Driven5 wrote: In reply to NOHOME: So more involve (expensive) and/or more frequent maintenance doesn't count against it, as long as the maintenance is expected? Don't Brit(ish) car drivers "expect" to have their wife in th trunk beating on the fuel pump??
Bill is not your average LBC owner/driver. He has quite the fleet and what appears to be wife unit to match.
Corvette
In reply to wspohn: Your story is hilarious!
In reply to Cotton: I've talked to a couple of E30 owners, and they have said that their E30 was reliable.
Mr_Clutch42 wrote: In reply to wspohn: Your story is hilarious! In reply to Cotton: I've talked to a couple of E30 owners, and they have said that their E30 was reliable.
As long as you do the timing belt regularly, don't lower it too much due to the front oil sump, and don't over-rev due to fragile rockers they last a while.
Mr_Clutch42 wrote: In reply to wspohn: Your story is hilarious! In reply to Cotton: I've talked to a couple of E30 owners, and they have said that their E30 was reliable.
That's awesome that a couple of them were. Guess there's still hope. 
Honestly, I think the e30s are fairly reliable all things considered. I just got cracked up at the fact that the reliability comparison was against BMW, Audi, and VW. I've owned some of all of them and the Germans never stuck me as something I'd recommend based on reliability except maybe to someone I didn't like.
Keith Tanner said:The answer is the answer.
Seriously, MGB? My mom used to tell me stories about having to occasionally cool the fuel pump with ice cream on her brand new B.
No, no, not one of the horrid federalized late cars with half the power they were built for and all sorts of issues, the early ones pre 1970 that would run forever
I have driven my 62 MGA coupe for thousands of miles up and down the west coast and never had an issue - well once I did have the points close down in the back of beyond near Alturas California on the way to Reno - probably had a defective point set.. Just got out the spare points one should always carry (the rubbing block on the old ones had broken off) and fitted them, using a discarded matchbook I found at the edge of the road (FYI, a regular matchbook uses cardboard .015" thick and the British cars call for a point gap of 0.014"-0.016")
Other than that, thousands and thousands of highway and back road miles with nary an issue. Try fixing your broken 911 at the side of the road using road debris for feeler gauges!
Mazeratti BiTurbo?
wspohn said:Keith Tanner said:The answer is the answer.
Seriously, MGB? My mom used to tell me stories about having to occasionally cool the fuel pump with ice cream on her brand new B.
No, no, not one of the horrid federalized late cars with half the power they were built for and all sorts of issues, the early ones pre 1970 that would run forever
I have driven my 62 MGA coupe for thousands of miles up and down the west coast and never had an issue - well once I did have the points close down in the back of beyond near Alturas California on the way to Reno - probably had a defective point set.. Just got out the spare points one should always carry (the rubbing block on the old ones had broken off) and fitted them, using a discarded matchbook I found at the edge of the road (FYI, a regular matchbook uses cardboard .015" thick and the British cars call for a point gap of 0.014"-0.016")
Other than that, thousands and thousands of highway and back road miles with nary an issue. Try fixing your broken 911 at the side of the road using road debris for feeler gauges!
My grandfather owned many Model Ts. He was watching me set the points on my B-GT with a feeler gauge and told me the Model T was easier. "You just set them with a thin dime. If you don't have a thin dime, just use two nickels."
Where does the ND fit now?
Hasbro (Forum Supporter) said:Where does the ND fit now?
Still Miata good but not Miata great. The shakey second gear problem is gonna plague it for a while.
I just want to point out that SU fuel pumps in MGBs have stranded far more cars than anything lucas seems to have done. A carter replacement does wonders.
Age needs to be taken into consideration IRT the answer. It's hard to find NA or NBs that haven't been driven hard and put away wet. And 20-30 years isn't anything to sniff at. Wasn't there a recent GRM article that profiled a racer who mentioned that his FR-S race car took a fraction of the work to keep on track as his Spec Miata?
KyAllroad (Jeremy) (Forum Supporter) said:Hasbro (Forum Supporter) said:Where does the ND fit now?
Still Miata good but not Miata great. The shakey second gear problem is gonna plague it for a while.
Has it been fixed in the new ND's? Curious because FIL leased a new one today. Folding rigid top model. He's now owned every generation.
There is a C5 Vette with over 700k on it last I heard and a 40th anny Porsche 911 (996) over 400k. The real key is routine maintenance in all cases.
For a pure sports car, I'd vote 1.8 NA or NB Miata though. If you consider hot hatches sports cars than a Focus ST is probably awesome. My son who neglects everything can't kill a Focus. It's had busted control arms, caught on fire, had no oil in it (not readable on dipstick).... and it still runs.
wspohn said:Keith Tanner said:The answer is the answer.
Seriously, MGB? My mom used to tell me stories about having to occasionally cool the fuel pump with ice cream on her brand new B.
No, no, not one of the horrid federalized late cars with half the power they were built for and all sorts of issues, the early ones pre 1970 that would run forever
I have driven my 62 MGA coupe for thousands of miles up and down the west coast and never had an issue - well once I did have the points close down in the back of beyond near Alturas California on the way to Reno - probably had a defective point set.. Just got out the spare points one should always carry (the rubbing block on the old ones had broken off) and fitted them, using a discarded matchbook I found at the edge of the road (FYI, a regular matchbook uses cardboard .015" thick and the British cars call for a point gap of 0.014"-0.016")
Other than that, thousands and thousands of highway and back road miles with nary an issue. Try fixing your broken 911 at the side of the road using road debris for feeler gauges!
Mom's was an early 60s model. First year it was available IIRC. Purchased new and she only owned it for about 3 years so it wasn't a worn out example. So, umm...
Cactus said:I just want to point out that SU fuel pumps in MGBs have stranded far more cars than anything lucas seems to have done. A carter replacement does wonders.
I think they had more problems with the later electronic SU pumps than they did with the original ones - the points would burn on the old ones.
The little Bendix that looks like dumbbell is great. I don't much like the Facet pumps as I've seen them fail.
BTW, the A series BMC stuff was pretty reliable too. The Bugeye Sprite had all the technical sophistication of a lump of coal, but would keep on running pretty much indefinitely.
Keith Tanner said:The answer is the answer.
Seriously, MGB? My mom used to tell me stories about having to occasionally cool the fuel pump with ice cream on her brand new B.
Clean the points Keith. Seriously beating a SU fuel pump with a stick is the giant red flag that the points are dirty. Cooling a Fuel pump is the same thing.
It takes me about a minute to do on my MGTD and that fuel pump was replaced in 1970. ( before I found out about cleaning the points.) I do it every oil change, not that it needs it that often it's just easier to remember. Change oil, check oil level in carbs, clean the fuel pump points, check the distributor points, grease etc.
Since I'm old it's what I do every 3 months on a Saturday morning.
LBC ( LITTLE BRITISH CARS) are stone reliable when treated that way. In fact so are Jaguars. They are all very durable cars if properly maintained.
You pay for ignorance. Neglect any car and it goes along fine until the neglect catches up to you.
Cactus said:I just want to point out that SU fuel pumps in MGBs have stranded far more cars than anything lucas seems to have done. A carter replacement does wonders.
In 1970 I found out that SU fuel pumps have points that need to be cleaned regularly. Since then with tens of thousands of miles 30+ vintage races that fuel pump hasn't failed me.
It takes me about a minute to do.
Knurled said:mad_machine wrote: I would have never put the words "rotory" and "reliable" in the same sentenceIf you got less than 200k miles out of a 12A then it is because you abused it. 300k was not uncommon.
I put 286,000 miles of my n/a FC which had a 13B and when I sold it, the rear compression was getting a little low but was probably good for another year.
I've got a 1983 FB which has an n/a 12A and although it only has 46,000 miles on it, 37 years of trouble free service speaks to the designs calender longevity as well.
Just don't boost them or go with the Renesis configuration and make sure they've got oil-coolant-spark...if you can do that, you've likely got a 300,000 miles / half century motor.
So a fuel pump that needs to serviced every 3000 miles when new or it will strand you is a sign of reliability. Got it :) Too bad I don't have any of those in my newfangled cars, instead I end up replacing the pump every few hundred thousand miles.
Note that my mom's experience is with a car that was new when it was new. I do not judge MGs on the experience of my own, which only managed about 6 miles under its own power before it simply refused to go anymore due to some massive internal short. That one was old.
OHSCrifle said:KyAllroad (Jeremy) (Forum Supporter) said:Hasbro (Forum Supporter) said:Where does the ND fit now?
Still Miata good but not Miata great. The shakey second gear problem is gonna plague it for a while.
Has it been fixed in the new ND's? Curious because FIL leased a new one today. Folding rigid top model. He's now owned every generation.
I would not be concerned for the newest ones.
In reply to Keith Tanner : Well to be honest, I only rarely get 3000 miles before I service the fuel pump. My 1953 MGTD isn't used that much.
My daily driver is a 2016 Ford F 150 backed up by a Honda CRV both of which are incredibly reliable.
The MG gets used only on nice days when the mood is right. Typically for a short jaunt around the lake or to the grandchildren's place. So for 6 months of the year it collects dust while snow forces the use of salt. Then only on rare occasions when I have no other priority or work that must be done. In fact on several occasions the 3 months pass without the car driven at all. Yep, I still spend a Saturday morning servicing the car.
Being reliable and being easy to fix are two different things. To me that rules out carbs, distributors, and anything from England or Italy. Hard to argue against NA and NB Miatae. I feel like my 981 Cayman has potential to be the most reliable sports car I've owned but I won't know for sure for another 20 years.
I know BMW's reputation but I'd like to hear other people's experiences with the Z4 because I've thrashed my poor 2003 3.0 for the past 12k miles in the last 2 years or so and ... nevermind I just remembered that the PO had replaced the xmission before I got it.
carry on
You'll need to log in to post.
