->Date: Tuesday, September 26, 1995 5:17PM
->
->
->I have been looking for an MGA for a while now, and saw one advertised
->about 3 hours away from here. I haven't seen it yet. It's a '62, no
->rust ...
->
Body rust usually occurs from the inside out ... 'A's are *very* prone to
rust
in the rockers ... so I would recommend that, if the owner is willing, you
remove the splash panel at the front of the rear wheel (two bolts and a
couple of screws) and check the inner/outer rocker panels and rear door
pillar.
->... garaged, licensed and registered, but only drven about 1000 miles
->in the last 15 years or so. The asking price is $4500. The bad news is
->that it has a MGB engine in it, and has had since '79 when the owner
->aquired it. My question is, is this really bad news?
->
Depends on your point of view and the quaility of the installation ... the
early 'B' engine is not radically different from the 'A' so it is not
uncommon to find an 'A' with a 'B' engine ... I tend to be a purist and
frown on such things.
->I've wanted an MGA for a long time, and the B engine seems like it
->might actually be an improvement over the original, but I don't know.
->
Matter of opinion <g> ... increase in bhp/torque is major the difference
between the early 1798 'B' engine and the original 1622 'A' engine ...
both are equally reliable.
->I don't care about originality that much, I just want it to drive around
the hills of
->Upstate New York in the summertime (both weeks :<) ), but I don't want to
->buy junk either. Any thoughts?
->
The overall quality of the car should be your primary concern ... the 'B'
engine is not my 'cup of tea', but it should be of concern only if poorly
installed ... besides you can always reinstall an original 'A' engine at
a later date.
Larry Unger ----->ungerl@reston.unisysgsg.com
'62 MGA
'72 MGB/GT
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