Sounds like a good car to me. Then again, I got a deal on my 'B
when it wouldn't run. The owner thought it had a bad timing chain,
and it really needed new plugs.
Anyway, if it ran in October, chances are there was not a
catastrophic failure in the time jut from sitting. Chances are, the
car still runs and can be made to run in short order with nothing
more than a tune-up.
Think about it - a car with a good body is priceless. Like everyone
says, you can change the engine and interior with nuts and bolts but
the body is the expensive pain. A good interior might set you back
$900 and it will make everyone who sees your car swoon. Gauge faces
are not a problem - there are plenty of gauges with good faces
running around. If you can get a non-working gauge for $5 at a
parts sale and do a little cannibalism, you're set.
Still, it would be nice to hear the car run. I don't know of any
way to test for knocking or oil burning. You probably should take a
compression tester with you to see what kind of readings you get.
That's just my .02 worth anyway. A good MGB would make a nice X-Mas
present...
Mike Lishego
http://www.mgb.bc.ca/virtualgarage/
1991 Mazda Miata
1986 Plymouth Turismo T1
1984 Mazda RX-7 GSL-SE
1974 MGB
-----Original Message-----
From: Craig D. Niederst <niederst@telerama.com>
To: MG List <mgs@autox.team.net>
Date: Friday, December 17, 1999 10:53 PM
Subject: Update on the '71 B I looked at...
>Well, this one was one of the "structurally" better ones I have
looked at.
>Car was teal blue (respray, but a very good job), and had the
Autumn Leaf
>interior. Inner sills were solid, no rust on outer rockers (or
bondo),
>underside of car looked solid after some probing. Did find some
bondo, but
>was in dogleg sections on each side. Floorboards had surface scale
rust on
>them, and found one 1/2 inch hole through the passenger side
floorboard
>(could be patched). Chrome was OK. The interior was shot (will need
seat
>covers, webbings, foam, door panels, carpet, steering wheel had
surface
>rust) and the faces on all gauges were peeling. Top in good shape.
When I
>called about the car, I was told that it ran and was drivable.
Well, when I
>went there today, it would not start (battery OK, but would do
nothing when
>key was turned). This really pissed me off, since I was told it
ran, and
>probably would have made an offer on the car if the car ran decent.
I asked
>when the car was last started, and the sale guy said October. What
an idiot.
>Salesman wanted me to make an offer on the car today before his
tech had a
>chance to come and look at it (he tried the classic "another guy is
coming
>tomorrow AM to look at it" line). I told him to give me a call when
it was
>running and I'd think about it. The place is asking $2500 for it,
and I
>think it is probably a $1500-$2000 car (depending on how it runs).
What do
>you guys think? Run away? BTW, the B is in central PA. Any opinions
greatly
>appreciated. TIA.
>
>Craig
>
>
>
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