Everyday Modifications for Your MGB, GT and GTV8 E-Book

Roger Parker

• Herausgeber: Crowood
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

The books in the Everyday Modifications series from Crowood are designed to guide classic car owners through the workshop skills needed to make their cars easier to use and enjoy. MG expert Roger Parker gives his advice on maintaining and modifying MGB, GT and GTV8 cars, with some additional reference to the MGC and MG RV8 models. With safety information throughout, the book covers: regulations, insurance and market value for all models; routine maintenance; body and interior changes; brakes, suspension and steering; engine improvements for the original 1798cc B-series engine and other engine alternatives and finally, installing and updating electrical equipment and lighting. A practical and instructional new guide to classic car modifications and maintenance for MG enthusiasts, illustrated with over 350 colour photographs and case studies.

Leseprobe

EVERYDAY MODIFICATIONS

FOR YOUR MGB, GT AND GTV8

Roger Parker

THE CROWOOD PRESS

First published in 2014 by The Crowood Press Ltd Ramsbury, Marlborough Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2015

© Roger Parker 2014

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 84797 811 0

Disclaimer Safety is of the utmost importance in every aspect of an automotive workshop. The practical procedures and the tools and equipment used in automotive workshops are potentially dangerous. Tools should be used in strict accordance with the manufacturer’s recommended procedures and current health and safety regulations. The author and publisher cannot accept responsibility for any accident or injury caused by following the advice given in this book.

Acknowledgements By owning my MGB for more than forty years and being close to the centre of MG activity for longer, I have made many like-minded friends. I have to thank all those enthusiasts and the supporting MG industry, run by many other MG enthusiasts, who dedicate their energies to supporting the MG scene and making MG ownership such a pleasure. The classless nature of the MG scene ensures that everyone can derive great pleasure from it and this is one of the main attributes of MG ownership.

With any book, however, there will be a number of people whose contributions, directly and indirectly, have made the preparation easier. I would first like to mention my son Matt, who has once again provided much active support in many areas. My colleagues Richard Monk, Richard Ladds and Jonathan Kimber at the MG Owners Club have supported me in many ways during the writing of this book. MGOC Spares and their staff have provided many photo opportunities and put up with me ferretting in the stores and moving parts around during the shoots.

I would also like to thank all the companies who have freely provided images of their products. All are named with their respective images throughout this book.

Lastly, but not least, my wife Carol has once again put up with months of being on her own while I have been beavering away on the book, yet has kept tea and coffee flowing, almost on draught.

Roger Parker February 2014

contents

Introduction

Safety Considerations

1 Regulations, Insurance and Market Value

2 Body and Interior Changes and Weather Protection

3 Brakes and Suspension

4 Suspension and Steering

5 Wheels and Tyres

6 Engine

7 Transmission and Axle (MGB and GT)

8 Electrics and Lighting

9 Setting Up and Routine Maintenance, Including Storage

Index

introduction

The timeless lines of the MGB don’t betray the car’s actual age.

Very few cars have the staying power to shrug off the effects of the passing years, especially how they look, but the MGB is one that simply doesn’t betray that it was launched more than fifty years ago, at a time when British roads were populated with Ford Populars,Vauxhall Victors and Hillman Minxes. The sight of an MGB being driven attracts admirers because it is viewed as a good-looking car and not as an out-of-date design. In the UK the first sunny, warm weather of the year, often around Easter, sees many MGBs emerge from winter hibernation and stirring many potential owners to start actively searching for a car to buy.

It is very important to note that the availability of spares for the cars is now very much better than it was when the cars were in production. When looking to buy parts it is often a case of ‘how many would you like?’, then ‘would you like delivery overnight or is the standard two- to three-day delivery OK?’ This is a far cry from when I bought my roadster in the early 1970s. In those days there was a one in ten chance that the part you wanted was in stock; for anything else you were lucky if the two-day VOR (vehicle off road) ordering system arrived in five.

It has to be said that buyers of MGBs often suffer from ‘rose-tinted specs’ and it is only when the excitement and reality of the purchase has been blown away by the winds of reality that the 1960s engineering of the car comes to the fore. There are of course owners who buy the cars specifically for these attributes, but the majority, many of whom may have owned one in their youth, find their memories and expectations have been distorted by time and many years of driving more modern cars with power-assisted creature comforts.

Most adjust to the facts of classic car life but maintain a desire to see what can be done to bring some aspects of the car up to date. This has generated a huge range of aftermarket options and within this book I shall cover some of them. Before diving in at the deep end, however, there are a number of points that first need to be considered, some of which have quite wide-reaching consequences.

The MGB was something special in that it survived in production as an affordable production sports car for eighteen years, signing off in a form quite different to that of the original and, it has to be admitted, completely outclassed by its more modern competitors. The announcement of the termination of the MGB and the closure of the Abingdon factory where the cars were built was accompanied by protests from nearly all the markets where the cars were sold, leading to well-attended public demonstrations.

The very active MG social scene ensures plenty of friendly social events and road runs to enjoy. MG Owners Club members are here seen on a trip to the Isle of Wight.

In 2009 the MG Owners Club was invited to organize the Royal Windsor MG Heritage Festival at Windsor Castle with a review of the cars by HRH Prince Philip. The cars were given special permission to drive through the castle. Seen here is Roy Clarke in his MGB. RICHARD LADDS

Several hundred MGs took part in the Royal Windsor MG Heritage Festival. Some are seen here parked up on the Long Walk, looking back towards the castle. RICHARD LADDS

MGB spares availability is excellent and the MG community is served by several large and many smaller specialists. Seen here is some of the smaller parts storage at MGOC Spares.

Nearly 30,000 separate parts lines are carried by MGOC Spares.

Brand new bodies returned to production since 1988 have much better rust protection than the original cars.

British Leyland’s 1979 announcement of the closure of the MG assembly plant at Abingdon and the demise of the MGB sparked many demonstrations. Richard Monk is seen here with Roche Bentley (standing) leading the main protest parade in London. MGOC

Many MG enthusiasts and owners took part in protest marches against the loss of the MGB and MG Abingdon. MGOC

The MG RV8 revived a model that ended production twelve years before, after that model had been in production for eighteen years. ROVER GROUP

The MGB story continued with the 2012 launch of the Frontline limited edition MGB LE50. This was a heavily re-engineered car under the skin, but with classic 1960s looks. RICHARD LADDS

The Frontline MGB LE50. RICHARD LADDS

The heart of the LE50 is a 2.0-litre Mazda MX5 engine tuned to give well over 200bhp with more than adequate torque. RICHARD LADDS

It was a surprise to see brand new bodies being made from the original (refurbished) tooling eight years later, but the success of that enterprise can be seen in the fact that body production continues more than twenty-five years later. In addition, twelve years after the last MGB rolled down the Abingdon production line, just under two thousand examples of an almost hand-built, brand new MGB derivative, the MG RV8, were produced within three years.

That incredible resilience continued and has been demonstrated again in the Frontline MGB LE50, launched to coincide with the MGB’s fiftieth anniversary. The LE50 is a very high quality run of 50 hand-built cars based on new MGB GT bodies with a 1960s classic feel but with many twenty-first century attributes, including a thoroughly current spec drivetrain that ironically is made by Mazda, the company that copied the attributes of the MGB to create the MX5 (Miata), the world’s top-selling sports car.

There are two basic camps of owners: those who want to keep the car as it was when it was first made, warts and all; and those who want to have the ownership experience and pleasure of an MGB, but with fewer warts and more up-to-date changes that ‘improve’ the driving and ownership experience. The key word here is ‘improve’, the definition of which will vary from owner to owner, but many changes will widely be regarded as improving the car. What should also be considered is how any changes will affect the value of the car and whether they meet any legal requirements. I will expand on these topics in the following chapters.

VARIANTS

MGC/GT

To many the MGC appears pretty much the same as an MGB, but with a fairly prominent bulge in the bonnet and sounding a little different. It is so very different under the skin, however, that it should be viewed as a completely different car. Consequently, there is not enough space within this book to do justice to the often very different requirements of this model. Only a few light references will be found where there is commonality with the MGB.

Many people fail to see that the differences between MGB and MGC go beyond a bulge in the MGC’s bonnet.

When opened the MGC bonnet reveals an imposing straight 6-cylinder 2912cc engine, typical of the 1960s.

The body structure, suspension and brakes on the MGC are very different, as this view of an empty MGC engine bay shows.

The empty engine bay of an MGB.

MGB GTV8 and RV8

The MGB GTV8 is very much an MGB GT with a Rover V8 engine and was well received from the outset. Unfortunately the Yom Kippur war of October 1973, which generated very serious constrictions on oil supplies, caused real problems for the V8. The sudden prospect of fuel rationing made any V8 engined car look like a ‘gas guzzler’ and so fall out of favour, even though the MGB V8 was almost as fuel efficient as 4-cylinder cars. This ultimately led to the model’s demise in 1976 after only 2591 examples had been made. Ironically the car came back into favour almost as soon as fuel supplies stabilized and the hundreds of V8 conversions that have since been completed shows that the love affair continues.

The MG RV8 very much follows the same ‘V8 into the MGB’ principle, but incorporating many more changes in response to the need for many of the car’s mechanical and visual features to be brought more up to date. There is still scope for improvements, such as power steering, but generally most owners tend to keep changes to a minimum, which is also the best way to maintain the car’s value.

The engine bay of an MGB GTV8. RICHARD MONK

SECURITY It is an unfortunate aspect of our times that this subject has to be mentioned so early in this book. The reality is that car crime is entrenched in parts of the world, including the UK, and many aspects of it can be quite sophisticated. Take away the glamour and action of films such as Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000) and there remains a degree of realism.

Car crime is so much more than simply joy riding. In relation to classic cars it is more focused on making money, with cars being stolen in order to break them up to sell for spares or so they can be provided with an alternative, false identity – a practice known as ‘ringing’– and sold on to unsuspecting buyers. Two aspects driving this are the much greater security installed on modern cars, compared to relatively little on classic cars, and the strong market for classic cars and parts.

By the time of its introduction one would have expected power steering as a standard fit on the MG RV8. It was omitted, however, and many owners have fitted aftermarket power steering.

Thefts of classic MGs tend to see surges and hot spots as criminals or gangs become active until they are arrested or move on. This is not a huge problem as yet, but this doesn’t mean we should stand back and do nothing. If your classic MG is in good visual condition, and so worth more, it will be more attractive to a professional thief.

Stand back and reflect how you would cope with getting your MG home if you were to lose the key when away from home. Roadsters, except perhaps those with a securely fixed hard top, offer no resistance to accessing the inside of the car; this also applies to GT models. External locks are too easily bypassed, as are steering locks when fitted, so breaking in and driving the car away takes little more time than it would with the keys.

Even without keys the simplest method of removal is to load the car onto a recovery truck and drive it away. Apart from the car’s owner, who is going to take a second glance at a recovery truck with amber flashers and a couple of guys in reflective jackets loading a car and driving off? And that is just one way that cars are stolen.

Many cars are stolen in a very open way by persons who look normal, act normally and simply remove the cars.

What to do about this is more important. Some form of additional immobilization is a priority to stop the car from being easily driven. This could take a visible physical form, such as the wheel clamp I used very effectively to resist three known attempts to steal my MG Maestro Turbo within a month in the early 1990s when the theft of ‘hot hatches’ was at its height. Visible deterrents are still very effective, but a more common way to immobilize a vehicle is to use electronic systems that cut ignition, starter and fuel pump circuits. I would suggest you use both, as I do. Other simple security measures include a locking petrol cap, especially with the price of fuel, and fitting locking wheel nuts for use with bolt-on wheels.

This very simple but robust wheel clamp with a strong padlock was very successful in repelling repeated attempts to steal the author’s MG Maestro Turbo in the 1990s. The principle will work as well today.

Simple security can often be quite effective, such as a locking petrol cap. MGOC SPARES

Immobilization is only part of the overall security, which should include an alarm even though most people, on hearing a car alarm, tend to check if it is theirs and then ignore it. It should generally attract enough attention, however, to persuade thieves to move on. The results of an alarm being activated at night when the car is on your driveway are much more immediate and usually guaranteed to rouse the owner and neighbours from even the deepest sleep.

A more modern addition to security is GPS tracking, which is a brilliant means of tracing your car if it is stolen. Any movement of the car identified by the 24/7 monitoring systems will generate an alert that can be responded too immediately, perhaps in time to catch the thieves before they have managed to remove the car.

Looking beyond the actual theft of a classic car, one of the biggest problems in identifying recovered cars and parts is that the original identification numbers may be stamped at a very shallow level on a plate that can easily be removed. This leaves only individual car features known to the owner and this information is useless when car and owner have been separated.

A recent development is the use of ‘forensic marking’. Synthetic DNA with a UV marker is applied at various spots around the car. This cannot be removed and lasts for a number of years. Each DNA code is unique and this is recorded in a central database. If a vehicle or part tagged with the marker is recovered by the police, it can immediately be traced to the owner. Advertising DNA tagging will help to deter thieves from taking the car. Companies offering these services include SmartWater CSI (www.smartwatercsi.co.uk) and Selectamark Security Systems (www.selectadna.co.uk), both of which are featured on the police-sponsored website ‘Secured by Design’ (www.securedbydesign.com).

There are very many security products on the market but before buying I always suggest speaking with your insurers and your local police Crime Prevention Department. It is not uncommon for some insurers to stipulate certain types of security equipment before they will accept any risk in respect of theft of the car or property from inside, and they can usually supply a long list of approved products that will probably have to be installed professionally to obtain the required certification.

If you have expensive wheels and tyres it is not impossible that this might happen to you, but the theft of the whole car is more common.

On most cars the chassis (VIN) number is stamped on a black alloy plate, which is simply screwed or riveted to the car’s body. The red plate is the ‘Commission plate’, stamped with an internal audit number.

safety considerations

When raising a car, make sure that the surface is flat and solid.

Before the car is raised, make sure that purpose-designed wheel chocks or suitable blocks of wood are in place to chock wheels that are not being raised. MGOC SPARES

A few words here on safety will not go amiss. Everyone has to start somewhere and some of you may be undertaking your first car project. Before commencing any work on your car you should consider the following points:

•

Before raising your car, always select a level piece of ground with a solid base, such as concrete or block. Any wheels not being raised should be chocked to prevent the car moving. Provided motorway grade materials have been used and there is a deep enough base, tarmac can be hard enough, but home driveway tarmac will often not be able to support spot loads from jack or axle stand feet and will sink. In these cases you will need to use load-spreading ‘pads’, such as 12mm or 19mm thick plywood cut to convenient sizes.

•

Pads can be sized to suit single axle stands, ramps or jacks, or you can keep the plywood sheets at their original size (perhaps 8 x 4ft) and drive the car on to it, so providing a firm base under a large area of the car. Good quality plywood, and specifically marine types, can certainly last for years, even when the sheets are kept outside propped up against the garage wall.

When jacking, always place the saddle of the jack under a car’s hard point. Here the front cross member provides the ideal hard point to raise the car safely.

Once the car is raised, axle stands need to be placed under appropriate hard points to support the car before any work is commenced. Here the front lower suspension pivot arms to the cross member provide a suitable location.

•

Always place the jack under a hard point, which may be any substantial section of the car’s understructure. These generally include jacking points, chassis sections and points where the suspension bolts to the car’s structure. In the case of the MGB, you will usually find that jacking up on the front cross member, and then locating the stands under an outer part of the cross member and lower suspension pivot arm, is more than adequate to allow work on the suspension. When looking to remove the cross member, the stands can be moved to the body box chassis points. At the rear, jacking up under the centre of the axle is acceptable and stands can then be placed under the front mounting points for the rear springs, or under the springs where they bolt to the axle, depending on the work intended.

•

Positioning of axle stands is more varied. I am often asked about the positioning of stands. These should be fitted under any hard point of the car, ensuring that the stand’s saddle (the top of the stand on which the car rests) is in a position where it can’t slip. When placing stands under the car, do it with an outstretched arm and don’t be tempted to crawl underneath, taking both stands with you to save time. Place one stand under one side, walk around to the other side and place the other under the car. Lower the jack slowly, watching how the car and the stands’ saddles engage with each other. If the stands are seen to ‘lift a foot’, stop and adjust the stand position to ensure a solid contact and safe support.

When the suspension and cross member is to be worked upon, place the stands under a hard point on the body structure.

It is important to make sure that the car makes contact with the centre of the stand’s saddle so that the raised ends help to reduce the possibility of slip.

•

When lifting a car, it is better to lift and then adjust the height of each stand in small increments rather than going for a full lift in one go. This is especially valid when using four stands to lift a car fully off the ground. Once one end is raised on stands and you start to jack up the other end, it is normal to find that the jack pulls on it as you raise the car and one foot of the stands already placed can be seen to lift. It is a simple matter to readjust the stands as needed, This is why small incremental stages of jacking up (and lowering) is safer than attempting the whole lift in one.

•

Positioning of tyres on ramps is pretty obvious, but I will labour the point anyway: make sure that the tyre is centralized, fully on the top of the ramp, and in contact against the raised stop bar.

A further consideration that is not related to safety, unless the driveway owner is easily upset, is that using plywood when working on an expensively laid drive not only helps spread the load and make the lift safer, it also insulates the driveway from damage and from any leaking fluids.

You may also want to take this driveway preservation a stage further by obtaining a large section of builders’ plastic sheeting and place this on the drive under the plywood before you start. This will catch all the debris and make for a simple and easy clean-up when you have finished. If you plan to apply anti-rust treatment to the car’s underside, buy a sheet big enough to allow at least 2ft (60cm) overlap all around.

Once the car is raised sufficiently to allow good access underneath, it is time to look at your personal protection. Depending on what work you are doing, this will mean goggles and usually some gloves and at times ear plugs. (Only those who have had bits of debris drop in their eyes and ears when crawling under a car will really appreciate how important ear plugs can be.) There is of course a limit to exactly where you will be able to access, but for practical maintenance purposes this will be good enough.

Catering for the possibility of fire is an important precaution to take. The main cause is generally from a fuel leak set off by sources of ignition from exposed types of heater in the garage. Having seen many petrol fires, I always have at least two in-date fire extinguishers to hand in the garage. When working on a car’s fuel system, or if any part of the fuel system is exposed, the work should ideally be done outside where the best ventilation is found. If this is impractical, ensure that the garage is as well ventilated as possible and don’t have any heating on that can generate an ignition source.

When working on a car there should be at least one in-date fire extinguisher ready for use, just in case.

It is also logical not to smoke anywhere near the car or garage, but as it is common to see ‘dipstick drivers’ puffing away when they pull in at petrol stations, and then feeling hard done by when the staff shout at them, this warning has to be made here.

Before starting any work involving electrical components, it should be normal practice to disconnect the battery, starting with the earth lead.

Electrical safety also demands careful consideration, starting with the common logical step of disconnecting the battery, earth lead first, before any electrical work is commenced. The MGB has no complicated alarm systems that can be upset when power is disconnected, unless such a system has been fitted by an owner, and usually there are no radio codes, again unless one has been fitted by a previous owner.

1

regulations, insurance and market value

A V8 conversion is a major conversion. Insurers will usually demand an engineer’s inspection before insuring it.

Agreed value insurance on an older car is vital. If this is not done insurers may view it on its age and assume the car is little better than this one.

REGULATIONS: KEEPING THE CAR LEGAL

The first subject to be discussed concerns legal matters, specifically how local regulations may affect any of your proposed changes. This should be comprehensively researched before spending any money on parts or committing to modification work.

Some countries have far more restrictive legislation than others, and it is to be generally expected that regulations will become tighter as time passes. The onus is on the individual owner to ensure that their car always meets all local laws, Any changes suggested within these pages needs to be confirmed as lawful in the country where the car is to be used.

Most owners, anywhere in the world, will accept that the safety-related systems on any car, including brakes, steering, suspension and tyres, should always be maintained in at least as good a condition as when they came from the MG factory. If the car is modified for increased performance, these systems must be improved to keep the same relationship to the raised performance specification. It is also the accepted sensible approach that any performance increases are carried out after upgrades to the safety-related systems. The MG motto is ‘Safety Fast’ and this simple principle should always be maintained.

It is quite possible for owners to overstep the mark without realizing it on even simple changes. There is great scope for improving vehicle lights, for example (see Chapter 8), but you must take care to ensure that any new parts fitted do not breach regulations.

INSURANCE COVER

Correct and adequate insurance cover must be maintained. This may seem logical, but insurance cover may be compromised if the car’s specification is changed from its original factory specification by fitting any nonstandard parts and the changes have not been notified and agreed by the insurance company. By non-standard I do not mean pattern parts made by third-party manufacturers to an original specification, but non-factory uprated specification parts, whether this is a simple K&N air filter conversion, different alloy wheels or a complex V8 engine conversion.

Even when insurers accept your car is in reasonable condition, unless that value has been agreed you are likely to get only half the car’s real value in the event of a claim.

Non-original uprated parts will potentially alter the risk factors that the insurance company originally assessed at the inception of the policy. This is covered in the question on the proposal form asking ‘Is the car to the original manufacturer’s specification?’While most insurance companies will not impose a premium increase for many small changes, anything that increases the performance or increases the theft risk is very likely to attract a premium increase.

Insurance premiums for the various MGB-based cars in the UK normally fall within the Classic Car Insurance field, where annual premiums are often very attractive compared to normal daily use car policies, even for modified MGBs. This reflects the expectation that the cars are very well looked after, used responsibly, and cover up to only a few thousand miles per annum. Insurance premiums are generally volatile and can vary considerably depending on the owner/drivers’ record, age, occupation and where they live, but the average middle-aged owner may find that premiums are much lower than for a mainstream daily-use car policy.

AGREED VALUE

It is vital for owners of classic cars to protect their investment and arrange Agreed Value Cover. Put simply, this is the value of the car assessed at a level agreed between the policyholder (owner) and the insurance company at the inception of the policy. In the event of a claim on the policy, the agreed value sum is what the insurer uses to consider covering repairs or paying out if it is deemed a total loss. Normal insurance policy valuations for daily-use cars revolve around current market value. This is fine for a modern car, but completely unrealistic for an MGB, which will be at least thirty-three years old and which many would imagine as a rusty heap.

I have sometimes seen MG owners put off sorting out an agreed value because it takes some effort to sort through the process and pay a small fee. If something serious happens to the car, however, usually through theft, fire or collision damage, it is then a real problem for these owners to prove that their car was worth more than the insurance company offer. Most classic car insurers now have slick systems in place to sort agreed values. For cars like the MGB, of which there are many thousands still surviving, this usually makes it much easier to assess the values without the need for physical examination of the car.

Another potential hole in insurance cover that is more common on classic cars occasionally catches owners out. This is when the car is off the road (SORN) and there is also no current insurance in force. On one occasion a house fire destroyed not only the owners’ home but his classic cars, which were at the time off the road for winter and with no current insurance cover. The total loss of his cars, added to the damage to his home, was a life-changing event.

During winter and other lay-up periods, ensure that the agreed value insurance remains in force to protect against theft or fire.

CARS ‘OFF ROAD’ (SORN)

A brief mention of Continuous Insurance and the related Continuous Licensing may be useful for UK owners. The licensing aspects require that all cars must be either taxed or declared SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification). This applies to all cars that have been taxed since January 1998; only cars that were not taxed (i. e. already off road) when this SORN system commenced are not subject to it, at least while they remain with the current registered keeper.

If a car is sold then the new keeper has to declare the car SORN at the same time he submitted the Registration Certificate (or old V5) to update records to show him as the new keeper, and Continuous Licensing (or SORN) then applies. If a car that is already declared SORN is sold, then the new keeper is required to declare SORN or tax the car from the start of his ownership, something that still seems to catch out many buyers of SORN cars. At the time of writing, the need for annual renewal of SORN was about to be removed.

Continuous Insurance is a more recent UK legislative addition and follows the same basic principle as Continuous Licensing, in that the car must always either be insured or declared SORN. This may seem logical, but some owners fail to realize that when a car is declared SORN it must not be parked or kept on a public road or any part of a public highway, otherwise you can be hit with heavy fines and points, even disqualification.

MARKET VALUES

Discussion of agreed values for insurance purposes leads naturally to the subject of normal market values. UK market values vary regionally, sometimes significantly. A car’s best achieved value will be found in the South East, where there are more potential buyers with cash. There are fewer buyers in the less affluent industrial north, but many southern-based buyers are likely to travel to catch a bargain. Cars located in more remote places, however, will have far fewer potential buyers prepared to travel unless there is a bargain to be had.

The same car sold privately, by a dealer or via auction will see three different prices achieved. A dealer is usually the most expensive means and you can generally expect to pay between 10 and 20 per cent more than the price advertised by a private seller in the same region. The traditional auction can be a double-edged sword: it takes only two keen bidders for a car that would otherwise have difficulty reaching its reserve to go considerably above it.

MGB Roadster and GT Value Variations

With MGB production spreading over eighteen years, values vary with age and different model specifications. Cars are subdivided into a number of smaller groups with different value bands depending on condition. Having so many cars makes it possible to establish a means of comparison when judging the their value: it takes very sound reasons, perhaps because of a specific historical connection, as with a competition car, or a famous previous owner, for any car to rise above the value band for the group in which it sits.

When new the GT was more expensive and seen as more practical than a roadster. Today the positions are reversed.

The first split that shows when breaking down these groups is that between roadster and GT models. Unlike when the cars were new, the GT will generally have a value that is approximately 20 to 25 per cent less than a roadster of the equivalent age and condition. When the cars were new, the more expensive GT was seen as a far more practical vehicle for daily use, due largely to the innovative hatch and useful storage area inside. Today there is far less emphasis on the practical aspects and more on the style and desire for an open-top car for ‘wind in the hair’ motoring.

Chrome and Rubber Bumper MGB

Chrome bumper cars still attract many more fans than those with rubber bumpers. The term ‘rubber bumper’ refers to the introduction in September 1974 of cars with the large front and rear black bumpers required for the North American market by impact resistance legislation, along with raised ride height. The legislation dictated that the changes were made to all cars, since this was the biggest MG market. The bumpers are not actually rubber, but plastic moulding over a steel frame, and they were designed to resist 5mph frontal impacts, 2.5mph rear.