MGC GT
A Cautionary Car Restoration Tale
A Meltdown During Lockdown
Even with the most experienced and skilled craftsmen in the restoration industry, this is restoration, and sometimes 'stuff just goes wrong'.
Read how this MGC GT is giving us a bit of resistance as we use the lockdown period to bring it back to life ...
A Cautionary Car Restoration Tale
Hello readers ! I hope you and your families are keeping safe during these very strange Covid-19 times. Here at Quarry Classics we're still hard at it, breathing life into cars that we hope people will be able to enjoy very soon.
I will start this little news item with the famous Groucho Marx epithet, before any regular reader correctly suggests it applies in my case ...
"He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot, but don't let that fool you.
He really is an idiot."
Groucho Marx
That's how I felt a few weeks ago after acquiring through the good offices of my friend, Mr Stuart Baxter, a very early MGC GT, that hadn't run for over 20 years.
We pulled the car out of my its long term storage and installed into the Quarry Classics workshop. A quick examination of its chassis plate, reference to MG records and the ever helpful MGC Register revealed that this car (GCD1949G) was only the 11th production CGT made, and the 9th to hit the UK market.
It had been known to the MGC Register since 1985 when it had undergone extensive restoration.
First job with any newly discovered car that has not run for many years is to try and get it to run. I spent about an hour with my big (and I mean BIG) adjustable spanner on the crankshaft pulley nut rocking it backwards and forwards until I eventually got it to turn a full revolution.
So far so good ...
With a slave battery and booster leads from our tractor we got it turning over.
So far even better ...
I then fitted new plugs and points and confirmed we had got HT going to the correct cylinders after sorting out the firing order.
Getting better and better ...
Now feeling quite 'cocky', assisted by Lucy I then set up a slave gravity fuel supply as SV fuel pumps (certainly in my experience) die early on in a lay up period.
Lets go for it ...
With Lucy sat in the car cranking, I juggled with the chokes and throttles hoping it would fire.
It seemed to be trying but just would not quite catch, so I thought lets give it a squirt of ether (or as it's more commonly known 'Easy-start', used mostly for coaxing tired recalcitrant diesel engines into life).
So I gave it a good squirt.
It fired once followed by a very loud, and I mean loud, BANG !!!
It stopped cranking and would not turn over.
With a heavy heart I took the plugs out and it was immediately obvious that number three piston had disintegrated due to the detonation of the ether in a very exaggerated attack of 'pinking'.
Nothing for it but to strip out the engine and box (not an easy job on an MGC) and pull it all in bits, which revealed that number three piston had destroyed itself and scored the bore.
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So readers - don't use Easy-start on a petrol engine - only an idiot would (refer to Groucho earlier).
The cylinder block is now away being relined, bore to accept 6 new +20 pistons and fortunately the connecting rod was undamaged.
As all this coincided with the beginning of the 'lock-down' it seemed appropriate to embark on a full restoration. Mainly because I like MGs and the MGC is, in my view, vastly under-rated and superior in terms of value and driving experience to any of the big Healys (with apologies to any Healy drivers in the club!).
Thanks for reading - and regards to all our readers,
John Denton
"If you find it hard to laugh at yourself, I would be happy to do it for you."
Groucho Marx
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