1958 MGA 1500 - Total frame-off restoration to better than new condition

1958 MGA

Desert Car - No Rust

Complete High-Level Restoration

Unique in all the Right Ways

The car that you are looking at has been my pet project for the last several years. It was time to restore one for myself instead of for other people. I bought the car as an "interrupted" restoration project from the previous owner in New Mexico. It is a desert car with absolutely no rust. Prior to my purchase the car had been disassembled down to the frame and the frame had been media blasted and powder coated. When I got the car back to Illinois, the first thing I did was take the body off of the frame. It was just temporarily bolted on for transport. I immediately took the body-shell, fenders, hood and trunk lid to an award winning restoration shop to be prepped and painted. The restoration shop took all the imperfections out of the body and painted it with a two stage base clear coat paint system. The color is the same as the Nissan 280Z "Black Cherry”.

The engine and gearbox had also been rebuilt as well as all four brakes and a new clutch. New floors were also installed. The body was solid with only a few minor dents and dings which were corrected. While the body work and paint were being done I rebuilt the SU carbs in my shop using a major rebuild kit including new bushings and throttle shafts.

I delivered the chassis to the restoration shop for final assembly and fitting and when complete I brought the car to my house where I have my own lift and started the reassembly and final restoration.

I completely rebuilt the entire car using all new parts, mostly from Moss and I have all of the invoices in a file that will accompany the car to its new home. Everything is new that had to be put back onto the car so in reality the car is better than new. I had the windshield frame stripped and triple chrome plated (copper, nickel, chrome) and had the new windshield glass installed at a local glass shop. I replaced the old painted spoke wheels with new chrome tubeless spoke wheels and the tires were new when I bought the car and only have about 100 miles on them. The seats are rebuilt on the original frames using grey leather covers with matching door panels and cockpit rails. Carpeting is highest grade Moss carpet set in the passenger compartment and the trunk (boot). The dash is painted using "wrinkle coat" paint to reduce glare while driving. I also replaced the wiring harness and light sockets etc. as needed. The tie rod ends and brake/clutch master cylinder are also new.

When I took the car out for the for the maiden voyage the speedometer was bouncing all over the place so I sent it away to Nisonger Instruments and had it rebuilt and now it works like new again.

I also installed a new Robbins vinyl top (hood) with zip-out rear window and I have new Moss side curtains.

This description is getting fairly long and I could go on and on but I think you'll get the idea of what this car is. Please e-mail any questions and I will be happy to answer them for you. I've included some of the pictures showing the steps of the restoration process but I have many more. If you need to see more I will e-mail them to you.