My advice is to look at several others before you go back to that one. It
sounds like a great deal, but TAKE YOUR TIME. The Mantra of MG purchasing is
"Buy the best you can afford, Rust is the enemy and go for a good, solid
body over mechanicals!"
Unless you fear that this car is going to get bought out from under you
immediately, go look at some others so you can compare. Take an enthusiast
friend along with you, take a magnet along with you and order all of the
catalogs (all free) so you can know what the parts needed will cost and use
that as a bargaining chip. Nothing in this venture can be "too good to be
true"...the Truth is found by knowing the difference between bad and good.
I wrote an article after my long search and purchase. It's at:
http://ro.com/~rmason/mgbpurchase.htm
Maybe it will help answer some of your questions. You should also order
Lindsay Porter's "DIY Guide to MGB Purchase and Restoration".
I'm partial to the chrome bumper B's myself, so I think you're on the right
track! ;)
Dan
73 B
>Hi there.
>
>I'm trying to buy my first classic car and I'm looking for a B. I
>really like the chrome bumpered ones and I especially like the better
>horsepower in the pre-emmission years. I've read a few sources on
>looking the car over and I went and looked at my first one on the
>weekend. I wanted to buy it right there for the following reasons.
>
>72B
>
>Body and sills seemed solid (fresh paint though, I gave it a yellow
>flag)
>
>Oil pressure was 65 at 3000.
>
>No blue smoke.
>
>No clunking from the suspension.
>
>Top, tonneu, hardtop all in great shape.
>
>2 owners, repair records kept from day 1. An appraisal was made by an
>"expert" that details the car. Original engine. 103 000 original
>miles.
>
>$3000 US.
>
>I'm looking at another this week but I'm really tempted to go for this
>one. Is it too early? Should I look at a dozen? Is it too good to be
>true?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Matt
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