MGBs made past 1975 had the smog control stuff on them. They also
had raised ride height (up 1-1/2") and those ugly bumpers. MGBs
were only made through 1980.
If this car doesn't run and is rusty, it isn't worth *anything*.
There were 500,000 MGBs made between late 1962 and 1980. Most
people agree that the best years are 1965-1967 for the
truest representatives of the type; the '65 got an improved
engine (with 5 mains instaed of 3), and the '67 was the last
year made without smog equipment.
Second most desirable is a push, depending on what you're after. If
you want a collectible, go for the early models, from late '62 through
about August 1964. These are the lightest, least fancy, and the
purest rendition of the breed, and are probably the most collectible.
If you want a daily driver, I recomment the batch that includes mine,
1968-1971. These still have the chrome bumpers, lower ride height, and
dual HS4 carbs, as well as some of the nicest engines, though
they're detuned very slightly (mainly by the addition of an
air pump, which only costs about 4 bhp). But you get a fully
synchronized gearbox, which is not easily retrofitted to a pre-67
car (though it can be done, I've done it; it incolves cutting the
chassis to fit the shifter, which is about 2" farther back on a
full-synchro box). On the other hand, they've got that ugly
dashboard with no glove box. Stupid overreaction to Nader there.
After that, things go downhill in performance but uphill in
driver amenities. In 1972, they get a nice dashboard with a real
glove box and face-level air vents (particularly useful in the GT),
plus more supportive seats. On the down side, the front end is lifted
slightly and the engine is replaced by an 18V, a corporate standard
with inferior crank and rods and a compression ratio of only 8.0:1
instead of the 18G's 8.8:1. Carbs become SU HIF4s instead of HS4s,
and they're a little more trouble to get really right (yes, Danny?)
than the earlier ones. These cares were made through about August
1974, and while they can still be nice drivers, they don't have the
power of the earlier ones. They still have chrome bumpers, but the
'74s get big black square overriders.
(Note also -- when you read about MGBs in the literature, be aware
that all the books talk about the years in which the cars were *produced*
while cars sold in this country are generally sold by their *model
year*. This drove me bats when I bought my first LBC, a '74 Midget, which
clearly had chrome bumpers and dual carbs in spite of the books all
saying that "in 1974 the Midget got a single carb and rubber bumpers."
In general, the model year runs from September of the preceding calendar
year through August of the matching year -- so for a '74, they run from
September 1973 through August 1974. And you can deduce this from two
points on the car: you can get the model year by decoding the VIN,
visible on the dashboard; MGBs made after 1970 are in the GHN5 series,
and their VINs will start out with GHN5U?###### G, where the ? is an
alphabetic character beginning with A for the 1970 model year, and
continuing through 1980. I now can't remember whether they skip I or
not, reckoning on confusion with 1. Anyway, a 1974 will start out GHN5UE,
since 1974 is the fifth model year after 1970 inclusive. The ###### is
a six-digit number that is the car's sequential number in the manufacturing
process.)
In September 1975 the smog stuff got thick, and power dropped to 62.5 bhp
from a high of 98 for the '67. Plus the car got heavier, higher, and
added large amounts (like over 100 lb) of weight at the very ends of
the car, which made it turn in more slowly. On the plus side, in 1978
or 1979 the car got a rear anti-roll bar to get back a little of the
handling. And the very last year made got those nice 5.5"-wide
star-pattern alloy wheels, which permit you to use real tires.
You can of course install an early motor into any MGB, depending on
what your state's smog laws require; Danny's '73 has basically a '65
motor with a '68 head (to fit the smog pump), and it's about right,
plus he's got those vents in the dash. The president of the American
MGB Association for many years had such a car as his daily driver,
and it's got a lot to recommend it.
In pricing restorations on a B, note that the motors are typically
available for about $1500 rebuilt, while the chassis tops out at $4000
to repair rust. It tops out there because if you have more rust to
repair than that, you should spend $4000 on a British Motor Heritage
bodyshell and throw the old one away.
>From the sounds of it, the '79 might be useful as a parts car,
in which case it might be worth $500. I'd advise against buying it,
for the simple reason that it's so easy to find a decent MGB still
for under $2000. There are so many of the things that you really
should not rush out and buy the first one you see, unless it's
perfect and simply undervalued (the old "well, my boy had us store
it when he went to college and then he moved to Burma to join the
Peace Corps and told us to sell all his material goods... would $250
be too much to ask, you look like such nice young people...")
--Scott "Still looking for that woman and her son's Lotus Seven" Fisher
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