MG Sports Cars

I have looking through the Moss and Victoria British catalog and noticed the B and C use a lot of the same body panels. So other than the I6 how does the C differ from the B?

My favorite MGC part is the slam panel (i.e. where the bonnet latch is.)


(Sexy flared holes to lighten it up... which is delightfully ironic, I think.)

If you remove the engine and look into the empty engine bay, you'll see quite a lot of differences.



MG also replaced the MGB's coil spring front suspension with a nifty new torsion spring suspension.



Have a look in THIS WEBSITE'S photo gallery for more...

It's really a pity MG scrapped most of the MGC-specific tooling shortly after production ended. The MGC bodyshell easily supports a Ford V8, as Bob Elwin's How-It-Was-Done article demonstrates. If MG had put THAT into production before the end of the sixties, IMHO it would have been a real Cobra/Tiger killer. Demand in the U.S. market would have been huge.

x2 Curtis.

Here's my 1968. (You guys have already seen my 1969.)

Nice!

Some things I'm curious about...

Why does the MGC appear to have a different master cylinder arrangement, compared to MGB?

Were power brakes standard equipment?

Seems like most MGC's had spoke wheels. (All MGC's?) Why?

1) The MGC used a completely different Lockhead rear brake system than the MGB. I believe that the brake m/c used in the C had a different bore than that of the MGB to assist in braking effort needed to stop the additional weight of the car's IL6. (This unit is a boat anchor, weghing about #800 engine/transmission combined)

2) North American spec MGCs had two Girling brake servoes. Home market cars only had one. All MGC were servo-assisted.

3) Probably a marketing thing (everyone LOVES w/w's (right?!!?!?!?), but 5-bolt 15" wheels were available. Quite rare in North America. All MGCs came from the factory with 15" wheels, be they w/w or bolt-on.

The MGC was very similar to the MGB in body panels....from the firewall back. (The floors were different, to accomodate the torsion boxes...and the seats were about 1" shorter than the MGB to accomodate the mloss of floor depth due to the torsion boxes.) Front inner fenders, slam panel, bonnet, front crossmember were all different from the MGB. Tube shocks up front were used in place of the Armstrong lever shocks. MGCs came stock with twin HS6 carburettors. Transmissions were 4-spd, 4-spd with O/D, or BorgWarner Type 35 automatic. Read differential ratios were also different (3.07; 3.7; 3.31) The steering wheel was a 16-1/2" banjo style as used in the MGB and Midget...but was leather wrapped.

Poor tire inflation on the cars given to the press upon the launch of the model lead to bad press reviews. About 9000 cars made it out of the factory before the plug was pulled. (Some stats are 8999; others are 9002)

My 1968 MGC does NOT have O/D...and should have the 3.7 differential.

My 1969 MGC has the BW automatic with a 3.31 differential.

The MGC remains a little known treasure....it is a fantastic road car. I've driven mine from central Illinois to Sebring, FL; Breckenridge, CO; Vancouver, B.C; Parsippany, NJ; as well as several 1000 mile/24 hour road rallies.


My 1969 MGC on Turn 3 of the Indianapolis Formula One track


Could this be Max Fulton's dad walking in front of the Sebring MGCs?! :)


3.31 differential gearing


Hoosier Pass near Breckenridge, CO



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/07/2010 04:27PM by mowog1.

How swappable are the parts between the 2 cars? The C has a different hood and the gearing in the rear seems to be a little better for daily driving. (not sure what the gearing in the B is. If the C has better brakes, that might be another upgrade to consider. That would also allow for 5 lug wheels for a better selection.

Nice rides Rick! You need to sell them so you'll have the motivation to finish the V8 ;)

Five bolt MGC hubs are very hard to come by here in North America.

"It's really a pity MG scrapped most of the MGC-specific tooling shortly after production ended. The MGC bodyshell easily supports a Ford V8..."

I think a Chevy LS engine would look awesome in there! ;)

If you are lucking enough to find a set MGC 5 lug hubs, snap'em up! They are a direct bolt on to the a MGB. You will need MGC rotors and a set of the factory MGB V8 calipers as well. MGC rotors are 1/2" thick, same as a factory MGB V8.
The rotors are fairly easy to find and the V8 calipers can be had from suppliers in England (Clive Wheatly, etc). The C rotors will need to have the diameter turned down from 11" to MGB size of 10 3/4", it's easy to do on a brake lathe.

Like Rick said, most of the parts from the firewall back are interchangeable. Anything related to the front suspension, engine, and braking system will be different for the most part. MGC "only" parts are more expensive and harder to find at times.

There is quite a bit more room under the hood around the front suspension. I have been tempted to put a V8 in mine before. However the "ol boat anchor" keeps puring along, and is a very smooth running engine. Most likely I'll modify the l6 instead, possibly triple carbs or even a supercharged l6 C engine would be pretty cool too!!

BTW anyone know where I can find a MGC oil pan? The previous owner must have used it as a skid plate!

Bill

MGC fans,

I'm looking for a set of MGC front hubs from here in the USA. Seriously. Front MGC hubs from England are far too expensive.

Anyone got a line on MGC front hubs for sale ?

keep them on the track

phillip g