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Bob Stringfield
United Kingdom
854 Posts |
 Posted - 21/11/2010 : 19:44:22
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An original, period Lucas FT 27 Fog Lamp, suitable for MGs of the K,N,P, era has just sold on Ebay for the robust sum of £472 - 39p.
Does this have implications for MMM owners, particularly those completing rebuilds?
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leckstein
USA
411 Posts |
Posted - 21/11/2010 : 22:08:07
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Wow! I better take mine to the bank vault tomorrow. 
Mike L |
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MGB
Netherlands
114 Posts |
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Onno
Netherlands
1045 Posts |
Posted - 24/11/2010 : 17:18:12
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And people ask why young people do not drive MMM cars
I can't even afford most of the project cars being offered!
In the past few years they have risen more than a fair bit (as the parts have)
Though i have not given up on my dream of once caring/building a MMM car i just might go bust doing it ;) |
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George Eagle
United Kingdom
3240 Posts |
Posted - 24/11/2010 : 18:34:25
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Hi Onno
Keep searching - you may be lucky and find a Triple-M restoration project.
However the prices being asked for genuine original parts do appear to be too high, £472 for a Lucas FT 27 fog lamp!!! 
Regards George |
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sas
United Kingdom
73 Posts |
Posted - 24/11/2010 : 21:41:45
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Hello Onno and George,
Alas as we know there are two types of restoration project.
Those that come with all the bits.
And those that come with few or no bits.
So the comparative costs involved in your initial outlay could be considerable, but hopefully some of our learned members here could, from their own experiences, advise on the logical options.
I presume that ultimately it depends on how soon you want to get the car on the road as opposed to simply counting the pennies.
Sean |
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Onno
Netherlands
1045 Posts |
Posted - 25/11/2010 : 09:08:56
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Sean
You are correct that it is generaly speaking cheaper to buy a finished car than to restore one most of the times.
But i can not get the total sum for a finished MMM together in the near future (say next 5/10 years) at once.
I am however trained as a cabinet maker and in general verry good with my hands.
So a project without a body or just a chasis with number would make a good starting point.
Every thing i can do my self saves me and brings me happynes.
But with the way prices are going now i might even have trouble to fund a project. |
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Nick Feakes
USA
3374 Posts |
Posted - 25/11/2010 : 13:32:27
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Hi Onno
Writing as one who bought a chassis a three tea chests of bits, I can tell you it has been a very expensive project to re-construct my PA. I have done as much myself as I can (and learned a great deal and had (still am having) a lot of fun). I think one of the problems you will face is sourcing items that are no longer made. You can probably almost buy a new engine, but the ancillaries such as dynamo, starter, cambox etc are getting harder to find (and so more expensive) and will most likely require expert help to overhaul. Gearboxes worth having are getting very hard (read expensive) to source and replacement gears unobtainable unless you have them made. Instruments and switches may be unobtainable - see some of the threads currently running. Given your cabinet making skills, you could probably make even a complex wooden body frame but how good are you at forming steel or aluminium sheet over the top of it? If you have those skills you might be able to trade a body for a rolling chassis? A useful thing to do before you start this project is to estimate as accurately as you can how much all the parts you are going to need are going to cost then treble it!
I am not trying to put you off, far from it, but I would recommend you just keep searching and if at all possible find as complete a box of bits as you can possibly afford.
Nick
Nostalgia just isn't what it used to be. |
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rodb
New Zealand
260 Posts |
Posted - 25/11/2010 : 21:20:25
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Hi Onno
Mid 1981 we purchased an incomplete PA 4 seater and gradually added parts as found to almost complete the car’s components; during 1988 we purchased an almost complete PA 2 seater that was partially restored.
Last month October 2010 we purchased a PA 2 seater chassis and assorted components (rough) but they are certainly a start of a car, but this purchase provided some parts for the other two.
These three will be for sale in the future; one has a first refusal granted to a young New Zealander who expects the restoration and parts search to take many years.
The search for missing parts is getting harder and more costly now than in the 1980’s.
If funds are short it can take a long time to accumulate a complete car as shown above, but if serious a start has to be made even if some funds are borrowed.
Nicks’ advise to find a complete as possible box of bits is very true and ideal, but in 1981 and 1988 we could not afford to do this, so we made a start that now hopefully will prove to have been an investment.
If we had kept our money in the bank for 29 years it would show a tidy sum, but what a dull life, the search for parts is stimulating and rewarding, and the friendships generated as a result of the hobby are irreplaceable.
Circumstances do change, we will not restore all three PA’s although the search has taken 29 years.
Regards RodB NZ |
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Mike Allison
United Kingdom
196 Posts |
Posted - 29/11/2010 : 12:03:50
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Hi all:
Such negativity!
I started in the nineteen-fifties, and a Triple-M car (PA 0818/DG 9126) was all I could afford in the sports car line. I was lucky in that my father gave me half the cost as a twenty-first present, but they were not cheap... it cost me £150, my £75 was my total savings, other 21st presents paid for the insurance (30/- third party) and a tank full of fuel. But overhauls I had to do myself, and although parts were available they were all expensive. I think a pound then bought more or less what £100 does now. Certainly a few shillings gave you a pleasant evening out... beer was around a shilling a pint at the time.
MG's are still relatively "cheap", but hobbies are an expensive business. People now pay £100 to watch a Grand Prix, and they are talking of this sort of level to go to a test match (cricket or rugby) or the Olympc Games.
For goodness' sake, stop carpng about the expense of it all: and get on with enjoying it. Our hobby is a super exercise, and each £100 spent will bring a life-time of enjoyment, not a mere ninety minutes or so, with nothing to show at the end of it!
But as they say in Yorkshire: "There's nowt for owt!", or to translate, for the benefit of those who live elsewhere, you get nothing back if you pay nothing!
Come into the fold, and enjoy the fun! You wont find friendlier people than MG people, and there is no price you can put on friendship. Some of the friends I made all those years ago are still friends.
Mike |
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Gordon
United Kingdom
692 Posts |
Posted - 29/11/2010 : 15:37:20
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Mike,
Well said!
Gordon |
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Onno
Netherlands
1045 Posts |
Posted - 29/11/2010 : 17:54:12
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Mike
I agree that MG's are cheap
But MMM cars are not!!!!!!!
Yes they are cheaper that an SS Jaguar but 20000 pound for a running car (about the cheapest i know excluding the Mtype) is a lot of money.
More than I at 27 with a good full time job can afford.
Onno |
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bahnisch
Australia
674 Posts |
Posted - 29/11/2010 : 22:27:55
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| I sympathise with younger chaps with families, etc. I fully appreciate their position having been there myself. I have always tried to put family matters (and costs!) first and am lucky that my long-suffering wife has tolerated my life-long interest in cars and that I have two daughters and a grand daughter who are also interested in MG's. However I totally agree with Mike A's comments about the lifelong enjoyment that can be derived from MG ownership and the many wonderful friends that you make in your "travels". I even met Mike and had a beer with him at Silverstone some years ago. Ironically I often express this view to younger chaps (who probably sometimes feel a bit guilty, or are made to by less-tolerant spouses!). Restoring cars can be quite expensive but think of the many years of enjoyment that you (and hopefully your wife/partner/family) can get in using your car/s! |
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LewPalmer
USA
3243 Posts |
Posted - 29/11/2010 : 23:00:42
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Cheap(er) MMM cars are out there. Only 1-1/2 years ago I stumbled on a PA (PA1169) which was the subject of a restoration when the owner/restorer died. It passed through a few unsympathetic hands until the then owner approached me. After a few months of discussion, he finally decided to sell it to me. The engine was badly rusted, the crank and camshaft useless, no pistons or connecting rods, and surface rust over the whole thing. However, it did have a new interior, good radiator and shell, 4 new and 2 used fenders (wings), all new (uninstalled) wood, and all numbers match. I eventually purchased the car for US$3500. Granted, it will cost a fair amount to bring the mechanicals back, but I have the car and can pace the remaining restoration according to available time and money. So Onno, don't give up. Make your wishes know to others in the MG community, keep an eye on the auction sites, and luck may come your way.
Lew Palmer
Registrar, NAMMMR |
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Onno
Netherlands
1045 Posts |
Posted - 29/11/2010 : 23:19:08
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I do agree there are affordable projects out there.
And i hope to find one and make a nice MMM out of it some day
And looking at the cost of a restoration the finished cars are not over priced (well some are...)
They just are not cheap
And more importantly they are not getting cheaper!
For the time being i do enjoy my post-war MG's and MMM's and their owners.
Had a blast playing in the snow today on the way back home from work in my midget ;) |
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briang
United Kingdom
218 Posts |
Posted - 30/11/2010 : 23:06:17
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If I was starting out again, I wouldn't be able to afford my J2 in it's reasonable present condition, running and MoT'd but in no way concours.
You could now have two equally well made vintage or 30's cars for the price of one J2
Have a look at the VSCC site if you are a member
Austin Sevens and several other makes are 6k - 12k in running condition
A running A7 or a box of bits of J2...you pays your money....etc
Heresy?
Depends how long you intend to live
I'd rather be driving than talking about it if it was me
Brian |
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