IMHO some of us are of the misimpression occasionally that any or all MG parts
distributors are supplying parts of different quality and origin. I'm certain
that there are some exceptions, but has the British Heritage become a secret?
Whatever this organization is, envelopes the manufacture of the body shells and
most other "manufactured again from the original tooling" parts. The parts we
see all come from the same place. That being the case, the only differences the
buyer should encounter have to do with price and customer service from the
chosen vendor.
Then there is the issue of chrome... I've thrown lottsa money away on grills
and bumpers and accessories that are disappointing in the chrome quality, full
of visible grind marks, and very poor reproductions of the original shape (i.e.
the MGA grill badge holder originally had a nice sharp point; the repros look
like 4th generation knock-offs.). You can expect this junk to show more rust
after just a couple of driving seasons than the 25 year old part it replaced.
Oh, I almost forgot; the Taiwan reproductions rarely fit. (Anyone want to buy a
repro grill for 1974 MGB-GT? or a bonnet for MGB?) If we get this kind of junk
from a vendor, we should not remain silent about it.
I once got a "deal" on 5 MGB repro-bumpers still in their original wrapping.
out of the bunch, only one was acceptable to me. I dumped the rest. I'd rather
pay more in the first place than have to deal with repeatedly replacing the
same item. In the long run, having something rechromed is better.
If anyone knows I'm wrong about British Heritage, please show me. I'd like to
keep my "expertise" as up to date as possible.
Jim
David Councill wrote:
> Now that I screwed up on the bumpers when I meant fenders. I am fairly
> certain that the bumpers are identical. The fenders are different because
> the roadster has a cut in the front fender for the windshield.
>
> I know all about the bumper overriders because my 67 BGT came without
> overriders on front and rear. But the previous owner had two front
> overriders in boxes that he got from VB but hadn't installed. He also gave
> me two years worth of VB catalogs which I promptly threw away. I ended up
> ordering the rear overriders from the Proper MG and found one had the bolt
> hole bracket welded in the wrong spot. I had to return it after cursing
> about cheap repro parts. Denise from this list told me I should have bought
> used but it was too late. Took about a month before I got the replacement.
>
> But the point of the story is the front overriders from VB and the rear
> overriders from the Proper MG had the same made in Taiwan stickers on them.
> Same source, different distributers.
>
> The overriders were almost interchangeable too - I noticed the front
> overriders fit on the rear bumper just as well as the rear ones did. And I
> debated using them since I didn't have the light bulb assemblies for the
> license plate lights - I ended up having to order them after I had received
> my rear overriders with the holes punched in them. And yes, the rears have
> a slightly more pointier appearance.
>
> David
> 67 BGT
> 71 BGT
>
> >I don't know about the difference between roadster and GT bumpers, if
> >there is one, but I did find a rather unique overrider from Moss the
> >last time I ordered. It was a part numbered as a rear overrider, but
> >it didn't look quite right...it didn't match the curvature of the
> >bumper, nor the license plate light plinth curve , and seemed a
> >little too pointy. The mystery was solved when I got the front
> >bumper kit--someone in Taiwan(?) had mixed fronts and rears and
> >punched out front ones with the light hole...or is this the extremely
> >rare and costly LeMans repro Special Tuning part?
> >Chris Attias
> >'64 MGB
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