I'll tell all about that in a minute, but I'll get to the good part first. Today was a gorgeous afternoon, with bright sun and perfect temperature, so I was very happy to drive the MG to the outskirts of Lancaster to meet Brian. I took a picture of the car in the Giant parking lot on Centerville Road where we met, grateful that the car is now running well.
It looks great, doesn't it? Brian thought so too, and only looked over it for a few minutes. He didn't even drive it! Done deal. After that, I took the car back to Kate's, where it will stay overnight until the title transfer. Call it the triumphant return to the garage from which it was towed five weeks and two days ago. Kate said a final goodbye...
As it happens, Brian was the very first person to respond to the ad, but his schedule made getting together difficult, and his cash offer was significantly less than the asking price. We agreed to wait and see.
The next person to contact me was Bob, and he was eager to see the car. But in the midst of waiting for the appointment with Bob, another Brian (from NJ) texted, and he was very eager to buy the car, even offering over the advertised price. I told him I already had an appointment scheduled, and that I would need to check with Bob. I also asked him if he had viewed the blog post referenced in the ad, and he said, "No." I was to learn that was typical. I was astonished! If I put a link in an ad stating there were 40 photos, a video, and a ton of detail about the condition of the car, wouldn't you want to look?
I contacted Bob, and told him I had an offer over the asking price, and he told me to take it. But by that time, Brian from NJ had finally looked at the blog, and said he couldn't stick with his higher offer. We agreed that I would show the car to Bob, and if he didn't buy it, then Brian from NJ would buy the car at the asking price.
I reinstated the appointment with Bob, and (by now, cautious) asked if he had viewed the blog post. Nope! I told him to do so, and let me know. Sure enough, after seeing that, he backed out. So, I contacted Brian from NJ and told him the car was his. He arranged for a trailer for pickup, and we set an appointment for Monday morning at 10 am.
On the appointed Monday, at 10:30 I got a call from "Brian's son." Seems Brian had a bad fall down the stairs, and was in the hospital with broken bones. Right. I was in the uncomfortable position of hoping that Brian had really fallen and was not just a coward who was unable to say in plain English, "I decided I don't want it." Anyway, Brian from NJ never responded to another contact from me, so I moved on.
Next in line was Thom, and he was very interested and easy to work with. We had an appointment too, but he showed the blog to his mechanic, and that mechanic talked him out of buying it. Fair enough.
Then there was a couple from Lancaster who were, at first, very eager to view the car, and who stated they had reviewed the blog. But after making an appointment, they contacted me again and said they had never seen the blog and thought the were looking at a burgundy MGB when we talked. Whatever.
I went back to the first Brian, and we kept negotiating, and he wound up buying the car for his initial offer. But I don't mind the extra time and attempts - it convinced me that Brian's offer was all the money!
Since the blog post is on my emz4sale.blogspot.com site, it will go away once I have something else to sell, so I'm storing that post below for completeness. A fun project, and a good result!
FOR SALE: 1974 MG MGB
ATTRACTIVELY PRICED at $2,200 or best offer
Sold! Sold! Sold! Sold! Sold!
I'm helping my friend Kate to sell her 1974 MGB, which she has owned for decades! It was a beloved driver, but gradually became less-used, and I've just awakened it from a 5-year nap. It looks good and runs and drives very well!
Here's a brief video of the car running and driving:
This ad will have a ton of detail, so let me give you five bullet points so you'll know whether you want to proceed. After that, we'll get more detailed.
- During its hibernation, the MG was parked in a garage/barn, with a concrete floor. There was no evidence of any rodent infestation or anything bad like that.
- While the car looks good and runs well, it does have some rust in the sills. That's why it's so cheap! The NADA Classic Car guide puts the price for a good MGB driver at $5,995. You can easily get the rust welded and the car painted with the savings on purchase price.
- The work to get it back on the road included draining the gas tank and flushing the fuel lines, rebuilding the float and needle valve assemblies in the twin carburetors, changing the oil, topping other fluids, and a detailed check at a pro shop. The pro judged the car safe to drive, with solid suspension attachment points, and little under-body rust. Much more detail on that below.
- The car was just detailed, including clay, polish and wax.
- The work to get it back on the road was a labor of love, and was carefully blogged (10 posts!) with lots of photos, beginning at this URL: http://emz3cp.blogspot.com/2017/04/kates-mg-part-1.html
Still with me? Good! The URL above has all the detail of work done. I'll start with the part that worries you the most - the rust. Here are photos, beginning with the worst spot, behind the driver's door. You can click any picture to make it big and allow it to be zoomed.
The left rear fender well has some bubbling at the top:
The sill under the driver's door is not bad:
However, the driver's side front fender has some low rust. Look at the reflection on that just-polished and waxed fender!
On the passenger's side, the matching spot behind the door is also perforated, but not as severely as the driver's side:
The rear fender well on that side has a bit of bubbling too:
The passenger sill has a little rust:
The passenger's side front fender seems solid:
I wanted to know more about those sills, so I used a borescope to make a video of each side. I fed it through the perforations behind the doors. Not great video quality, but you can see that the inner sills look pretty good with only surface rust for most of the length. Click the links to view:
Driver's side: https://youtu.be/8NzIzBwneoU
Passenger's side: https://youtu.be/sOrmIDv17X0
I also had the car professionally evaluated at Lancaster Mitsubishi, because they have a "Euro car" specialist that I use for service on my BMW. The underside looks quite clean:
The only rust-through we found underneath was right under the driver's seat, and it is modest and easily fixed:
He also declared the suspension in good shape, with very solid attachment points. This one is typical of all four rear points:
His assessment noted that there is seepage at the clutch slave cylinder, and there's a split rubber gaiter on the steering rack that should be replaced. The horn doesn't work, but all lights are good. The self-canceler on the turn signals doesn't always work. Needs wiper blades.
SO, with that out of the way, let's look at the rest of the car! The current color is a repaint done a number of years ago - the original color was bronze. Here's a walk-around:
Hard to tell in photos, but there are four faint circles on the trunk lid from repairs when a previously-mounted luggage rack was removed.
The inside of the trunk was painted also, and you can see here that the truck is still very solid:
This photo shows how nicely the color was continued into the door jambs:
The under-hood area was not repainted, so you can still see the bronze under the hood. The hood is very solid:
The engine has the typical British oil leaks, but doesn't smoke, starts easily, and runs quite well now that the fuel issues are sorted. It runs just below center on the temperature gauge.
The tires are older, of course, but have lots of tread. I took these pictures while they were off the car during service. The left stack is the driver's side, with the front tire on top. The front tires are 175R14 Vredesteins - tires designed for classic cars! The rears are 185/75R14 Jetzons.
There is a fifth wheel for the spare also, with a tire that is quite dry-rotted. The jack and lug wrench are present.
The interior is clean and intact, although the radio doesn't fit well, and the seat belts could stand to be replaced. The driver's seat could use some new padding, and has one tiny tear:
The top is in amazingly good shape, and even the rear window is usable, albeit not perfectly clear:
There is one patch on the top that seems to be holding very well:
This car is longing for a new home! It will never be a show winner, and isn't that great? No need to treat it like a rare investment that dares not be used. You can drive and enjoy it, and repair its faults as needed along the way. Call or email to take a look!
FOR SALE: 1974 MG MGB
ATTRACTIVELY PRICED at $2,200 or best offer
Sold! Sold! Sold! Sold! Sold!
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