Darian's 1962 MGA MkII

My father was given this car in 1964 when his employer couldn't pay him. It was his main car for a while, and my father drove my mother home in it when they first met. I remember riding in this car when I was four years old, but it sat in the garage for 20+ years until I brought it here in December, 2006.

This page explains the restoration I did.

Here's a picture from when it arrived:

When my five-year-old saw it he said, "It's Mater!" and the name stuck.

Here's some more pictures of it's original condition:

And the all-original interior. The pictures don't show the smell, of course.

Joking aside, it was clear to me that not only did I need to get this car back on the road, but I had a lot of cosmetic work to do as well if I was willing to be seen in it. Since this car had a lot of sentimental value, I got to work.

Some things I have done so far:

* Had a machinist repair cracked cylinder head.
* Replaced head gasket.
* Had the carburetors rebuilt.
* Had brakes worked on.
* Petronix distributor installed.
* Pulled the engine out so the engine bay could be painted.
* Painted ($.99 spray paint job) the transmission cover, radiator and the fan.
* Installed the Derrington exhaust header that had been laying around for 20+ years.
* Had the body repaired and painted.
* Ripped out the floor boards and had the frame painted with rust-inhibiting paint.

Here's what the floorboards looked like when I pulled up the carpet:

And here's some pictures of what it looks like now:

I put in new floorboards, carpet and seats. Made the floorboards myself from 3/4" treated plywood. Even though I had the old floorboards to use as templates, the fact that the new floorboards were thicker meant that they had to have a few extra adjustments to fit. Anyway, here's what the interior looks like now:

And here's a picture of it at the '07 AACOG Rally. It's still not ready yet, but it's certainly an improvement.