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Old 04-16-2012, 03:18 PM
 
11,557 posts, read 53,251,890 times
Reputation: 16354

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While relatively simple to work on ... that's the problem with this series of cars.

They are maintenance, repair, and adjustment hogs for the mileage that you can get on one. Constant fiddling around with the carbs is routine, and as mentioned ... the electrical system/components in these is an ongoing project.

Reasonably fun to drive, but much better performance for your dollars can be found in other later cars ... along with better handling/braking, A/C and functional heaters, better windshield wiper systems, better clutches and transmissions, etc.

From time to time, I've succumbed to my fond memories of my 50's-60's-70's Brit roadsters and bought another resto project car. Usually need everything gone through to put them into roadworthy condition; suspension, brakes, engine o'haul, trans o'haul, electical systems restored (actually, brought up to a better standard than new), interior work, etc. I leave the paint and body work to a friend who does this type of work ... and he reciprocates by sending me his mechanical work projects.

By the time I get one of these back on the road, the joy of completing the project is exceeded by the let-down of just how crude these cars really are to drive, even in good running order. The memories and nostaglia are far better than the cars in real life if you've bought it to drive it; IMO, the Brits didn't do any improvements in their cars of the late 1960's into the 1970's up to the end of their production years. If the nostalgia aspect of driving one of these appeals to you, you might as well get a much older one ... even with their smaller displacement engines, they were as much fun to drive. The best of the lot for me was a 1961 MGA Coupe ... but several Morgan +4's were higher on the fun meter for actually driving them on a nice day.
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Old 04-17-2012, 03:18 PM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,708 posts, read 79,929,124 times
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I once saw a neat T shirt at a British car show. It was black and in black letters, it said "Lucas Electrical Systems"
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Old 04-17-2012, 03:49 PM
 
Location: The cupboard under the sink
3,993 posts, read 8,936,268 times
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Ah, good old Lucas electrics.

I had a Triumph Herald once, it had three switch positions for the headlights.

Dim, Flicker, and Off.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldjensens View Post
I once saw a neat T shirt at a British car show. It was black and in black letters, it said "Lucas Electrical Systems"
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Old 04-17-2012, 07:08 PM
 
Location: Lyon, France, Whidbey Island WA
20,838 posts, read 17,142,084 times
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I owned a 71 b. Think electric fuel filters and any combination of the 2. Get a Miata and b happy.
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Old 04-18-2012, 09:46 AM
 
5,653 posts, read 5,159,117 times
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I've owned a couple of MGs over the years (usually had a classic British car as a Summer/Sunday car) and the biggest problems that you'll find are poor steel quality so they erode really badly, especially the subframe, engine and suspension mounts but if it's restored being in Texas that shouldn't be a problem.

The other big hassle was the electrics, they were normally made by Lucas and terrible. It isn't that hard to use standard GM units from the same era if you need to.

Here's a pic' of one of my ones, a '73 MGB GT V8.

Last edited by Baldrick; 06-14-2012 at 09:38 AM..
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Old 04-18-2012, 03:59 PM
 
Location: San Diego, CA
1,702 posts, read 1,922,892 times
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Also watch head problems due to overheat at the back cylinder. Lucas...The prince of darkness. All things British leak. The British secret service leaks secrets, Rolls Royces leak oil and Lucas electrical systems leak smoke. When the smoke leaks out they stop working.
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Old 04-18-2012, 04:06 PM
 
Location: Columbia, California
6,664 posts, read 30,644,249 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldjensens View Post
I once saw a neat T shirt at a British car show. It was black and in black letters, it said "Lucas Electrical Systems"
Lucas Electrical Systems = the reason Brits love warm beer!

A nice thing for MG's these days are new replacement bodies available to replace old rotted out bodies.

I owned a 1968 Volvo 1800, many Lucas components installed.
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Old 05-21-2012, 05:09 AM
 
Location: Texas
44,259 posts, read 64,453,241 times
Reputation: 73937
Yeah. This thread has convinced me to stick with new cars.
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Old 05-21-2012, 05:58 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX
1,781 posts, read 4,032,982 times
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Don't let the nay-sayers scare you off. There is a lot of fun owning an old car. After all, it's not going to be your daily driver. You could attend car shows, get thumbs-up lots of people, even try vintage car races/rallies.

I am sure there are many specialized MGB forums online where you can get help in repairs, modifications, etc.
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Old 05-21-2012, 06:01 AM
 
3,610 posts, read 7,941,601 times
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> Get a Miata and b happy.

I've owned a couple of sports cars. An Italian one (need I say more) and a Miata.

Ask yourself: do you want a labor of love or do you want to take drives with the wind in your hair?
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