1959 MGA Twin Cam Coupe - Full Restoration
Home Page: Chip B
Broomfield, CO, USA
| Total Posts: 3 | Latest Post: 2025-08-29 |
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Welp, we're diving in! Chip & Jessi have purchased a 1959 Twin Cam Coupe from our friends (and Twin Cam experts) Joe & Cathy. We're excited about our first restoration and engine building project, and aim to restore this car to a #2 condition.
Joe & Cathy had purchased this car some number of years ago but never started the restoration project. It's been stored in a garage awaiting time & resources to come back to life. The engine & transmission had been removed by the previous owner and fitted with a 3-main MGB engine, and the interior was in quite a state of "disrepair". Certainly new seat upholstery and headliner work required. The original engine was provided with the car, with the #4 piston missing. Hm... sounds a lot like an early 9.9:1 compression car with a blown piston.
The body is in pretty good shape (no rust apparent), although painted a rather horrible "refrigerator white" color. There is some indication of filler on the rear valence, possibly form a long-ago rear end incident. We'll aim to fix this properly when we begin on bodywork.
Upon taking possession of the car, we've found that most of the engine is present although partially disassembled. The head was separated from the block and disassembled. The engine block was assembled, although missing the #4 piston and rod as mentioned above. Immediately upon poking around we found the chain had started falling apart, with several rollers cracked or missing sections. Yikes! Indication of associated wear is visible on the sprockets, which will need to be replaced.
Other stuff... the car comes with a close ratio gearbox (original gearbox but not currently fitted), proper TC dunlop wheels, and a box of miscellaneous parts.
We're going to start this project by disassembling the engine and getting its rebuild started. I'm much more comfortable with engine / mechanical work than bodywork and fitting everything together. I'm hoping we can get the engine off to the block shop and start rebuild on the stand while we figure our the plan for the body.
More to come! Safety Fast!
Joe & Cathy had purchased this car some number of years ago but never started the restoration project. It's been stored in a garage awaiting time & resources to come back to life. The engine & transmission had been removed by the previous owner and fitted with a 3-main MGB engine, and the interior was in quite a state of "disrepair". Certainly new seat upholstery and headliner work required. The original engine was provided with the car, with the #4 piston missing. Hm... sounds a lot like an early 9.9:1 compression car with a blown piston.
The body is in pretty good shape (no rust apparent), although painted a rather horrible "refrigerator white" color. There is some indication of filler on the rear valence, possibly form a long-ago rear end incident. We'll aim to fix this properly when we begin on bodywork.
Upon taking possession of the car, we've found that most of the engine is present although partially disassembled. The head was separated from the block and disassembled. The engine block was assembled, although missing the #4 piston and rod as mentioned above. Immediately upon poking around we found the chain had started falling apart, with several rollers cracked or missing sections. Yikes! Indication of associated wear is visible on the sprockets, which will need to be replaced.
Other stuff... the car comes with a close ratio gearbox (original gearbox but not currently fitted), proper TC dunlop wheels, and a box of miscellaneous parts.
We're going to start this project by disassembling the engine and getting its rebuild started. I'm much more comfortable with engine / mechanical work than bodywork and fitting everything together. I'm hoping we can get the engine off to the block shop and start rebuild on the stand while we figure our the plan for the body.
More to come! Safety Fast!
40408561-6186-40FE-AA6B-B50F4DCE8BC3 1 105 c
0224CBC5-A0CE-488E-AD9B-B52B6F277903 1 105 c
IMG 5835
IMG 5853
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