[Nobbc] Getting Ron's car ready for sale

[Greg Tatarian]

  Hello Folks,

I have just returned from Candy Englehardt's house, where together with 
the kind and generous help from John, Clif, Sarto and Tim, we have 
cleaned up and inventoried the car and all spares and parts that will be 
sold with it. I have two pages of notes that I have yet to put into a 
spreadsheet, but will do so soon, to help prospective buyers get a 
better idea of the car, spares and condition of each.

Here are the basics for now:
The car is a 1959 MGA 1500, largely original, with what appears to be 
one repaint from years ago. It has three original wheels, but is wearing 
chrome slotted wheels and fairly new tires. I installed a new battery 
today, and we got the car running right away. Sounds great - 60 lbs. oil 
pressure cold, no excessive valve noise, no issues with running or 
revving. No visible rust and no evidence of previous rust repairs, which 
is expected, as the car has been garaged for the 29 years Ron has owned 
it, and probably throughout its life. The brakes are soft, and may need 
simple adjustment (drums all around, they go out of adjustment rather 
quickly), bleeding, or other work, but this appears to be the only 
immediate need this car has.

Paint is only OK, and there are some old and new chips, a few dings, one 
dent in the front cowl above the grill that a good dentless body worker 
can take out pretty easily. The interior is original, and for a 52 year 
old car, not bad - call it "patina". Chrome is fair, no major dents or 
blemishes with bumpers. This is a good driver in need of a little work 
to keep it going as such, or an excellent foundation for a full or 
rolling restoration, since the only rust I found was the passenger side 
battery box, which is no longer in use, as the car was converted to 
negative ground, and a single 12v battery.

Car includes a soft top in fair condition with hood frame, two tonneaus, 
one new, plexi/alum. frame side windows, original seats, trim and 
carpets. Also included is a lightweight fiberglass top that needs 
complete restoration, but is quite rare. Engine head was replaced some 
years back, original head goes with the car. Spares include lots of 
small parts for carbs, ignition, bushings, gear lever boot, tach, used 
wheel cylinders and master cylinder, lever shocks, seals, gaskets, 
mirrors, and other miscellaneous, all used in varying condition.

I'll be putting up photos onto Picasaweb this weekend, and have lots 
more details on inventory and condition, so stay tuned or get in touch 
with me directly if you are interested. Candy is not an experienced car 
person, so I am happy to provide information and let you take it from 
there. Candy can provide much more info on the history of their 
ownership of the car, which is actually pretty interesting.

My understanding is that Candy is asking $8,500 for the car with all 
spares and parts that I will enumerate fully later.

A big thank you to Tim, Clif, John and Sarto for joining me to help 
Candy with the car today - you are mighty good folks. Thanks also to 
Mike G. and others who also graciously offered help but were not able to 
participate today. I know Candy really appreciates what we are doing, 
and whether we are helping for Ron's memory or simply to help his widow 
and family, this is definitely the right thing to do.

Best to you all,

Greg