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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - How can I tell ?

I have bought a V8 and am in the latter stages of its complete restoration. I have vastly over spent on ot and am trying to sell it, I have tried to value it but due to it being such an early model people are telling me that it must be a conversion. What is a tell tale sign to look for as there are no plates that indicate it to be anything other than the real thing.
Mark Rogers

The car's number should provide conclusive proof but even if it's not a factory car the value will depend on the standard of the conversion, particularly the use of factory parts and the standard of the documentation. There are very few standard cars which have not been modified now and they tend to be very tired (the factory car was a compromise in the first place).
Roger

You don't say whether its a BGT or a roadster (soft-top). The roadster was never made as a V8. Thus any roadster is a special, either made privately by someone, or by Costello who did contemporary professional conversions. Costello used a bonnet with a special large bulge, others use an MGC bonnet with bulge or have no bulge.
The factory V8 had no bulge, but was only the GT version.
What year is the car?
T.Green

"There are very few standard cars which have not been modified now and they tend to be very tired"

Eh? There is absolutely no reason why an original factory car cannot be maintained in good condition as such, with the possible exception of the exhaust manifolds, and even those can be found if one looks hard and long enough.

The chassis numbers are completely different between V8s and 4-cylinder cars. Original V8 chassis numbers are in the range G-D2D1/nnnn-G.
Paul Hunt

Paul, you said it before i did. The GD2d1 number in the offside inner wing will tell if its a factory V8 or a conversion.
If its a conversion BGT, the value will be less. A roadster, completely depends of specification and quality of build, with regards to value.
KD Rowson

"There is absolutely no reason why a factory car cannot be maintained in good condition"

Who could possibly disagree however I have seen many more tired cars than well maintained ones and those few owners who are prepared to make the investment are hardly going to fit standard parts when there are better ones to upgrade them.

Mark, There is also no reason why a first class conversion should be worth any less than a factory car but you do have to complete your work in every detail or suffer disproportionate penalty. You also have to find an experienced buyer.
Roger

No-one seems to be putting their money where their mouth is - to coin a phrase!
The BGTV8 has an authentic market, I would say good ones about the £5k mark and councours about £7K
The BV8 is slightly different because there is no authentic market. I paid £8K for mine which although not concours has been very comprehensivly re-built and modified to a high standard. I sold my standard 1800 B for £5.5K which was quite good for a "nothing special" MGB. But it was a good sound car with excellent paintwork.
At the end of the day, its all about getting someone to buy the thing!
T Green

This thread was discussed between 12/07/2002 and 17/07/2002

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