Staquix's barn finds.

[Staquix]

I recently inherited a pair of old European sports cars. A 1977 MG Midget and a 1975 Porsche 914 1.8. Nither of them run at the moment or even stop for that matter.
I hooked up a borrowed car hauler to my truck and set off on the 1200 mile round trip times two to retrieve these cars over the last two weekends. I have in laws in the city were they were located so i stayed with them Saturday and Sunday night both times. After 2500+ miles of dragging that trailer around I'm completely over it. My truck was not made to haul trailers and I fought a head wind on every leg of the trip. At one point it was blowing 35mph with gusts to 50 so it was like my poor little truck going 100+ miles per hour with a car on its back. Needless to say the entire thing cost me a fortune in fuel but I think the results were worth the expense and effort 10 fold.

The 914 was bought by the previous owner as a way for him to join PCA (Porsche Club of America) and was completely neglected for 15 years. The city officals started to give him a hard time about the car sitting out on 4 flat tires about 10 years ago so he did have to replace them. Other than that it has sat in the far west Texas sun baking in the driveway for all that time. The good news is there is very little rain fall where it was sitting so it's for the most part a rust free example. At the moment my plan is to get it running and play with it a bit. If I fall in love with it I may go further.

The MG is a better story.
The car was stored coverd in a gurage for 15 years. It was a show car of sorts they used to drive to car and air shows and was displayed in the events. It has competed in and even won a few time rallys bringing first place for driver and navigator. The woman was a high school english teacher and penned a children's book about the "Little Blue Car" she self published and handed out at car/air shows.
The stock intake and carburetor has been replaced with a Weber and I'm sure I will find other fun stuff as I dig in to it further. As of now I can tell the fuel system is in peaces and it dose not have a battery. I'm very confident it will run but I found a lot of oil for the car in the trunk so it may be a smoker.
I raced the ice across Texas and woke up to this the next day.

More to come. This is just the beginning of the story.

 

[Heldenzeit]

Excited to see what you do with these. I have a lot of Porsche contacts still if you need to find parts. Following!

 

[wfooshee]

When Dad's employer had us in Germany in the mid-60s, he bought a '66 MGB. The car lasted long enough for me to learn to drive a stick in '73, but that was on my learner's permit. I never got to drive the car by myself.

His had a 3-band radio, with two AM buttons, two FM buttons, and shortwave! The single speaker was in a panel about where your radio is. [EDIT: Actually, looking at your pics again, I think the radio/speaker layout was the same. On my phone, I didn't see the speaker above the radio in your pics...] He also had the optional electric overdrive. Comparing to later cars in both the B and Midget lines, emissions requirements choked the life out of them as the calendar rolled into the 70s, and the US headlight height rules made them jack the car up at least an inch. Also, those impact-absorbing bumpers were extremely heavy compared to the ordinary chrome bumpers prior to that (besides being hideous... )

Later on, early 90s timeframe, my brother had a '69 Sprite, basically the same car you have, without the bumpers. It ate distributor points like they were a necessary nutrient. I recall being flabbergasted by how minimalist the electrical system was; there were TWO fuses in the car!!!

I hope you are able to get these boys up to snuff!

 

[Staquix]

This last couple of weeks I have been spending most of my "car time" trying to get the titles transferred. I seems the state of Texas can't look up the taxable value on cars this old. Rater than taking my word on what I actually paid for the cars they are requiring me to get them appraised. I'm now having to shell out $300 each to get a subjective value on these cars so I can then pay tax on that amount. I'm trying some sneaky work around but I don't think any of it will work in the end. It looks like I'll have to run down to the tax office with expensive useless paper and a big check to get these cars in my name. Thanks Texas.

I have had a chance to look at the MG a little. I bought a battery for the car and tried to install it.

This required 2 trips to the parts store as you can see. I did hook that battery up and learned the fuel pump dose not work and the ignition system has no spark. I discovered the reason I have no breaks on the car as well. The master cylinder in the lower right of that picture is bone dry. I cant get the lid off and I'm afraid to go after that old plastic with a tool of any kind for fear of tearing it off. Once the car starts I'll get out the big channel locks and pray it dose not snap.

I got the fuel lines patched up and found the expansion/vapor pipe after I had paced it together. I cut the line and installed it but there was still no fuel flow thanks to the fuel pump not functioning. For some reason he had the fuel lines in the trunk all in peaces. I got that fuel filter temporarily in line to catch anything that comes out of the tank. The good news is the filler tube still smells like gas and not varnish so the fuel has not turned yet.

I'll keep digging when time allows but in the mean time I can't neglect my other toys.

I'll keep ya posted.

Thank you Heldenzeit for your generous offer I may have to call on you before this is all finished.

I do like the car better without the huge rubber baby bumpers. It makes me wonder if I can change the bumpers.

 

[TheCracker]

I do like the car better without the huge rubber baby bumpers. It makes me wonder if I can change the bumpers.

I don't know if BL/MG changed any actual metalwork for the later rubber bumper models (MGB or Midget) so not sure how simple that would be. As much as i dislike the federal bumper versions, it does suit that 1970's colour and those rostyle wheels. Chrome bumpers might look wrong on that flat colour and without the wire wheels that the earlier cars had. For a car that looks in general great shape, it would almost be a crime or at least a great expense to respray it a 60's shade and exchange the four-bolt steelies for centre-lock wires.

As a Brit who grew up with MG Midgets common on the roads, i find the 914 much more interesting. Great finds though! 👍

 

[Staquix]

The 914 is at my mom's ranch were I have access to a proper shop with a car lift. It's a 2hr drive from my house and I'm heading out there Friday. My step dad is very willing and eger to play with the Porsche even though he is a hard core Ford guy. I expect progress will be quick on the 914 once we get rolling.

 

[Staquix]

THE MG LIVES!

Well.... as long as it's getting starter fluid dumped down it's neck. The fuel pump sounds like a little jack hammer and wont move anything though it. I ordered a pump for it so I should have that next week some time. The motor sounds perfect and it's got good oil pressure. It's smooth as silk not even a tapping valve.

I was headed out to the ranch yesterday but my step dad bunged up his knee at the last minute and called it off. We are working on another day this coming week to go look at the 914.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

I love 914s 😍

Can't wait to see that one up and running again.