Hi Wendell:
In a nut shell - rust, rust, rust. A rusted out B actually has a negative
value. I bought an artfully bondo'd '71, that ultimately cost me more than a
show car.
If you're hell bent on a fixer-up'er, buy for the body! The engine isn't
even a consideration.
IMHO, the $6000+ thoroughly restored shiny ones are the best buy. There're
always a few for sale at the British car shows. Best thing is they're ready
to drive!
BTW, if the sills are bad, the floors are bad, the fenders are bad, the
splash panels are bad, the wheel arches are bad, yahda, yahda, yahda.
Bob Donahue (Still stuck in the '50s)
Email - bobmgtd@insightbb.com
52 MGTD - NEMGTR #11470
71 MGB - A good driver, but I could of had a contender.
.
----- Original Message -----
From: <N3KKE@aol.com>
To: <mgs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Saturday, November 02, 2002 12:48 AM
Subject: New lister
> Hi, my name's Wendell and I've committed to buying a '72 B. I've been
> lurking here and on such other lists as will have me for the last month or
> two. My automotive experience consists of the last seven years with an
'87
> Jeep (new to me in '95 at 82000, now with 283000 miles) and a couple of
> completely forgettable cars before it like an '81 Corolla and a '76 New
> Yorker (140 HP, 4200 lbs).
>
> I don't have a question yet. Well, maybe I do. What are the things that
> will be most insidious on a car I've not yet gotten to know? Or, Where
are
> the gotchas in an MGB owned by someone who's loved the car for the last
> twenty years and who decided that I might be the one to have it?
>
> What do I have to fix first, and what should it cost me to do it? I've
> already taken the plunge, so don't talk me out of it. I and the
soon-to-be
> DPO have already laughed about the parallels between MGs and boats (boats
> being 'a hole in the water into which one throws money').
>
> Yes, I know about the sills. No, I don't know what condition they're in.
If
> I have to fix them, fine. I needed to learn to weld anyway. The car
drives
> fine right now.
>
> For my part I have made contact with Motorhead Ltd in Fairfax, VA (near
work)
> and am happy with the people I've met there. Their 25th anniversary party
> last Friday was fun. I like MG people.
>
> Anyway, by way of introduction, that's me. Thanks for reading.
>
> -Wendell Hall
> '72 MGB
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