MGB | Buyer's Guide 

Tip #1 on buying an MG B: Inspect the wiring under the dashboard. Check for hacked, unplugged, broken, spliced, cut, or fraying wires.

Drove a friend's GT for a month during a visit to South Africa. A great experience. I had a 124 Spyder athome in Canada.

Very helpful. My brother in law passed away 2 months ago, and left me a totally mint 78 MGB. I am having it gone through and learning ,as it is worked on. Thanks for the great video.

Loved my '77 B. In the five years I owned it it burned through seven starter, two alternators, had two full-on electrical fires where the wires ran along the inside of the firewall, AND the carburetor came apart and leaked fuel - causing ANOTHER FIRE - onto the exhaust manifold. I was experienced with this car by the last fire and I was able to quickly put it out. The auto choke was a plastic protuberance attached to the side of the SU carb, and fuel ran up against the plastic wall. Vibrations loosened it from the carb, spilling fuel, etc. By then I had a complete tool kit in the trunk, or, as we uppity wannabe people say, the boot, so I quite literally rubbed sealant on the choke and tightened it to the carb with Lok-tight and pedalled on down the road within fifteen minutes. A couple of years later I replaced the SU with a Webber carb and it ran great. Had to sell it because the wife took issue with our baby daughter riding in that little space behind the seats. Miss that car.

I've just bought my 5th MGB GT , a 78 in Pageant Blue. I love them. This latest one has already been converted to unleaded and is in wonderful condition.

Helpful tips. I checked out an MGB yesterday that looked great in the photos. The magnet I brought didn’t adhere to the sills and a closer look revealed body filler. Walked away.

I bought my 73 Roadster brand new in August of 1973 has never leaked in the oil never has an electrical problem and it's been a great car

Just acquired a 79 MGB, 2 owners, 73k... love it!

I quote “I drive an mgb and it get me to work most days” not the greatest vote of confidence there

One thing about the MGB is that there are still quite a few around, go to any classic car show and you will almost certainly see a few. So if you like a more individual classic they probably aren't what you want. Then there's the dodgy Lucas electrics, the relatively slow and noisy B-series engine, and lots of rust. It's true to say that they were probably no better or worse than many other cars of their era but the MGB has triple skinned sills that are very prone to rust and are expensive and difficult to repair properly.

My dad had an MG roadster when I was a young child in the late 70's. It was a play toy for us both, he'd use it on weekends and to autocross with. I'd sit in the driver seat and dream of when I'd get to drive it. Even tho he had a very nice and new turbo Porsche 924, I always loved that MG better.

My dad goes on all the time about his MG BGT and Triumph Stag he owned back in the day, looks great

Fantastic Video. Owned one around 10 years ago, and we are off to look at one this weekend. Need another MGB in our life

I had an MGB 79 convertible. Loved it. Drove it on a long trip 2800 miles in Canada. Never let me down. My only regret, it didn't have overdrive. After a while it began to use a lot of oil....

Danny, I thanks for this. I think you need to get on youtube more! Your excellent at presenting and practical calssics on youtube would be grand!

im 73 and drive a brg 1970 B roadster its the 9th MG i've owned over the past 49 years. 4 BGTs, 3 B roadsters a 1953 TF and an MGC. still love them as much as the day i bought my first one

Although im in my late 20's I would love to be able to drive an MGB aswell as maybe even own one, my dad used to have one but my grandad got rid of it without his permission while it was stored at my nans house.

You gave some really good information, especially on how to check the body for rust. Ideally, you need to be a car mechanic so you can work on your own car. This car will eat you alive financially if you have to take it somewhere for every little thing. Unless you can find a British car repair shop, most garages don't have a clue about these cars or where to get parts. The other important thing is to join a British car club where you'll find other like-minded MG owners. They'll be a great source of help, parts and advice.

A friend of mine here in Oregon owns a1975 MGB GT Jubilee. He paid $5,000 for it from a guy in England about six or seven years ago and it cost him another $5,000 to get it here. It's real nice. He told me it's only one of two known here in the U.S.

My 1962 MG Midget leaked rainwater onto the floor - not through the hood/top - so badly that I drilled holes in it, painted it with boat marine paint and covered it with rubber floor mats. This way, the water emptied as fast as it collected. When closed, the side curtains/windows caused the top to balloon from the frame. To remedy this, I opened the front of the driver's side by one inch and opened the rear of the passenger side by 1 inch to allow the inside air pressure to equalize. Otherwise, the sound effects of the balloon blowing up and popping repeatedly would deafen me. The hood/top was separate from the frame and had to be removed separately from it, folded up like a shirt and placed in the boot/trunk with the frame which collapsed and pulled apart in two pieces. It lay perfectly on top of my side curtains which were stored there in warm, dry weather. Still, it was much better than the newer style which was attached to the frame and car permanently. Surprisingly, it never leaked and I loved it. (Rainwater entered via the firewall in a spot I never found.) I could install it or remove it in just a few minutes. When I had to replace it with a new one, the price was much cheaper and installation was much easier than the new style. There were no exterior door handles or door locks. The only lock on the car was on the twist handle of the boot/trunk. The only time anything was stolen from the interior was at the beach when someone shoved his fist through the fiberboard divider between the passenger area and the interior of the boot/trunk and pulled my blue jeans through to get my wallet from the pocket. I later replaced the divider with plywood covered with carpet and bolted in. Easy and cheap fix. I carried a hammer to hit the starter when it rested in the wrong position. I also carried a handkerchief to wipe out the distributor on rainy days. To help alleviate this problem, I had to jam a piece of 2"x4" board in the bottom of the engine compartment to act as a splash shield for the distributor when I drove over water puddles in the rain. If I had it to do all over again, I definitely would. I had many adventures covering many thousands of miles (and engine and transmission rebuilds) in that Little Brit Car that you can't even begin to make up stories about. I was at the right age, at the right place, in the right time. It forced me to learn mechanics and a new language, such as "spanner". I was a very young hillbilly from West Virginia who drove all over the eastern half of the USA. Premium gas was 40 cents/gallon and my car got 40 mpg...one penny/mile. To put it in perspective, 1000 miles cost me $10.00. Surprisingly, it did not burn oil, nor leak any. On a reliability scale, it was a 1 out of 10. On a fun scale it was a 12 out of 10. I loved that car. It had 948cc of brute power which could achieve 70 mph going downhill with the wind at its back. Thank you, little MG!

I've never seen rims like that for an MG. I love them!

Best things about MGBs; there fun to drive, parts are available, there obtainable, and they look good restored or a bit beat up.

Chrome, rubber, the little buggers are ALL fun! I

Thanks for this. Great video. Could you tell me which airfield this was filmed at please?

Key phrase at the end there "it gets me to work MOST days". I have a 78 rubber roadster and it has been on the back of a tow truck too often... Doing what the factory should have done, swapping in a ford 302

Seen them around in the states been wondering if they were s good buy or not!

This is what "MG" was all about! Excellent car!

How can someone determine if the car's been converted for unleaded and what years are in need of converting?

I've had my '77 for just over 3 years. It runs great and is very reliable. I have had to put a starter and a throttle cable and it has 71000 miles which I believe are original since the tires were 22 years old when I bought it. Great fun for little money.

Can we have one of these for the MG Midget please.

is there a bumper retro conversion, SL Benz is like $3k

My first car in 1977 was a used MG. It was fun and looked cool, but it was not very reliable. It was also gutless. But it did make me learn a bit about cars.

Is it expensive to converted to earlier bumper and get rid of the big ones ???????

I’m in America and I bought a chrome bumper but rubber minibumbered 1974 MGB GT for 16 hundred. And there were only about 3,300 of the 74 GTs imported to the North America

Bellissima auto , anche se personalmente preferisco la spyder con eventuale hard top e portabagagli cromato ! Very nice !

Is this filmed at RAF Bicester?

Great classic car.. Thumbs up.

Looks a lot like mine, a '77 Brooklands green roadster with gold stripes. Dual SU conversion with K&N filters.

That Jubilee GT has had the chrome side strips painted green. It looks better for it.

I had a 74 GT as a daily driver 5 years ago. Made the drive to work fun. Not so much fun in winter as the heater did not work.

A 72 with overdrive running right. what is highway speed like? What kind of rpm at 80 mph?

Thanks!

Anyone considering buying an MG should consider the Lucas electrics; they were rubbish. I'll never forget when I was a teenager, and one of my father's friends drove his over after work (just a Midget, not a GT). When he went to leave, it wouldn't start. They spent the next several hours rewiring the starter circuit, because part of the wiring had melted under the dash.

Was there a 6 cyl version? A GT-C?

I much preferred the rubber bumpers!

If MG's rust for fun, my roadster must be an orgy.

I like the wheels

Do MG's run on Leaded or Unleaded gas?

dont mind the rust tis all part of the fun of owning one fixing it

Im 16 and looking at buying one, is it worth my money?

Was not styled by Pininfarina but Giogiori, and you could not get chrome or plastic, you got chrome only then later facelift you got plastic only

We have just bought a 78 gt and I think rubber looks better and they are much easier to maintain

i think the rubber bumper is only better liked now because no one does re chroming and if they do its £5000000000000000000000

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Don't forget to remove the magnet before you put your sock back on.

Get one with chrome bumpers and if you can’t then replace the shitty rubber ones with chrome

Super cars I want one

i wishd id had 2 mgbs 1969-1972

Great line...."......rusts for fun.........."

you can do alot better than a Typical MG, E30 BMW, MK2 Golf, MK4 Sprite, Jaguar MK2 etc etc

Handles well ? You're having a laugh, the rubber bumper models handle like boats.

If its not leaking oil its most likely ran out of oil.

These cars would probably be much more expensive if Mazda hadn't created the Miata

They made over 200,000 MGBs they are very prone to rust the rubber bumper versions were created to match American safty issues If you insist on buying one try and get the V 8 version or one that has been re-engine with a Japanese V 6 they are not as reliable as people would have you believe They are slow 105mph top speed I have owned these and ended up buying a TR 6 better engine better preformance

The interior is "very atmospheric"?!? Oh, my fuckin' gawd. :-(

That's not a MGB, it's a MGA

The rubber bumpers are horrible go for the chrome ones

What the dog doin

I wouldn't take money to accept a rubber bumper one. They're hideous

Rubber bumpers suck.

I had a '72 BGT. Here's my buyer's guide: don't.

Here’s some good Advice, Don’t buy one.

Rubber bumper looks much better, I think.

I like the Rubber Bumper cars, but have a 64 pull-handle. Although the car in the video is in stunning condition, the jubilee model has got to be the worst looking MGB produced. Those gold wheels look awful, whereas they look great when silver and black as per v8. ........... and those stripes..........

Here’s some good Advice, Don’t buy one, there Crap.

Here is the golden rule of buying an MGB. DON,T THERE ARE MANY MORE RELIABLE CARS Mazda’s Porches Merck’s etc

My MGB buyer guide... DON'T BUY THEM!

That's not a MGB, It's a MGA