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1958 MGA Restoration
By Terry Gaskin

This page will detail my attempt to restore my 1958 MGA roadster.

Before...back in 2001...

The A along the wall with my 1976 MGB along side...all on one side of a 2 car garage...a very tight fit. An extra frame sits above the A (floors removed, of course). A spare front clip is stashed way in the back.

Current day...summer 2004:

A new body mounted on a new frame. In this picture, nothing from the original car has been re-used.

History of the car:

I purchased the car in early November, 2001, from a guy from the northern suburbs of Milwaukee for a couple of hundred dollars. With the help of Dave Bralich, president of the Chicagoland MG Club, and his most usefull trailer, we managed to get the car back home.

History of the car: Car number: HDA43/51385, engine number 15GB-U-H-41627. According to the timeline in The Original MGA, the car was built around April of 1958. The car was originally black with a red interior, but has since been painted dark green...and with a brush.
According to the fellow in Milwaukee, the car was his father's, who bought it in the mid-sixties. Apparently it had been rather abused up to this time, so a bondo-filled quickie restoration was done at this time. This is where it recieved its green brushed-on paint job. In 1970, the car was driven over a rough railroad crossing and the frame broke on the driver's side and the car was parked. The son inherits the car with the hope of restoring it one day, but never does. Around 1999 or 2000, the son brings the car to a restorer in the Milwaukee area to have the car restored, but the shop says the car is too far gone.

Restoration Journal Pages:

Finally: New Updates!
December 2004

The body has been put on the frame.

NEW - DEC 2004:

Rear Inner Fenders

Trunk floor replacement

Inner fender repair, part 1