1962 MGA Mark II Deluxe - GHN L 2/108589 - NAMGAR #2989

In December of 2009, I located and purchased an MGA Mark II Deluxe. They are one of the rarest, vintage British cars you'll ever see--if you ever get to see one! Only 255 were ever produced. They are so sought after, they almost never come up for sale (maybe 1 every two or three years).

I was able to pry the car loose from Marc Evans, who owns the New England Classic Car Company. Before I take possession of the car, Marc is going to do some work on the car to bring it back to it's original state for me. First Marc is going to remove the MGB engine and Ford transmission he had installed in the car, and reinstall the original pushrod engine, carbs, transmission, etc.,  that went with the car. The car is currently red, but he will be repainting the car in the original black color, before shipping it off to me.

History

The MGA was produced by MG division of the British Motor Corporation from 1955 to 1962. BMC sold 101,081 units, the vast majority of which were exported, with only 5,869 cars sold on the home market.  It was a body-on-frame design and used the straight-4 "B series" engine from the MG Magnette saloon driving the rear wheels through a 4 speed gearbox. Suspension was independent with coil springs and wishbones at the front and a rigid axle with semi-elliptic springs at the rear. Steering was by rack and pinion and was not power assisted. The car was available with either wire spoked or steel disc road wheels.

MGA 1500 - The MGA 1500 was produced from 1955 -1959. The car had a 1,489 cc engine, which produced 68 hp at first, but was soon upgraded to a 72 hp engine. Lockheed hydraulic drum brakes were used on all wheels. A coupe version was also available. In all, 58,750 MGA 1500's were produced.

MGA Twin Cam - A high performance version of the MGA using a Twin Cam engine was available from 1958-1960. It used a high compression (9.9:1 later 8.3:1) aluminum cylinder head version of the B-Series engine, increasing the horsepower to 108 hp. Twin Cam's were fitted with four wheel disc brakes by Dunlop, along with Dunlop knock-off steel wheels (the same wheels used on racing Jaguars). The Twin Cam's engine was notoriously unreliable, which resulted in poor sales. The Twin-Cam was dropped from production in 1960 after only 2,111 had been produced. The Twin Cam is easily distinguishable from other MGA's because of its center lock steel wheels.

MGA 1600 Mark I & Mark II - In May, 1959 The MGA Mark I became available. The major change was that the engine was upgraded to a 1,588 cc engine producing 78 bhp (58 kW; 79 PS) . Front discs brakes were fitted, but drums remained in the rear. 31,501 were produced in less than three years. In 1961, The MGA Mark II became available, which offered an even larger (1622 cc) engine. 8,719 Mark II's were produced.

MGA Mark II Deluxe - 255 of the MGA Mark II's were produced with leftover center lock steel wheels and four wheel disc brakes from the discontinued Twin-Cam. These became known as the MGA Deluxe.  The MGA "Deluxe" models are very desirable not just because they are so rare, but because the Deluxe combines the performance of the Twin Cam, with the reliability of the pushrod engine.

12/09 - Pre-Restoration Pics

Clean body with no bondo	Clean grill + Driving lights	Good panel fit!			Dunlop center lock wheels	Dunlop disk BBrakes

clean underneath - no rust		MGB engine which will soon be replaced by original 1,622 cc pushrod engine that came with the car		Tan interior will look great with black paint

12/20 - Original Engine Rebuilt - The block was honed, cleaned, checked, brass plugs replaced, resurfaced the top facing, cleaned and polished the crank. standard bore, standard crank journals--both clearly show that the car has very low mileage.  New intake and exhaust guides, 4 exhaust valves, new hardened (unleaded) seats, valve job, etc. Pistons cleaned up nicely, new rings etc... New oil pump, screen, gaskets, cam followers, timing chain and clutch disc.

Bores (now honed),  inside of the redone cylinder head		Original MOWOG pistons!	1622 casting on engine block (original block paint)

Next Steps - Remove the MGB engine, the Ford Sierra T9 five speed transmission, etc. from the car.

• Prep - Prep car for new paint job.

• Paint - Pain car it's original black color

• Mechanical - Reinstall original 1,622 cc pushrod engine, transmission, manifolds and carbs that came with the car

• Transport - Ship it out to the west coast in a covered truck..

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