>Last week, I was driving by a small car repair shop down the street from my
>house, and I noticed a few cars for sale, all of which were classic
roadsters.
>I stopped to look and fell in love with a '77 MGB. To make a long story
>short, I'm interested in buying it, but have my reservations. Upon an
initial
>inspection (without the owner there), I found the engine to be in
(apparently)
>good condition and the body in similar shape. The interior is not so good,
>though. While the dash board and such appear tolerable, the seats are, I
>believe, replacements (because they are brown and the interior appears to
have
>been black). There is no carpeting and there is no finishing in the area
>behind the front seats (for a rear seat?)
There should not be a rear seat. =) There's the battery box and a metal shelf.
A piece of carpet is supposed to cover this, but it's a piece of carpet that
can be picked up and moved - ie: there's nothing holding it down.
Check the sills and the floors for rust. Another good place to check is the
trunk. I once saw a 79 B that looked great - until I opened up the trunk and
saw that the PO ha painted over the rust.
If the interior and body is good, then I would say, go for it. If those seats
aren't correct MGB seats, I'd scrounge a junkyard and get two correct seats.
I'd then look at the VB and Moss catalogs and look at the interior kits. Right
now VB has a sale where you can get a complete vinyl interior for ~$1000.
>I've been reading up on the MGs and have an idea of what I'd like to look at
>more closely when I go back for another (much anticipated) look, but are
there
>any good tips out there for me?
Look on the web. There are some good "how to buy an MG" sites out there. You
just have to look. =)
BEN RUSET - http://www.monmouth.com/~bruset
Safety Fast & MG Cars Webring - http://www.infi-pos.com/~oasis
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