Just bought an MGC, how do I make it handle?!
Discussion
That's the question! I've not even picked it up yet but I'm determined to make it handle properly having done some racing its pretty essential as far as I'm concerned. The car is absolutely standard as far as I could tell so interested in any ideas or common fixes that anyone else out there have done.
Thanks in advance!
Thanks in advance!
The MGC is a long legged touring car and not meant to 'handle' in all senses of the word in the same way as the very similar looking MGB. The two cars are very different in so many ways apart from appearance.
It is possible to make them 'handle' but, as already advised, cost yah big time! Could spoil an original nice car too so think carefully.
.
It is possible to make them 'handle' but, as already advised, cost yah big time! Could spoil an original nice car too so think carefully.
.
Well I've decided to take the plunge into MGC ownership, a 68 GT.
Since agreeing to buy I keep thinking of the bits of the car I didn't look at, but do recall getting a 'good feeling' about it.
I pick it up on Monday... on a trailer just in case!
Since agreeing to buy I keep thinking of the bits of the car I didn't look at, but do recall getting a 'good feeling' about it.
I pick it up on Monday... on a trailer just in case!
Edited by crugbun on Thursday 17th January 20:07
wildoliver said:
How do you know it doesn't handle if you haven't picked it up yet?
I'd imagine it was test driven and compared against other MGCs that were tested driven to find this one doesn't handle as well as the others or none of them handled wellshirley someone wouldn't ask otherwise
The MC C has a well recognised handling problem. The engine chosen was far too heavy and ruined the handling. BMC tried to adjust this by adding torsion bars suited to this load. That failed to address the nose heavy problem with all C's.
The real solution was to fit the better lighter alloy Rover V8 in place. That worked and spawned the V8 Mg's pioneered by Costello engineering, not by BMC at all. Even the racing C's were hopeless and never as quick or responsive as the big Healeys of 10 years earlier and they were archaic in handling terms.
There is no simple solution. I hop[e you enjoy the car. You mat reduce the problem but only non originality and weight saving can solve this.
The real solution was to fit the better lighter alloy Rover V8 in place. That worked and spawned the V8 Mg's pioneered by Costello engineering, not by BMC at all. Even the racing C's were hopeless and never as quick or responsive as the big Healeys of 10 years earlier and they were archaic in handling terms.
There is no simple solution. I hop[e you enjoy the car. You mat reduce the problem but only non originality and weight saving can solve this.
crugbun said:
Well I've decided to take the plunge into MGC ownership, a 68 GT.
Since agreeing to buy I keep thinking of the bits of the car I didn't look at, but do recall getting a 'good feeling' about it.
I pick it up on Monday... on a trailer just in case!
That looks really nice. Superb colour. Pageant blue looked like that but the blue of your car looks metallic, not solid colour in your picture.Since agreeing to buy I keep thinking of the bits of the car I didn't look at, but do recall getting a 'good feeling' about it.
I pick it up on Monday... on a trailer just in case!
Before thinking of any changes or modifications, drive the car for a month or two and as in the Julie Andrews song give it a touch of :~
Ms.Andrews said:
.
Getting to know you.
.
Driving such a motor not recommended in these snowy conditions just yet. Tuck it up in bed best policy and wait for better conditions. Getting to know you.
.
Then,, after living with the car for a while you'll be much better placed to assess what needs doing to suit the car and you.
If and when you do make changes, I for one would be interested to see any work in progress images if you do the work yourself. Apart from the interest aspects, that way we all can learn a bit....
Thanks, yes I think it's actually a BMW paint colour and in the photo's looks a bit 'modern' almost like a rubber bumper car that has been chromed.
In the flesh it looks better - as I recall!
It has the inevitable little bit of rust around one headlamp and the interior is a bit mismatched (I've managed to get a complete original interior for it, black with blue piping) It was good value too I think for a 60's British 6 pot.
Generally looks to have been well looked after by the previous owner (13 years) though the engine bay is not pretty with lots of surface rust on the bulkhead and inner wings. It has a MOT until the autumn.
Assuming I can persuade my wife that it can be kept... then I'm keen to improve the handling and engine power bit by bit to see what can be achieved. From what one reads there is a lot of fairly simple stuff that can be done which results in big steps forward.
In the flesh it looks better - as I recall!
It has the inevitable little bit of rust around one headlamp and the interior is a bit mismatched (I've managed to get a complete original interior for it, black with blue piping) It was good value too I think for a 60's British 6 pot.
Generally looks to have been well looked after by the previous owner (13 years) though the engine bay is not pretty with lots of surface rust on the bulkhead and inner wings. It has a MOT until the autumn.
Assuming I can persuade my wife that it can be kept... then I'm keen to improve the handling and engine power bit by bit to see what can be achieved. From what one reads there is a lot of fairly simple stuff that can be done which results in big steps forward.
Edited by crugbun on Tuesday 19th March 22:01
Steffan said:
The MC C has a well recognised handling problem. The engine chosen was far too heavy and ruined the handling. BMC tried to adjust this by adding torsion bars suited to this load. That failed to address the nose heavy problem with all C's.
The real solution was to fit the better lighter alloy Rover V8 in place. That worked and spawned the V8 Mg's pioneered by Costello engineering, not by BMC at all. Even the racing C's were hopeless and never as quick or responsive as the big Healeys of 10 years earlier and they were archaic in handling terms.
There is no simple solution. I hop[e you enjoy the car. You mat reduce the problem but only non originality and weight saving can solve this.
No sorry very much disagree lol! ask the people I took round Snetterton on the Charity day, touching 140 at the end of hanger st with still another gear to go.The real solution was to fit the better lighter alloy Rover V8 in place. That worked and spawned the V8 Mg's pioneered by Costello engineering, not by BMC at all. Even the racing C's were hopeless and never as quick or responsive as the big Healeys of 10 years earlier and they were archaic in handling terms.
There is no simple solution. I hop[e you enjoy the car. You mat reduce the problem but only non originality and weight saving can solve this.
You have a nice base there the wires may limit you pushing the corners as they can only really take a 175 profile max. Check the spokes well any loose ones get tightened correctly.
The Engine needs to breath so pay attention to filters , don't go mad with expensive upgrades yet, cheap is a bigger front antiroll bar, and upgraded shocks. If you need more info pm me I can put you in touch with people who won't bulls
t you or cost you the earth. The MGC world is small .Steffan said:
The MC C has a well recognised handling problem. The engine chosen was far too heavy and ruined the handling. BMC tried to adjust this by adding torsion bars suited to this load. That failed to address the nose heavy problem with all C's.
The real solution was to fit the better lighter alloy Rover V8 in place. That worked and spawned the V8 Mg's pioneered by Costello engineering, not by BMC at all. Even the racing C's were hopeless and never as quick or responsive as the big Healeys of 10 years earlier and they were archaic in handling terms.
There is no simple solution. I hop[e you enjoy the car. You mat reduce the problem but only non originality and weight saving can solve this.
What a load of balls.The real solution was to fit the better lighter alloy Rover V8 in place. That worked and spawned the V8 Mg's pioneered by Costello engineering, not by BMC at all. Even the racing C's were hopeless and never as quick or responsive as the big Healeys of 10 years earlier and they were archaic in handling terms.
There is no simple solution. I hop[e you enjoy the car. You mat reduce the problem but only non originality and weight saving can solve this.
A Radders said:
That's the question! I've not even picked it up yet but I'm determined to make it handle properly having done some racing its pretty essential as far as I'm concerned. The car is absolutely standard as far as I could tell so interested in any ideas or common fixes that anyone else out there have done.
Thanks in advance!
These people are good:Thanks in advance!
http://www.hoyle-engineering.co.uk/
|http://thumbsnap.com/zpTKTVP6[/url]Engine on the GTS
I'm old enough to remember reading the "Journos" appraisals of the MGC when it first appeared. Almost to a man they all got it well wrong immediately comparing it with the MGB back then. Despite their apparent visual similarity, the cars are chalk and cheese in many respects including driving and handling. One is a nippy lightweight, the other a long legged tourer.
Not for the first time UK Motoring Journalists created an automotive myth.
One of the finest exponents of that Motoring Journalist art of getting it wrong is of course, his Top Gear tallness. Indeed, he's accrued a nice few quid doing it apparently.
Owned many MGs over the years, currently own three, and had five MGBs. Here's one of mine back at the time the MGC first appeared. Great days gone forever :~
I have seen race modified Cs in action at places like Castle Coombe and Thruxton. Impressive.
Not for the first time UK Motoring Journalists created an automotive myth.
One of the finest exponents of that Motoring Journalist art of getting it wrong is of course, his Top Gear tallness. Indeed, he's accrued a nice few quid doing it apparently.
Owned many MGs over the years, currently own three, and had five MGBs. Here's one of mine back at the time the MGC first appeared. Great days gone forever :~
I have seen race modified Cs in action at places like Castle Coombe and Thruxton. Impressive.
Edited by MGJohn on Monday 21st January 21:39
Allow me to elaborate on my fairly succinct reply above, although I'll only be repeating the attitudes on this thread.
A badly set up C is a pig to drive, but the same goes for an MGB, infact the same goes for any car even a renowned drivers car such as MX5, Lotus 7 or 911.
I've owned allsorts of interesting cars ranging from Lotus, the ubiquitous MX5 (which left me cold), virtually every post 1960 MG available and most Porsches with a few oddballs thrown in for good measure. When I got most of them they needed a degree of getting "right" but after that work they turned in to good drivers cars, sure some had quirks but that's what made them fun to drive, I don't want to buy a car that drives exactly the same as every other car on the road the only difference being the look of the car, I dread the day every car is built on one single platform and cosmetically altered to provide branding.
For me a drivers car is a car that responds well to a good driver, it may have challenging handling but rewards a good driver, a 911 has this and to a lesser degree so does an MGC.
But does a C understeer when set up well? No it shouldn't. There is no good reason other than bad driving for a proper C to understeer, understeer in it's true form is a sign of a car that is not enjoyable to drive, if the car however tends to go straight on because you went too quickly in to a corner and didn't set the car up for the bend then it's not the cars fault it's the drivers.
The C engine is heavy, it puts a lot of stress on the front suspension so it's important to keep it in good working order, hardly a bad thing, the car also responds well to modern low profile tyres, it becomes a different animal then, although I think I will be pulling the sticky tyres currently fitted to my CGT off to go on a set of Dunlop alloys and sticking some skinny tall tyres on the original wires following a story from a friend of the amount of flex from my wheels when being driven hard recently!
As for anyone pulling the C engine down, it's a lovely engine, it revs fairly well and has a nice power band, your going to have to spend a lot of money to get the same power out of it as a well tuned Rover V8 but as I detest the Rover engine that's something I can live with. In standard form the C engine is a nicer engine and to lose it from the car in favour of a reject from America just removes all the character from the car, once you start on that slippery slope you may as well go for a space framed kit car because it will share about as much in common with the feel of a C.
The biggest mistakes BMC made with the C were not making it different enough looking from the B, although it's a pretty car. Not developing it enough before launching on the press. And not developing through the cars life.
A badly set up C is a pig to drive, but the same goes for an MGB, infact the same goes for any car even a renowned drivers car such as MX5, Lotus 7 or 911.
I've owned allsorts of interesting cars ranging from Lotus, the ubiquitous MX5 (which left me cold), virtually every post 1960 MG available and most Porsches with a few oddballs thrown in for good measure. When I got most of them they needed a degree of getting "right" but after that work they turned in to good drivers cars, sure some had quirks but that's what made them fun to drive, I don't want to buy a car that drives exactly the same as every other car on the road the only difference being the look of the car, I dread the day every car is built on one single platform and cosmetically altered to provide branding.
For me a drivers car is a car that responds well to a good driver, it may have challenging handling but rewards a good driver, a 911 has this and to a lesser degree so does an MGC.
But does a C understeer when set up well? No it shouldn't. There is no good reason other than bad driving for a proper C to understeer, understeer in it's true form is a sign of a car that is not enjoyable to drive, if the car however tends to go straight on because you went too quickly in to a corner and didn't set the car up for the bend then it's not the cars fault it's the drivers.
The C engine is heavy, it puts a lot of stress on the front suspension so it's important to keep it in good working order, hardly a bad thing, the car also responds well to modern low profile tyres, it becomes a different animal then, although I think I will be pulling the sticky tyres currently fitted to my CGT off to go on a set of Dunlop alloys and sticking some skinny tall tyres on the original wires following a story from a friend of the amount of flex from my wheels when being driven hard recently!
As for anyone pulling the C engine down, it's a lovely engine, it revs fairly well and has a nice power band, your going to have to spend a lot of money to get the same power out of it as a well tuned Rover V8 but as I detest the Rover engine that's something I can live with. In standard form the C engine is a nicer engine and to lose it from the car in favour of a reject from America just removes all the character from the car, once you start on that slippery slope you may as well go for a space framed kit car because it will share about as much in common with the feel of a C.
The biggest mistakes BMC made with the C were not making it different enough looking from the B, although it's a pretty car. Not developing it enough before launching on the press. And not developing through the cars life.
Yes, the engine does sound lovely smooth and sonorous and it is incredible how little development BMC gave it at the time.
I'm interested to establish the power output figure now and then check it after each upgrade, ignition/distributor change, new exhaust manifold, flow the head a little, that sort of thing.
I'm interested to establish the power output figure now and then check it after each upgrade, ignition/distributor change, new exhaust manifold, flow the head a little, that sort of thing.
Gassing Station | MG | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff