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.