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1974 MGB GT - The Mustard (Mit) Mobility Scooter - 6yrs ownership & the end is potentially nigh!


SiC

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I've got a rough picture from the endoscope.

Nicking this picture from the tinterwebs, I've put a blue splodge where roughly I think it is. Very much a dirt trap.

 

7860494e93c080a49b705e68328f0ae5.jpg

 

 

 

...That's a pic I took all them years  back of 'my old MGB' - eh, before I acquired it;  I was doin all the welding to it over a winter, when my uncle owned it... Id wager your blue splodge hole is probably bigger than that when the wing comes off; its a bit of a rust trap on them - there a bolt-on  D shaped closing panel from the boxy inner wing to the bulbous part of the outer wing; this rots at the top n mud.shite/dead birds/small animal ingress into the inner wing cavity...

 

It shouldn't be a worry for a Mot test, I can't imagine them being able to spot that with the front wing on...

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Just caught up with this thread from the January updates. Not that I have any experience whatsoever of older, proper cars but there have been many, many occasions this and last year where I have wanted to give up on a project, due either to anger, frustration or defeat.

 

I have found that walking away and enjoying a different hobby for a while (mine is running) works absolute wonders.

 

I also echo what Vulgalour said, a few good days with a car, sunny ones a bonus, works wonders for your perspective on the project.

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If you still have the old fuel tank drain the new one into that, it was only the top that was rotten and you can refit the old sender and seal the outlet.

 

I would very seriously suggest you buy that pipe bender coalnotdole has highlighted, I have a similar one and they work a treat on any small bore pipes, even brakes.

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Deep breath mate. Sort the tank yourself, get it MOT'd then take it to older car friendly garage to let them have a fiddle with it to get it running bob on. Then drive the thing to regain your mojo. I have episodic monumental fuck it, get rid of all this shit moments and am sure these are becoming part of AS lore. However, cooler heads prevail on here and after a while I calm down, feel less likely to kill things and carry on.

 

It's part of how shit is. Sometimes you can only do a certain amount of stuff on a car before handing it over to someone who can sort it. I know you have been spending money quicker than you can print it but the MG isn't the car I would be considering getting rid of..... ;)

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I've had enough of this fucking car now. I've snapped and my patience has run out.

 

Filled up with fuel. This is the first petrol station shot as this is only the third time it's got to one.

1ae7893e178e6cfa4c17de9b2a8105e1.jpg

 

Doesn't feel quite right in the drive of it. Front left doesn't feel 100%. Looking underneath it looks all fine though.

 

Got home, looked under the tank at the new pipe fittings and it's only pissing well leaking now. Not a big leak, but enough to build up a drop around a minute.

1df0b96e3891c3e1e40c41eaeb23e9d3.jpg

 

While looking at that, I had the ignition on to keep the pump active and the fuel lines pressurised. Completely forgot about it and got carried away with time. Then remembered the coil. Naturally its now fucked.

abf38222ed2ad254730ab7016b2c84b5.jpg

a0cc7d5a89783fe9392a749d33c0b22e.jpg

 

Got a brand new spare that I can lob on. However in my frustration I can't remember where I've put one of the frigging mounting bolt.

 

I really not sure I can stand too much more of this. Both problems (ignoring the driving feel thing) are not the cars fault but I'm still angry with it. Especially as it's supposed to be going for it's MOT tomorrow. Doesn't look like that will be happening now.

 

I think I need another hobby.

 

 

 

Old cars are rubbish. I'm in the same boat - I have an ABS fault on the E36 that I can't fix despite scanning, clearing codes, replacing a sensor, replacing the ABS pump/ECU. Then yesterday my 1 Series diff rebuild ground to a halt because the new side bearings just do not fit. Imagine if the car was here, up on stands and you needed to use it. 1 Series are still modern cars.

 

I wouldn't entertain your MGB. BL is bad enough, but BL of that age? And Vulg's Princess shitting itself every 30 seconds. Fuck that.

 

Buy 'em cheap and disposable. 

 

BUT: You own it now. Take it for the MOT, which it will fail, and get the garage to fix it. Then just use it. Gallon of oil, water, spares, tools, and just use it. You haven't gelled because you haven't really used it. 

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I've had enough of this fucking car now. I've snapped and my patience has run out.

 

Filled up with fuel. This is the first petrol station shot as this is only the third time it's got to one.

1ae7893e178e6cfa4c17de9b2a8105e1.jpg

 

Doesn't feel quite right in the drive of it. Front left doesn't feel 100%. Looking underneath it looks all fine though.

 

Got home, looked under the tank at the new pipe fittings and it's only pissing well leaking now. Not a big leak, but enough to build up a drop around a minute.

1df0b96e3891c3e1e40c41eaeb23e9d3.jpg

 

While looking at that, I had the ignition on to keep the pump active and the fuel lines pressurised. Completely forgot about it and got carried away with time. Then remembered the coil. Naturally its now fucked.

abf38222ed2ad254730ab7016b2c84b5.jpg

a0cc7d5a89783fe9392a749d33c0b22e.jpg

 

Got a brand new spare that I can lob on. However in my frustration I can't remember where I've put one of the frigging mounting bolt.

 

I really not sure I can stand too much more of this. Both problems (ignoring the driving feel thing) are not the cars fault but I'm still angry with it. Especially as it's supposed to be going for it's MOT tomorrow. Doesn't look like that will be happening now.

 

I think I need another hobby.

 

Fuel pipe into tank union. 

 

you did fit an olive onto the pipe first didnt you? if so that would seal it. When they leak a further nip seals them up good.

 

Re the kink, err no thanks but probably not at the top of your list, and shouldnt impact MOT unless they decide it is not secured against the body

 

re pipe benders I have great success with this type

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bergen-Hand-Pipe-Bender-For-3-16-1-4-5-16-3-8-Brakes-plumber-A5029/152640067813?hash=item238a0e98e5:g:X2gAAOSwaB5Xkg9I

 

I also have one of these but it is a fiddly bastard to use

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3IN1-COPPER-PIPE-BENDER-6mm-8mm-10mm-BRAKE-FUEL-PIPE/312094351668?hash=item48aa45e134:g:ELEAAMXQyY1TVs4b

 

But like I said shouldnt be at the top of your list.

 

what other folk have said here rings very true. old cars were never particularly reliable in their day and a shovel full of mechanical sympathy and knowledge building on the fly got me through nearly a decade of crock daily drivers when I was in my teens and 20s.

 

A car like an MGB is a very simple piece of machinery compared to anything modern* (built since the 1980s). the work you have done is good, and interesting but I fear you are trying to make it run and handle like an MX5 or a TT. That aint ever doing to happen, they are just to simple and they will have annoying rattles and clonks and the handling might feel a bit odd by comparison. these are all reasons why Mazda took the world by storm. 

 

By the way suspension is very reliant on effects of gravity. so problems on n/s/f corner you should also look at o/s/r. dodgy dampers and shocks can make it feel odd. as could also thinks like torquing the bottom link up before the weight of the car is on the ground. as car leaving them sitting for ages. the tyres will develop flat spots due to the weight of the car standing for reasonable periods of time

 

See your local classic friendly garage for MOT, have a chat with him about gelling with it and at least understand if your expectations can be met with this car. 

 

At the end of the day you may need to cut your losses rather than continue the misery. though this just happens to be the perfect time of year to sell a car like this. I think

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Dampers are everything on suspension, and I doubt lever arms are up to much. My £250 323i shitwagen had a really crashy ride. Dampers were rusty but not leaking but I've been here before with a 1 Series - just because they don't leak (sorry, have a 'light misting of oil')  doesn't mean they aren't fucked. And so upon dismantling, I pushed the damper rods down - not much effort required. Did they slowly rise up again on gas pressure? No way. They're completely borken.

 

Fitted a pair of very good Boge part worns and it rides and handles a lot better.

 

+1 on tightening suspension bolts with everything at normal ride height. I always jack the suspension up to ride height before tightening damper bolts.

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You haven't gelled because you haven't really used it.

^^ This. I've found before that if a car isn't reliable at least when I start using it, I loose trust in it very quickly and find it hard to let it regain it.

 

Fuel pipe into tank union.

 

you did fit an olive onto the pipe first didnt you? if so that would seal it. When they leak a further nip seals them up good.

 

The pipe I bought as a premade section like the replacement I've ordered. It had a soldered fitting that mated up with the tank outlet. I'm suspecting now that the back end of this isn't flat, which is causing the nut to not seat properly and squarely when done up. I'll know soon enough once I've got it off again.

 

 

Re the kink, err no thanks but probably not at the top of your list, and shouldnt impact MOT unless they decide it is not secured against the body

 

re pipe benders I have great success with this type

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bergen-Hand-Pipe-Bender-For-3-16-1-4-5-16-3-8-Brakes-plumber-A5029/152640067813?hash=item238a0e98e5:g:X2gAAOSwaB5Xkg9I

 

I also have one of these but it is a fiddly bastard to use

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3IN1-COPPER-PIPE-BENDER-6mm-8mm-10mm-BRAKE-FUEL-PIPE/312094351668?hash=item48aa45e134:g:ELEAAMXQyY1TVs4b

 

I was intending to get them changed out again after the MOT as I wasn't happy about the routing or kinks in the pipe. Just was going to keep it on there to get it through first!

 

I'm definitely going to invest in a pipe bender. Something I should have bought originally.

 

what other folk have said here rings very true. old cars were never particularly reliable in their day and a shovel full of mechanical sympathy and knowledge building on the fly got me through nearly a decade of crock daily drivers when I was in my teens and 20s.

 

A car like an MGB is a very simple piece of machinery compared to anything modern* (built since the 1980s). the work you have done is good, and interesting but I fear you are trying to make it run and handle like an MX5 or a TT. That aint ever doing to happen, they are just to simple and they will have annoying rattles and clonks and the handling might feel a bit odd by comparison. these are all reasons why Mazda took the world by storm.

 

By the way suspension is very reliant on effects of gravity. so problems on n/s/f corner you should also look at o/s/r. dodgy dampers and shocks can make it feel odd. as could also thinks like torquing the bottom link up before the weight of the car is on the ground. as car leaving them sitting for ages. the tyres will develop flat spots due to the weight of the car standing for reasonable periods of time

 

See your local classic friendly garage for MOT, have a chat with him about gelling with it and at least understand if your expectations can be met with this car.

 

At the end of the day you may need to cut your losses rather than continue the misery. though this just happens to be the perfect time of year to sell a car like this. I think

Since sorting the front suspension, it rides pretty well. Especially after refilling and sealing up the offside damper reservoir. Its way better over speed bumps than both Audi's we now seem to have. No real squeaks from the front now either. Back end could do with a bit of attention. The rubbery bits are pretty worn out. Like the front though, I'll probably keep the originals springs as most of the modern replacements don't seem up to much.

 

Cornering I haven't pushed too hard but it seems acceptable. Requires a bit of muscle to do so but that's because I've driven modern electric PAS for too long. Biggest problem is that I slide off the worn out seat foam!

 

I really want to give this one a good chance. I'll kick myself in the future if I don't. It'd be nice and I'd be very content if I could manage just a thousand miles without a breakdown or failure.

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It'd be nice and I'd be very content if I could manage just a thousand miles without a breakdown or failure.

There's optimism and then there's expecting to do a thousand miles without any problems. Back in the late 70's when I was running things like this as daily drivers getting a thousand miles without having to be under the bonnet fixing something was nei on impossible.

Start with aiming for a nice trip to the seaside (eg Weston super Mud) and back without problems then go on from there.

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Incidentally Weston-super-mare is where I bought it from and the longest single journey that I've managed to drive it without incident*. If I knew what I know now, the second FTP could have been fixed with a condenser and a set of points. I was going to bring them on that fateful drive but I forgot.

 

 

 

* It did require fancy footwork at traffic lights to stop it stalling.

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I think much of the trouble with old stuff comes from periods of inactivity. My Capri is from 74 and that’s been a fantastic car since I’ve had it (bought in 2001). The reason I think is because it’s never really been left for years unused in a damp garage or front garden.

Keeping everything moving and working through use, I’m convinced that’s why anyway. By rights the Mercury should be able to run rings around the lot of my old fleet but it’s by far the least reliable and trustworthy, because it was unused since 1995 and everything in it and on it has been allowed to deteriorate.

They turn a corner in the end, but it takes a lot of fiddling and repairs to get there. I’m about there with the Mercury now, just needs this carburettor issue sorting once and for all!

Realistically cars this old will never come close to a decent modern car, you can’t use them in the same way. But they can and do offer so much more in terms of fun, style and drive.

I used to use my Capri all year round for example, it managed ok, but would I want to do that now? No.

It’s a great toy, it looks fantastic in a way no modern ever can but it’s a bit much nowadays running cars getting on for 50 years old as daily drivers all year round. Winter can be really hard work especially!

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I dont mess around with points, condensers caps nor rotors from anywhere other than distributor doctor now. costs but then "buy cheap, get stranded high and dry on the M5 is the pissing rain waiting hours for fucking recovery, and then buy again etc etc. similar issues with power/accuspark products on the staaag. but then the dizzy is in the back of the engine V and could not be a less hospitable place for it on the outside of the engine. B series is a lot more friendly for this type of kit.

 

Far too much stuff available now from speshuleests and auction sites that makes 1970s lucas seem like top quality. Buying these bits is a mine field.

 

rule #1 if it comes in a green lucas box, it aint

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I wonder if your age is impacting your ability to put up with this old crock - if you were driving shite like this “for real” ie it was all that was available to you as a daily driver when you passed your test I wonder if you would see it differently?

 

I couldn’t cope with it I don’t think.

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I wonder if your age is impacting your ability to put up with this old crock - if you were driving shite like this “for real” ie it was all that was available to you as a daily driver when you passed your test I wonder if you would see it differently?

 

I couldn’t cope with it I don’t think.

I think you're correct there. For me, breaking down was something the box of spanners in the boot was for.

 

I remember my dad trying to trade in his Anglia (257DVN) to the Ford dealer in Rotherham in about 1963 (T C Harrison ?) and it wouldn't start. He got a hammer out of the boot, layed under the side of the car in his suit and beat the shit out of the starter motor. It started and he traded it in with Brook Shaw in Sheffield. A red Mk I Cortina, GWE792C replaced it.

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Just caught up with the last couple of pages.

As a couple of others have suggested, it may be easier to drive it straight to the garage you’re MOTing it at, and get them to do what’s needed.

Then, in theory, it’ll be running ok, it’ll have been properly checked over by someone in the know, and you won’t have the stress of constantly questioning whether you’ve done enough to make it reliable/whether it’ll still leak fuel/whether something is about to drop off.

Whatever you do, don’t sell the damn thing...yet. Regain confidence in driving it (or at least start that process), and get to know what a GT is really like as a weekend plaything. Either you’ll start to enjoy it’s quirks and charm, or you’ll detest the thing and wish you’d never bought it in the first place.

Whatever the case, if you give up now and flog it on, you can guarantee that the new owner will spend a day and £100 on it, then it’ll behave perfectly for the foreseeable.

A bit like Mo Farah right now, you’re too close to the finish line to give up.

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Some times they just hate you. I spent a fortune and loads of time on my Panda and it was just one fault after another. I sold it to sri05 on here cheap for a crushing loss and he's not had any problems.

 

You can read that 2 ways. 1: I fixed everything there was to break. 2: It hated me and if I continued to own it it'd keep spending my money until I faces financial ruin.

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I think you're correct there. For me, breaking down was something the box of spanners in the boot was for.

 

I remember my dad trying to trade in his Anglia (257DVN) to the Ford dealer in Rotherham in about 1963 (T C Harrison ?) and it wouldn't start. He got a hammer out of the boot, layed under the side of the car in his suit and beat the shit out of the starter motor. It started and he traded it in with Brook Shaw in Sheffield. A red Mk I Cortina, GWE792C replaced it.

 

 

T.C 'Cuth' Harrison was the Ford dealer in Roth and Sheff back then on London Road. He was a very good rally driver and campaigned Mark 1 Zephyrs and stuff in the Monte. Brook Shaw were on Norfolk Street. 

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I wonder if your age is impacting your ability to put up with this old crock - if you were driving shite like this “for real” ie it was all that was available to you as a daily driver when you passed your test I wonder if you would see it differently?

 

I couldn’t cope with it I don’t think.

Funnily enough I wondered the same about yourself when you had the LDV "incident". A few years previously it wouldn't have bothered you and you'd got it fixed. But in the LDV case I couldn't figure if it was because you were older or just richer. I.e. you earn enough now to buy your way out of a problem and really can't be bothered with the hassle of old dodgy stuff.

 

For me, the changing point was the first Scenic II I bought as a stop gap (my avatar picture). Before then I almost never had a FTP. But that Scenic II was bought at a time when I couldn't really afford to replace or spend a lot repairing it. Also two of the three times it FTP my other half was in it or driving it. One we cut out in the middle of a junction, the other she was driving it (after just regaining confidence in it) and the fuel rail connector popped off, pissing fuel everywhere.

 

After that, she's became very loathed to be in or drive older stuff. Also stresses me out when stuff FTP as she then moans about it. As it stands, I need to prove in a big way that the MGB is reliable before she'll travel in it. Before I can do that, I need to convince myself. Not helped when I'm about to walk out of the door and I receive the remark "I'm not coming out to pick/tow you home!".

 

If I had it 10 years ago (i.e. when I was 22), I probably would have much more prepared to put up with it. But then I'd have less skills, tools and finances to have a chance of fixing it everytime.

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One we cut out in the middle of a junction, the other she was driving it (after just regaining confidence in it) and the fuel rail connector popped off, pissing fuel everywhere.

 

After that, she's became very loathed to be in or drive older stuff. Also stresses me out when stuff FTP as she then moans about it. As it stands, I need to prove in a big way that the MGB is reliable before she'll travel in it. Before I can do that, I need to convince myself. Not helped when I'm about to walk out of the door and I receive the remark "I'm not coming out to pick/tow you home!".

 

 

 I hear you with this - Missus Moog is tolerant of old chod as long as it isn't her breaking down.  This then adds to the stress - especially if it is the comments about "not that car again" " you said you were going to be 5 minutes" "how much does it need spent on it now" 

 

If she breaks down I never hear the end of it - hence she has a getz that just goes on and on. 

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My wife won’t go I any of my old crud . She used to until an old s class I had conked outside the house as we where about to go for lunch or something . Instead she had to back inside and I spent the afternoon trying to stop it being a traffic hazard while trying to jump start it from her 900cc Fiat seicento.

 

My big problem is time. Never mind fix them I never get to drive them . My cortina couldn’t handle the motorway commute to my work, kid isn’t in bed until 8pm and the weekends are full of family stuff . The cortina barely moves.

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MG Bs are fooking horrible bloody things! I HATED mine with a passion that burned with incandescent rage. Mine was totally rebuilt with a Heritage shell, new engine, everything and it was still a constant battle to try and keep the sod going. I bailed on mine and sold it for a mild profit to some other rose eyed dreamer (like me) and was glad to see the back of the thing.

 

On the other hand: a mate of mine had a really tatty B GT that he'd had for years, spent on it when needed and then just drove it. It felt loose and a bit tired but was FUN in a way mine never was and he loved it. I would have loved it! I think they are just quirky cars that like to be left the fook alone and just driven and allowed to mature gently any attempt to keep them 'tip- top' is doomed to failure.

 

I had a Honda CB - X that I restored, it faught me every inch of the way and cost me £8K in parts and services and was worth (at the time) about £6K. I hated it for being a constant bloody battle and when the owner of GT motorcycles in Plymouth saw it and offered me a silly deal (straight swop for a new Triumph Sprint ST 1050! About £9K s worth) I took his arm off at the shoulder!

 

Sometimes, old cars/bikes have had years of neglect or abuse and they resent it so they punish the first silly sod that tries to get them back to a good order... mechanical things are vindictive like that. Other times, something that you think is beyond saving is so keen to live again that it almost repairs itself and you are rewarded with a cracking motor for minimal hassle. Luck of the draw...

 

Look at the dollop: it's been an absolute pig since the day I got it and if I hadn't had so much invested in it, I would have set fire to the sod and claimed the insurance money, but now (touch wood, whistle, stroke the dog, blink three times....) it is running well and all is going swimmingly. I still do not trust it totally but I am begining to, I would almost try a trip to Exeter and expect to get there :)

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Hmmmm.

My take on this:

I try to have a reasonably reliable car as the daily and treat the others as just hobby cars. Some weeks I will spend hours fettling one of them, other times I do very little depending on the oh so important mojo and /or weather.

Eventually everything gets sorted and one day you drive (whatever it is) and it dawns upon you that it is now a decent and reliable* car. Trying to fix everything, in a hurry just doesn't work IMHO.

Just frustrates you and you end up hating the car. Walk away for a day/week/year and then, one day you will wake up wanting to actually work on the car. Those days are sweet and you will make more progress in an hour than you did in weeks of begrudging fecking about because MOT needed.

I have a static caravan that we use when possible for holidays. I take a car with me that needs things fixing and do those things at leisure whilst on holiday. Not preaching, but it's all in the mindset really.

If you love MGB's and have always wanted one then treat it as a hobby rather than an irritation maybe?

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Just frustrates you and you end up hating the car. Walk away for a day/week/year and then, one day you will wake up wanting to actually work on the car. Those days are sweet and you will make more progress in an hour than you did in weeks 

 

 

Had that today. Last week I had all but given up on trying to fix the cunting ABS of my green E36. Tried new sensors, even a pump/module. Slammed the door, walked away in disgust. 

 

Had a quick look today. A smudging of green mould ion the connector plug. Contact cleaner and connecting and unconnecting the connecting connector and fuck me, the ABS light goes out now. Also fixed the airbag light and gave the interior the mother and father of a seats-out cleanofest. I have regained some mojo for the festering turd.

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