MGA Forum

I started my quest for another MGA in Spring, 2014. It had been 18 years since my last MGA and I was feeling lonely. Needless to say this quest caught my wife completely by surprise! We located what we thought was a suitable candidate in Minneapolis, MN. After getting it home, disassembly began. That's when the car became like an onion...

It was determined that the chassis was too far gone right in the middle (in fact, it was packed with Bondo to try to strengthen it!) The quest led me to St. Louis where I was able to purchase a redone chassis by Eclectic Motorworks. This aided the restoration considerably.

The engine was sent off to Denver to be redone by Sportscar Craftsmen. They did a superb job as usual.

Meanwhile, the body was media blasted and another skin of the onion was peeled back revealing more issues (nothing unexpected but some interesting welds courtesy of the DPO.)

Fast forward a few months and the front end is coming together nicely. The body is being done sporadically.

It was at this time that I decided to upgrade to a 5-speed overdrive T-9 transmission and a polished stainless steel exhaust system.

With the chassis done (for now) it was moved back to my garage where I could start getting the interior items attended to while it was time to concentrate on the body.

Recently, the bodywork was completed and the body went in for priming

This last week, the color painting began starting with the splash plates, hinges, etc... and culminating with the main body, doors and wings yesterday. The color is a non-original blue but is one that I think will be striking (seeing as how my wife forbade me from painting it red!)

Steven - I like the way you are approaching the restoration - how long have you been working on it? Nice workshop!

It's been 13 months since I went to Minneapolis to pick up the car. As soon as color sanding and polishing are completed, I will attach all of the upper shelf parts (i.e. master cylinder, wiper motor assy., flasher relay, etc..) as well as the wiring harness and dash as these are much easier to install while the body is still separate.

Steven,
Very nice! You are doing a fantastic job. Are you doing most/all of the bodywork yourself? 13 months progress is showing great results, I wish I was that speedy .
I agree with Daniel, nice shop.
Regards,
Eric

Unfortunately for my wallet... no. To quote Clint Eastwood: "A man's got to know his limitations." The level of skill necessary to bring this baby back to prime is far above my meager talents! I restored or replaced all of the little items and I am passably good at doing the interior (i.e. the carpet, pannels, trim, seats), finishing the engine bay, adding the wiring harness, installing the lights, bumpers, windscreen, etc... but bodywork? Umm... nope. I tried it on my first MGA and only gave myself a D+ (hey, at least I'm honest about my incompetence!) It was expensive but, I believe, ultimately worth it. I haven't just been sitting here typing away at the computer while somebody else puts my MGA together! I did the disassembly, I found all of the various parts that couldn't be restored and refurbished the ones that could (I still have to send the instruments out to be refurbished and recalibrated but I have to do that 100 ft. push test which will be done next week.) Up until May, I was able to keep busy but now I am waiting on the painter to finish the body. I'm hoping that, once mated back together, the remaining work will take less than two weeks. Irregardless, the car must be done no later than mid-August as I have plans to attend the All-British Car Show in Kansas City on Labor Day and the Colorado English Motoring Conclave two weeks later in Denver.

Steve What color is that??

Bill

I don't have a name for the color, only a color code #. It's one of the colors in a BASF color chart that I looked through (it looks as if your color is on that chart as well.) I went through hundreds of colors looking for the right one. Brad, my artist with an airbrush, suggested I pick out a couple of different colors and he would paint a sample square (12" x 12" which I could then look at in different lighting conditions. My first choice turned out too dark and too royal blue for my liking. The second one was much better but didn't have that "something" that makes a paint job "pop." We discussed it and went back to the charts and he suggested more green in the reflective material (it's very discrete) which "richened up" the color. That was the shade my wife agreed to so that was the shade we bought! It looks pretty close to your beauty!