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MG MGA - Once it was lost,

BUT NOW ITS FOUND !!! Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your help and support. The response from so many shows what a community we are. In a very real way you felt and shared my pain. Now drink in the joy!

This morning I got a call from the P,D, saying the MGA was found in Fullerton, about 12 miles away, stashed in a mobile home park under my own car cover. Fearing the worst, I found it virtually un-scathed! Other than some under dash wiring damage it is all there, stereo, speakers, sub-wolfer, head fairing and every thing under the hood, even my hat. The switch was disconnected so I hot-wired it, like the last guy. It started up. It was towed to the shop, the wiring should be sorted out tomorrow. Covered in finger-print graphite, to me, it never looked so good. I could have never replaced it.

Lessons learned. As much as we love them there "tin & tires" and not the most important things in life. Yes Lord. Thank you again for your fellowship and friendship it was very comforting during reaslly hard days. I will miss many but special thanks to Barney, Steve, Peter & Ann, Jeff, Larry, Mike, Skip, Ash, Rich, Gene, Gorden, Scott, Ash and everybody.

Emotionally I had pretty much let it go, boy that was had. Man its good to have it back!
Steve
Steve Meline

TA-DA!!! Score one for the good guys, and hoist a cold one in toast to the internet. Glad to hear you got the car back, and even better in one piece. Long live MGA.
Barney Gaylord

Steve, That is truly wonderful news! Made my day. Congratulations, MGA CSI. Steve
Steve K

Glad to hear you got your car back. I hope the cops caused the thief to leave blood stains in the driver's seat, that will come out.
Del Rawlins

HooRay!!!
D Sjostrom

Steve, let me show you or have it done while it is now in the shop how to put in a fuel pump cut off switch or coil switch which will make it much harder than just putting two wire together from under the dash to start the car. It may not be original but hey, neither is your car and it will make you feel better when you park it somewhere. Hope to see you for the Labor day run in Malibu.
JEFF BECKER

Splendid!
It has occurred to me that while insurance might give you some $$$ back, it can't begin to replace a special or individually important car, such as this.

I don't know anything much on the subject, but the new generation of RFID devices and similar should be looked into. Surely someone on here knows something. I'm in favor of hiding them in the car with no labels or other warning. These things could make it possible to find both car AND thief - very good indeed. All thieves invited to the post recovery party.

FRM
FR Millmore

There is a system available in South Africa where you can call a black box in the car and tell the car to stop. It also has a GPS to let you know where the car is....
dominic clancy

FRM, I'm moving in that direction,immeadiatly,

Jeff, I'll get the info from you

Barney, Thanks again for the help.

Sombody pinch me!

Steve
Steve Meline

Wonderful news, Steve!!!

I had some stolen stuff recovered, and I almost kissed the cops. Things have occurred since that make me more centered, but I still appreciate what they did to help me then.

Again, I'm sure you're flying high now after getting your baby back. Cool!
Tom

Hi Steve nice to hear some good news for a change, very happy for you


gordon
g c pugh

Wonderfull. To many times we bad mouth the police but they do and can help when we are in need, One big cheer for the police department.

Did they catch the thief?

Enjoy your ride and everybody else....start looking for ways to make your MGA more secure.
Gordon
Gordon Harrison

Fantastic!!! I love a happy ending. Congrats, and I hope you're back on the road asap!!! :)
Steve Simmons

Great news!!!!! Thanks!
David Holmes

Steve,

Great news...I can only imagine how happy you must feel now.

Now if they only catch the thief!

Gene

Gene Gillam

BRILLIANT!!!!!!!
So pleased to hear the news. Sounds like the thieves were not the sharpest knives in the drawer, thankfully.
I would prefer an immobiliser that shuts off the fuel to the carbs - at least then it will only get driven a short distance, and should save it from being thrashed. Doesn't find the neer-do-wells, but saves the car which is most important.
I have told the news to Bruce Woodson and Harold Roeth at NAMGAR so the notice in MGA! may be removed or added to.
All the best, and keep your eye on it!
Peter.
P. Tilbury

Steve,
I am very glad you recovered the car. Send the cops a thank you basket, or something. It should do no end of good to let them know that they are appreciated.
On to other subject- has anybody considered Lojack in their MGA?
Mike Parker

Steve, I think everyone is really courious. Did they catch the theif? Gordon
Gordon Harrison

yes, glad you got it back, but what about the perp? Any arrests? Give us the rest of the story.

Dennis, AZ
Dennis

Steve - Thats the best news of the week! Thank you much for stopping by our pits for a visit and to share the wonderful news with me. Hope you enjoyed the race (more like a Porsche parade).

Best - Scott
MGA #41
scott (aka skip)

Really liked the look of your car and fell in love with the mods you had made at first glance . I was wondering if the the car drives any better , When someone drive's it like they stole it ? 12 miles is way farther then the across the pond theories . good for you ...,and believe me you have had alot of people internet wise on the car .
whipteachr

Hi guys, Sorry yhay we apparently did not fix the problem in Whistler. Really happy that you got your car back in one piece.Cheers Steve
Steve Kaufman

Outstanding! Best news I have heard in a while. Glad that everything worked out!
ASH Andrew

Good news Steve - following on from Dominic's comment - has anyone tried a tracking system ?- there is one advertised on Moss UK's latest email received today called a Cistrak - costs £350 plus £10 per month line rental - lets you know by text if the car is moved out of an designated area - you can also call it to find out where it is - just wondered whether it was worth fitting -looks bulky and tricky to hide in an MGA - there is also a Tracker which the Police can track - costs a bit more - bearing in mind Steve's experience -could be a good investment despite the high costs. cheers Cam
Cam Cunningham

Steve,

VERY glad to hear you have your car back! Definitely brightened our day here.

Since Melon has owned her A since 1968, we can't think of ever losing it. After much lobbying on her part we put in a LoJack system earlier this year, and if nothing else, we have some piece of mind that if it does disappear, we've done everything we could. The system we bought was hideously expensive, but combines an immediate notification to us (multiple phones and email) if it is moved more than 6 feet, as well as the tracking device used by the police once we alert them. The guy who installed it (and that took about 2 hours of careful work to hide it without damaging any of the car) does most of his work at the nearest Bentley/Aston dealership and was amazed that we wanted such a system for our cheap, old, LBC. I told him all British cars were priceless :)

We also have, since back in the 60's, always carried a device we call a "crook lock" - sort of a club that goes between the steering wheel and the clutch pedal. Crank the wheel over full lock, put it in gear, hook that up and it's pretty hard to move or tow the car without taking time to cut something.

- Ken
Ken Doris

Steve, we all like a happy ending, congratulations.

Interestingly Ken, Moss have just started marketing what sounds like the same (or very similar)system in the UK, 350 GBP plus 12 GBP per month service charge, if I remember correctly.

Apparently the crook lock is very quicly overcome by cutting the steering wheel rim with bolt cutters (apparently!), however, it's a good deterent against the casual thief.

Neil
Neil McGurk

Thank you everyone once again for all your support. That was a tough couple weeks! Way to much pain. I'm very grateful and releaved. We are a community.

I don't know much more about the theft or recovery than what has been posted. I will let you know if I do. No one arrested.

The AAA flatbed picked her up from the impound yard Thursday morning and delivered her to Britalia in Fullerton CA 12 miles away. Three circuits were damaged: headlights and wipers (burned) and ignition switch (cut-up). This whole thing started with the ignition switch. Actually it had more to do with the burl dash. That dash is much thicker than the stock steel as a result the switch extends only slightly through the dash exposing only a few threads. Apparently the switch slipped out of the retaining nut and fell back to a ground. The rest is history. Steve our repair job in Whistler was fine, this was a new problem.

I picked her up after the repair Monday. Ran great. It looked like the thief did drop the head fairing on its top and scratched it up, but it seemed to rub out pretty well. I have made a significant security system investment. Think about it.

Glad you like the car Whipteachr. To answer your question it drives wonderfully, probably like Abingdon would have built it if they knew how at at he time. Lots of power and throttle response with that motor and a lightened early B flywheel, very available power with that trans. The modified B 3/4" sway-bar and stiffer lowering springs (Moss 264-387) give a more neutral slip at the limits. Without those mods I found sticky modern tires significantly increased body roll I can push the 195s on 5.5 inch alloys and stay pretty flat with less compromise of the tire contact patch. A little negative camber in the front would help. I did have tube shocks at the rear, Flat cornering, but the kit provided Corvette shocks that would shake your fillings loose going over the tracks. (More importantly I knew my wife would never put up with that!)

Scott, great race, You ran very well and made us proud! (Should-da seen em!)

Thanks again for everything. Your pal,
Steve
Steve Meline

Steve,
What type of system did you purchase and how hard was it to have installed. Did you look into LoJack?
JEFF BECKER

Jeff, No broadcasts but you can contact me. Thanks
Steve
Steve Meline

Steve

I would be interested also. How do we contact you?

Thanks

Larry
58A
Larry Hallanger

Sorry, I ment to show my e-mail address.
Steve Meline

This thread was discussed between 16/08/2007 and 24/08/2007

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