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Thinking about restoring an MGA, am I nuts?

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walkette Avatar
walkette Jay W
Marysville, OH, USA   USA
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1973 MG Midget MkIII "Mr. G"
So I am thinking about restoring an early model MGA. It is my dream car my mom and I would drive around the Seal Beach CA. area in her MGA, I do not remember but I have some great pics.
I have a plan that would last 4 years for the restoration for the cars I am looking at. Tonight at "work" I did a quick cost of restoration and it comes to about $10,000. I know that when it's all said and done you could add a couple thousand to that.

So the dilemma is do I go through the time and frustrations, and ending with the reward of end product, or buy one done and drive it.

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66jalopy Avatar
66jalopy Phillip Jolliffe
Lake City, FL, USA   USA
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I would try and get in one first, I think they are tighter than a Midget, or I was missing something when I squeezed into one 50 years and 100 pounds lighter ago. Love the car, wish I could do one.

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Rick Fawthrop Avatar
Rick Fawthrop Gold Member Richard Fawthrop
Langley, WA, USA   USA
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Buy one.

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Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands   NLD
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I think it also depends on how much you like restoring in relation to driving. If you enjoy the restoration work as much or maybe even more than the end product, then I would restore one, also just for the fun of it.
Also with regard to the money: when restoring one you will probably have paid more at the end of the line, but it is also spread out over a couple of years.
This in contrast to buying one now: you can, most likely, drive it immediately, have at the least a lot less work winking smiley, but your bank account needs to be large enough.
Also, it depends on what you're looking for. For me, I like them as original and in a good condition as possible. But they are the most expensive. These are the hardest to find. Then the ones that need restoration: much cheaper, but then you have the restoration costs. And then there are the ones that have already been restored. Up side: done, drive! Down side: money, and, is it done properly? The latter also depends on how much you adhere to originality/restored to original specs. Here in the Netherlands I saw a really nice one, for about 30k, $, but it had a MGB engine in it.
These ae the things I would consider.

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Kerr Avatar
Kerr Platinum Member Norm Kerr
Ann Arbor, MI, USA   USA
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…if you do, then the MGA Guru web site will become your best friend (actually, anyone with an LBC should know about this site because of the amazing amount of great information available on it):

http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/



Norm

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rumb Avatar
rumb robert unfug
fort collins, CO, USA   USA
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Funny, I was thinking the same thing yesterday about what car to do next. The amount of labor work is probably very much the same as a midget with parts cost a bit higher. I say go for it.

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NOHOME P P
O, ON, Canada   CAN
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1967 MG MGB GT "Maggie (GT From Hell)"
Your budget is not up to the job. Bottom of the market driver MGA is about 15,000.

Figure even if you do it yourself and use low cost materials, paint and bodywork is going to eat 3k of that budget. That is assuming you don't need to buy a single panel. You still need to do suspension/brakes. Engine/'transmission. Interior/top. Wheel/tires and assorted bits and bobs and trim.

I would not approach an MGA restoration with less than 25,000 in the war chest and that is assuming that I am doing the work and already have the tools.

Restoring is ALWAYS more expensive than buying a finished car.

What I would do with a four year window is to "restore" the car of my dreams by virtually buying a part every month; by that I mean putting 15k in a bank account over 4 years so that I could go buy one. If you don't mind the extra cost, you can do the same thing if you finance, but I don't believe in financing toys.

That all said, you might find a decent bomber for 10k that you can keep running and have a lot of fun; but not restored.

Pete

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Dave Braun Avatar
Georgetown, TX, USA   USA
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1952 MG TD "Tommy"
1970 MG MGB "Maggie"
1974 Triumph Spitfire 1500 "Sammy"
With the exception of the wood in the tub of a T-series, restoring an MGA would be very similar to a T-series. The chassis has some extra features, and the body is very complex but prone to rust in some nasty places. The aftermarket grilles are notorious for being poor fits, and they used brakes not common to the other MGs. Parts are very reasonably available and they are not that expensive.

Warmly,
Dave


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Floydinit Bob Rank
Waldorf, MD, USA   USA
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1972 MG Midget MkIII "Silver Ghost"
1994 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 "Blue Beast"
1995 Chevrolet Corvette "Babs Toy"
YUP! medication needed!.....Bobconfused smiley

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HL Miller Avatar
HL Miller Henry Miller
Chair City, NC, USA   USA
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Although I enjoy the work involved, if I had the funds in place now, I'd write a check and be driving it four years sooner. And yes, the $10k figure is on the low end, unless you start with a driver, which will greatly increase the price of the project at the front end.

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66jalopy Phillip Jolliffe
Lake City, FL, USA   USA
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I never spent more than a month on getting a pile of parts into a running project, restore as you go car. At 67 years old I would have to buy a runner to start with, four years from now i might not be able to drive.

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randykieling Avatar
randykieling Randy Kieling
Grants Pass, OR, USA   USA
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1957 Renault Next "Pierre"
1959 Morris Minor 1000 "Branson"
1960 MG MGA
1962 Austin-Healey Sprite    & more
i have a 60 MGA and while it looks beautiful in the garage it is not fun to drive compared to other MG's


of course that is just my opinion not that it is worth even 2 cents

Randy

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Esca69 Avatar
Esca69 Dennis Link
Vallejo, CA, USA   USA
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1972 MG MGB
I was at a juncture like this a few months ago. New Mini, the way I wanted it , over 30k and from the guys I know that have them, very difficult if not impossible to work on with parts that are incredibly expensive. MGB in fair condition$2800. I went with the B. I've put about 2 k into it and will probably put another few K into it but it'll be a long way from 30k+ not to mention the $100. An hour shop charges. Not to mention everybody has a Mini. In the first week I had it a young guy in a brand new Mustang walks up to me and said, "Wow, I don't know what that is but it sure is cool!"

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walkette Avatar
walkette Jay W
Marysville, OH, USA   USA
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1973 MG Midget MkIII "Mr. G"
Well, I am nuts, went out today to take the 73 MG out for a ride also to look at another midget. The 73 did not start so I took the Dodge Caravan with my wife and bought another midget $300.00 bucks and in better condition than my 73 when I got it.

Pictures will be posted later.

Is there a rehab for my condition?

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66jalopy Avatar
66jalopy Phillip Jolliffe
Lake City, FL, USA   USA
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My wife made me sell the house after I had sixteen MG's, a spitfire, a Jag MK II, an Alpine and two regular cars and a motorcycle, moved into an apartment with two parking spots. I have a house again and have restricted myself to 4 vehicles.

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