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Me And My Classic

1956 MGA Roadster

by Paul Cooper

We (my wife Louise and I) first saw ‘Ronni’ as she was later to become on 11^th February 2002 at the Spinning Wheel garage in Chesterfield. The owner, Adrian Walker had two beautiful MGA’s for us to see, a red chrome wire wheel example and Ronni. She had originally been left hand drive car being delivered to California new and staying there until 1991 when she was imported to Ireland for restoration. Current opinion seems to be that rust free converted LHD cars are preferable to RHD original cars but I’m sure that’s a debate that could go on and on. Latterly Ronni resided in Sheffield with a classic car enthusiast and regular customer of Spinning Wheels and is well known to Adrian.

A visit the following weekend saw a deal struck with some minor paintwork and service to be completed. The prospect of collecting the car in the depths of winter were not appealing so Adrian’s offer of having Ronni trailer delivered on 23^rd February was gratefully accepted. The car came with contact details to its previous owners who were very helpful in filling in details of her past. Ronni had travelled to Le Mans in 2002 (albeit on a trailer behind a Motor home) and had enjoyed many years in Ireland with a previous owner.

Having being brought up on a diet of high technology Japanese Motorcycles and Uncle Henry Fords finest the first journey was a little step into the unknown. Those not familiar with the technology of the 1950’s (I’m a sixties child) would find the lack of seatbelts, indicator switches in strange positions and no door handles something of a challenge. We visited our parents who seemed to think we had lost our minds choosing to leave our VW at home on such an overcast day but we managed to get home dry and well.

Now the process of getting to know the car could begin. Cleaning was the order of the day and a few hours spent in the garage brought good results, in particular in the engine bay. Wires were tidied, paint polished and fingernails broken. I always use Autoglym products on Ronni, the Bumper cleaner is particularly effective on the roof and rubber components, and Glass Cleaner on glass (obviously) and chrome.

We are fortunate to live near Bob West, an acknowledged expert in things MGA, who was to provide much (free) help and assistance. The first trial revolved around the indicators, which refused to stay on for more than a few seconds. The switch, the cost of which would bring a grown man to cry, is similar to a bicycle pump, technology with which I am familiar. The movement of a plunger down a tube governs the duration of ‘switch’. The diaphragm had dried with time and a liberal coating of Vaseline cured the problem. Next on the agenda was some in-car entertainment, and perhaps security. The twin 6-volt batteries delivered positive earth power through the dynamo, but have you ever tried to buy a positive earth CD player? The conversion to Negative earth was simplicity itself, after some expert Bob West coaching, allowing installation to begin. This involves reversing the output wires from the dynamo, polarising it and ensuring the fuel pump is capable of operating with Negative Earth mode. As luck would have it the pump worked fine, another benefit is that the engine can now be set-up on electronic tuning equipment. The CD unit produces 160 watts so quality speakers were the order of the day but where to put them? I constructed aluminium cradles from 30*5mm bar under the dashboard to carry two speakers, then removed the spare wheel and fitted a carpeted plate over the aperture to house two more speakers. I continued the carpeting to the rear cockpit area and boot floor. The carpet is a heat mouldable type fastened in place with self-adhesive Velcro. The whole installation worked well and is completely reversible as no holes or metal cutting was required. An aerial can be fastened to the wing nut that holds on the nearside window if needed. Treating all tyres with sealant and carrying two puncture repair canisters countered the loss of the spare wheel.

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