1961 MGA Roadster Fully Functional Driving Car

1961 MG MGA Description

Make me an offer and you can drive this car away.

This is a driver’s car. It is driven regularly and the mechanicals are all in good shape. The rust is mostly surface rust and of course, most of the body is aluminum.

One of the things I should observe is that in the last 2 years I have put time into making sure the car is safe so my kids can drive it. AND, of course, making sure that the there is a signifiant stereo that can work off my iPod. In the dozens sales I have looked at over the last 2 or 3 years I have never seen an MGA with a stereo that takes an iPod. I have only seen two with speakers in the doors. The vast majority have no radio at all—or a radio that clearly doesn’t work.

I purchased this car in 1981. I have driven it every summer since. I rarely drive it in the rain “on purpose” ;-) The odometer when I bought it in ’81 was 72K, and now it says 90k but I do not know how accurate that is. The trip odometer works though and I use it all of the time to back up the fuel gauge.

The was engine rebuilt in 1992 and when properly tuned it up it will really fly: it will redline in 4th going uphill. The car actually has an early MGB head because the original head was cracked and my mechanic noticed that an MGB had the same head gasket as an MGA which meant that an MGB head would fit. So this car has better aspiration than an original MGA (and I have the old head if you want to regress to the original).

The car does not have wooden floorboards, because they have been replaced by metal, and seat belts were added (seat belts were not original). Doors and latches have been repaired so that people would not fall out. The trunk is solid and dry. The seats need re-upholstered. the carpet is in good shape, but is an amateur installation, maybe better than original. While the top and tonneau work, they should be replaced because they are very stiff unless it is hot out. I have a new black vinyl top and a new tan cloth tonneau ready to install. The tonneau is really pretty easy to install—I did it myself years ago and it took about 2 hours. The windshield is two years old. That doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it is really nice to be able to see through it.

The radio and speakers are about 4 years old—it takes CDs and you can plug in an iPod. The car is now negative ground. It turns out that there is nothing in the car that is polarity dependent other than the radio!! The speakers are in the door because there is no other place to put serious speakers. The car has a Maserati airhorn, which I think is important for safety.

The brake drums are about 4 years old, the disks and shoes for front and back 3 years old. The rear brakes need adjusting yearly, but just the other day, I had to slam on the brakes and the rear brakes slammed into place before the fronts, as they should. I resurrected the parking brake and it works fine. Careful inspection of photos will show that most MGAs do not have a working parking brake. I bled the brake lines and fixed the clutch lines last summer. The clutch facings were last replaced in 1992, but they are fine because few people other than me drive the car and I double clutch. The dampers were replaced 2 years ago with really nice refurbished dampers that have bushings made by a guy in Minnesota who does nothing else. They are infinitely better than original. I bought new tires last year. They are radials and have a lower profile than the original tires, but are really nice. It is hard to find tires to fit this car because you do NOT want authentic tires if you are going to drive it.

I put in electronic ignition, but that can be easily reversed if you want (but you don’t want to.) I also put in a new carburetor two years ago just because over time the aluminum and brass wear down. (I have the old ones). The picture shows foil around the fuel lines which was something I did to keep the fuel cool, but is probably unnecessary.All of the basic engine parts have been replaced: water pump (not authentic because you don’t want authentic), generator, voltage regulator (sealed), fuel pump, starter and so forth. These parts were purchased from Moss and are better than original for various reasons.

Here are the things that are broken:

—the tachometer cable just broke a month ago. Floored me; i couldn’t believe it. I’m told it is easy to fix.

—the left hinge on the bonnet. This broke while I was working on the car in July. This is odd because I reworked the hood and got it to fit perfectly last year for the first time.

This is an absolutely great car to tool around in with the top down and the stereo going.