Back in 2009 my Motorman
son got us a MGBGT which was offered on the scrappage scheme against - I won’t say what. We thought that to scrap it was a travesty so bought it with a small premium for the seller. I thought I could turn it into an everyday driver. Here is a description of our efforts together - the difficult bits done by Motorman himself.
MGBGT 1971 - 109k genuine miles, Tax free, 12m MOT Full service 2m ago + carb balance, burned no oil & no drips, pressure 60+, -O/D, 123 electronic ignition, S/S exhaust, Kenlowe fan, didn't overheat,
New parabolic rear springs and spax,
New W/W and new spinners, new kingpins and polyurethane bushes, front bearings, discs, calipers, tracking.
halogen headlights,
Motolita S/W, new leather seats, doors cards & replaced main carpets. Motorola radio converted for ipod/iphone.
Respray and new windscreen.
Rebuilt window winding mechanisms.
It looked lovely and was reliable but it wouldn’t make a daily driver.
It was too noisy - tho mostly a good noise - and rattled too much. The heating, ventilation and lighting was inadequate. The seats were not that comfortable. The security was feeble. I sorely missed things that one takes for granted like internally lit switches. Also the handling wasn’t that good.
Since I’m not a collector I sold it and luckily didn’t lose too much.
Modern cars have come too far since MG’s 1960s designs, for me at least, but a 1990s design TF still cuts it easily.