At 11:54 PM 9/21/98 -0500, bob nogueira wrote:
>.... I've been driving my MGBGT as my daily driver for the past 9 years
.... it has required almost no maintenance.
>
>My problem is that it has reached the point where everything needs
redoing, I Figure I'm looking at 1500.00 for a engine rebuild, 1000.00 for
an interior, 600.00 to buy paint and materials for a refinish. Throw in
tires, a new steering wheel, new windshield and I'll have another 3000 to
4000 dollars in the car plus months of labor. The idea of just parking it
and picking up a more conventional daily driver is growing appealing. ....
Whoa there, Bob. As it has been a reliable car and a daily driver, it
should remain that way. Don't throw in the towel just because it's time
for a little scheduled maintainance. A totally fresh engine should be less
than $1000 if you do the R&R and most of the assembly work yourself. After
that, just how urgent is the rest of the stuff? A do-it-yourself paint job
is pretty cheap, and the tires are a periodic item with whatever you drive.
Windscreen glass is not too expensive, and do you really need a new
steering wheel for a daily driver? Go at it a little at a time, maybe over
a year or so if you're getting stressed out over a tight schedule, and next
thing you know it's ready for another 100,000 miles.
I think the key to keeping it running indefinitely is to treat everything
as peridoic and preventative maintainance. Do the engine when it needs it,
do the paint when it needs it, etc, etc. Don't try to do it all at once,
and do try to keep it on the road as much as possible with the shortest
possible layovers. Do the engine in a few weeks time, get it back on the
road, take a break for a while. Ditto with the paint job, do that by
itself and get it done in short order, take another break for a while, and
drive the wheels off of it. By that time it'll be back in such good shape
that you wouldn't consider retiring it, and there isn't all that much money
involved (yet).
A good incentive to do the interior might be an upcoming car show (after
the engine and paint). Start dropping hints about window glass anad
interior kits around the holidays. And "We wouldn't have to buy another
car for years" can work wonders, as long as you don't have to actually mean
it.
Keep the faith, Bob. Give it another life.
Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude (and maybe another 40 good years left in it)
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