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MG MGA - Concours details

I recently attended a Concours in Grennwich Ct. excellent show with many gorgous cars. There were 2 MGA's there a 62 delux roadster and my 1600 Coupe. With so few coupes around who would have guest I would get a judge that own 3 of them, all in the process of being restored, so he was very (overly)interested in mine. For discussion, here are the things he notice as incorrect, what do you think?

1. Door furling should start and end in the lower front corner. Mine starts and ends in the middle of the sill

2. The carpeting should be gray. Mine was originally black, so I replaced it with black. I thought it was more likely to come from the factory that way versus the PO changing it. I'm checking with (Heritage Trust), dose anyone else have black carpeting originally in their coupe?

3. The spare tire hold down nut should be cad plated,
mine is black.

4. The rotating handle of the engine crank should also be cad plated, mine is black.

5. The aluminum trim pieces under the chrome window frame on the doors (hinge end and latch end of door) should be painted body color. Mine are polished.

Other than my 60 spoke Dayton wire wheels, which I know are wrong, but look great on a black car, the rest was fine.

For the fun of debate, what do you think about these points the judge made?


L Caya

I think that's why I don't enter concours!

Cheers,
Rich
Rich McKIe

I believe all engine cranks were black.
James Johanski

I have a 1962 MGA 1600 MkII roadster (Old English White w/ Red seats and trim, Black carpet). We've had the car since 1968 and it was my means of regular transportation until 1980. Since then it has been better taken care of and refreshed, but is relatively original. The butterfly nut for the spare tire and the handle of the engine crank are as original and are not painted. The furling however is not original, so I can't comment on that item.
Steve K

I should have also said that the paint on the engine crank on my MGA roadster is original and it's an orangish red.
Steve K

Hi , he is right about the door seal startin at the front corner originaly although a lot of people do start in the middle as it might look neater, have you got the correct door seal as per Clarke Spares, he also provides good fitting instructions,

My carpet was grey the car was mineral blue and both were original items on mine

spare tire wing nut was black, don't know if thats how it was supposed to be

starting handles were all black as far as i know

trim pieces were not painted but polished on mine andagain as far as i know as per original as mine had been in one family from new and not restored

hope that helps gordon


g c pugh

other tip avoid concours shows like the plague
lol


gordon
g c pugh

Beautiful car, I guess he had to say something about it. The cad plating seems a good idea where he suggests it anyway. Who wants gray carpet in a black car? I love polished aluminum, if it's not too pitted to polish.

I saw wire wheels on a '70's Mercedes roadster today, didn't like the look. I like them on your car.
Tom

this site might help
http://www.mgcars.org.uk/mgccmga/gallery/1500_colours.shtml


gordon
g c pugh

Here are some general points on concours requirements:

http://www.mgcars.org.uk/mgarh/carinfo/concours.htm

I am not up to speed with the Coupe but will check Clausager later. As far as I am aware the starting handle was all black, as was the spare wheel hold down nut. Remember that when these cars were made all processes were done as cheeply as possible. Most items would have hit with the spray gun when fully assembled. That, in my opinion, is why so much of the engine and its ancilliaries are MG Red. Whilst the starting handle grip may have been cadnium plated during manufacture, it is more than likely to have been hit with the spray gun once attached to the crank.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Cadmium plating on the tyre hold down is correct. Crank handles in Australia were all painted red with cad plated hand piece. They are also scarce! What ever happened to them?
Barry
BM Gannon

Just looked in Clausager. No mention of the tyre hold down wing nut colour, although all photos show the nut in its cadmium plated state. I painted mine black!. The starter crank is all black or all red.

Steve

Steve Gyles

Thanks for all your imputs, general consensus, seems to be Cad plated wing nut and crank handle, start furlex in front corner. Good tid bits to play with over the winter, Black carpet will stay, maybe Heritage Trust will confirm it.

I'm not a big concours nut but while the car is in new restoration condition it's fun to tinker with the odds and ends. I will only make the changes for my satisfaction and if it improves the car, NOT for a judge or trophy. All shows are fun to go to you meet some great people and some fun nuts.

Thanks again for your input.

Ken
Ken Caya

Not sure about Heritage confirming carpet,my early 80's one was kind of generic,saying "Most comtemporary references state the MGA coupe had gray carpets,and the roadster had black carpets".Maybe newer ones have more info.
Gordan- The trim pieces Ken refers to I believe,is the piece at the front of the door where the window frame meets the door and is held on by a pop rivet,and the rear held on by two pop rivets and is painted body color

Gary
gary starr

Another point: your 60-spoke wheels are incorrect because they are plated, not because they have 60 spokes. 60-spoke wheels (painted) were available as an option "for competition purposes", and I've never been dinged at a concours for mine. Crank for a Mk-II is red with plated handle.

Your car is beautiful. Black/red is my favorite MGA color combination (same as mine :-).

Mark Lambert

Clarke Todd says start the door furings in the middle of the door.

All Coupe carpets were grey, irregardless of car colour.

Tire hold down cad plated.

Crank handle, mine is all black.

Chrome door trim painted body colour.

My 57 1500cc Coupe is second owner and except for the minor rebuilt parts(starter,geneerator etc.) is all origional pieces.

Gordon
Gordon Harrison

Yup, grey carpet it is, although neither of my coupes had it by the time I got them, and my Mk2 coupe still has black carpet, because when I restored it first time in 1979 there were no greay sets available and I now refuse to change out to grey, being far too thrifty to do so until the existing set wears out - probably about 20 years from now.

The starting handles were either red or black depending on year - I think red came in the late cars but would have to look it up.
Bill Spohn

Thanks Mark, first I heard of 60 spoke as an option.
Seems most sources agree on the black or red crank handle, However, I still have strong doubt about the carpet, Everything I read agrees with the majority, Coupes had grey carpets. But, if you saw the condition of mine when I pulled it out, type and condition indicated original. Knowing how much work it is to replace my bet is that its more likley to have been ordered with black, so I specifically ask as part of my Heritage Trust order to check if any info on the carpet. That being said either way I would put black in again, screw the points it looks better in black and chrome.

All in all this has been a mild thread considering we are talking about concours, it's normally a touchy subject.

Thanks All, hope to see you at Stowe for British Invasion

Ken


Ken Caya

The best summary of concours judging notes, in my view, is to be found at Appendix 5 of John Price Williams' book "The MGA First of a New Line". These notes originated in Australia (attributed to Henry Stenning of the MG Car Club of New South Wales)and therefore there maybe some discrepancies when compared to non-Australian deliverd MGAs. The notes are a very good basis for establishing originality which ought to be the primary focus in concours judging.
David MacFarlane

Ken, regarding your carpets,it states in Clausager's book "Original MGA" that the carpets in coupes were light grey except some early models which were black or cars supplied to special order with black carpets.Page 41. Hope this helps, Duncan.
A Dickinson

Thanks Duncan, that helps alot, I don't know how I missed that. I recieved my Heritage Certificate and it did not mention anything(as expected).

David I haven't look at that book yet I'll have to check it out.

Thanks all, great help as always.

Best Regards,
Ken
Ken Caya

This thread was discussed between 02/08/2007 and 09/08/2007

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