1974 RWA MG Midget ORG 178M (needing) full restoration
I’ve owned this 1974 RWA project since 2008. She came to me when I was serving at RAF Wyton and I’d noticed the sorry sight of her parked up near the Officers’ Mess with barely any weather protection. As the winter of 2007 progressed the thin tarp had disintegrated and she was left open to the elements. I eventually tracked the owner down and rescued her in 2008. I basically cleaned the accumulated leaf mulch from her now very rusty footwells and managed to get her back under cover, renting a spare Officers Mess Garage from where she’d been ejected in the first place. Well, out of sight out of mind and the years rolled on. As you can see she had no front wings so I hatched a plan to make her a Streamliner. I found her an original Williams & Pritchard Sebring Mk2 front and an Ashley hardtop. Both need work on the gel coat to bring them up to standard and the odd fibreglass repair. I made an error with the hardtop as I think it’s for the earlier flat rear deck Midgets and requires trimming to mount, the N/S rear quarter Perspex window is missing (the fittings are there) and it didn’t come with the boot section (the mounting holes need rebuilding). These and all the fittings are available as you all know from Motobuild. The shell was last on the road in 1983 and had some welding work carried out, new inner/outer sills and A pillars and a few footwell patches. I can’t say what the quality of the welding was like. The floors including the rear spring hangers are shot. The front inner wings are patched. I think the boot floor looks pretty good and the RWA wings are in fair order. One of the front chassis legs has a small hole between the towing eye mounts.
Also the Midget 1275 engine was replaced with a Marina 1275 unit using a lightened flywheel and brand new clutch according to the previous owner (the Marina crank flange has only one dowel and is slightly larger in diameter). Amazingly after all this time the engine turns easily by hand. Given the price of second hand units you could sell/swap or if the car is receiving a K Series or Zetec heart transplant sell the engine and box for decent money. Marina cranks are often used in Stroked out 1430 cc engines using S journal rods so there’s scope there. The dashboard is complete and all the loom looks there as well. There was no glass in the frame, good time to stick a laminated screen in. There is a soft top and frame and the original seats. Also, the heater, pedal box and a set of 1¼” SUs with manifold are somewhere in my loft along with a few other bits’n’bobs. I believe the steering lock was broken when they ejected it from the garage.
The previous owner eventually admitted he’d lost the V5, wings and glass during various house moves. I applied for and received the V5 last year. I have e-mails from him confirming my ownership of the car. The keener eyed amongst you may notice the registration no ORG 174M could easily be spaced to spell ORG1 78M for a giggle and we’ve always called her Orgy. Previous owner said he’d been quoted over a £1000 for the plate alone! Unfortunately, I was eventually booted out of the garage at the end of last year and although I could continue to store her, she is so far down my to-do list she would be better off with a new owner. I’d hoped she might end up a race/track car as is the fashion. I don’t want to break the fiberglass bits separately yet, I’d rather she had a chance as a complete package. The asking price is ,
£1500 or very near offer
Will definitely need trailering away and a car cover to tie all the bits down. No Export Enquiries and can supply a few more pics of the troubled zones but if you know Sprites then they’re not going to frighten you.
Email – Simon Hutchinson STILL FOR SALE 8TH SEPT
