Ok, #2 is above.
Looks like something is missing from the fire wall by the fuse block. I'll add that to my list of parts, removed during storage. If you know what is is, please share.
The motor in the car is a 3 bearing 1800. Bring it back to life, starts with dropping the gas tank and cleaning everything that gas will have to flow through.
David
These are the tires that are no longer on the rims. Based on the condition of the fronts, I will be rebuilding the front suspension sooner than later.
But, the brakes are going to happen before that.
Absolutely love MGA Coupes! Please do a build thread on this!
As to the barn find conditions, I don't like cars that look neglected with people preserving the dirt because somehow that's special. To me it needs a wash and restoration.
On MGAs, I remember some years ago finding about 30 or so together in a hotel parking lot. Turns out it was some sort of convention. Pretty cool seeing that many MGAs in one place.
Also, I knew a guy that had a MGA Twin Cam Coupe, which of course never ran when I knew him. A few years ago he passed away, but by the time I heard, the MGA was gone. Always wondered where it ended up.
In reply to racerdave600 :
There's a couple twin-cams in the area. I know a guy that regularly drives a black twin-cam roadster survivor. There's also a red twin-cam in the area. The local Brit club has several MGA's, most are roadsters though there is a couple coupes around. Never seen a twin-cam coupe though.
I'm with the guys that said to clean the whole car up so you can see exactly what you have got. It is quite possible that it might be in decent enough condition to use as it.
Regardless, you need to replace every hose and rubber part on the car and rebuild the braking system before driving it, and attend to any other issues - you mentioned front suspension which may well need some maintenance. Once you fire it up, you'll know if the engine is OK as is.The fuel tanks are available new - if yours is full of rust, cleaning can be a real pain and they can rust on the top - good luck finding a welder that would touch it.
The MGB intake and carbs were used on this car - presumably an 18GA engine. If you wanted to make it look like an MGA engine, you'd have to fit the MGA intake and carbs. but unless you were restoring the car it probably doesn't matter.
FYI, the coupes are quite rare - they didn't make a lot to begin with and some have been left to rot while roadsters got attention. They made 6,272 1500 coupes, 2,771 1600 (like yours) and 521 Mk 2 (like mine), for a grand total of 9,564 coupes out of a total of 101,000 MGAs (not including Twin Cams).
Do NOT lose that windscreen chrome trim - it is irreplaceable, although you can get a less than satisfactory plastic replica. I beleive that the joining ieces are available for it - let me know if you need info on where to source coupe bits. And do try not to break any of the glass as it is either impossible or expensive to replace. And preserve all door and dash hardware for the same reason.
I have always thought that the details on the coupes were stylish - the door handles among them.
So, loaded on the trailer and headed home. The rims did not end up the requested color and will be getting taken care of at a later date. The tires cost $215 for the set of four delivered to my office. This will be the least costly thing I do to the car, turns out the fuel pump went missing during it's time in garage.
The open garage is facing south, into the prevailing wind, I neglected to shoot a picture of the sand build up in the exhaust pipe. That collected in a closed garage. I do admit that I will trade sand removal for the lack of rust in this car.
David
This side of the car has taken the brunt of the abuse over the years, locked away in the garage. Looks are deceiving, that front fender has a flat spot from the wheel well through the door. But again, very little rust.
Just in case you leave a 1959 MGA roadster in the back yard, in Barstow CA, this is what it looks like cooked to "well done".
Wow - one MGA, toasted!
Up here in the Great White North, we love cars from th southern climes though - even though plastic and leather bits fall apart, the steel is usually in far better shape!
Comment to the original poster - a disc brake 1600 is supposed to have a different extended brake cylinder reservoir cap that increases available brake fluid volume to suit the larger volume used by disc brakes. Yours has the older 1500 drum brake model. You should consider obtaining the correct cover. If you can't find a used one, Moss has them new.
wlkelley3 said:In reply to racerdave600 :
There's a couple twin-cams in the area. I know a guy that regularly drives a black twin-cam roadster survivor. There's also a red twin-cam in the area. The local Brit club has several MGA's, most are roadsters though there is a couple coupes around. Never seen a twin-cam coupe though.
This one was also in Huntsville, it was owned by Paul when he had his shop down by the river.
My Twin Cam race car is a roadster, but a friend runs one of each, roadster and coupe. Only 323 Twin Cam coupes made.
Note, this may seem sarcastic, but absolutely is not.
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