Day 1 – Arrival and Assessment

We received our lovely 1960 MGA back today for some major rectification works. This will now be in our care whilst we make some changes to the work we’d previously carried out on this lovely classic. This car was originally restored by us however it has suffered a series of engine troubles since it left our workshops. We have already had to remove the engine as it suffered a broken piston skirt that we deemed to be a manufacturing fault. At this time we changed the seals again to try and alleviate the annoying drops of oil being left on Mikes garage floor. We thought we had succeeded.

Because of Mike experiencing another side issue of dropping oil pressure he made the decision to have us fit an oil cooler. This is rare to see on British MGA’s. Although his car originally had one and we decided it was not required.

Mike then had talks with a third party who advised he fitted a thermostatically controlled oil cooler. This type of oil cooler is usually fitted to racing engines that are likely to be performing in hotter temperatures and going through lots of quick gear changes.

When we arranged the date for the fitting of the oil cooler Mike took her on a 20 mile plus journey but unfortunately experienced what seems to of been a catastrophic failure as can be heard from the audio clip. 

Oil coolers can be placed in many positions within a car’s body to maximise their cooling efficiency. With oil running through predominantly the engine block, the steering system and a turbocharger in turbocharged vehicles, oil can very quickly gain heat, especially during vigorous driving.

Ady has spent today removing the engine from the MGA so as to understand what needs to be added or changed. We need to correct the mistakes we’ve made on this project. Customer satisfaction and perfection are our top priority as our main aim is to make our clients happy. If a car isn’t functioning correctly after it leaves our workshop, we always aim to correct these issues as part of its warranty with us.

Ady removing the engine as he continues to diagnose the origin of the issues.

If you’d like to follow this project, you can find it on the Current Projects page under ‘Remedial On Our Troubled 1960 MGA’.