READER’S STORY
ME AND MY RESTO
In Fife all its life, Ian Reader’s restored MG is back to showroom standard again
Everything I’ve done to my MGB GT is down to the decisions I made on the day I left school in Lurgan, Northern Ireland. One morning in 1978, angry that my father wouldn’t let me join the army, I threw my school bag over a hedge and spent the rest of the day knocking on the doors of all the local businesses in my hometown until one of them gave me a job. Within a short time, I’d been given a job as apprentice mechanic at the local British Leyland dealer, Howard Abraham Motors. It was certainly an interesting time to be at BL and, later, Austin Rover. Since then, I’d always had my eye on the MGB and in recent years, having moved to Kirkaldy in Scotland, I finally got the chance own one.
Despite previous attempts at restoration, my tartan red MGB GT had become scruffy and required a fair bit of work to recommission it. Flicking through the paperwork, I discovered RUS 99G had rolled off the Abingdon line on October 8, 1968 and within a few days made its way to a dealership in Glasgow called H Prosser & Sons. Registered on October 24 of that year, it had been fitted with the optional heater, wire wheels and SP radial tyres and had a succession of owners until around fifteen years ago, when it fell into the hands of a chap called Mike Malone. He began a full restoration, taking care of all the major welding work, but Mike sadly died before completion. The car's future was uncertain. Luckily, the car was sold as a project to an enthusiast in Edinburgh, who made some progress and added modifications such as seats from a ’72 car to make it comfier for long journeys. The car remained unfinished, however, and by the time I bought it, the poor little MG required urgent attention.
My first job was to remove years of mould! Apart from a few small crusty areas of bodywork, I found mostly good news. Mike’s skilled welding really helped - he'd done all the difficult structural work. The tops of the wings needed attention and I found a little welding was needed underneath but overall, I was so relieved! The paintwork had suffered so once stripped down, I leaned on my friend David, a much more skilled paintwork guy than me, who straight away went around it with a felt tip pen to identify all the areas he said needed doing. There was a lot mor
