For Sale: 1972 MGB, Needs Work, $1,500 Firm

A friend of mine is looking for a good home for his 1972 MGB. The good news is that it runs and drives. The bad news is that it will need substantial rust repair in the very near future. This will be a project car before it's a good driver again and the low price of $1,500 firm reflects that.

Overview:

• 1972 MGB, runs and drives but needs work.
• One owner since 1995
• Mileage unknown, but only 5,000 miles since engine rebuild in 1997.
• Four-speed transmission (no overdrive).
• Needs rust replacement of rockers, frame rails, plus some repair in  fenders and floor panels.
• Price is $1,500 firm.

Here are the details:

The good:

• Engine rebuilt in 1997. Has double-row timing chain and valve seats hardened for unleaded gasoline. Starts easily.
• Mileage unknown (Speedometer/Odometer was not working when first acquired, though this has since been fixed.)
• Only about 5,000 miles driven since 1995, but no long periods of inactivity in that time.
• Gauges all work.
• Includes tonneau cover, timing light, dwellmeter, original jack, stone guards for the headlights, a tool for balancing the SU carburetors, and a very well used Haynes manual.
• Seat covers and interior in decent shape.

Improvements made since 1995

• Engine rebuild
• New front bumper
• Mallory dual-point distributor
• New starter
• Radiator rebuilt
• Electric fan
• Delco alternator conversion
• New gas tank 8-9 years ago
• New gas tank sending unit, Spring 2017
• New ignition switch, 2015
• New convertible top in late 90s. Still watertight, though the windows have some fogging.
• New trunk lock

The Bad:

• The paint is a classic Earl Scheib "Porsche Red" job over the original red. Looks okay from a distance. Not so great up close.
• The wiring is best described as suspect. At a minimum it could use substantial cleaning of the contacts and fixing/repair of some connections. A fresh start with a new wiring harness may be easiest.
• Windshield wipers need to be hooked up.
• Heater control valve works, though the heater itself is not currently hooked up.
• Tires are 15 years old. They hold air, but not recommended for driving. Spare tire doesn't hold air.
• Passenger window crank works, but it needs a bit of help getting up and down.
• Shocks need rebuild/replacement.
• Brakes work, but pull to the right a bit. Hoses have been replaced within the last 20 years, but the system should be inspected and may need some parts replaced or rebuit.
• There's a bit of oil leaking from engine and rear differential, but not bad.
• The worst item is the rust underneath. There is substantial rust in the rockers and the frame rails and they will need to be replaced. there are also some small spots of rust in the fenders, and at a minimum they will need some patching. Make no mistake. If you buy this B you will need to do some cutting and welding before you have a good, roadworthy car.

Price: $1,500 firm.

Leave a message below if you're interested and we'll sort out contact info. Thanks!

Video: It runs!

Photos:

Exterior:

Engine bay:

Interior:

Trunk, including some of the throw-ins:

And now what we call "the full disclosure photos," showing the rust.

The fenders are generally solid, but there are are a few small bubbles and holes:

Here's the worst of it, the frame rails and rockers. As you can see, they'll need complete replacement:

(What looks like a bend in the frame rail above is just an illusion from the fish-eye from my iPhone lens. Sadly, the rust is real.)

The floor pans look okay at a glance, but given the state of the rockers and rails I wouldn't be surprised if they need some work, too:

Front suspension:

Rear suspension and exhaust:

From the Joy of #IndictmentDay to Dr. Hans Zarkov Shouting a Warning over the Rocket Engines

I know I promised pretty pictures before another Trump post, but it's been a busy month on other fronts and I do have a bit to say on This Week in Trump.

Here, have a pretty picture of a sunset and we'll move on to business:

Special Counsel Bob Mueller rolled out his first indictments on Monday. That was sooner than I expected to see anything. Most of the indictments involved Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and his associate Rick Gates.The charges were unsurprising for anybody who has followed along and included conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy against the United States, being an unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading Foreign Agent Registration Act statements.

There was also a surprise baked in, the first guilty plea from a campaign adviser named George Papadopoulos, who pled guilty to lying to the FBI to cover up the Trump campaign's interactions with Russia during the campaign. It was a plea bargain in exchange for becoming a proactive cooperating witness in the investigation, which many legal experts have interpreted to mean that he's been wearing a wire since his arrest earlier this year.

Now we're getting somewhere.

The information in the indictments and the testimony of former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page before the House Intelligence Committee makes it clear that among other things Attorney General Jeff Sessions perjured himself before Congress when he denied any knowledge of Russian connections to the Trump campaign. Also, Trump campaign co-chair and adviser withdrew his nomination to be the USDA's chief scientist after he was tied to the indictments. The indictments also refer to as-yet unindicted coconspirators.

There's more to come.

The general sense of things is that this was an opening salvo from Mueller, an invitation to cooperate and cop a plea (Papadopoulos) to a relatively light charge, or to continue to lie and face the hammer (Manafort and Gates.) In general, I suspect that's correct.

The response from the White House has been predictable: a storm of diversion and lies, headed by an endless barrage of tweets from Trump that was only slowed by the delightful eleven minutes during which his Twitter account was deactivated by a Twitter employee on his or her last day on the job. (Truly, that was the most joyous event for #Resistance Twitter since the Night of the Covfefe.) In the midst of this week's chaos the US House Republicans unveiled their tax plan, which can best be described as The No Billionaire Left Behind Act of 2017.

Things are accelerating. Things are falling apart.

I'd still rate us as Watergate Defcon Status Two, but I can see Status One from here. I'm not quite sure when we hit Status One. It might be when Mueller starts indicting Trump family members, as now seems inevitable. Or Mueller may even drop a bill of potential impeachment charges with the US House.

If I had to bet on the mechanics I'd bet that Sessions gets forced out for repeatedly perjuring himself. That gives Trump an opportunity to appoint a new Attorney General who doesn't have to recuse himself on the Russian issue. The job interview will consist of one question, "Will you fire Bob Mueller?" The first person willing to answer "Yes" to Trump in private and "No" to the Senate confirmation hearing will get the job and pull the trigger. By then the 2018 midterms will be looming and even the shameless Congressional GOP will have to convene impeachment hearings.

Or with Trump looking increasingly unhinged every day perhaps he does something truly loopy and Pence rounds up a batch of cabinet secretaries to invoke the 25th Amendment. I'd try to come up with scenarios in which Trump voluntarily resigns, but right now he's increasingly desperate to pressure the justice system to lay off, so I don't see him giving up any of the leverage he has as President.

However it happens, this ride is going to get crazier. For the most part I'm just hoping that Trump doesn't drag us into a war somewhere in an attempt to rally the base.

It's bad. It's going to get worse. We're not yet in the end-game. Things are moving quickly, so as Dr. Hans Zarkov put it in Flash Gordon, "FOR GOD'S SAKE! STRAP YOURSELVES DOWN!!!"