On Mon, 10 Nov 1997, Trevor Boicey wrote:
> The B engine is pretty reliable really.
I've never been in a new MGB (or one with a 'new' engine), so I'm
basically unfamiliar with this firsthand. Frankly, you're the first
person has ever told me MGB's are reliable. Everyone else I've ever
talked to has said, "Yeah I (or someone 'I' knew) had one, but I sold it
because it was always breaking down." When I bought it, reliability
wasn't a concern. I was an uniformed high school kid, and MG's looked
way too cool to worry about things like reliability. Now, since it's my
only car (I ride a motorbike most the time...it's much worse than an MG
of any model in the winter, I guarantee) and I won't have a real job for
almost two more years, it's a much more important issue. It is my first
car, and I get a very bad feeling at the thought of selling it and
never seeing it again, so I'm trying to find a fix that will give me
dependability and a certain amount of economy. I truly thought that's
what I'd get with a rebuilt American motor (and what I wouldn't get by
putting lots more in the current engine).
> As for easier parts availability... hmmm... well, you can't
> buy a piston at the corner store you have to mail order it. But
> how often do you really find yourself requiring an engine
> internal part?
You're right, of course. I guess a different engine wouldn't change
the fact that I'd have to order some parts. I was thinking of things
like water pumps, though. I've had one go on the MGB, and I was down for
quite a while. But, that was before I knew of Victoria or Moss. But the
economy thing still is pretty important. Looking in my JC Whitney I see
engine rebuild kits for several engines ranging from $130 to $230, which
includes gaskets, rings, pistons, and bearings. For my 'B, Moss wants
$250, just for the pistons alone. I'm probably unaware of other factors,
but you can see where I get my impression about the relative economy of a
different engine.
-Scott Allen
js-allen@students.uiuc.edu
"At dawn we will face the greatest test of our resolve. But I
say this: though starving, hunger will not weaken us; though diseased,
illness will not cripple us, and though weary, exhaustion will not claim
us. We can fight knowing that all true Reiklanders will forevermore
honour our valiant gesture of defiance, even though our bodies be left to
feed the beasts of carrion.
Mind you...we could always surrender." -Rick Priestly's Siege
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