1973 MGB GT with Overdrive. One Lady owner from new For Sale

1973 MGB GT with Overdrive. One Lady owner from new.
MOT’s back to 1989 with an average annual mileage since of 1970.
Bare metal repair and respray with new parts in 1990/ 1 costing £4470.
Full professional restoration by MG specialist in 2001 costing £9979. 36, with 4 pages of itemised parts used.
New front & rear wings, both doors, inner & outer step sills, castle rail, boot floor, bonnet, road springs and rear brake pipes. Body painted including the engine bay. Exchange engine fitted with new clutch. New Stainless Steel exhaust system. Car alarm fitted. Wooden facia panel, black leather seats and new carpets.
Excellent condition and drives well with a folder full of documentation. 4 new tyres with 6. 5mm of tread, with 5. 5mm on the spare tyre.
The careful Lady owner is only selling as she has lost the use of a garage to keep the car in, and has the use of another car. As a personal friend of the lady for the last 60 years she has asked me to put the car up for sale, but she will meet any potential buyer to answer any questions about the car. Thousands of Pounds spent on the car over the last 44 years of ownership.
MGB GT MOT history
Reg. No OTR 995M

Date Mileage Annual mileage
11/ 10/ 1989 70, 178
27/ 11/ 1990 72, 546 2, 368
28/ 11/ 1991 75, 166 2, 620
01/ 07/ 1993 78, 587 1, 711
28/ 06/ 1994 79, 756 1, 169
28/ 06/ 1995 82, 633 2, 877
25/ 06/ 1996 85, 390 2, 757
02/ 07/ 1997 87, 939 2, 549
01/ 07/ 1998 90, 679 2, 740
14/ 11/ 2001 95, 375 1, 423
31/ 10/ 2002 96, 992 1, 617
14/ 11/ 2003 98, 593 1, 601
11/ 11/ 2004 512 1919
10/ 11/ 2006 6, 402 2945
09/ 11/ 2007 10, 044 3, 642
11/ 11/ 2008 11, 226 1, 182
09/ 11/ 2009 12, 722 1, 496
27/ 10/ 2010 13, 982 1, 260
16/ 11/ 2011 15, 721 1, 739
14/ 11/ 2012 17, 265 1, 544
28/ 11/ 2013 19, 457 2, 192
28/ 11/ 2014 22, 263 2, 806
25/ 11/ 2015 23, 802 1, 539
21/ 11/ 2016 24, 799 997
18/ 08/ 2017 25, 014 215

Average annual mileage since new 2, 841

MGBGT  Reg. No OTR 995M

17/ 12/ 06 Mileage – 6, 765

Problem – Intermittent mis-firing on acceleration.

Corrective action:
1) Cleaned spark plugs. Plugs fitted were Denso W20EPR-U. Whilst correct type for car, the gap was set at 0. 025”, which is the correct gap for the original Champion N-9Y, but Denso need to be 0. 031” Reset and fitted back to engine.
2) Checked plug leads distributor cap and rotor. Cleaned up points and re-set to 0. 015”.
3) Due to a new engine having been fitted, the serial No RS 66822 Type 1072, does not relate to any MG engine No’s.
The Lucas distributor is serial No 41234-dated wk 41 year 1973, which is probably the original. Therefore the timing should be 11 degrees BTDC at 1000 rpm. Timed the engine to this data. Problem better but not completely cured.
4) Took the complete distributor off the car and stripped and cleaned it up. Noticed that a lot of petrol came out of the
  vacuum unit. Fitted a new set of points and re-timed. Re-set the tick over to 850 rpm. The lock nut on the throttle
  adjusting screw was loose, therefore the carburettors could have gone out of tune. Mis-firing seems to be resolved,
but when hot the engine “runs on” when switched off. Apparently this is a common problem on MGB’s. I need to check out whether using unleaded petrol may cause this problem.
5) The consensus in talking to several MG specialists and Haynes is that retarding the timing by upto 3 degrees, may
help if pinking is a problem, but not cure the running on. Pinking does not appear to be a problem, so I have left the timing at 11 degrees BTDC.
6) In setting up the twin carbs, both throttle adjusting screws had stripped threads and therefore could not be adjusted
properly. Replaced both screws with new 4BA screws and nuts. Adjusted the mixture using “colourtune”, reset the fast idle (chock) and balanced the carbs. On road testing the car, it is now backfiring badly. Re-checked and finely adjusted the timing, tuned the carbs again. It seems better, but not correct. I am now wondering whether the carbs have been set too rich previously, to overcome the weak mixture when using 3rd gear at around 3000 rpm. It maybe there is a small leak at the inlet manifold.


Other incidental checks/ actions
a) Checked water and oil levels.
b) Checked brake and clutch hydraulic levels. Topped up the clutch fluid.
c) Adjusted the bonnet catch, by adding a couple of washers to the rear bolt, so that you do not have to pull the latch back to shut the bonnet.
d) Tightened up the rear view mirror, to stop it moving.
e) Re-aligned the interior light to straighten it up.
f) Tightened up the boot catch.
g) Tried to tighten up the Overdrive switch. On investigation, discovered that the flat on the switch was on the left side whereas the hole in the facia has the flat on the right side, therefore the switch could not be tightened up properly. Changed the switch to one that had the flat on the right side.

Future items that need to be investigated
1) Heated rear window switch does not always work. Repeated switching on and off, seems to work, although need to take the switch off for investigation.
2) Water ingress into the right hand side of the boot, carpet is wet.
3) Catch needs to be fitted to the center armrest.
4) Water temperature gauge is not working.
5) Radio needs a new knob for the tuning spindle.

6/ 1/ 2007 Mileage 6, 938

Problem – Very bad misfiring

Corrective action:
1) The contact points had closed up! Reset the points and cleared 90% of the problem.
2) Removed the distributor from the car. Stripped the distributor on the bench. I noticed that the earthing plate on the baseplate was interfering with the points at the extreme end of the adjustment range. Although the earthing plate is riveting on, I managed to move it to stop any interference. Although the screw that holds the points in place had a spring washer, I added an additional lock washer to ensure the points did not close up again. Replaced the distributor and retimed the ignition using a strobe light.
3) Fitted new plugs.
4) Synchronised the twin carburettors and adjusted the mixture. The mixture may have been too weak before and reset the fast idle (choke).
Other incidental checks/ actions
a) Checked the batteries and topped up with distilled water, 2 of the cells.
b) The water ingress into the r/ h/ s of the boot well, is due to a hole where an electrical cable is passed through not having a grommet. Fitted a grommet and sealed with mastic.
c) Water was present in the l/ h/ s of the boot well. Could not determine exactly where it had come from, but put some mastic around 2 screws that protrude into the area. Checked the spare wheel area, but that was dry.
d) Fitted 2 new screws to the l/ h/ s squab-securing staple. The ones fitted were too small and just pulled out.

12/ 6/ 07 Mileage 8, 950

Problem – Badly misfiring and eventually the car would not start.

Corrective action:
1) The contact points had burnt a deep hole on one side of the points. Effectively the points had closed up. In 44 years of maintaining cars I have never seen points so bad. This is a classic case of the condenser failing. Fitted new points, condenser and cleaned the plugs. The car now starts and runs correctly. 
Other incidental checks/ actions
a) Topped up the clutch master cylinder with hydraulic fluid. It had dropped quite a lot and needs to be checked out if there is a leak.
b) Topped up the carburettor dashpots.
c) Checked the water level in the radiator, which was ok. Noticed that the radiator cap was old and rusty and was rated at 10 lbs pressure. According to the Haynes manual it should be either 7 lbs (early models) or 15 lbs (late models). I need to ascertain which is correct.

1/ 11/ 07 Mileage 10, 036
Requested action – Cure leaking clutch fluid, service the car and obtain new MOT

1. Re-newed the seals in the clutch slave cylinder. Bled the hydraulic system and topped up the fluid.
2. Checked the fluid in the brake master cylinder.
3. Checked the coolant level.
4. Checked the battery water level.
5. Changed the engine oil and filter.
6. Oiled the driver’s door hinge to stop it squeaking.
7. Whilst changing the oil filter, the center part of the ignition coil, fell out of the outer aluminium canister. Removed the whole unit from the car to investigate, and found the top of the canister had not been peened over properly in manufacture. Peened over the top lip and tested the coil on the car ok.
8. Both front shock absorbers were leaking fluid badly, which is a MOT failure. Obtained a pair of re-conditioned shock absorbers from The Barn at Shedfield. Found that the best way to re-fit the trunnion unit is to dis-connect one half of the shock absorber, fit the fulcrum pin and then re-connect the other half of the shock absorber. That worked well on the offside, but there was a problem on the second re-conditioned unit. The bolt holding the left-hand arm onto the main shaft could not be removed. I eventually managed to extract the bolt by pressing it out in the vice. The cutaway in the shaft was in the wrong place and the bolt had been ground away in an effort to make it fit, but it had been forced and bent in the process. The main shaft had been fitted incorrectly by Armstrong, who manufactured and re-conditioned the unit - so much for their quality control! I filed a new cutaway in the correct place on the main shaft and using a new bolt managed to fit the nearside shock absorber ok.
9. Checked the front disc and pads for wear. Both sides were ok.
10. De-stoned both front tyres and checked the tread depth, f/ o/ s is 5mm and f/ n/ s is 4mm. Legal minimum is 1. 6mm, but it is recommended to change at 2mm.
11. Greased the 6 points on the front suspension, 2 on the propeller shaft and 1 on the hand brake cable.
12. Noticed that the r/ o/ s shock absorber was leaking, therefore I changed both rear shock absorbers.
13. The flexible fuel pipe adjacent to the r/ o/ s wheel was incorrectly positioned and rubbing on the chassis. It should have been fixed to a clip, which was rusty. Renewed the fuel pipe and correctly positioned it using a fabricated clip.
14. Took off the brake drums to clean out the brake dust. The nearside drum has some slight scoring, but is ok. The brake shoes have little wear. The thickness is o/ s 3. 8mm and n/ s is 3. 5mm. The minimum is 0. 79mm.
15. Adjusted both rear brakes, which do not have automatic adjusters.
16. Adjusted the hand brake so that it is now working on the 4th click with a maximum of 5 clicks.
17. The bottom of the petrol tank has surface rust where the underseal is missing. I cleaned off the surface rust and applied underseal.
18. De-stoned both rear tyres and checked the tread depth, r/ o/ s is 3mm and r/ n/ s is 4mm. The spare is 5mm.
19. Checked and adjusted the tyre pressures. Front is 21 psi, rear 24 psi. The spare had little air pressure, have now put in 35 psi.
20. Replaced 4 self-tapping screws in the 2 tailgate black panels, which were missing.
21. Checked all the lights were working ok.
22. Checked the wipers and washers. Swapped over the wipers so that the driver’s side cleaned the screen slightly better, although both wiper blades were in good condition.
23. The horn was not working, which is a MOT failure. In taking off the steering wheel and indicator switch, I discovered that the wiring had been botched. The feed wire for the indicators had broken and a new wire had been joined by just twisting the strands together and covered with a plastic tube. A new wire was soldered in place and covered with some heat shrink tubing as insulation. The cause of the horn not working was dirty contacts, which have now been cleaned. One the screws that hold the horn slip ring appeared to have a stripped thread, but on investigation, the plastic boss was cracked and therefore the thread was opening up and not holding the metal screw. A new slip ring was £15. 42, therefore I managed to drill a hole in the boss web and using a cable tie close up the crack and the screw now holds tight. In order to work on the switch assembly on the bench I had to cut the wires to the alarm system. It seems that whoever fitted the alarm had just cut the insulation on the car’s existing wiring and soldered the new wires in place and covered with tape. This is not really best practice and I have used insulated terminal blocks, new wires to lengthen access and used insulation piecing connectors to join to the car’s wiring. This will make it easier to disconnect in future.
24. Passed the MOT ok, with just one advisory comment. The front brake disc is slightly pitted. I did not
  notice this when I had both front wheels off, but I did not check the rear of the disc which is all the MOT
  tester can see. Need to keep on eye on this in the future.
25. Wire brushed the rear leaf springs and lubricated with old hydraulic oil.

15/ 1/ 08 Mileage 10, 254

Problem - mis-firing again
1. The moving contact on the ignition points had worn a circular hole into the stationary contact. This was exactly the same as happened 6 months and 1300 miles before. In discussion with Haynes and Donovans the Auto Electricians, I now believe that the cause of this problem is a faulty ignition coil. It is ok when cold but overheats when hot, due to no oil being in the coil. This must have drained away as the coil is upside down and the top was not peened over as I discovered back in November 2007. Not all coils are oiled filled, but those fitted to MGB’s are.
2. Fitted new coil, points and condenser. Re-timed the ignition to 11 degrees btdc at 1000 rpm.
3. Road tested locally and seems ok but really needs a long run with the engine running hot to confirm.
4. Took the car on a run to Frimley Green and back. Combination of A/ B roads plus Motorways and the car performed like a dream.
5. Noticed that the offside dip headlight was intermittent and dim. The cause was a corroded earth connector. Replaced the bullet connectors and 4 way connectors in both the earth and headlight circuit. The lights are now bright.
N. B.
• There is a slight oil leak from the oil cooler.
• The radiator is showing signs of corrosion, although it is not leaking. Need to keep an eye on it, especially as the water temp gauge is not working.
• Water is present in the spare wheel compartment. Need to check it out later on in the year, perhaps in the summer.
• The steering seems hard. Again need to investigate at a later date.

27/ 1/ 10 Mileage 12, 968

Problem – flat battery and noise coming from the front of the engine.

1. Topped up the water in the battery and trickle charged over several days.
2. The noise is coming from a defective water pump.
Fitted a new water pump, the main shaft which is 5/ 8” diameter had fractured and broke.
As I had the radiator out of the car I flushed it out and although it showed some slight signs of
leaks and damaged fins it appears to be serviceable.
  3. Although the old fan belt was ok the alternator adjustment was at maximum. Fitted a new old stock
fan belt so that the adjustment is now at the mid point.
  4. Added new anti-freeze and topped up with water.
  5. Road tested the car and everything in fine.
N. B.  As the water temp gauge is not working, need to check the water level regularly.
    The overdrive is not working and needs investigation.
    MOT advice- Slight movement in n/ s lower trunnion. Needs looking at later on.

9/ 10/ 10 Mileage 13, 901

Problem – Flat battery
Topped up the water in the battery and trickle charged over night, but would still not turn over the starter motor. The o/ s battery was only at 4. 5 volts but the n/ s was at 6 volts. Both batteries checked out with a battery test and both batteries are defective. The correct 6v batteries are Type 421, 56 Ah, Amps (SAE 270). These are available, but cost £137. 48 from The Barn for the pair. Decided to investigate the possibility of converting to a single 12v battery. After a lot of research it is possible but 2 factors have to be considered, capacity and physical size. Although several people suggested that a 12v battery of 56Ah and 540 CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) must be used, others who have converted suggest otherwise. According to a book MGB Electrical Systems by Rick Astley a 063 type with a CCA of at least 300 is adequate. I have fitted a Bosch 12V Silver Car Battery HSB063.
• Startup Power: 520 Amps (CCA)
• AH Value: 52 AH
• Bench Charge: 6 Amps
• Weight: 12. 73kg
• Dimensions (LxDxH): 207x175x153mm
• Guarantee: 5 Years
The new 12v battery is slightly too wide to fit into one of the battery compartments under the rear seat, but fits ok if turned round “north to south” with a wooden block under the battery and a sling used to lower it into the compartment. The original battery hold down bracket, after cleaning and painting was used. New battery leads were made, cleaned and fitted. As the original battery lead to the starter motor is too short to reach the 12v positive terminal, I have fitted in the o/ s compartment a battery cut off switch. This can be used as a theft deterrent and a safety device. Wax oiled both battery compartments.
Using 2 new 4 BA screws and nuts re-fitted the hold down catch on the central console. The spare wheel had very little air in it. Pumped it up to 30 psi. Checked all 4 tyres had a pressure of 28 psi.
Checked both front wheels for excess play, the spec. for king pin wear is 0. 118” (3mm). The actual wear is N/ S 0. 037” and O/ S 0. 014” after greasing the wear became N/ S 0. 025” and O/ S 0. 011”
Both steering gaiters were split and replaced.
Removed all 5 grease nipples, 3 on the O/ S and 2 on the N/ S, cleaned the replaced. Pumped grease into all 5 which are for the king pins.
Checked the tracking with the Gunson Trakrite. N/ S was in spec but had to adjust slightly the O/ S.
Checked all the lights, seat belts, wipers and tyres before the MOT.

July 2016 Mileage 24, 340

Problem. Smell of petrol.
Could not find any sign of a leak in the engine bay or under the car. Suspect the tank filler neck, which is rusty, is allowing fumes to get into the car interior.
On investigating in the engine bay found the distributor vacuum device has sheared off from the main body. Fitted a new electronic distributor. Re-timed the engine and tuned the carbs

Sept 2016 Mileage 24, 739

Fitted a new galvanised fuel tank. The earth terminal on the petrol gauge unit had broken off, although the petrol gauge was working ok. The earth return was being made through the bodywork itself. I drilled and tapped the gauge unit to fit a new earth tab. I replaced both the live and earth leads as both terminals were corroded.
Wire brushed the rear springs which were rusty and wax oiled them and the new petrol tank.
Adjusted the rear brakes by one click which also adjusted the handbrake.
Adjusted the tail gate to stop it rattling.
Greased the front kingpins and pumped up the front tyres and the spare. The steering is now not so stiff.
Cleaned up the rusty car jack and painted it with black hammerite.
The petrol pump seems very noisy although it seems to be working ok. Disconnected the pump and made sure there as not an air leak. Cleaned and painted the pump bracket. The pump is not a normal SU make but a German Hardi one. Eventually I got “The Barn” mechanic to check out the noisy pump and he said that Hardi pump are noisier than SU ones.
Replaced the split drivers windscreen wiper rubber

26/ 7/ 17 Mileage 25007

Changed the engine oil and filter, also the gearbox and overdrive oil. Cleaned the overdrive filter. Re-secured the central console armrest catch. Fitted a new hard warning switch.

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