At 4:03 PM 11/26/96 -0600, Bill Schleusner wrote:
>Fellow SOLers,
>
>Having recently restored and subsequently sold an 1980 MGBLE I am in the market
>for another LBC. My question is this, I am somewhat familiar with MGs (way up
>the learning curve) and would like to restore a 67 B or BGT to avoid all the
>emission problems. To narrow my search to one year seems shortsighted. I
>don't care for the dashboards of the later 60's and would like to avoid a
>rubber bumper (not so much for looks but the detoxed engine) so that leaves me
>in the early 70's.
>My other conundrum is B vs. BGT. I've always liked the looks of both cars but
>thought a BGT might be nice for a change. The BGTs are harder to find and seem
>to command a little higher price for a lesser specimen than the roadsters. I've
>also heard they are extremely hot (living in Texas all cars are hot). By hot
>is everyone referring to the hardtop, or are they inherently hot, a la the big
>Healeys? Are parts for the BGT any more difficult to find? I found very few
>parts unavailable for my '80LE, which was very nice. Any help from BGT owners
>would be greatly appreciated.
I've owned both the 70B and 71BGT. Currently I have a 71 BGT. Haven't
really noticed that any parts are harder to get, since they seem to be
mostly the same. My BGT is hot, but that's mostly because the heater valve
is currently broken and its always on. No real differences in handling, its
nice to have the top down on the roadster, but then, this is California.
I've heard of power differences between early and late MG's, but the people
I talk to talk about early as pre 65. There are fewer BGT's for sale, but
I think that's because less were made. I would gladly own either model,
and am thinking about buying another roadster a few years down the road
myself. The GT has more storage space, but its more visible due to the
hatchback. Mechanically, I think I've got plenty of power, and I'm running
straight stock stuff. If Texas is that hot (sorry, one of the few places
I've never been), look for A/C, or add it yourself. The BGT looks great
freshly painted, just got that done and the car looks really hot!!! That's
my two cents worth. Nina
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