In only a few days, the car was reduced to a shell - and there it sat for many more years - without any front suspension. It was now immovable! The shocks were rebuilt, a new kingpin purchased and then things stalled.. a few bits were cleaned & painted, but that was about it.

Lots of parts were purchased, but getting the car cleaned up for body work was intimidating - it had nearly an inch of tarry undercoating. Besides, the garage wasn't really big enough...

Life got busy, enthusiasm waned...an MGB-GT arrived to provide driving fun on those all too frequent rainy days in the 'upper left-hand corner of the map'.

At this point, many restoration projects are sold as boxes of parts.

New Rule: Make a step-by-step plan and follow it!

The garage was doubled in size, but still no progress.

Finally, in late April 1998, the restoration started in earnest. The car had been off the road for 17 years! It would take only six months to get it back on the road.

The new kingpin was installed, the front suspension was reassembled. In 4 days the car was back on its feet and completely stripped of most remaining parts. In the end, the only 2 pieces that were not separated were the body & frame.

Click the MGA going 'forward' for an index of restoration photos and the rest of the story... or click here to jump to the Epilog.