by Ned Serleth with artwork by Howard Stacy What could be more cathartic than tinkering with our British autos? Bashing our heads against a wall? Jumping into the North Sea? Consuming vast amounts of alcohol? Naw. Working on our BMCs is good for the heart and soul, especially when the hard work is done, and…
by Chris Adams My oldest brother was 15 years my elder and, in 1966, he purchased his first car—a low mileage 1962 MGA 1600 MkII. I was just three years old when he brought the little car home. Southern California was a great place to be a teenager with a roadster in the tumultuous ’60s….
by Mario Somoza My father, Francisco “Cuco” Somoza, was a dentist by profession and a diehard sports car enthusiast. He was a very successful rally driver in the late ’60s and ’70s, winning several of the biggest rallies on our native island of Puerto Rico and a few races across the Caribbean. Through those years,…
by Ned Serleth I inspected my machine from grille to tailpipe. This was going to be my car’s first ever road adventure since its completion. All fluids met approval; the radiator, oil pan, and master cylinder passed inspection. My insurance agent had picked my pocket once again, and a new license plate adorned the rear….
by Kathy Cook Al and I fell in love just after high school. But I was not Al’s first love. He had already fallen in love with MGs. In 1972, during our senior year in college, Al picked up a disassembled MGTD. He and I both went to law school and during the summers Al…
By Ned Serleth Fit and finish. Fit and finish. Over the past winter months those two words kept rattling around in my head like marbles in a fruit jar since the MGA had gotten itself a fresh coat of Tuxedo Black paint. “Pshaw, to concours standards,” I thought as I stood in the cold garage…
By Cal Sikstrom I was in an experimental mood coming out of Biosciences near midnight. I had been in my zoology lab observing the gonopodial thrusting of male green swordtails. I locked the lab door and left the building holding the thumbnail sized key to my newly painted ’61 MGA. I was really tired but…
By Ned Surleth With most of our projects hibernating during this season of winter wonder, I thought, why not snuggle up to a cozy fire with a hot-toddy and share a yarn I call the “Post-Holiday Hot Wires.” Comfortable?Here goes… Once Upon a time in a land called Tenn-Es-See there lived an old geezer who…
By Ned Serleth This little tech article is for all you backyard mechanics who work as wholeheartedly as Ted, my friend and mentor. Unfortunately, so much of my own work, which I attempted before I found Ted, the Dalai Lama of MGA reconstructive surgery, caused me to suffer untold hours of labor that would have…
by Ned Serleth Perhaps you’ve read my last DIY exposé in Moss Motoring on working on your MGA. Well, let’s ramble on and address another step of the restoration process: body repair, especially those infernal B-posts, sills, and accompanying rocker panels where rust grows like weeds in a garden, causing the body of your MGA…
