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MG MGB Technical - MGB GT Body coloured bumpers!

Glad that got you attention!

I'm a newbie here and a few months ago bought a '78 MGB GT which I'm going to do an almost complete rebuild on over the summer.

I found that I need to replace both sills and the lower parts of all the wings..and the rear inner wings and I have absolutely no experience of working with cars at all so I'm open to help and suggestions.

The rest of the car is pristine..I've checked the floor it's solid and clean and the interior is perfect.

The local(ish) MG Garage said that they could do it for £2500 but I bought the car for £900, am a student and can't afford that so my Dad and I are going to do it up over the summer.

There are a couple of things bothering me:

1) The car is Brown with Orange striped seats..The Brown has grown on me but would probably prefer another colour..but what goes with Orange apart from Brown? What colour will attract the ladies (I'm 22) and would the car be more likely to sell in the future if it were a different colour? (by the way, I have no intention of selling it but I'm young and forward planning etc)

2) I've done a couple of thousand miles since I got it (the engine's on 65k) and I've only recently noticed that the clutch may be slipping when applying perhaps too much acceleration (I'm enjoying it and am not a boy racer..honest). I've also started getting really interested in perhaps doing a V8 conversion because it seems fairly straight forward for a late rubber bumbper model..please correct me if I'm wrong! If I have to take the engine out to replace the clutch would it be worth taking advantage of this and installing a V8 Engine, 5 speed clutch + things, especially if I'm doing a restoration anyway. I've seen one in the classifieds for £400 including the above..is this a fair price and what is the general feeling about Rover V8's in MGB's? I know the purists don't like the Rubberists anyway so does it matter?

Phew, got through all that..

Anyway comments would be appreciated.

James
J Elliott

Firstly welcome to the growing MG family - I know you are going to have lotsof fun and games with your GT. Don't worry about the colour attracting females - the car will all on her own.

Now then as for the Rover V8 into an MGB-GT body rest your worries as they were built that way too (actually its a Buick 215ci engine). They maybe some changes required but I cant say as I have never done it, but trust me it will fit. The best thing is purists (who are they havent met many on here yet) cannot complain.
Good luck but above all enjoy yourself.
Simon

James
The orange seats also came with Green, White and Black paintwork.
If you fit a V8 engine you will also need to make sure that the suspension is the right spec, and the brakes are uprated.
Dave
Dave Wellings

James,

Welcome to world of MG's I have a 76 BGT that has "Deck Chairs" as there known. You can easily change the covers to suite any colour that you would prefer, or even change the entire seat. You might want to ask if any one has changed seats for something from a scrap car (there was a good thread going about using Saab wheels on MG's). I had to do sills, rear wing bottom halves and floors. I'ts time consuming but very rewarding. The ladies definatly love MG's, I am getting married in August and my future wife has just bought an MGA so I converted her and got a load more work at the same time.

I'm not sure about the V8 conversion, I know the MG owners club ran an artical some time back that seemed to imply that there was some work to be done around the bulk head. If you contact them, they can supply back issues but I'm sure there is someone out there that will contact you.

Garreth.
Garreth Smith

I hope that you will enjoy being an MG owner. However if you have to watch your funds as a student then I would suggest that for the moment you concentrate on getting the car body structurally sound as you propose and replace the clutch and then spend this year at least driving it as an 1800 and having fun.
A V8 conversion is a great project but requires a lot of money and you can reckon that the car will be off the road for a long time too. At 22 yrs old the insurance on a V8 could be heavy too. You shouldn't get the impression that a V8 is simply a straight swap. A good idea would be to start accumulating the bits you need for the conversion and then starting it in a couple of years time. I think that 25yrs old triggers a reduction in insurance premiums.
Does this all sound too pessimistic?
Marc

Thanks for your responses Simon, Dave and Gareth,

Do you agree that it's worth doing the Sills and Wings all at the same time?

Also, I'm hoping to do the body restoration in one go during the summer months. Is this a realistic timeframe bearing in mind that I'll have graduated and have nothing else to do and my Dad (who is helping) is a Lecturer and will be on his summer holidays?

I could always leave the whole respray and leave it brown for the time being..

Does anyone else have a Brown GT?

James
J Elliott

Hello again.

As above, leave the V8 to later. If you did do it - you need this book: How to give your MGB V8 power.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1901295621/qid=1042216466/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_0_1/202-6715911-9023007

It's only £12 so a good one for reading "on the bog" while you consider.
Stuart Robson

You'll have to do at least the rear wings when you do the sills as they will have to be cut away to get access to the sill area that runs under the rear wing. The front wing can be remove entirely- if you can find good used rust free front wings to swap on to the car it will save a lot of effort. Get the Darryl Porter book on mgb restoration. It has a detailed section on this repair and excellent photos. I've seen a few brown MGB's and they kind of grow on you. I'll have to go with Garreth on the seats- get new covers in tan or black if you dont like the orange deck chairs. Wait o nthe V8 conversion. It is pricey and involved. Even with a car like yours that has the basic set up for the 215 engine there area lot of mods to do to the brakes, cooling system, and other areas to make it work.
william fox

Thanks William (and Stuart, again!!),

Luckily I have managed to get some free front wings that are mainly rust free from the classifieds here..my Dad picked them up today and said they are solid enough.

William, you've made up my mind to wait on the V8 conversion..that plus I checked out how much a 22 year old bloke insured on one would be and it's a lot more!!

Stuart informed me of the mg spares show in Stoneleigh coming up in February so hopefully I'll be able to pick up the rest of the parts for a reasonable price there.

It's going to be hell when my MOT and tax run out in February..

I can't wait!!!

James
J Elliott

James
I agree with all the above. Also, I have some black cloth/cord faced, vinyl backed 80 GT seats that I would like to replace later this year for some leather or vinyl with red piping. I have just done the trim panels with the black and red piping and will be doing the carpet too.
Perhap if you haven't replaced your seats by then, you could sell yours to a purist and take mine, but I am not sure black would look so good in a brown MG.
Also, you're a lucky chap getting those wings! Normally 200 a piece.

As my wife will point out, jobs take at least 3 times longer than planned, so keep the restoration to a minimum until you have another car to use and have plenty of funds. If you want minor power upgrades, think about some K&N filters plus new needles, as well as electronic ignition. (These can be put on a wish list for b/days and Christmas.)

Enjoy the car while you can. Plenty of greasing, oil changes, and waxoyl underneath should see it right.
Martin

Cheers Martin,

Yep, I am a lucky chap! The guy was giving away loads of parts including all the glass (did you see the advert in the classified section?) but I was too late for all that.

The wings have been previously repaired but look great and the main thing is they're solid.

I think I'll stick with the seats I've got now..I got some seat covers the other day in dark grey and black and they look okay for the time being..don't get me wrong, I really like the whole brown and orange retro thing..I didn't think it would but it has grown on me, plus you can't get much more 70's than a brown and orange colour scheme can you? Talk about being a classic...

A few people have said to enjoy the car before taking it apart and restoring it and I have done. I put 2000 miles on it in the first three months I've owned it including a brilliant trip to Cornwall and back (from Hereford) and the car has been so much fun to drive!!

I have probably spent a good couple of weeks waxing, greasing and going through the Haynes and User manuals' service prcoedures!

The trouble is that I don't think it will pass the next MOT without a good deal of patching and seeing as I graduate in time for the summer and I'll have as long as I like to restore it before I join the 'real' world and get a job I may as well do it sooner rather than later.

James

J Elliott

This thread was discussed between 10/01/2003 and 12/01/2003

MG MGB Technical index

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