the engine.  On my 78 MGB, I spent probably $600 in the first year; on my 70, more like $500.  My assessment is that I was exceptionally lucky on both these, particularly since I was using them as daily drivers rather than as “trailer queens” for show only.  I would guess that more normal numbers would be two to three times what I spent.  The point:  Factor in your overall budget before making your offer.  Too often, the buyer – and his or her family – come to view this wonderful British car as a “money hole.”  You can avoid this by announcing your overall budget to your spouse / mate and getting some buy-in beforehand.

 

ü    Negotiating:  Probably the biggest mistake made when negotiating is the “tough guy” one where the demeanor gets real hard, the gruff side comes out, and the car gets insulted.  If you feel you have to insult the owner or the car, then walk away.  He or she won’t like it… nor YOU!  I’ve found the best approach is to “condition” my negotiations by telling them that it’s a nice car and that I’m very interested in it – but that I know I’m going to have to spend a good bit on it to get it going and up to where I want it to be; that I have a limited budget and that I’d really appreciate them working with me on the sales price.  They usually ask what I had in mind and I make a reasonable offer.  If they get angry, I emphasize again that I’m not trying to insult them or the car – rather, I’m just letting them know my budget.  On the other hand, sometimes I get a surprisingly good counter offer.  I’ve been able to close a car purchase in a few minutes using this approach.  On the other hand, in one case it took several months before the buyer realized he wasn’t going to sell it for his asking price and that my offer – while not what he’d hoped to get – would allow him to sell his car.

 

The First Thing to Do After Buying:

 

ü    Get a Manual:  Buy a manual!  Make sure you get one that covers your model year.  You can find them all the time on eBay (do an eBay search for something like “1970 MGB Service Manual” – if that doesn’t get good hits, leave out the word “Service” then carefully screen each “hit” to make sure you’re getting the right manual).  Note that a lot of people offer the manual on a CD – I bought one of these and occasionally use it, but find it generally more convenient to take the physical book out to the garage where I work on the car… I don’t much like having my laptop out there with greasy hands.  USE it regularly; it’s my most read non-fiction book in my library.  I keep it by my recliner in the living room.  I may be watching TV or reading a novel and suddenly think about something on my B… the manual is right there.  I also bought an 11 x 17” color-coded, laminated wiring schematic (be sure to get the one for your year, as they changed almost every year).  I keep it in the trunk of my car.  I scanned it on my computer, then blew it up to about 4 feet by 6 feet and taped it on the wall of my garage.  Very helpful.  By the way, MGB used the same general wiring color codes throughout the life on the marque.  Thus, green wires are always rear parking or marker lights; red ones are always front; red & green are headlights; brown are un-fused hot; purple are fused hot, etc.