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Old MG

My elderly aunt asked me to assist in cleaning out her garage prior to putting her property up for sale. She has offered me an old car that is amongst the clutter, an MG roadster, 1955 I think she said it was. Her husband bought it new, drove it a couple of summers, and it languished in the garage ever since (he passed away). The tires are flat, and the sidewalls all cracked where they are flattened. The plastic windows are yellowed, the top seems really brittle, and the battery is cracked, must've frozen, there is green corrosion in the battery case area where the acid leaked out. Is this car worth bothering about, or should I just call the wreckers? I can imagine trying to get parts, and it has wire wheels, so just replacing the tires is going to be a costly headache. Any advice?

Reply to
Wes Lee
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Sounds like it's probably an MGA.

In which case, so long as it's not terminally rotten, it's well worth saving - as they sell for relatively large amounts of money these days.

Reply to
SteveH

snip

I agree it's worth considering a restoration. If it's an MGA then getting parts won't be too difficult. In particular, it sounds like it has not been the victim of decades of bodging which is a common problem with classics. The key question is, what's the overall corrosion situation? I don't know whether you have a dry or damp climate there but if the battery area problem is the only one then it comes into the category of a 'barn find' which could be quite interesting. If it has gone rusty then it's not just a body/chassis problem, as restoring all the ferrous parts will take ages. Still worth doing though. Do you have web space where you could post a pic?

Reply to
Les Rose

What does it look like ? "pre war" Terry Thomas sort of thing (a T series), a rather attractive swoopy '50s / '60s thing (MGA), or a Morris-alike with a funny badge on the front ?

T's are desirable and easy to restore (easy parts availability, plenty of specialists). They're less than happy on today's motorways, but they're probably the most fun MG you can have - reliable (with a demand for regular maintenance) and a huge difference from a modern transport-pod.

MGAs are highly desirable, not bad to get bits for, and absolute knuckle-scraping pigs to work on. See if it has the twin cam engine too (open the bonnet - are there one or two "rocker boxes" under there?).

The Magnettes were a bit of an unfortunate badge engineering exercise, but someone loves them and they're certainly not a job for the scrappie.

Congratulations whatever it is. Please come back and tell us what it was.

-- Do whales have krillfiles ?

Reply to
Andy Dingley

Easier to ask if it had separate wings or an all enveloping body? I'd not say the TF looked like any Morris, anyway.

Some would argue about easy parts availability on a TF.

The twin cam didn't start production until '58.

Badge engineered? True it shared some of its body with the Wolseley 4/44, but almost all the mechanicals were totally different - certainly the engine gearbox and rear axle. Nor was it 'unfortunate' in any way - certainly in its day. I'd leave that comment for the later Farinas, which were often inferior to the models they replaced.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

Wes Lee realised it was Wed, 14 Jan 2004 13:48:07

-0500 and decided it was time to write:

Sounds rather too good to be true - I say troll.

Reply to
Yippee

Just a minor disagreement on that last part - agreed the Farina Magnette was a bit of a mess, but the ZA/ZB was rather nice. I used to have several many years ago and liked them; a couple of days ago went out in a ZB Varitone - and still liked it.

Geoff MacK

Reply to
Geoff Mackenzie

Before you decide to scrap I will rebuild it and pick it up.

Reply to
Pumpaction

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