Forums

Topic: Help, I need MG Midget advice  (Read 4897 times)

Offline ASBug

  • Varnel, Ga
  • Joined: Jan 2008
  • Posts: 3032

Help, I need MG Midget advice

« on: December 12, 2013, 08:13:27 PM »
Guys, I have a chance to buy an 77 mg midget for ok monies.
Body is straight w/ minimum rust. Runs but needs carb rebuilt and a master cyl. Parts seem to be on par with vw prices. Any one on here have any advice as to what to look for? Or any warnings? I would be buying this to flip. I have heard that the wiring is usually just horrific in these...

Offline Zen

  • Show Chairman
  • Club Member
  • LaFayette, GA
  • Joined: Dec 2001
  • Posts: 8842
  • Liked: 2 times

Re: Help, I need MG Midget advice

« Reply #1 on: December 12, 2013, 10:34:47 PM »
Anthony probably knows as much as anyone on here when it comes to British autos.  He doesn't get on the forums every day, so it might be a while before he sees your post.  You might want to send him an email or PM and see if he can off any advice.

Offline volksnick

  • Secretary
  • Club Member
  • Chattanooga
  • Joined: Apr 2009
  • Posts: 4304

Re: Help, I need MG Midget advice

« Reply #2 on: December 13, 2013, 01:28:54 AM »
Lucas is the electrical supplier and I think it's the not good one (don't quote me one that- there is a good one and a bad one ). Sometime in 72-74 they changed designs a lot with the bumper/safety standards. One of the years they decided to jack the suspension up in order to get bumper heights up to standards. Not sure if they ended up redesigning it in later years, or if it stayed jacked up high. I know this is true for most British sports cars but not sure about which models. I'd say a 77 is less desirable than most and, like a VW, the earlier ones are more valuable because they are more true to form.

Anthony would know best.

Offline travisyoung

Re: Help, I need MG Midget advice

« Reply #3 on: December 13, 2013, 05:54:30 AM »
Saw that one on Facebook,  I would think it was a decent deal,  I don't know much about mg's,  we bought a basket case for more than that and never got around to workin on it.  I've always want an Austin Healy sprite

Offline ASBug

  • Varnel, Ga
  • Joined: Jan 2008
  • Posts: 3032

Re: Help, I need MG Midget advice

« Reply #4 on: December 13, 2013, 08:06:15 AM »
I have decided to pass on this, if I was going to keep it, it would be a good deal, but the prices are all over the place and they seem not to bring good dough.
Plus I already have a vert named Jenny...
KC

Offline volksnick

  • Secretary
  • Club Member
  • Chattanooga
  • Joined: Apr 2009
  • Posts: 4304

Re: Help, I need MG Midget advice

« Reply #5 on: December 13, 2013, 08:33:53 AM »
My favorite is the one: "If Lucas made guns, wars wouldn't start either"

Quote
The Lucas motto: "Get home before dark."

Lucas denies having invented darkness. But they still claim "sudden, unexpected darkness"

Lucas--inventor of the first intermittent wiper.

Lucas--inventor of the self-dimming headlamp.

The three-position Lucas switch--DIM, FLICKER and OFF.

The other three switch settings--SMOKE, SMOLDER and IGNITE.

Lucas dip-switch positions: LOW and BLOW (Bruce Miller, www.hermit.cc)

The original anti-theft devices--Lucas Electric products.

"I've had a Lucas pacemaker for years and have never experienced any prob...

If Lucas made guns, wars would not start either.

Did you hear about the Lucas powered torpedo? It sank.

It's not true that Lucas, in 1947, tried to get Parliament to repeal Ohm's Law. They withdrew their efforts when they met too much resistance.

Did you hear the one about the guy that peeked into a Land Rover and asked the owner "How can you tell one switch from another at night, since they all look the same?" "He replied, it doesn't matter which one you use, nothing happens!"

Back in the '70s Lucas decided to diversify its product line and began manufacturing vacuum cleaners. It was the only product they offered which didn't suck.

Quality Assurance phoned and advised the Lucas engineering guy that they had trouble with his design shorting out. So he made the wires longer.

Why do the English drink warm beer? Lucas made the refrigerators, too.

Alexander Graham Bell invented the Telephone. Thomas Edison invented the Light Bulb. Joseph Lucas invented the Short Circuit.

Recommended procedure before taking on a repair of Lucas equipment: check the position of the stars, kill a chicken and walk three times sunwise around your car chanting: "Oh mighty Prince of Darkness protect your unworthy servant."

Lucas systems actually uses AC current; it just has a random frequency.

How to make AIDS disappear? Give it a Lucas parts number.

Recently, Lucas won out over Bosch to supply the electrical for the new Volkswagens. So, now the cars from the Black Forest will come with electrics supplied by the Lord of Darkness -- how appropriate!

Lucas is an acronym for Loose Unsoldered Connections and Splices.

Offline travisyoung

Re: Help, I need MG Midget advice

« Reply #6 on: December 13, 2013, 09:56:37 AM »
Dad had an mg for a while and told me the only electrical problem he had was the battery Falling though the floor

Offline volksnick

  • Secretary
  • Club Member
  • Chattanooga
  • Joined: Apr 2009
  • Posts: 4304

Re: Help, I need MG Midget advice

« Reply #7 on: December 13, 2013, 11:30:29 AM »
Dad had an mg for a while and told me the only electrical problem he had was the battery Falling though the floor

Was it a kit car built on a VW Chassis?

Offline ASBug

  • Varnel, Ga
  • Joined: Jan 2008
  • Posts: 3032

Re: Help, I need MG Midget advice

« Reply #8 on: December 13, 2013, 01:54:49 PM »
LOL...

Offline certdubtech

  • In the Garage...
  • Joined: May 2006
  • Posts: 3199

Re: Help, I need MG Midget advice

« Reply #9 on: December 13, 2013, 03:01:59 PM »
Let me offer the shortest comment on this thread....


No.


That is all.   ;)

Offline dubtech

  • Hixson
  • Joined: Apr 2005
  • Posts: 251

Re: Help, I need MG Midget advice

« Reply #10 on: December 19, 2013, 07:54:03 AM »
Don't do it...

Offline ASBug

  • Varnel, Ga
  • Joined: Jan 2008
  • Posts: 3032

Re: Help, I need MG Midget advice

« Reply #11 on: December 20, 2013, 11:26:13 AM »
Have let it roll by in the darkness.
I am set in my VW ways. The Honda was a pain to work on because both physically and mentally I am set up for ACVW's now.
I even used to  work on Hondas before I did the VW's... People change.
KC

Offline Smelly_Cat

Re: Help, I need MG Midget advice

« Reply #12 on: December 20, 2013, 01:46:07 PM »
The electric fuel pump in the trunk goes bad often.   We had 52 td.   The duel carbs are cool to balance.  I think ours would run when you turned the key off.   When I saw a 1980 mg I was surprised how little in the engine had changed.   

There was an error while liking
Liking...

About Us

Chattanooga's oldest and largest club for air-cooled and water-cooled Volkswagens, since 1998. Join Us

Follow Us

© 1998-2025 Scenic City Volks Folks