MGA Restoration Part 1 | Suspension + Undercarriage

First video of many! I apologize that this video is so long, but this was probably a weeks worth of work crammed into about 30 minutes. In this video we got most of the front suspension done, got the undercarriage cleaned up and coated, installed fuel pump and ran brake and fuel lines. We installed a few brake parts, and got the wheel hubs mounted. Future videos will be more organized and easier to watch, I know this one was all over the place without much explanation, but I'll work on that more in the future! If you have any questions feel free to ask and if you have any input on what I'm doing, fire away! Obviously keep negative comments to a minimum, but hey it's youtube, it's gonna come anyways(:

[@jett3332]

I never saw the finished project. This young man was both so fun and inspiring to watch on this project.

[@mikeakaspike]

Man, this is excellent! Very thorough in depth videos! As someone about to tackle an MGA restoration, knowing these exist is peace of mind through support. Subbed and liked all. Thank you!

[@robinburrell8741]

The MGA is a iconic sports car and deserves to be restored correctly. I have two i am working on. The rust holes in your frame and the bent up cross tube is of concern. The frame rust is the weak spot in the MGA. There is a guy in Pa that mfg's repair parts specifically for MGA. The company name is Clarks Spares. He sells the frame repair pieces you need and is very affordable . MGA did not use metric hardware they use Whitworth Standard hardware. Also there is a guy on the internet who is a MGA wizard called the MGA GURU. He has hundreds of pages of free information on restorations. I love MGA's and feel they deserve the best possible chance of restoration. Rob

[@carrgarage6463]

Check out my other videos, got that repaired!

[@branchandfoundry560]

Sadly, Todd Clarke passed away in January of 2023. "All orders have been suspended," according to the website.

[@quickturn66]

Do regular English wrenches and sockets fit whitworth fasteners?

[@dgadver]

I have a '60 sitting in my garage down in Florida (retirement project) ... you make it look easy. Great work!!!!

[@jimgramke893]

I’m restoring a 1962 MGA. I need all the help I can get. Looking forward to learning.

[@brianferus9292]

You're probably going to run into British standard Whitworth threads

[@jett7499]

Good job. Enjoyed watching.

[@chrismyers906]

Looking good. I just started the tear down on mine.

[@myhockeyplayers]

Rock On! looking good!

[@brenttauscheck8147]

Great buddy jump in and make it happen. The guy to look up John Twist. Excellent channel and a great guy

[@carlogic1960]

Like the way you are doing your video's.

[@netpackrat]

On the hardware for mounting the fuel pump; you will not find any metric hardware on an MGA. Nearly the whole car is assembled with UNF standard fine thread hardware. In some components that were sourced from outside vendors (generally plumbing, fuel systems, brakes in the earlier cars, etc) you will find British Standard hardware but not metric. On the fuel pump mounting IIRC Moss sells a specific mounting hardware kit, and another commenter recommended Todd Clarke of Clarke spares, who is a great resource for all MGA restorers.

[@branchandfoundry560]

Sadly, Todd Clarke passed away in January of this year (2023). The future of Clarke Spares is currently undetermined.

[@netpackrat]

@@branchandfoundry560 Yeah I read about that recently. Just have to wait and see if anybody will try to fill his shoes, if that's even possible.

[@carlogic1960]

There is another bracket between the fuel pump and frame with a rubber insert to shield against vibration from the pump. Easy to make. All nuts and bolts should be imperial not metric. (UNF will do)

[@carrgarage6463]

Great info thanks, the fine thread didn’t work in these threads. I ordered it off of moss and went through every size I could find metric and standard and the metric size M6-1.0 was the only one that threaded all the way in.

[@carlogic1960]

@@carrgarage6463 I posted a link to a drawing for the bracket but it seems to have disappeared. It is on the mgaguru site so if you do an internet search mgaguru fuel pump bracket drawing you should find it. Cheers

[@robertoferrari5397]

..those are some strange looking shocks....ps,..can you put 4 wheel disc brakes on an mga?

[@deep6thisdeep6this92]

i restored a '61 mga (engine and transmission first, then a few years later the paint and interior) when i was about 20 i guess. will never forget it and the lessons learned have stayed with me now for another half century. good luck. all i had was the kenneth ball "MGA, MGB 1955-68 AUTOBOOK" published by Autopress LTD. turns out it was all i needed to disassemble and repair the entire engine and transmission. highly recommended. BTW, in the late 50's they were still using some nuts and bolts using the Whitworth standard. they are neither standard american threads or metric. don't know where you'd get them these days, sorry. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Standard_Whitworth

[@geoffmower8729]

Good on you for taking on such a mammoth job. Are you checking the condition inside the differential and other components restoring is more than sand blasting and repainting. Also did you undercoat the undercarriage before painting? Sorry to be a back seat driver but I'd hate to see you having to pull it all apart again in a few years.

[@rickjeanne1]

What brand of ultrasonic cleaner machine do you use/recommend? Tired of cleaning every bolt and nut individually by hand. Thanks Rick

[@nickrudelich6950]

Nice video. Def keep them coming. What state are you in? I'm in Utah w a 62 mga mark II. Def mostly original. Looks like u got a good one. Excited for more videos.

[@carrgarage6463]

Hey thanks! Will do. I’m in Utah as well👍

[@carlogic1960]

My restoration is being documented on my channel if you are interested in seeing how I go about things.

[@carrgarage6463]

I’ll check it out!

[@bradley2362]

Do you take the springs out with a spring compressor?

[@carrgarage6463]

I didn’t! They actually aren’t very tough to work with by hand. I just removed the lower control arm link while pulling upwards pretty hard and was able to slowly let the tension out on both springs by hand

[@btolley100]

Great work, fun project. What kind and color of paint did you use on the brake backing disc or dust shield, not sure what it is called?

[@billyboyblue17]

Please kill or at least turn way down on the music at the beginning. I had the volume up to hear you talking and when the music came on it almost blew out my ear drums. As far as your project, the MGA has always been one of the top 5 cars I want to restore, but so far I haven't found one that was worth tackleing. Maybe before I die!