The MGA With An Attitude
MGA Guru Is GOING MOBILE
3 MGA in Norristown, Pennsylvania - (September 17, 2025)
Sunday, September 17, 2023:
Say hello to Bill Allen in Norristown, PA. He has been working with vintage British cars for decades. His most recent completed full restoration is the beautiful red MGB. Since then he has been restoring an MGA Coupe with frame and bodywork mostly completed, all of the original parts still there to put it back together. There is also a complete MGA Coupe with some typical rust in the doglegs and body sills, never disassembled, a very good candidate for a restoration project. And there is an MGA roadster with body off, much frame and bodywork done, and should be all parts there for the whole car. There may be some dimensional problem with this frame that makes it unusable as is, or may require more work to correct the issues before it could be used. As such, he may be willing to sell the roadster body separate from the rest. Contact Bill for such discussion.
This web page exists to present lots of pictures of these three MGA to be seen in most honest view of reality. Bill has "run out of enthusiasm" for finishing these cars, and is now intending to sell them all (maybe including the MGB). Pretty sure Bill is not interested in splitting up any of these cars to sell parts. However, he does have shelves full of more spare parts,never inventoried, so if you need some specific parts, you may ask.
If after reviewing the pictures you may be interested in buying one or more of these cars (or some parts),
contact Bill Allen --- bill@northeastscubasupply.com --- Ph: 610-639-9122
Start with the MGA Coupe currently under restoration:
Yes, the rear axle is obstructing view of the body sill, but the body sills and door posts have been rebuilt. The frame has been repaired, about ready for cleaning and painting. The right side battery box was extended to accept a larger single 12-volt battery. The left side battery box has been modified to be a storage box.
Some dents not yet removed from the front round cross tube, but it is structurally sound.
The body front end is amazingly straight, appears to have have never been damaged, no dents or ripples in the nose or air pan or inner wings.
The rear inner wings, rear valance, boot surround panel and boot floor are in similar good condition.
The body inset around the front and rear window apertures and above the door window frame openings are quite good, needing very little finishing before painting.
The heater shelf looks good, could touch off a little surface rust in the wiper motor area, Might need a few cage nuts. One more view inside the body nose before we move on.
Step around the corner, and there are shelves full of parts. some of these will be re-assembly parts for the three MGA being presented here. But there are more parts as additional spares, a well as some parts for other cars. you may find something interesting in these pictures. Otherwise feel free to ask.
These pictures are a complete MGA 1500GB engine, which I believe came out of the second MGA Coupe with pictures farther down this page. Sorry I didn't clean the number plate,but you can ask Bill. More on that one later.
This engine is definitely not MG. Given the thermal controlled fan clutch, 8-port head, port side manifolds, Opus ignition, I'd guess late model Triumph Spitfire 1500. But the same TR engine was also used in late model rubber bumper MG Midget after 1974. Feel free to ask Bill.
This one is definitely MGB 18GA or 18GB 3-main bearing engine , 1962-1963 with front tappet cover for use with the PCV valve, and mechanical tach drive. Can changed to 18G by changing the front tappet cover for downward draft pipe. No engine number tag present. Configured with inverted spin-on oil filter adapter for use with oil cooler.
This one is early MGA 1500 BP15GB-24580, complete from nose to tail including water pump, crank pulley, and clutch, still sealed up, no open covers.. Certainly this one belongs to the Coupe currently under restoration.
Notice the early style one-piece oil filter canister with matching oil supply pipe. Low starter position, original coil mounting brackets on top of the generator. The number tag may have been re-stamped at some time. Otherwise it should have some additional characters, like "BP15GB/U/H 24580". Although the factory did occasionally make such mistakes, so it could be the original tag. This must be very near the change-over point in June-July 1957 when the leading characters "BP" were deleted.
this gearbox is mid-1500 production, covering 40% of all MGA produced. 1-inch 10-spline input shaft with 5/8" spigot nose, correct front cover with original clutch release arm and release bearing is present. Low starter position, internal rear seal, 1-1/16-inch 10-spline output shaft, needs to be mated to mid-1500 propshaft with stamped bell shape dust cover. Notice the rear top aperture for attachment of the shift extension housing is covered with a cloth to keep dirt out during storage. For sure the remote shifter assembly will be around somewhere.
Notice the 6-bolt top cover on the rear housing with the small square blister forward, as original. That raised square is clearance
for the interlock arm rising up when reverse gear is selected. Factory documentation has this illustrated wrong (backward) in Workshop Manual and in Service Parts Lists, leading to a lot of field assembly errors. Also the bellhousing is smooth with no ribs, and thin bolt flange, all as original for this model. This will be the gearbox that belongs with the Coupe currently under restoration.
More body parts for the Coupe currently under restoration, the RF wing with a lower panel repair section already stitched in, more spare wings, boot lid and bonnet, two doors with complete roll-up window assemblies, and the fuel tank.
A rolling chassis for another MGA, tunnel parts, convertible top frame, and fuel tank in situ, front and rear main body sections separated at the sills below the doors, more fenders in blue. The more you look, the more you find.
Another mostly complete Coupe trying to hide.
Will finish with a tantalizing picture of at least two bolt-on hardtops, good for restoration projects. The one on top with frazzled vinyl top cover would be a Universal Laminations top which was factory issue optional accessory during MGA 1600 production. The silver one underneath may be a Vanden Plas aluminum top, factory issue optional accessory during MGA 1500 production. Some of the alloy tops were surplus and ended up on Twin Cams and "Deluxe" cars near end of production. They are very rare today. -- Again, if you have any interest in procuring any of this stuff, contact Bill Allen with links at top of this page.
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