The MGC 2.9 liter 145 horsepower engine is 200 pounds heaver than the 4 banger it replaced and 240 pounds heavier than the 137 horsepower V8 that followed. This gives the C a reputation for poor handling but better tires and tweaking the suspension have mostly cured the problem. The C also got bigger brakes and improved suspension over the B. The engine bay and floor pan took a lot of work to make the engine fir, but all that shows on the outside is the bulge in the hood. Chris M found this MGB C is listed here on craigslist in Patchogue, New York. The engine doesn’t run, but it at least turns. The $1,500 asking seems reasonable for this MG. It looks complete on the outside. Special thanks to Chris for this tip!
There’s no word on the condition of the interior. It does indeed have an automatic transmission. The seats look like a good cleaning might help. The carpet looks sad.
There’s reported to be some “rocker rust” so there’s likely more. The seller says it’s not for the “faint of heart” but his pictures make it look pretty nice. Too bad it’s an automatic. How much would it take to convert it? These are rare, but not very valuable, especially with an automatic. If this MGC is not too rusty, would it make a good project? How does this one compare to the $5500 MGC Josh wrote up a couple of days ago? Which one would you choose?
I’d drop a small block in it and….oh wait….never mind.
Yank the six and drop in a built Rover V8,and get that automatic out of there. Then you would have one hell of a driver.
Pull the iron six and replace it with the smallish block Chevy
Wait! the in line six from the Chevy trail blazer! it’s all aluminum 4 valves per cylinder and it originated in England. Jaguar sold it to GM before Ford bought Jaguar. Nope it’s not the cast iron block 4.2 designed during WW2 although it is a 4.2 in England it was 3.6&4.0 powerful, reliable, and there is a 5 speed manual available
looks good, maybe add a modern 5spd. If you want a v8 convert a 4cyl and leave the 6 for someone that likes it.
Better tires and suspension tweaks aren’t going to fix 240 pounds of handling problems, especially on such a tiny car!
My ’69 VW squareback w/automatic transmission only has a 1.6 liter motor & keeps up with traffic fine. This MGC w/automatic transmission & 2.9 liter motor would probably be a real nice car too!
http://s169.photobucket.com/user/mr_bojangles500/media/Photo04231028.jpg.html
I live just east of Patchogue in case any one wants more pictures
The other factor that screwed the handling of the car was the fact that they moved the engine 7 inches forward in the frame to allow them to install the automatic transmission. Made them pretty tail happy. During development they wanted to badge a version of the car as an Austin Healey, but Donald Healey wouldn’t allow his name to be attached to such a thing.
Never driven one of these with an auto. The C by itself is a good cruiser. The six suits it and handling did not suffer much. Never thought of the MG B as a canyon carver anyway. An AH is not exactly nimble.
The numbers don’t tell the whole story. These as they sit are well worth the effort to keep stock.
As I remember, these had torsion bars in the front rather than springs. Those became problematic because of corrosion issues in their mounting points — again, I’m relying on very old memory. I seem to remember one of our club guys trying to figure out if he could put a very strong four cylinder in place of the six. The answer was no.
An affordable LBC that my GF can drive? Fantastic!
Je suis français je suis à la recherche de ce genre de véhicule européenne mon mail est xavier.cordeau@orange.fr mon téléphone 0760712242 mon anglais n est pas terrible ces pour sa que je vous écris en français
(Jamie here, I used Google translate to get this): I am French I am looking for this kind of European vehicle xavier.cordeau@orange.fr my mail is my phone 0760712242 my English is not terrible for her these that I write in French
These might not be valuable in the US but this car would still fetch a premium back in the UK.
I wouldnt pull anything apart from maybe swapping out for an lt77/380 manual box. – the MGC is a rare car, there have been hundreds of v8 or 4 pot swapping – do that to an MGB, and preserve the C for what it is.
This is one rare car indeed.( at least it’s on a tandem axle trailer, unlike the white one on a single axle) Apparently, only 764 GT’s were sent to North America ( 453 roadsters) with automatics. One site says there was nothing wrong with the automatic, ( Borg-Warner T35) and while performance may have suffered a little, they were generally driven easier than the manual models, possibly because women tended to go for automatics when new. For me, this would be just what the dr. ordered. GT, 6 cyl. automatic ( I’m sick of shifting) be a great car.
I had an American 69 Mgc-gt automatic in Army Germany in 1977. I am 6’3″ and the automatic made it possible for me to drive. with black interior. Fun
Ml
Still quite a few VW Type 3 squarebacks,fastbacks,notchbacks with 3 speed Borg Warner automatic transmissions available, but you should look for the best one you can afford. Parts are not too big a problem on http://www.TheSamba.com etc because they made millions of VW’s! My ’69 squareback below.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/630087.jpg