My mom had an old MG when she was in highschool, but had to sell it due to financial reasons when she was younger. Shes always wanted another one, and I came across this one on Craigslist for 3,200. I sent the email to the guy, and got this back, along with the link for the pictures. Thoughts, quesitons, comments?
1974 MG Midget
Currently inspected and regularly driven. The car has been garage kept for the time I’ve owned it. It is not a show car, but is great for driving around town, etc. Overall:
-Strong running- it starts very easily, clear exhaust- no smoking, Last year I replaced the distributer, tuned up the engine, all fluids and filters were changed, carburetors were rebuilt, a new electric fuel pump was installed. I also rebuild the front driver side kingpin. The rear brakes were fully rebuilt.
The clutch works well but it engages very early- the slave cylinder was rebuilt and the slave cylinder pushrod was replaced. No slippage of the clutch.
-The body is relatively straight. The paint appears to be 5 years old. There are spots where there is bondo under the paint near the rear wheels. The passenger floor has some rough spots on the underside. The floor has 2 layers of steel and is still strong throughout. The top has two rips- that have duck tape over them- I keep the top down so it has not bothered me. All gauges work.
-It comes with a tonneu cover, convertable boot cover, and a roll bar that I removed. There are also extra parts- new and used included.
biggest thing is to look for rot and wiring. British cars in general the wiring is garbage. I should have a few harnesses still in boxes at work. thats how maroneys got their start into foreign cars–old british cars.
looking at the pics, trunk looks solid, alternator looks newer, dash has normal cracks.
only thing i found odd was the last pic, looks liek the turnsignals are not level, like one side is up higer. fender replaced/repaired? was the car wrecked?
deffinitely get it up on a rack and look underneath. sounds liek most of the mechanicals have been taken care of though. basically looking to see if the body is shot or not.
I’m not a fan of the late rubber bumper Midgets because of the added emissions stuff MG had to choke the engines with in order to meet the “new” US standards. Not a fan of the styling changes, increased ride height, etc either. If I were you I’d go for an earlier chrome- bumper car.
Whatever car you decide to consider, have a thorough pre-purchase done by someone who really knows these cars. The last thing you need is a car that looks good on the surface but hides all kinds of nasty surprises.
judging from the pics. this car is a 73 or older midget. since it has the small chrome bumpers and round rear wheelwells. This one looks like my old mg. these cars have expensive replacement parts, specially fenders and other body parts which love to rust out.
Pop the trunk and jab a screw diver at the diver side trunk floor. If it hasnt been repaired that screw driver should just go right through. I gave up on the my MG and traded it. I just didnt want to spend $7k to restore the thing and have it be worth a lot less.
Whoops-- I should have looked at the pictures-- Peterock is right! Biggest thing is to look for rot, just like these guys are telling you. If the car isn’t solid, you should pass on it and look for a solid car.
I have one… I forget what year it is… I dont think its a midget… my mom actually has it, I hate the fucker… wanna buy it? I have been trying to get her to sell the POS…