Simon mentions that the Factory car option is the "easy way out". Yes and
no! I was lucky enough to stumble upon one of the 20 or so Factory GT V-8s
in North America back in 1995, and I sold my soul to buy it. I knew the car
had rust when I bought it, but I felt the rarity of the car justified my
rescuing it for restoration. The car suffered from a "cover up" restoration
done in the late 80s, when the price of collector cars soared through the
roof. This car had a (non-standard) blue paint job that looked real good
from 5 feet away, and a snazzy (also non-standard) blue leather interior. I
was lucky to find someone who wanted to buy the interior as a whole for $400
bucks, so I recouped a bit of money there. Now for the difficult part.
I stripped the car down to a bare bodyshell in 1998, I had made a deal with
a friend and accomplished bodyman to do all the rust repair, body work, and
paint, in exchange for a 95% restored MGA roadster. We both figured the
deal was worth about $13K, his wife would get a nice MGA to drive and I
would get the most expensive part of the restoration done by a professional.
Well, that is happening....SLOOOOWLY. It seems that all the cash revenue
jobs that my friend takes on take precedence over my poor bodyshell. During
the last year or so, he has completed full restorations on a 1928 Ford Model
A, a 1950 MG-TD, a 1962 MGA, and a 1957 Chevy Bel Air, as well as minor body
repairs on at least 10 more cars. Meanwhile, my car languishes in the back
of his shop. He manages to tinker about on my car every month or so, and
has cut away most of the rust and has done the panel replacement on the left
side, but at the rate he is going I won't get the shell back for at least
another year. We did draw up a contract that said he would complete the
shell within one year, but that passed last month. I am reluctant to
pressure him for fear he will "slap" the car together, but the most galling
thing that happened over the last year was that he actually put a lot of
work into MY old MGA, so his wife could drive it to car shows! A mutual
friend suggested that the MGA should be put away under a cover until the
work on my shell is completed - the bodyman did not take his advice.
Don't get me wrong - waiting for the bodyshell has turned into an unexpected
blessing. I have spent the time preparing most of the subassemblies for the
car. I plan to have the best and most original example of the model once I
am done, at least in North America and maybe the world. But waiting for
completion of things I have no control over is the MOST frustrating part of
the project.
Cheers,
Paul Kile
-----Original Message-----
From: Simon Holt [mailto:simon.holt@tesco.net]
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 1999 3:27 AM
To: Ron Howard; mgb-V8 list
Subject: Re: Disappointment for the day
Ther's always the easy way out (the one I took) - buy a stock factory car. I
gather there are about 1700 left in existence out of about 2500 built. Mine
is one of the first 30 and is contemporaneous with the press cars.
I thought I'd got a good deal too, until that horrible moment two days after
I bought it when I took it up to 70 mph for the first time and the car
filled with smoke...
... you see, I had noticed that the rear crank case breater filter was
missing. So I made one up and when I came to installing it found the
breather tube had a bolt jammed in it. OK, I thought, that just to stop dust
and dirt getting in there. But no. It was to disguise the fact that the
bores were (somewhat) worn and thereby allowing "crank case pressurisation".
It cost GBP 3000 for a professional rebuild and a further GBP 1000 for
installation and sundries.
Good luck, Glen!
Simon Holt
Bournemouth UK
----- Original Message -----
From: Ron Howard <DigiFX@coastalnet.com>
To: mgb-V8 list <mgb-v8@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 1999 8:52 PM
Subject: Re: Disappointment for the day
> Glenn...I hear you,guy...this is a good time for you to come to terms with
> several facts of life, or you are not going to enjoy this adventure of
> building your dream car. I'm guessing you haven't done a project of this
> magnitude before...Why would I say that?...Only because you sound exactly
> like I did before actually realized how much work, trouble, blood, sweat,
> and tears this would take. Everybody's experience is not the same of
course,
> but based on 20 years experience of owning/maintaining MGs, total rebuild
> and modification of one 1970 Triumph Bonneville motorcycle, and the
> conversion of B-GT>Buick 215, I suggest the following: However long you
> think your project will take...triple it, and be prepared to extend that
> shedule as well...it is a conservative estimate. The financial costs will
> increase by about the same amount...2 to 3 times. The project will
grow...as
> you see, it already has, and you haven't hardly started. (I put ALL my
spare
> time and energy into my conversion. It took me nearly 2 years to build my
> Buick 215 motor at a cost of many thousand dollars...I had expected
> hundreds. I spent 6 months getting it into the car, and another 6 months
to
> fine tune it. This is not to discourage you at all. Just accept that this
> thing is going to take as long as it takes. There are many things you
cannot
> hurry...other people's actions and service. I waited 6 months to get a cam
> ground...I was originally told it would take a couple of weeks. Following
> professional advice, I totally ruined the valve spring seats, and had to
> have everything welded up to cut new ones. Nobody took responsibility for
> anything. I spent way too many sleepless nights wondering if $6000 worth
of
> parts would ever actually be anything else. By the time you finish, you
will
> think of several things you did in the beginning that you wish you could
do
> over again a different way. But at some point, you have to stop planning
and
> start doing. In doing you learn new things and it becomes impossible to be
> totally happy with the things you did before you got so experienced. Look
at
> it this way...now you will build a new motor and you will know everything
> there is to know about that engine....much better than some unknown motor
at
> any price. Hoping I don't come across as too much of a know-it-all.....
> ron howard
> ----------
> >From: Wake074@aol.com
> >To: mgb-v8@autox.team.net
> >Subject: Disappointment for the day
> >Date: Mon, Oct 11, 1999, 8:40 PM
> >
>
> >Some of you have been following (or at least reading my constant barrage
of
> >questions) my quest to turn my B into a V8 over the winter. As you have
all
> >read, I'm still just into the buying parts stage.
> >
> >Well, the good news is my Buick 215 arrived today from Oklahoma, from a
> >gentleman that collects Buicks. It was supposedly pulled 3 years ago
(and
> >running), and stored inside protected since then. Well, upon examination
> >tonight, the intakes and exhausts were left uncovered, and only some
plastic
> >was stuffed in the spark plug holes. So I took one of the cylinder heads
> >off, and found just what I was expecting, 3 of the 4 were completely
filled
> >with animal debris. So obviously the cylinders show major signs of
pitting
> >and rust damage. The engine will obviously not budge, big surprise
there.
> >
> >I guess I will end up paying big bucks for machine work. Anyone care to
> >throw out a good estimate of what this is going to cost to repair.
> >
> >Very disappointed from the setback, both in financial terms and trust of
our
> >brethren in the collector car hobby.
> >
> >Glenn
> >
> >
>
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