Brakes Update

Progress has been quite slow but I've now got some free time over Xmas to finish the brakes in time for the new year and new clutch and I am pleased to say that, with the new copper brake-pipes and re-conned unions are in place, the wheel-cylinders are on the hubs and I bolted a front-drum on to the MGA for the first time in 20 years! [the rear pair being put on to tow the car to a new garage in 1992]

That pesky nut, above, and the old hose took a day of sawing, yanking, drilling, angled-drilling and hammering, but it finally broke free without harming the bracket. Once we'd clamped what was left of the hose-end in a vice we we're even able to rescue the nut and compression-washer, so a couple of quid and a bigger job have been saved, driving the project on in high spirits.

The 3-way brass rear brake-pipe union, joined to the o/s wheel cylinder, above. The n/s one will have to wait until I can move the car over in the garage and create a gap to work on the other side - not all MGAs were lucky enough to make it Stateside and this is winter.

The 4-way front brake-pipe union, above, connected to the rear union, the completed o/s drum assembly and with the other pipes leading up to the master-cylinder, which is on hold until the bracket is cleaned and wax-oiled, and the n/s hub, again awaiting work space.

The complete drum-assembly, minus the drum, is the first sign of front-brakes for two decades. The new steel hose ends had rusted slightly on the inner threads [that the brake-pipes screw into], but not the outer ones, even though some of the rubber caps have never been removed. I guess using new parts that have been stored for even longer than two decades is a dodgy area, but they seem sound enough. And yes, I do realise that the springs are through two wrong holes, this has now been rectified and the drum set.

Starting with stopping... All new brakes!

Dad bought all the parts in 1988 - new brake-hoses, copper brake-pipes, shoes, wheel-cylinders and master-cylinder, all AP Lockheed. The only original parts of the brake-system to be kept are the drums, which were skimmed inside and repainted, the two brass union-fittings that route the brake-pipes and as many pipe-clips as we can save.

Today I took off what remained off the brake-pipes and hoses, which all came off surprisingly easily. Only one of the metal clips sheared off the chassis while opening it, but it can be pop-riveted back on as two other ones had been at some point in the past. Those had to be drilled out - I hope the pop-rivet gun turns up or I'll be using self-tappers.

I salvaged the two brass union-couplings and they've kept well. The 3-way one, above, splits the pipe from the front between the two rear brakes. The 4-way coupling, below, splits the master-cylinder between the two front brakes and the pipe to the rear. Couldn't be more basic.

I gave the couplings a good wire-brushing and they came up great. The threads are pretty clean, but the pipes still had a little fluid left in them so I've given the couplings a good flush and left them soaking in methylated-spirits over night.

The only part of the old brake system that didn't just come off reasonably easily was this nut that connects to the end of the rear brake-hose and holds it in place. It's never been touched since the car was born in 1959, so it's been painted over more than once and now both the nut, washer and the end of the old brake-hose [cut off so I could get a socket either side] are totally seized to the bracket. Last night I basted it in WD40, but today it still wouldn't budge and I can't put enough force on the nut, even holding both sides, without kinking the rear sub-frame it's attached to. I have tried hack-sawing the hose-side nut a bit, but it stopped play today so tomorrow I will be drilling and hacking in a last ditch attempt to save cutting the bracket off. Hopefully the new pipes and hoses can go on too tomorrow as I'm back in work for a bit after that.

Project ready for the off...

I've got a bit more free time lately so am about to finally pick up the reigns and start work on the MGA, the first this restoration has seen since the late '80s. It's the least I can do I suppose because I received help to get my BMW's prop-shaft trouble sorted in time for winter [see www.planet5.co.cc] and the MG has the benefit of being garaged so I can fiddle away throughout the cold weather.

Before we get underway I thought I'd throw up a few snaps showing the condition of the car's underside as it has been since the abandoned restoration over twenty years ago. The bodywork isn't too bad for rust, but work hasn't begun yet and it's only rubbed down in a few places so I'll post some pics of the outside and engine later when I can roll the car onto the drive.

Painting was the majority of the work done back then and the entire underside of the body and most of the chassis, suspension, diff. etc. is done so it's good that's out of the way. The shocks have been replaced with new gas-damped SPAX. The red powder-coated lower-mounts are also new. The brake-drums are original and have been skimmed inside, though the entire rest of the system is new and yet to be fitted.

The body isn't too bad for rust, but will need a lot of filling and going over. Thankfully we're a long way off this. The structure is mostly solid, the only real bad bits being the fish-plates at the corner of the cabin/wheel-arch, which may need addressing properly although it could be hidden for an MOT ha, the car isn't about to fall apart.

The dashboard will certainly need re-leathering. All the original Jaegar clocks remain, but will probably need reconditioning. No electrics are hooked up. The old fashioned MG bus steering-wheel was replaced in the '60s with this sporty Ferrari style one before my parents bought the car, which I rather like I must say, but they apparently never have and want to buy an original.

MGA Survivors

Spotted these graphs in an old copy of Practical Classics magazine.

The first shows what proportion of MGAs were sold within the UK against 'ROW' (rest-of-world) sales - amazing to see how few were destined for British roads. I'd love to know what proportion of those sold abroad are left-hand drive, as there are a lot of left-hookers that crop up, but I would assume most were aimed at right-hand drive ex-Colonial countries, like New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

The second chart shows how many are still in use on the road - wonder if ours falls into the SORN or AWOL category hehe, it's been off the road since the mid 70s.

Old Photos and History

I took these photos in the summer of 1988 during my Dad's first, and last, restoration attempt to date. They're shot rather poorly, but bear in mind I was 5 years old at the time.

That 12 month spell of enthusiasm saw a lot of the project sorted, but sadly it never got put back together. Dad painted the chassis and most of the suspension components, some of which he took to be reconditioned. The rear was also treated to a new set of sporty gas-damped SPAX shock-absorbers. I'll post some new photos of the '1988 spec' suspension soon as.

Quite a few other things were purchased, including an entire new AP Lockheed brake setup [minus the drums, which were skimmed and painted], a whole new clutch system, complete stainless-steel exhaust, Lucas lamps and various other electrical bits that have all sat in the boot, most in unopened boxes, for the last 23 years.

Oddly, a year or two later Dad bought and scrapped a derelict Morris Marina, having lifted the 1800cc engine out of it. These fit straight onto MGA engine-mounts and the 1500 gearbox, but we moved house in 1992 and it never came with us. There's been talk for ages of a fully reconned 1800 Oselli MGB lump going in, but lately, as the project has actually gathered steam, we're keeping the original 1500 apparently, which has a lightened flywheel and flat-top pistons anyway, put in before my dad bought the car.

The only item bought for the car in all the years that have passed since then was a fibre-glass front valance on a tiny whim a couple of years back. Im sure there are a few more bits the MG needs, but it'll simply have to wait until the two decade backlog of parts have been fitted!

Welcome to MGA Bay!

A blog covering our 1959 MGA Mk1 1500 Coupe [tarpaulin-roof] restoration project, as well as a growing MGA knowledge base.

Photos and project information coming very soon!!

This blog is part of ScoobyLab.co.cc - Impreza knowledge-base and '98 WRX STi project car blog. http://scoobylab.co.cc, so check it out if you're into JDM cars or DIY tuning / project builds.