http://www.mgenthusiast.com MGEAUGUST 2019
Modified 1960 MGA
43G
rowing up in the sunny
Okanagan Valley in western
Canada I always loved little
British cars in their many
forms. They were like personally-sized,
street-legal go-karts but my other
passion is for Chrysler muscle cars
and my collection of self-restored/
custom cars was slanted decidedly in
the Mopar direction. As my circle of
friends changed over the decades, fewer
of them were into American muscle
and street rods and more of them were
into British metal. Eventually I felt it
was time to ‘get with the programme’.
I had originally favoured the Mini,
Spitfire and TR6 but, 10 years ago, I
saw my first MGA and I was smitten.
After extensive negotiations with my
wife, Lori, on how best to invest our
savings for our approaching retirement
(yes, I went the traditional route and
tried pitching it as an investment), I
eventually found a presentable specimen
only four hours away. It was a red 1960
MGA, already fitted with an MGB 1800
engine. It wasn’t concours, which kept
it within our affordability range, yet
it wasn’t a project either, which was
important because Lori thought I had
enough projects already. It’s what we
affectionately call a daily driver or,
more accurately, a 20-footer because
it looks good from 20 feet away.
When I (and partner-in-crime Dennis)
arrived I quickly discovered that the
MG was not quite as presentable as
the photos had led me to believe but I
was hopelessly in love and negotiated
a discounted price. A wiser self would
have brought his friend Bill Sinclair, of
British Car Restorations/Conversions,
along but I didn’t do that because he
would have advised me to pass on this
one and look for something better. I
was soon inclined to agree with him
because, once I got on the highway
home and hit higher revs, I promptly
noted a death rattle in the engine. Sigh
Not one to cry over spilt milk, I
nursed Morris around town for a few
months, including the daily trip to and
from work, whilst I methodically rebuilt
another 1800 B-series that Bill had
found me. It should be noted here that
I was resisting Bill’s insistent advice
that “now is the time to do a Chevy
V6 conversion,” a process I was quitefamiliar with as I had assisted him at his
British Car Conversions shop in the past.
Once again I should probably have
listened because I came around to his
way of thinking the next season, when
Morris and I burdened a half dozen
others on a club cruise to an all-British
show at Wenatchee in Washington State,
four hours across the border to our
south. This was when I realised that by
sticking with the MG components, my
drive train with the 1:1 ratio 4th gear
and the 4.3:1 stock MGA differential
had my newly rebuilt B-series engine
spinning over at the better part of
4000rpm just trying to keep up with
this pack of modified cars with their
V6 engines and overdrive gearboxes.
I was just resigning myself to the
reality that the stock running gear is not
conducive to driving for hours on end on
the wide open North American highways
when, with barely a whisper, Morris’s
transmission quit just eight blocks away
from the show grounds. Compassionate
members of the host Wenatchee British
Car Club kindly towed me to the event
with a rope and, after the show, offered
me somewhere to store my brokenTriumph TR6 steel wheels
were fitted at the rear to
allow for the wider tyres.