I have a 1976 Vette, AND a 1982. I have just been offered a trade on my 82 for a very nice 1958 MGA. Any thoughts???

 

The only thing I know about them is the one I backed into once with my Roadrunner...took out his grill and both headlights...

 

l looked at MGAs before deciding upon the vette. Old British sportcars are known for rust and electrical issues. The MGA is a very nice looking car but not in the same league as the vette as it relates to performance. Furthermore, the car does not have much in the way of safety. The doors have no real reinforcements and I would venture that the front and rear bumpers offer little protection.

If you are really going to consider this trade, I would first educate myself on the MGA. Perhaps you should visit the MG forums.

 

I have a '59 MGA. Well, sort of. A number of years back it went through a flood and has been going downhill ever since. I keep it promising myself someday I will get it back on the road.

I loved the car. Driving was a blast. 1500 engine, convertible. There was NOTHING on the car you couldn't work on yourself. Sync the carbs, rebuild the starter while sitting along side the road. Operate the fuel pump by hand all the way home from work. Stop along side the road to replace spark plugs. Not hot inside. Of course the heater sucked in the winter. Never got stuck in the snow. It would go anywhere.

"not in the same league as the vette ". Yep, not even close.
"not have much in the way of safety" Not Much? Huh, not any.
"electrical issues." What electrical?. Whatever there was was bad. But again, nothing that couldn't be worked on easy. Take a look at the starter solenoid. If you can call it that.
"known for rust" Yep but also had a lot of Aluminum and wood parts. No rust on those.
"front and rear bumpers offer little protection" About in the same class as a 65 Mustang Bumper. 'cept lower to the ground.

I don't know that I would trade a Vette for one though. But it sure was a lot of fun and so simple to work on.

It basically was "drive it 2 days and work on it 1 day".

If it was completely restored it would be a great car. If not then your in for a bunch of work. But also easier to work on than my '74 by a long shot.
Side Curtains are the way to go. Dang, gotta get busy on it.....someday.

 

I sold my 58 mg so I had room for my corvette. Couldn't wait to get rid of it. I was going to restore it had a bunch of parts new interior engine was rebuilt. But lost interest in it fast. Best move I made!!!!!!!!!!

 

Starting next week, I'm going to have the chance to help restore my friend's MGA. I have already looked at it (it had been sitting on their side yard for 20 someodd years) and while it needs help, it is so simple. You could probably take the entire thing apart and put it back together in one day. The entire car is about as complicated as the Dash assembly on a 'vette. Her's is a 57 btw, will make a very nice car someday.

 

Hehe...

British cars have been PLAGUED with wiring issues.

The 2 Jaguars in our household (the '67 E-Type and a '91 XJS) have had quite a bit of electrical problems. The E-Type's dash started smoking the second time we took it out, because of a short in the radiator fan.
THe XJS has too many sensors throughout the car that are CONSTANTLY reporting problems. The other day one of these sensors caused a light to come on in the dash that said a light had gone out on the dash.

The MGs are no less troublesome with their electrical systems and body rust...But the Vettes have their own problems as well (heat, vacuum lines, etc) that you have to contend with.

Anyway...I don't think the MG is worth the same as the Vette. Keep the Vette, because you're also going to go through hell and back trying to get parts to keep it running (I've found 3 parts suppliers for our Jaguars, which service quite a few different makes of British cars; when one parts house runs out of a part, the other 2 run out at pretty much the exact same time).

If you're going to do it, I wish you the best of luck with the car.

 

Sprzout,

The MGA has more parts suppliers than the Corvettes do, (Moss Motors, Victoria British, Little British Tool Box, The British Car Company, The Roadster Factory, Triple "C", and many more). The prices for the MG parts are much cheaper than Vette parts too.

As for the Price of the cars,...the average nice 82 Vette sells for $7K to $15K. The average nice MGA sells for $10K to $20K. An MGA in the same price as a Vette usually brings more. I know I tried to sell my 82 on eBay a few months ago, (see the archives here), and it only brought $8K, and my car is very nice. Then, the buyer backed out, because he thought it wasn't as nice as described when he got here.

I purchased my 76 for $5K and drove it 600 miles home. While it needs some minor cosmetic issues, it runs and drives great. On the other hand, a rusted out basket case MGA brings more than $5K

Lastly, as far as safety and maintenance goes,...if safety and repairs were my main concerns, I would buy a new Volvo instead of a vintage Vette OR an MG, HaHa.

I am going to look at the MGA and drive it right after Christmas, and I still don't know what to do.

 

if your short on garage space, go for it. i get my 76 vett and 78 mg midget plus lawn tractor all in a one car garage, for winter storage. parts are easy to get, moss motors or victoria british ltd. it takes about 3-4 days for delivery.the mga will get more miles to gallon but way short on power. as far a safty goes your are just driving a go kart on the street. both car are a ball to drive, and just as much fun to work on. parts are a lot cheaper than the vett.

 

about Lucas electrics.

Lucas... the prince of darkness.

That pretty well sums it up.

My main experience was with a bug-eyed Sprite and Triumph motorcycles. Typically it wasnt anything that couldn't be overcome but it was an ongoing battle.

 

bah hum bug to those people saying bad things about them.....these cars out steer a vette any day!!!!!!!! i did a frame up restoration on mine....and used a 67 MGB engine it was good for an additional 30 hp or so.....they do not have the power of the vette but they also weigh less then half of it.....what they are plagued with was the incompetent previous owners who had no money trying to fix them, once this car is brought up to standards you will have no problems with it....drove mine for years after i restored it with NO PROBLEMS what so ever......go for it they are a blast, i enjoyed every moment of it...if you have questions just ask

i forgot to mention that i did a complete restoration of a near basket case....it took 700 hrs and $9,000 15 yrs ago. i i did all the work myself and tracked every hour and $ spent

 

I owned British sportscars for over tenty years (Triumphs) and loved them and still do. The MGA is a beutiful auto but takes a big commitment to restoration and mantainance. If you are willing to spend a lot of time and money you could have yourself a classic that will appreciate in value very nicely. I traded my 1973 Triumph TR6 for my 80 Vette for a change in performance and basicly for a new adventure in sportcar collecting but would love to pick up another old British project car (which would probably end up with my wife devorsing me).

 

My dad collected British cars including a 55 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud, 71 E-type roadster, 54 Jag Mark lV (?) and a Bug eyed Sprite, and to this day I can remember them all being in the shop on a regular basis for electrical work. I use to always ask my dad, "where did the car go?" to which he replied... ."the shop". Back in the mid 70's there were not many mechanics in Atlanta trained to work on British cars.

My father-in-law had a 49 TC which is what I originally planned to restore. He said he would not sell it to me since he did not want his grandchildren riding around in such a dangerous car. The gas tank sits on top of the rear bumper. I ended up with the vette instead. Still... I loved that little british racing green roadster.

 

i have had 1954 MG TF, 1960 MGA, 1961 Austin Healey 3000, 1969 TR6.....these car are lots of fun. the real; problem has always been previous owners who thought they copuld fix them and would screw everyting up...especially wiring. the Brits took power to the Appliance and then routed it through the switch to ground....most people never grasped this concept and really butcherd the wiring try to install radios etc....

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these last three pictures are of the same car and the same kids....thats how long the project took, the red headed kid is the kid who did the vette with me as a father/son project, the youngest is the kid i'm doing the hotrod project with....My wifes right ....i'm trully a sick man

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MG's are cool cars, and very easy to work on. Just like on a Vette, you can make them run a lot better than stock but would lose their originality and value. For example, the MGA motor is a 1500 cc with 3 main bearings and a non sycro first sloppy 4 speed tranny. The later MGB motors were 1800 CC with 5 main bearings and a tough all syncro 4 speed some with electric overdrives which you can still find in wrecking yards. They bolt right in. You can replace the worthless Lucas generator and regulator with a one-wire GM unit. The finicky SU carbs can be replaced by a single or dual weber, and so on and so on. They are not very practical as they have no roll up windows and do the B's. I restore Nash Metropolitans, which are essentially MG's. It's easy to keep them running, but they are much more breakable than a Chevy.My Nash has an MBG drivetrain, and much cooler than an MGA in my opinion, of course.

 

thats what i did and it was a great setup.....i had no problem with the SUs and again, i think most of the issues came from people who didn't understand, them trying to monkey with them.....the handling and steering will make you understand how lethargic the vettes are

 

I've had 2 Austin Cooper's. One was a 64, the other was a 67 "S".

Both were LOTS of fun. MANY aftermarket suppliers. You could literally build a Mark I Mini from the catalogs, if your pockets were deep enough.

Lucas Electrics? What can I say. The Brits used a POSITIVE ground system, and wierd wiring concepts. Both of the Mini's I owned had initial wiring issues, because they were hacked up. After proper repair, they worked just fine.

If you think BUBBA is only present in the Corvette hobby, you should take a look at some old British "project cars". Many are patched together with pop riveted beer cans, bondo, chicken wire, etc.

I've always like the Austin Healey 3000's. Would love to get one someday. OR....maybe I'll buy another old Cooper S.

It's often been said that Solid Axle Corvette's are the "erector sets" of the Corvette resto hobby. These old British cars are simpler than erector sets. They're the "LEGO'S" of the car hobby. VERY easy...NOTHING complicated to work on. Chuck

 

The MGA I'm looking at has had a few modern upgrades, such as changing over to 1 12v battery, it now has negative ground, and it now runs an alternator. Other than that, it's an orignal disc wheel car. There just something about that raw simplicity of the MGA that I love. No relays, no computer, not a bunch of electrical switches. Heck, even the heater, horn, and bright light dimmer were options.

That all metal dash, small round guages, low cut doors without handles, gracefully rounded corners, and that purr of the engine drives me nuts.

I have owned several MGB's over the years, and still have a 1980 Limited Editon now, but I have never owned an "A".

I'll let everyone know what I do after I look it over. Most likely on Monday.

Thaks for all the input!!

 

BUY IT!!!! the 1500cc is underpowered you would happier with the 1800 5 main in its place. So buy it and lets see the pictures!!!

 

you kind of aim those things instead of trying to steer them.....