Project Cars of the Mid-Atlantic
Butch Smith • 1962 MGA 1600 MkII Roadster
• GHN2/108734
I purchased this car sometime in the mid 1980's for $2,500 in Arlington, Va. It was a Connecticut car and rusty. Poor guy's wife was pregnant and she made him sell it. Drove it to Bill Ludtke's and stored her there for about a year.
Bill and I towed it to my house and I began the dismemberment of it. That took about one year, working on and off. Sometime in the early '90s my friend Richard Carr and I flat bedded her to Louisa, Va. for a body-off restoration that took over a year to do. Original color was OEW with red interior and a gray top, solid wheels. I changed out the rear with a wire wheel set up and standard MkII rear end. Front hubs too. Carr painted it Mercedes Navy blue and I did the seats in natural leather. Trim to match in vinyl.
Carr replaced a lot rusted metal including the boot floor, rocker panels and door posts. He did a fine job. We brought her home and I installed the plumbing and new floor boards (hand made by me). Bill L. rebuilt the engine and tranny. Believe he had the cylinders bored out to 30 or 40 over.
I haven't worked on the car for many years. My '60 and my '67 BGT have taken up a lot of my garage time. Retirement is coming and I WILL finish this MkII when I don't have to commute to a job some day. All the parts have been sand blasted and primed or painted and most have been powder coated. I have two brand-new, never been on an MGA, left and right front wings! Yeah, NOS baby. Don't ask, I won't tell ya.
