Yeah, plenty here, and not righthand drive, which would be a real pain. Not like it’s rush, take your time and one will turn up. Plenty of folks getting out of the car collector hobby.
If you want to restore and show a vintage MGB, you’ve got lots of leads here already.
If you want the driving experience of an MGB, every day and every time you wander to the garage, and if the driving is more important than the ownership and interaction with a vintage car, then definitely look for a used low mileage Miata. If you’re patient you can find one with low miles and a babied history for very reasonable money, and it will give you joy for many years, without any frustration and a sense that money is disappearing faster than you can make it.
The OP seems to have trouble finding what he wants. This is another alternative, and it doesn’t have to come from GB, or even Europe. Something might be available in Mexico or the Caribbean. Maybe the Southwest might have rust free (well, reduced rust) examples.
Try also local salvage yards. If you’re lucky, you will find a nice looking one for cheap.
There are people in the Midwest that are good at repairing rust damage on cars of this type, that is why I wouldn’t consider buying a MG in the Midwest, I don’t want a repaired car,there are solid vehicles available in the Southwest.
There is a 1964 MGB roadster near me for $15,000 at a classic car dealer/restoration shop, the car looks like new, someone must have spent twice as much restoring this car.
I don’t own an MG, don’t want one with a bumper or not, and have never looked for MG parts. But now I get all these pop up ads for bumpers, interior kits, tops, and so on. If it were for Morris parts, it’d be fun, but knock off the ads for MG please.
Well, doesn’t the designation MG come from Morris Garage?
That’s an lol remark!
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Well, doesn’t the designation MG come from Morris Garage?
@Purebred The history has more mergers and sell offs than Chrysler over the years, but the man Morris started MG back in the 20’s as the Morris Garage. The Morris car was a product of the British Motor Company that merged with what was then the MG and Austin product lines about 1952. For what I quickly gathered anyway with the little interest I have. Now Lucus, that would be a company to take a look at. Kinda like Ford and Firestone. But yeah, I’d rather have a Morris if I had my choice but one that had the engine changed to a Datsun, the trans overhauled, updated brakes, an interior re-do, and fresh paint in an original color-if I had to choose.
With such a limited home market British manufacturers must design and produce cars for foreign markets and they have done a poor job of that all along. The British business model has seemed to be based on getting plant and design costs amortized as quickly as possible and cashing in on continued production of the mark. Like the Big 3, UK industry has been and remains reluctant to change to meet the public’s needs and desires in far flung markets. The 1970s gas crisis could have been as profitable for the UK as it was Japan but Tokyo was quick to change in an effort to take a piece of the US market while BLMC thought that offering some new colors and increasing the bore of old engines was all they needed to get southern California drivers washing oil puddles off their driveways and learning how to drive home in the dark.
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They made some really outdated, slapdash, ugly cars, but until you have worked with 50’s and 60’s era British electrical system components like switches and duplex outlets, you haven’t seen anything. They are just complex, completely illogical and flimsy, all at the same time.
Remembering my bosses 1968 6cyl MGB GT I did not get loan approved in time to make the deal before he traded it in, It was a sweet driving car! I got to drive it on delivery trips to Chicago from the burbs.
wentwest raised an excellent point and as a MG owner myself, I find it ironic that the best running “Little British Roadster” was the Miata, made by the Japanese.
That being said, if half the joy of ownership includes fiddling with the car (and that the approximate work to drive ratio), the B is actually pretty easy to work on and parts are easily available but first contact your local MG club where you’ll find valuable information and leads to the specific car you’re looking for…
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wentwest: Sir Joseph Lukas: Prince of darkness. I must have had a “Guardian Angel”! Four BMC cars with no electrical problems??? Another BMC quirk that OP or anyone considering purchasing a vintage BMC vehicle. Hydraulic fluid. Vintage BMC vehicles use natural (live) rubber seals. They require Lockheed Girling fluid. For some reason DOT-3 fluid dissolves the seals. An expert BMC mechanic advised me to bring a Q-tip and dip it in the master cylinder during my pre-purchase inspection. Any sign of pink? “Walk away” and don’t look back. Another oddity is the ones I am familiar with used 30 weight motor oil in the manual gearbox. More difficult to check but if possible remove the inspection plug and perform the standard finger dip check. If the fluid is thick with an acrid onion smell it is 90 weight gear oil. As most domestic M/Ts use that it could be ignorance or masking gearbox noise.
Sorry Sarge, but You’ve got some explanation to do. What You are ta… Writing about is the oil for the suspension on the front wheel drive models from BLMC. The brakes used plain and simple brake fluid in the system.
Don’t get the wrong fluid. My old man, back in the sixties (as far as I know), serviced the brakes on their car and wanted to make sure everything was working smoothly. So, in a generous act, he lubricated each and every item with some high quality (engine)oil. Around 3 days later, the brake pedal went to the floor and on inspection, it turned out that each and every seal had grown to twice it’s size.
No, that was no succes. At least he survived my mothers rage against him as she was driving when the pedal disappeared.
But, o-boy- was she mad. She had her most beloved and favorite only son with her in the car when it happened.
My Morris leaked brake fluid like a sieve. Maybe I used the wrong stuff. I kept a can in the car to fill the master. Sold it before I ever got as far as the brakes. Who knows what the guy used before me though. He wasn’t exactly the most conscientious person. I was told later how he used to beat that car up. The person said “oh no, you didn’t buy that car?” Hey I was only 16 I think and survived.
Was “plain and simple brake fluid” in Europe the red USA DOT-3? The 1960 BMC shop manual I had specified Lockheed Girling hydraulic fluid.
It sounds like you were using the red DOT-3 which was standard for USA vehicles. It is said in our laws that ignorance is no excuse but in this case how would a teenager be expected to know? When the DOT-3 dissolved the “live rubber” seals they hemorrhaged! By the way, I have never owned but have driven and like Morris Minors.
I could never get it to go very fast but I was told the previous kid had it up on two wheels going around corners more than once.