1971 MGB GT - I've checked out the underside and the news is... - see page 3

[HMC]

Are we nearly there yet?

[Westbay]

Tartan Red ?

[Peter C]

1 hour ago, HMC said:

Are we nearly there yet?

 

Hope so!

Sadly, I'm stuck in the office now, then heading to an appointment and won't be home until around 2pm.

My wife is home and will be sending through action shots as soon as the MGB arrives, which I shall share with you lovely people asap thereafter.

[Peter C]

[LoftyvRS]

Looks alright that does, and like you've said Peter, it looks good value as well.

I love the distinctive exhaust note on these, the kind of thing as a kid in the 70's/80's you could recognise from the next street. 

Looking forward to the updates.

[HMC]

Fab

-uo IIRC its probably a westcountry car when new

[HMC]

im hoping for the avoidance of chromed wire wheels, walnut dash, black and silver plates and etc

Has it still got the bomb crater empty grille that i think would have been there new? People cant resist the shiny chrome ones 

[SiC]

Please throw away those hideous rear fogs! 😅

[SiC]

I think this had a chrome grille being a 1971. '72-73 had the recessed grille. '74 (like mine) had the egg crate grille.

[DodgeRover]

20 hours ago, chadders said:

I put stainless steel sill covers on mine about 40 years ago.

It was a very bad idea as I found out when I could move the bottom rear of the front wings by hand.

Pop rivetted over the top it was acceptable MOT repair at one point ..

[Fabergé Greggs]

4 hours ago, Peter C said:

Congrats! That is one shonky trailer 😂 

[Six-cylinder]

5 hours ago, SiC said:

I think this had a chrome grille being a 1971. '72-73 had the recessed grille. '74 (like mine) had the egg crate grille.

 

[Peter C]

A very exciting day, to say the least.

Whilst I was at work my wife sent me a video of the MGB being driven off the trailer. Started first time. It also started first time when I fired it up but it will only idle, high, with the choke out. I drove it to the end of my road and back again. Brakes work on the second pump of the pedal, otherwise no immediate obvious issues to report.

I parked the MGB under the car port and used my Qashqai's 12V+ socket and a pump to sort the half flat tyres.

This stuff came out of the boot. The seats will not be finding their way back.

Why do people do this? I removed all the club stickers.

More club crap but the grille logo is missing.

Not sure who these people are.

But I've heard of this lot.

The best way to assess to the condition of the underside of the MGB was to give it a pressure clean.

Ready for action.

I used my pressure washer and poked at every panel with a big screwdriver.

Amazingly, 99% of the crap on the floor is mud and flakes of paint and underseal. Very little rusty metal.

So, what's it like underneath?

There is a lot of underseal everywhere. I've poked it everywhere and most of it is solid, so is the metal underneath. However, there are a few minor problem areas.

Offside front.

Small rust hole in the bulkhead.

Nearside front.

A similar small hole in the bulkhead.

A patch has been welded in here but it's slightly smaller than it should be. The repair is solid but needs extending slightly.

Nearside rear.

Small fibreglass bodge is no doubt hiding rot and another small rust hole next to it.

Offside rear.

Probably the worst bit, another bodged repair with an adjoining rust hole.

Fuel tank looks ok.

The good news is that the sills and jacking points are all solid.

Inner side of front valance is also all solid.

Underside is heavily coated with underseal. Poking it hasn't revealed any issues. Floors and chassis legs are definitely solid.

Front crossmember etc are all good.

On both sides the A and B posts and sills are solid. Not sure what the chrome sill covers are hiding - TBC.

On the inside, the floors are perfect.

Boot area.

Nearside, rearmost part of the floor, above the rear valance has a rust hole. There is a much smaller rust hole on the other side in the same place.

Boot floor is dirty but completely solid.

Battery trays are good.

Why do I only have one battery?

Within the engine bay, the inner wings and panels around the front of the radiator are all perfect.

Non standard engine oil cooler. Nice.

The carbs will need a bit of fettling and a clean. I've got the air filters.

The interior has amazing patina and most of it will be cleaned and retained.

The seats will be replaced with bucket seats and I need smaller and chunkier steering wheel.

The headlining is pretty good.

The Rostyles will need a repaint.

The tyres are not cracked but probably quite old and will be replaced in due course.

Back on its wheels after an afternoon of deep cleaning.

Shitty rear fog lights removed. @SiC. Valance is solid but needs paint.

The plan is:

• This weekend, cut and polish the paint and touch up the chips and surface corrosion. I just want to make it more presentable. 
• Replace the number plates with black and white period plates.
• Get it into my workshop, remove the rest of the underseal where necessary, patch the rust holes and cover everything with more underseal.
• Get it running properly.
• Sort out the brakes.
• Install ICE.
• Install bucket seats and smaller steering wheel.
• Paint the wheels.
• Replace the exhaust, the rear box is blowing.
• And whatever else needs doing.

Overall, I am happy with my purchase. Yes, there are a couple of rusty bits underneath but nothing too serious and I am not panicking. The world doesn't need another re-shelled repainted red MG and once it's back on the road, I intend to enjoy the patina of the body and interior. 

I still think I got a bargain as a £5k MGB would probably have similar problems underneath. 

I'm looking forward to Saturday.

 

 

[somewhatfoolish]

The wooden door cappings are presumably some kind of aftermarket thing? The mystery object looks like a hammer crimper, usually for battery cables.

[chadders]

The wood is aftermarket.

I would think before replacing the steering wheel, too small a one makes the steering very heavy. You can get camber adjustment plates though to reduce the effort. Running the front tyres at 24psi rather than 21 also helps, along with cutting down the understeer.

The chrome top sill covers are unlikely to be hiding anything in my opinion, mine certainly didn’t.

I think that the oil cooler might be standard.

[HMC]

IMO thats a massive win for the money

[grogee]

Nice! Well bought. 

What's the black thing in the last pic? 

[comfortablynumb]

Mgb hive is not far from me. We've had a couple of bits from them, despite not owning anything mg, one unf bolt is much the same as another!

They've got a pretty good reputation iirc, certainly used to have a yard to die for!

[Peter C]

15 minutes ago, grogee said:

 

What's the black thing in the last pic? 

Ignore that, I’ve deleted that photo.

[angle]

59 minutes ago, Peter C said:

Replace the number plates with black and white period plates. 

Boo! BOOOO!

[Peter C]

14 minutes ago, angle said:

Boo! BOOOO!

Why?

[Hertz]

Looks like you have had a right result with that. Looking forward to seeing it being fettled.

There is one for sale just around the corner from me in Black looks worse than yours, no idea on price.

[LightBulbFun]

14 minutes ago, Peter C said:

Why?

because for 1970 its not very period for such a vehicle, Retroreflective plates where introduced in 1967, and became mandatory on most new vehicles first used from the 1st of Jan 1973 onwards

and thus  even before then, by 1970 not many vehicles had white/silver on black number plates, having retroreflective plates was seen as the newest/fashionable thing, so something like a new MGB would certainly have them 

you only found white/silver on black number plates this late, really on people who where properly penny pinching, or fleet vehicles and the such like

but sadly people these days dont realise that and lots of really nice period retroreflective number plates have been binned off for awful quality cheap pressed silver and black plates on something that almost certainly would not of worn them new, that get fitted because "old car must have black plates"

I would highly recommend that regardless which sort you go for, that you get your plates from a good quality vintage number plate Supplier like Tippers Vintage plates or the such like, so that they are at least the correct font type and size for the period  

 

 

number plate ramblings aside, very nicely bought on the MGB! it looks really good, will make for a great companion to the Sierra  

[Peter C]

@LightBulbFun

Thank you for your very comprehensive response. All noted and I cannot deny that you have put forward a strong case for reflective yellow and white plates. Food for thought!

Until now I’ve never had a car that was eligible to wear black and white plates and I am excited at getting a pair. If I do, I will definitely make sure that they are the correct font.

 

[danthecapriman]

I don’t think you can grumble at all with that, especially at that price! Very well bought👍

Looks like a pretty good car in general, and once you’ve sorted the few rusty bits it’ll be spot on. Oh and removed and set fire to those god awful seats!😄

[ianjobber87]

looks like a good/ honest one. I restored this one but got bored once it was done. 

 

The MGBHive are a few mins down the road from me, literally less than 5 miles, they can be very good for parts and advice (even if some of the staff can be a bit short on the phone when they are busy). I used them pretty much exclusively, bits are cheap (even panels) 

Watch the rats nest of wires on the drivers side as they caused no end of problems for me until I cut them all out and re did them.