After buying the car new in 1979 and enjoying it for several years the owner of this MG Midget thought he'd never see it again. That was until one day he spotted it on ebay, it was in a very bad state but he decided to buy it anyway with the intention of one day saving it.
After a few years we were asked to completely restore the car back to how it was in 1979, using as many of the original components as possible.
The car had had many poor welding repairs over the years as well as a front end impact and chrome bumper conversion. The first step was the strip the remaining components from the car and moutning it on a roll over jig to have the body and panels blasted back to bare metal so we could see the extent to the damage and corrosion. It was then primed to stop further corrosion.
We then had to fit an complete new heritage front end to repair the crash damage as well as reinstate the rubber bumper mounting points. New sills, a new quarter panel, floor edges, inner and outer arches, repairs to the bonnet, two new heritage door skins to name a few of the welding repairs!
Once the welding was finally completed the underside was primed and coated in Upol Raptor coating which was pre tinted to the cars oringal colour, Vermillion red. This is the only 2k underbody coating on the market and is extremely hard wearing. Being tintable means it's one process and one coating. There isn't a layer of paint to chip off the stonechip underneath.
The interior of the body and the fuel tank were also sprayed in the Raptor coating, but this time using a spray gun to give a more even finish.
The suspension was completely stripped, blasted and powder coated and assembled with new SuperPro bushes, new bearings, shock absorbers etc.
Fortunately most of the original interior was able to be reused. First we started with a layer of Dynamat sound deadening which we use in all of our restoration projects. It's excellent and minimising cabin noise, vibration and heat. Then we installed the factory style underlay and a new carpet set before fitting the oringinal seats.
The centre console had been badly modified to we welded it up and sent it to Rawhide Upholstery to be retrimmed to match the original interior.
After a full respray in its original cellulose vermillion red it's now complete and being enjoyed by it's oringal owner.
Do you have a car that needs saving?