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MG MGB Technical - Laying up your car for winter? (off topic)

Apologies for posting on the message board but over the years everyone has been most helpful and I was hoping someone could assist once again with a slightly more commercial matter!

Does anyone have a classic (MG or not) that they are considering laying up for the winter?

Classic & Sports Car Magazine are looking for a car to feature in an article about how to prepare a classic for laying up - storage oil, plug change etc. If you fancy seeing your car in print and having most of the work done for you by a fully qualified mechanic then we would love to hear from you.

Email me at martin.port@haynet.com or call on 0208 267 5383 to put yourself forward.

Many thanks
Martin Port
Classic & Sports Car magazine
1967 mgb roadster
Martin Port

Hello Martin,

I find "laying up for the winter" a strange concept and totally unnecessary. Most people's MGs are not priceless museum pieces. Keep them running throughout the year---it does them good.
I won't be volunteering mine!

Regards, Bumpkin.
Bumpkin

Bumpkin - personally I agree - you wouldn't find me laying up one of my classics as they are used as much as possible all year round. Must be someone out there though...
Martin Port

What's winter?
Steve Simmons

All we do for winter is drain our pool. *sigh* That's happening as I type this.

The MG is driven all the time. :-)

TheMiz

Already done, washed it , drove it in the garage and pumped the tyres up .I will work the clutch every week , push it a little way to and fro to prevent flatspotting the tyres and charge the batteries once a month . Over this winter it will get new front disks and I will do the usual making good of the paint underneath . Usually starts second turn of the key after the fuel pump has filled the carbs on the first attempt. Depending on the Cotswold rally date this takes place sometime in in April.
Looking forward to it.
S Best

This probably is the reason why most MG's look as though they have been dragged through the hedge backwards.

These cars are the equivalent of old bangers which most people would be too ashamed to be seen dead in, were it not for the MG label.

MG's should be Sunday drivers, not daily runners.

I remember a recent show, arrived late as most were streaming out, and wondered who were the most bedraggled, the mangey old relics, or the MG's they were driving.

MG's should be restored to perfection, and then treated with kid gloves.

What say you guys, I'm already donning my suit of armour in anticipation.
Andy

Andy...to each his own. Rave madly on. This goes to trailer queens, etc. Nice to have people do it, not for me. I loved the driving experience in my AH Sprite Mk II, my two MGA's and now my B. While it looks in great condition, it's not OEM stock and never will be though I keep the stock bits for the next guy. Might be like you. A new Porsche, Miata, etc. etc. just doesn't feel the same to drive.

Have a friend who rides mountain bikes because he likes the cool mechanical stuff. I ride 'em cause they're like those fat tired, hammer it over rocks and curbs bikes when I was much younger and are really fun...as well as being good for you exercise-wise. Needless to say we don't ride together but co-exist well.
J.T. Bamford

Andy - as long as people enjoy their cars I think it is up to each and every person how they treat their car. I like to keep mine in a more than reasonable condition but I also like to drive it almost every day. For this reason it needs quite a lot of maintenance but I would NEVER dream of telling someone they were doing the wrong thing by driving their car every day, no matter what state it ended up in.

Wouldn't life be extremely boring if we all saved our classic cars just for Sundays?
Martin Port

Heck, I bang my '67 around an auto-x course every other week. Woooo hoooooo!

Mike!
mike!

Martin,

You can photo mine if you'd like. Though it might be a bit of distance to travel! Since salt goes on the winter roads here, the MG's must be stored correctly till the spring rains come. Proper winter storage is paramount to a successful driving season.

Others do as you please for our cars are certainly not priceless museum pieces. I, like many here however, have too much hard earned cash and hours invested to see them thrashed about. I guess somewhere along the line I realized I'd never own a Bugatti or Farrari but it doesn't mean I can't treat the MG's as if they were that valuable.

Paul
'64 B
'59 Twinkie
Paul Hanley

Andy - how little you know.

Moss + MGOC Spares + Preventative Maintenance means the MGB can be (and in many cases is,) a reliable daily driver.

The MGs may be described as 4 Bangers, 6 Bangers or 8 Bangers, as sad, tired or run-down but never as 'old bangers'.

So for the MGA and B at least, the best advice about Winter use - keep motoring if it suits your lifestyle.

Martin - not fallow ground here - sorry.

Roger

(and don't start me on concours competitions)

RMW

I apologise if my remarks were a bit over the top.

It's just that no-one these days would drive around in a tatty newish car, but some MG owners seem to think it OK to do just that in an MG.

I remember someone picking me up at a railway station once, and I was quite excited at the prospect of seeing a good "restoration". Imagine my dismay when I eventually sat in a really trashy example.

Also, I was talking to a chap a few years ago who was acknowledged as the leading MG man in the district, only to find a truly rusty engine bay under the bonnet (hood).

Destroyed my illusions.

Drive these creatures in the summer, but pack 'em in a box for winter.

Just thought, we don't have a winter in England, just imported monsoons, it's all America's fault, all those nasty hurricanes whizzing off the East Coast.
Andy

Thats the last time i pick you up aty a railway station
trashy example driver

I have to addmit i try to avoid using my car snow and when there is salt on the ground. But its not layed up as such just sort of undershelter. Its people using their cars that keep the supply chain of parts going. If people did not drive there cars then they would become like maxis in terms of parts supply. I think useing also encourages others to do so and people to buy Bs if i had never seen one before would i have bought one may be not.
Jim

The condition of a car has nothing to do with how many miles are on it or how often it is driven. Take a look at these two photos:

http://lbcnuts.com/hobby/mg/mgb/current/mgb1.jpg
http://lbcnuts.com/hobby/mg/mgb/current/mgb6.jpg

Is that how a MG is "supposed" to look? Well, this car is my daily driver. It has 311,000 actual miles on it and has never been restored. Rather it has been "maintained". I drive it nearly every day in all kinds of weather throughout the year. Granted we don't have salted roads here in So Cal and if we did I would think twice about dirving it in the snow but I think my car is proof against the statement "MG's should be Sunday drivers, not daily runners."

1965 MGB, 300K+ miles, 3 coats of paint, three engine rebuilds, two trans rebuilds, one interior refurbishment, countless tires and an infinite number of smiles. :)
Steve Simmons

I think you said it all, Steve!
Kim de B

'ello all,
winter? no worries, my 79'b cuts the snow like a knife. an old metal susceptable to rust - knife. so i run her 'til the salt goes down, and after any march rains. by the way, thanks to all for the ignition light suggestions. tested battery, alt, then re-tapped wires and now all's a go. must of been grounding. sorry andy, i didn't even buy a new tape roll. drive every day it starts!
thanks,
brady
p.s. wish you could see the picture of my greasey 3 year old working on the 'b, it's more than just a status symbol to look at.
brady

Come Thanksgiving time--I'll be putting my trusty Toro 32-12 to sleep for it's short winter nap. Does it count?
R. L Carleen

Steve, Steve, Steve, I think you just look for excuses to show off your B. Hey, I can't blame you it looks great. And with 300,000 miles, WOW! Since mine only has 60,000 on her, I guess I can look forward to driving her for ever, with proper maintenance of course. Drive her I do. I look for any excuse to get the b on the road. My wife says I'm obsessed. Yesterday, I left my nephews birthday party, to drive about 15 minutes home, jusat to get the car and bring it back 'cause someone there hadn't seen it yet.

Drive, Drive, Drive.....for a few more weeks anyway, then comes salt and snow, and I'm sure some serious withdrawl pains

Ken
70 B
Ken Harris

Well done Steve, your car is a treat to behold.

However, you are in Paradise, whereas we poor suckers in London are either being drowned or blown away.

Our beloved Mayor Red Ken "Karl Marx" Livingston plasters the roads with tons of salt as part of his nefarious plan to rid the capital of cars.
Andy

Ken, notice I only show the outside of the car. You should see underneath. Yeesh! :(
Steve Simmons

Andy;

Obviously you have never visited the Western US! more nasty scary cars per mile than in the entire Great Britain!

No intent to flame. I just shudder at some of the rolling wrecks around here! I WISH we had MOT for some of them (but not MINE, obviously) lol.

Insofar as driving. Before I started to auto-x the 'ol girl was my daily transportation at school and my only means of moving my apartment twice-annually back and forth (as well as going home for holidays) 650 miles one-way.
Little trailer and all was well.

Snow? HAH! That girl cuts through snow like it didn't exist. I've been in scarier 4x4's.

We do what we must and do it as well as we can.

Mike!
mike!

This thread was discussed between 06/09/2004 and 13/09/2004

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