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I f irst saw PRW 956W on the forecourt of the garage in Maldon Road, Colchester in November '96. Going back to my youth I'd always wanted an MG, but never quite had the funds. Seeing this one for sale triggered me, and after a day or two I decided to enquire about it!..... Once I had taken out for a spin my mind was made up and I stumped up the cash and bought it.There's just something special about driving the MG, I wouldn't say it's particularly comfortable or practical for that matter, I certainly wouldn't want to drive up to Nottingham in it for the football, it's a right pain getting the fishing tackle in it, but can be done with a squeeze, and it's definitely not for motorway driving. It comes into it's own driving around the country lanes on nice bright sunny days. I use it every day for going to work in, it's let me down a couple of times over the years. One morning the ignition mechanism in the steering column fell to pieces and I couldn't get the key in,, another time the water pump went in the town centre at 8-30 in the morning and I pulled up in the rush hour traffic in a cloud of steam. More recently the alternator seized up on a busy roundabout during the evening rush hour, a loud screech and plumes of black smoke as the fan belt skidded!. For all of these little set backs it can only be compared to climbing into the cockpit of an old war plane and driving about in an 'old friend'. It's definitely female, if you don't keep on top of it , it soon starts complaining ;-)
Below are two photo's of when I first brought it home. It was in reasonable condition, or so I thought, but problems would later be revealed!
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click
here to view larger images
At first I was really pleased with it, it ran and handled really well for a car getting on for 20 years old. When I had to take a temporary job in Ipswich after being made redundant I travelled up and down the A12 in it for a good few months until I found work closer to home. After I'd had the car about a year or so I took it to a local Car Restoration Company with a view to having it resprayed, they took a look at it and we decided to go ahead with it....'just a few minor jobs to put right!'. After the car went in and they unbolted a few body parts, it was revealed that chassis wise there wasn't really much left and it would need a lot of structural restoration. After agonising for a few days I decided to go ahead with it and what started out as a spit and polish job turned out to be pretty much a full restoration project!!
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Four work in progress pic's while the MG was in for
a few minor repairs click here to
view larger images
As you can see it needed rather a lot of work to get it back to it's former glory. In total the work took 9 months to complete, which commenced in January 1999. With the exception of one or two minor flaws it was restored pretty much to concourse standard
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Three
photo's were taken shortly after it was delivered click
here to view larger images
Well here is the finished job....these photograph's were taken in Sept '99 shortly after I took delivery of my nice shiny car. It's been used pretty well every day since come rain or shine...starts first time. It will soon be it's 25th birthday and gain tax exempt status. It did need a few pounds spent on it to get it through this years MOT, but is running all the better for it. With a new stainless steel exhaust it really purr's up the road. Some days when the windows are misted up, the heater's only blowing fresh air I'm sometimes tempted to sell it, but when I start it up on a clear summers day 'the world is my oyster'.
For more information about the business that restored the M.G.visit www.rmrestorations.co.uk