`79 MG B Roadster

[Harm]

My sweet little MG is currently undergoing restoration by my dad, my granddad and me. I got it for my 18th birthday (so that's just a few months ago) but it has been my mom's car (and daily driver) from 2004 until my 18th birthday. Well, I'll stop talking and show you some pictures!













I hope you like it!

[Daffyflyer]

Pah! you should have got a reliable convertable like my MX5!

Mine has never had any issues!

Except when the diff filled with metal shavings..
And the conrod bearing tried to melt at the track one day..
And the Clutch release bearing collapsed and stopped the engine from turning with the clutch depresed, making spectacular squealing noises, and causing me to get a LOT of practice at rev matching..
Oh, and you have to pop up the headlights before you turn them on, because they don't do it by turning them on automatically anymore, and if you turn them on FIRST then they won't pop up
Oh, and when you dim the dash lights it turns the headlights off (surprise!)

Much better than that unreliable british nonsense...

[Orbitstrider]

Oh boy can I relate to reliable MX5's... lol they are great cars no doubt. But that MG. very nice. a friend of mine has one similar but we cannot get it running for some reason. just refuses to start :L

[chkltcow]

Pah! you should have got a reliable convertable like my MX5!

Mine has never had any issues!

Except when the diff filled with metal shavings..
And the conrod bearing tried to melt at the track one day..
And the Clutch release bearing collapsed and stopped the engine from turning with the clutch depresed, making spectacular squealing noises, and causing me to get a LOT of practice at rev matching..
Oh, and you have to pop up the headlights before you turn them on, because they don't do it by turning them on automatically anymore, and if you turn them on FIRST then they won't pop up
Oh, and when you dim the dash lights it turns the headlights off (surprise!)

And the clutch slave cylinder went bad....
And it started throwing EGR check engine lights
And the heat shields on the exhaust rusted off and rattled at highway cruising speed
And the cam angle sensor leaked like a sieve
And the windows stopped rolling up and down
And the radiator spiderwebbed and cracked

I mean, other than all that.... 100% reliability!

Oh, and my heater vents all point down like an 80 year old wom...... uhhh... yeah.. let's just say they sag.

[conan]

Mmmmmm British Sport Car ...

I'm sure that all the parts that caught problem on MX5 did caught some problem on MGB too ... But for a very different reason. They rusted away.

[gero45]

My father once owned one it was an older though with metallic bumper

the MG B reliability is terrible my father had to go to the garage every week if you dont know someone who can repair it for cheap you will go bankrupt

[Azurael]

At least yours is rot-free... A friend of mine had the GT version of the same era as yours (I prefer the older chrome bumper models for looks though) and it had to be welded up every year for the MOT until there was nothing left to weld! My dad's neighbor had a beautiful V8 roadster though, sounded (and looked great) but it only ever came out of the garage on the occasional weekend. Cars are meant to be driven is what I say!

Still, it could be worse - it could have a K-series engine too for the ultimate in British quality motoring... Why yes, that is oil in the coolant, sir! Not that I can comment, I drive a Renfault... In fact, maybe we should just avoid car manufacturers that begin with 'R' - Renault, Rover, Reliant... Rolls Royce? Maybe not then.

[Harm]

So I guess the MX5 is the unreliable car. This very car has been my mom's daily driver for 7 years, always started, no surprise trips to the garage, just regular maintenance. In that time it has done about 30.000 miles. Never let us down. It has proven to be extremely reliable, fun and, if you drive carefully, even quite economical! The only reason it's in bits now is that we want to give this car a proper modern anti-rust treatment and it needs a new paint job (not so strange after 32 years). It has been good to us, so we want to pay the old girl back and make sure she'll live at least another 30 years! By the way, my dad has a '69 model, the chrome bumper one. It's a lot prettier, but this one is a lot easier to live with.

[Harm]

@Orbitstrider
If it wont start it's almost certainly the ignition system. The later models (like mine) have electronic ignition, made by Lucas (the prince of darkness). They usually don't fail, but if they fail, the car won't run at all. If it sparks, it's probably just a fuel problem. Try starting it by putting some petrol in the air filter, if that works, it's probably your fuel pump, if that doesn't work, it's your carb. The S.U. carbs (early US cars and all European cars) are pretty reliable, but the Zenith/Stormberg ones on the later US cars are horrible. I hope you'll get it running soon, they are great fun!

[krussel]

I owned a 1976 B GT way back in 1987 and its true they were not like modern cars as they rusted and needed constant care and fiddling with the SU’s to get them to run sweet. It was quite comfy though and I liked the crack metal dashboard.
I only had it just over a year and had just paid out for the castle sills to be replaced (£350 back then) when the front wings started to bubble through. I traded it in for a Triumph Stag 3.5 V8, which is another sad story.

Owning one today as a classic is a different matter though as many parts have been reproduced better than the originals and things like brakes can be upgraded to modern standards. They make a great little classic if your up for getting your hands dirty.

Oh the only problem (like the MX5) is the engine is totally in the wrong place.

[Daffyflyer]

So I guess the MX5 is the unreliable car.

Well, Zeussy claims my MX5 is the reencarnation of an MGB or TR7, but it seems like the MGB is the reliable one here!

[Harm]

So I guess the MX5 is the unreliable car.

Well, Zeussy claims my MX5 is the reencarnation of an MGB or TR7, but it seems like the MGB is the reliable one here!

Well, some people say Mazda bought an MGB to see how it was done before they even started drawing the first line for the original MX5

[krussel]

I always thought they based the idea on the 60-70's Lotus Elan ?

The cam covers are very much the same. Great cars the MX5 and a brave move by Mazda at the time.

[Harm]

They are great cars, if I wouldn't have my MG I'd go for a MX5! No, a car like the Lotus Elan would be pure horror to mass produce. Of course, they will have looked at Lotus' superb suspension etc. I won't dare to doubt that.