Advise on buying an mgb classic

[jamesters]

Hello. Need some advise on mgb classic found one being sold for 2k i been to look at it condition was so so body work was redone in 90s by owner and then left in storage for over 20yrs. Some bits under car still looked rusty on inspection but outter shell was ok some minor bubbling.engine outter case looked very rusty however. Mot has passed just recently. Thoughts on condition and price and history. Had 6 owners 5 during 80s. Car manufactured yr is 78

[akirk]

look on ebay - do a search and then filter by completed or sold - and you will soon build up a picture of condition v. price
£2k might not be bad for a car with an MOT

[Jag_NE]

ive got a feeling that 2k sounds fair if its a runner and a full mot. it may be worth paying more for a better one if you arent able to do a lot of the work yourself. if there is a fair bit of rust and rot its going to run into thousands if you need to outsource the work.

[jamesters]

I did chk its gd price for mgb my fear is it a total rust bucket from 90s stored away for ages

[ARHarh]

With these sort of cars 1970's / 1980's classics rust will always be the biggest issue. If you are confident with a welder or know someone who is then it sounds like a good bet. The mechanics will always be easy and cheap to fix. If it is just surface rust and you can spend a few weekends under it with some wire brushes and paint you will be able to protect it easily from further rust.

[jamesters]

I know showed lot of photos of rust being cut out in 90s looks v bad bk then so i guess big concern is how well was work done it obv used a lot by 5 owners in 1980s

[jamesters]

He showed a lot of photos of rust being cut out in the 90s it looked v bad bk then so i guess the big concern is how well was the work done. it obv used a lot by 5 owners in 1980s . Gotta convince wife to its not a heap of junk or hide it

[ClaphamGT3]

I would have said that £2k is at the lower end of the price spectrum for a rough but MOT'd rubber bumper 'GT. A roadster at this price point, even a rubber bumper, would be very suspect. Check out sills, floors, bulkhead and windscreen surrounds. If restored in the 90s expect structural remedial work sooner rather than later, especially at that price point. Bear in mind that rubber bumper GTs are not that valuable and will not repay major work.

[jamesters]

Yeah its the gt hard top rubber bumper version looks same as my grandfathers that was sadly sold off. Interesting you say they dont worth more 2.5k but some are priced as much as 8k

[ClaphamGT3]

I actually said £2k was at the lower end of the spectrum. I would be surprised if you could make a £2k car into an £8k car for £6k.

At this price point you need to buy carefully. If you do, you *could* wind up with a bargain. If you don't and miss significant issues, you could be into quickly spending more than the car is worth

[jamesters]

I personally wpuld rather get him lower but think gotta be something putting buyers off as he failed to sell it twice on ebay

[WJNB]

Having struggled with your spelling & grammar I was able to conclude that you should run away from this potential problem.
Rubber bumper MGB's GT's are the absolute bottom of the heap in the classic car world. Horrible looking & suspended as if on stilts many had tarty bright coloured fabric interiors & nasty plastics. Reliability & build quality about as bad as it got, putting the British car making industry to shame, so no wonder lots of companies providing spares, many of very poor quality. Please don't do it, you will be laughed at.

[jamesters]

sorry i was using my phone to type the replies from work....a very slow useless phone. Thank you for your advise. from what i saw it was in terrible condition def not worth 2k

[ClaphamGT3]

jamesters said:

this was condition under the bonnet, as you can see the engine case looks quite rusty looking

That's a BLMC Gold Seal engine - i.e. An official replacement engine supplied and fitted by BL.

[jamesters]

Ah ok. So is that a good thing or a bad thing?

[ClaphamGT3]

A gold seal engine was a factory rebuilt unit using all new moving parts within a reconditioned block and head. They were supplied by BL when models were current or near current and were given the same warranty as a new engine.

It would have been built and installed so long ago that it wouldn't really be material; just judge the engine based on its actual condition. On more valuable classics, the fact that it didn't have its original engine - a 'matching numbers' car - would count against it but there is so little value in a rubber bumper BGT, that no one would care.

[jamesters]

thanks for all the help, I believe he is asking a lot for condition of the car i think the big reason he struggled to sell it for the asking price is because it was restored in the 90s and even though these cars have a history of rusting its hard to know how well that restore work was done as it was just done by the owner himself in the garage not by a professional body workshop. if anything it just makes me feel very sad my grandfathers well kept mgb was sold after he passed away years ago. I will keep my eye out in the future but given the modern lifestyle these days the car is more a hobby or fun car at best and questionable how much time i have for that at this time at least

[BJWoods]

jamesters said:

thanks for all the help, I believe he is asking a lot for condition of the car i think the big reason he struggled to sell it for the asking price is because it was restored in the 90s and even though these cars have a history of rusting its hard to know how well that restore work was done as it was just done by the owner himself in the garage not by a professional body workshop. if anything it just makes me feel very sad my grandfathers well kept mgb was sold after he passed away years ago. I will keep my eye out in the future but given the modern lifestyle these days the car is more a hobby or fun car at best and questionable how much time i have for that at this time at least

cars can rust in several years... this has had twenty years to rust all over again..

[jamesters]

thats the problem and he wants 2k for a rust bucket

Edited by jamesters on Wednesday 25th April 12:09