Topic: Not a 'bike' but definitely an 'other'

[Bankerdanny]

With my GoldWing away for the Winter a replacement vehicle suitable for inclement weather was required and one was therefore secured:

[mjstone]

Awesome, Danny!  Of course, some people would be putting one of those away for the winter and using some beater instead.

MJ

[Bankerdanny]

Thanks MJ.

If I had needed a daily driver I might have gone in a different direction. But, I don't drive to work, so as a weekend driver it was such a good deal I couldn't pass it up. I had one very similar to it in the late 80's right after college.

Plus, I paid under $2k and even with license fees, city sticker and some minor restoration (primarily a new seat cushion on the driver's side and some new window seals) I only have about $2,700 in it right now.

I will say I had forgotten what it was like to drive an old car. Power nothing, no noise insulation, loud smelly exhaust, manual choke. It takes some getting used to. It's a really nice little car though.

[ekpent]

Excuse my ignorance Dan but what make - model is it exactly. Nice to see you back around.  Eric in Kazoo

[Stev-o]

It's an MG, and the model is a MGB GT, right? My buddy had one years ago, great little car!

[Bankerdanny]

Stev-O, yes, that's right. It's a '72 MGB-GT.

Eric, happy new year. I hope to drive it up to KZ July 8th for the Mad Dogs & Englishman British Car Faire at the Gilmore. If I do I will make sure to let you and Sean know. I might be up in June for the motorcycle show, I haven't decided yet.

[seanbarney41]

I've always wanted one of those Danny...nice car

[72 yellow]

Planning on getting aquainted with the "Prince of Darkness" ?   

[Bankerdanny]

Sean, I had one briefly right after college and my dad had a '69 roadster for years.

72, most likely. Although so far I have been very pleased. The horn and rear defrost don't work, but all the lights, gauges, etc work fine.

[Terry in Australia]

Very nice mate, I've always like MG's, it's amazing to think that they managed to shoe-horn a V8 engine into the later GT's, they must have gone like rockets! Cheers, Terry.

[simon#42]

Very nice mate, I've always like MG's, it's amazing to think that they managed to shoe-horn a V8 engine into the later GT's, they must have gone like rockets! Cheers, Terry.

for some reason the v8 they put in it was out of the range rover , so it wasn't very fast ....god it was hard to work on though .  started my working life at a mg and leyland dealers in the 70s , i still wake up screaming some nights

[Terry in Australia]

Very nice mate, I've always like MG's, it's amazing to think that they managed to shoe-horn a V8 engine into the later GT's, they must have gone like rockets! Cheers, Terry.

for some reason the v8 they put in it was out of the range rover , so it wasn't very fast ....god it was hard to work on though .  started my working life at a mg and leyland dealers in the 70s , i still wake up screaming some nights

That's just a symptom of living in the UK Simon............. (just kidding, it's a lovely place, to visit)

[simon#42]

i actually like it here terry !

[Stev-o]

Simon - do you still see a lot of MG's on the road there?  Not often here.

I like drinking in the pubs in London!

[simon#42]

not that many about these days steve , they are now considered ' collectable ' which means people dont drive them because they think there worth loads of money .  unfortunately i still have to repair one v8 , no matter how many times i tell the owner its to good to drive every day the old bugger still does !

[Markcb750]

I was with Ya Banker, The MGB-GT is a classic worth keeping, till I read "vehicle suitable for inclement weather was required"...Then I began to suspect you might be running a securitized investment  deal on us.

Great find.

[LokisTyro]

Nice ride. I hear these are becoming pretty rare. I see them a lot less than I used to at track days. People nowadays are stuffing these with 5.0's from Fords. From what I can remember there are some pretty straight forward kits. I was looking at one of these once, then I was sent a catalog from Moss Motorsports and I had to pass. Parts prices are pretty redic.

[Bankerdanny]

@Terry and Simon: the 3.5 Rover V8 (which was actually a GM design) is all aluminum, so the V8 weighed about the same as the existing 1.8L iron 4. The MG V8 was actually pretty fast in it's day. Unfortunately it never officially made it to the US, although there were a few US spec test mules, one of which did make it here and lives somewhere in the Midwestern states I believe.

[simon#42]

hi danny , the rover engine was designed for a buick but wasn't used , rover bought the design and stuck it in pretty much everything . as you say it is an alloy motor and i think it is actually lighter than the bmc 1.8 .  the variation in the mg is the low compression engine the same as in the landrovers , add to this some very restrictive exhaust manifolds , due to the space which limited  it even more . ive driven loads of these over the years and they are not much quicker than a good 1.8 .  you could however get the engine out to nearly 5ltr and there is loads of tuning parts for it . have never done this to an mg but did quite a few tr7's in the 80s , this improved them no end [ and god knows tr7s needed all the help they could get ] the thing that killed all these so called sports cars was that datsun brought out the 240z  which was better than all of them in every respect .

[jaguar]

love those cars
really want a MGB-GT V8 one day

i have a 79 midget now

[Bankerdanny]

If I were much shorter a Bugeye Sprite would be on my wish list. But at 6-4 I just don't fit in the Spridget. A friend of mine had an early 70's Sprite when I was in high school, even young, thin and relatively flexible I couldn't fit my legs under the steering wheel.

[Stev-o]

At 6'4, I'm surprised you fit in an MGB!

[Bankerdanny]

The B and the Triumph Spitfire (both of which my dad had when I was growing up) are surprisingly spacious. In both cars I don't even have to have the seat all the way back. Getting my legs in and out does take a bit of practice to do smoothly.

[Tews19]

That is a cool little car.

[Terry in Australia]

The B and the Triumph Spitfire (both of which my dad had when I was growing up) are surprisingly spacious. In both cars I don't even have to have the seat all the way back. Getting my legs in and out does take a bit of practice to do smoothly.

Ha ha, well that problem is still alive and well in Mazda's tribute to the MG mate, the MX5. (Miata, in American) I'm 6'4" and I have to shoehorn myself into my cuz's MX5, it's a great little car and great fun to drive, but it's easier for me to get in and out of my wife's little Hyundai econo-box, which is much roomier inside as well. Cheers, Terry.    

[scottly]

hi danny , the rover engine was designed for a buick but wasn't used , rover bought the design and stuck it in pretty much everything .

Yes, it was used in Buicks from '61-'63. I knew a guy that had one in a T-bucket. He built a set of headers for it, with glass-pack mufflers slid up into the collector tubes, and when he revved it up, it sounded like 2 750 Hondas! That tiny car didn't weigh much more than 1000 pounds, so the 185 HP four-barrel 215 moved it quite smartly around.