MGA 1600 mk1 re-restoration

[malcolm]

Nice work on the MGA. Mine was a US import so not nearly so much bodywork to do but I remember replacing that front duct panel which was in much the same shape as yours. Even after that the wings were a bit long and they needed a bit of a push to make them fit. I understand production was a bit variable and they needed to fit parts creatively when the cars were made. Good to see progress and fun to see so much body missing.

 

[Matchless]

Nice work on the MGA. Mine was a US import so not nearly so much bodywork to do but I remember replacing that front duct panel which was in much the same shape as yours. Even after that the wings were a bit long and they needed a bit of a push to make them fit. I understand production was a bit variable and they needed to fit parts creatively when the cars were made. Good to see progress and fun to see so much body missing.

Yes I am dreading getting the door and wing gaps right! I spent ages getting the fiberglass wings to fit well back in the 70's, now I have four used USA imported steel wings to repair and fit!

 

[Matchless]

Well that cleaned up well, first used caustic soda but one end got missed so I then tried Citric after a good flush out as they don't mix well (I ran out of caustic) I think the citric maybe did a better job, will be sealing it with POR15 tomorrow, not that it leaks but sealing it against future ethanol induced corrosion! the outside is hand painted with Trimite Kephos satin black etch primer, I will probably overpaint it in the chassis paint I have when installed. It may be running off the petrol tank this week!

 

[Matchless]

Rebuilt the brake/clutch master cylinder, lined the petrol tank with POR15, I am thinking of using Triumph TR6 steel wheels with a modified centre cap, maybe cast aluminium, to take spinners as per MGA twin cam,

 

[Matchless]

Re. wheels, I initially used MGB 14" Rostyle wheels as they came with the engine and gearbox I bought, then I fitted a set of 14" bolt on wire wheels in the mid 70's, originals were 4.5j 15" steels with hub caps, I have acquired over the years a set of original MGA 4.5j 15" 48 spoke wire wheels plus the correct front hubs and rear axle but the 48 spoke wire wheels will not stand up to the power I now have, the original twin cam wheels were peg drive spin on not splined.

Fitted the petrol tank today and made up a new kunifer fuel pipe.

 

[Matchless]

Tank fitted with new pipes, and rear shocks fitted, soon be ready for a test drive!

 

[Farside]

Don't you have the contoured inlets? They make a helluva difference to efficient airflow on the SUs.
Possibly not fitted to the A, they certainly were to the B.

 

[Matchless]

Don't you have the contoured inlets? They make a helluva difference to efficient airflow on the SUs.
Possibly not fitted to the A, they certainly were to the B.

View attachment 484943

Interesting, maybe I could engineer some small trumpets inside the MGA air filters, my carbs are 1967 MGB types.

 

[Farside]

Interesting, maybe I could engineer some small trumpets inside the MGA air filters, my carbs are 1967 MGB types.

Easy enough to get stub stacks, but I found the genuine MG ones (as above) were better.
Put it this way, in my messing around with the big single SU on the 850, fitting one of the above was Achievement Unlocked. For a while anyway, I carried on tinkering.

 

[Matchless]

If anyone hears of / knows of any TR6 wheels, singles or a set could you let me know, they seem to be hard to find (at a reasonable price!) one or two to be going on with would be useful as I may need to move the rim relative to the centre to reduce the offset, especially on the front. I will not need the stainless trim rings or centre caps. There was a set on Ebay recently that sold for £102.00 but collection only and they were in Clitheroe, as I am far from ready for wheels I passed, having tyres on made the shipping expensive if I could have found someone to collect them.

 

[dave h 2]

Back on the MG, I have a pair of Hardi fuel pumps (German SU copy) these are not new, one was on the car when it was laid up in around 2012 and the other looks almost new, they are not the latest type as they have points, the issue is that both pumps had a load of black soot covering the points and inside the cap, the newer looking pump has a capacitor??? across the terminals, the other does not, when I live them up (negative earth) there is noticeable blue sparking across the points, maybe worse on the pump without the capacitor, should I fit one to the pump that does not have one, could the existing one be faulty? is that sparking normal? what about the black soot?


View attachment 483090

I think that was fitted by someone trying to fix his radio interference issues.

I used a Morris Minor one in my mk1 Tina which looked like those - more suck and less pump. Using Mini ones under the bonnet with less suck and more pump (with the two plastic pipe nozzles on top) upset the carb float.

 

[RWD3M]

If anyone hears of / knows of any TR6 wheels, singles or a set could you let me know, they seem to be hard to find (at a reasonable price!) one or two to be going on with would be useful as I may need to move the rim relative to the centre to reduce the offset, especially on the front. I will not need the stainless trim rings or centre caps. There was a set on Ebay recently that sold for £102.00 but collection only and they were in Clitheroe, as I am far from ready for wheels I passed, having tyres on made the shipping expensive if I could have found someone to collect them.

View attachment 485023

What size are they?

 

[Matchless]

What size are they?

5.5J 15 with a lot of outset, I have found a set if they are still available, just back from a week away!

 

[RWD3M]

5.5J 15 with a lot of outset, I have found a set if they are still available, just back from a week away!

Ah, right. I suspected they were a larger diameter than the 13" Dunlops I have for my GT6.

Fingers crossed you can still get them.

 

[Farside]

If anyone hears of / knows of any TR6 wheels, singles or a set could you let me know

Depending on how original you want to go, the Triumph origins * suggest the Scimitar wheels may fit, as Reliant used TR-series front suspension (TR4, iirc).
A nice set of Wolfies on that would look the biz, but earlier and standard Scims used plainer steels.

*I was unaware MGA wheels had Triumph PCD (or vice-versa).

 

[Matchless]

Ah, right. I suspected they were a larger diameter than the 13" Dunlops I have for my GT6.

Fingers crossed you can still get them.

Arranged to get them this week, set of six, 5.5j 15, I will experiment with the rusty one to see if I can drill out the spot welds and move the centre of the wheel out about 1" to reduce the outset, maybe only need to do a pair for the front......

 

[Matchless]

I bought the TR6 wheels, not had time to play with them yet, had COVID for a week! managed to set up my blasting pot under the shed extension / carport today, started to blast the front of the body,

 

[Matchless]

Back on the blasting today, just getting over the Covid combined with gout in both feet and knees at the same time!
I have put the front body back onto the chassis so I can start the repairs as it will loose any structural integrity it has left when I cut out all the rusty bits!

 

[Matchless]

Now the fun starts, nothing fits! all the edges need to be joggled and I will be spot welding as much as possible.

 

[Matchless]

Test fitting the left wing today, needs some rust repair, also trying to refit the genuine sills I fitted in 1973-4 but am having trouble working out where the inner sill should fit, I thought the inner sill flanges fitted inside the outer sill, i.e. there is only ever two layers but my inner sill seems too wide......