British Roadsters

I really like the look of these cars, but I've heard they're not very good, usually regarding reliability. Has anyone round here driven one? Or can tell me if that's true or not?

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Reliability = trash. Everything will rust if your county uses salt (USA) and it can be really hard to find parts. That being said, if you have no problem wrenching on your stuff, and you enjoy a lightweight handling machine without a ton of speed, they're awesome. Take on out on a twisty road and you probably won't find another car that's as much fun.

I remember an old antidote from documentary about British Leyland, the old company that owned most of the old car marques back in the sixties and seventies, that most cars had a one-year guarantee; it was guaranteed to go wrong in one year.

Like most car classic cars, it just depends if it was properly looked after in its life, even if it was daily driven. The Jensen-Healey, pic related, is regarded as a good one, as Jensen wasn't consumed into Leyland.

The best Leyland roadster was the Triumph Stag. Probably the best non-Leyland roadster would be the Jensen-Healey.

I have one of these old Triumph Spitfires sitting in my grandparents' driveway. It's been sitting on blocks for the past 25-30 years half-covered by a tarp (not much rust, paint is shot, dont know if gas tank + carb were drained before parking it), never got a reply from anyone when I post about it on Veeky Forums...Been wondering whether I should hang onto it and restore it once I make some more money down the line or if I should just sell it as-is to someone looking for a project car.

>pic not mine but same make+model+year

They are old. As in they are older than they really are. Technology wise a 70s British car is basically a 50s car in terms of maintenance and reliability.

Bump

The best part about owning a classic British roadster is that you'll always have the best looking car in the shop.

Buy a clean roller, rust proof it and drop a miata engine in it

I keep seeing this meme among a lot of spitfire enthusiast groups but apparently the stock drivetrain and diff can't handle the extra power

I own two Triumphs, a TR7 V8 and a Spitfire 1500. The electricals aren't that bad, so long as you can read the wiring diagrams. I've found that when something isn't working, it most likely has a corroded connection. Find it, clean it, and add dielectric grease. The stock carbs can be finicky, at least the Zenith Strombergs are. Everything else is mostly simple mechanical stuff.

>The best Leyland roadster was the Triumph Stag.

I disagree. The Stag was a beautiful car, but the engine was known for being terrible back then. You can make upgrades though (bigger radiator, improved water pump, new timing chains.)
The TR8 on the other hand may not have had the looks, but the engine was far better and easier to fix.

You won't get much for it if it's un-restored. They are however, really easy to work on and parts are plentiful. They make good project cars.

>They are however, really easy to work on and parts are plentiful. They make good project cars.
I'm going to snap as many pictures as I can with my shitphone camera and post a thread tomorrow, hopefully you (or someone equally knowledgeable) see it; my mom said something was wrong with it before they put it up on blocks but they don't remember what.

I'm expecting to have to spend half an afternoon just clearing out the cobwebs and getting all the spooky spiders out of there but I plan to drain the gas tank + carb + fuel lines (if necessary) and then I guess try and see if it'll start up with fresh gas and a fresh battery.

Anything of note I should look at on the engine?

Other than making sure it's all there and hooked up? Make sure it turns over by hand and has fresh oil in it.

>Make sure it turns over by hand
You mean something like this?
youtu.be/cR3bZMTZZ7k

It would be easier to remove the spark plugs. You're just checking to see if the engine isn't completely seized. It's been sitting for so long and you don't know why, you want to rule out the possibility of it being seized.

If your Spitfire is the same year as the one in this pic, it's either a 79 or an 80 and should have an electric radiator fan which will need to be removed if you plan on using a wrench on the crank pulley bolt to turn it. Should be just 4 nuts. The socket size needed for the crank bolt is a 1-15/16ths inch socket.

Not sure on what specific year it is but it looks almost exactly like the one in that pic. I'll write down/take a pic of the VIN tomorrow afternoon so I can get exact info on it.

I'd be excited to get this thing running even if the convertible top is torn and the paint is bombed out; my mom told me it was a thrill to drive when she owned it and it was running

>see MGB
>think it looks fucking beautiful
>...
>their reliability is utter garbage even back in the day
Makes me sad

My dad has a 78 mg b. The hood makes a fantastic table space for when I work on my fiat. My 2012 has more miles than that car does.

I saw one at a show once and with the wipers turned off the wiper motors were still somehow bulging the hood in and out a bit where they were mounted.

Really bizarre, I could upload a webm

>bumpers

My dad has a 72 with like 15k on it. The last time he drove it (2012?) he left a rag on the radiator and it got sucked into the axial fan. He was sitting at a stoplight and suddenly chunks of rag were flying out of the vents in the hood. Came home and parked it and he hasn't driven it since, though he has done the usual maintenance to keep it from rotting and eventually picked all the little chunks of rag out.

MGBs seem to make good track cars at least.
youtu.be/HnDjFI_m5i8
keep an eye on the bmw around 1 min in kek

My 74 MGB was a fun car but unreliable. The electrics were constantly shitting out, being the fuel pump, various lights, the overdrive, and te entire ignition system.

That is why you put an American V8 in it.

Any British car which had any Lucas electrical components was bound to go wrong. So most cars had really poor quality electrics on top of their other poor quality issues...

They all pretty much have already