Walt Goddard and Kevin Richards wrote about "78 midget needs to be saved" -
I'll follow up with an observance that Midgets seem to be coming out of the
woodwork right now.
I was gone for Mothers Day weekend and came to messages on the machine about
no less than 3 Midgets. One is a 76 in an estate settlement that they want
$250 or so for. No idea on condition. Didn't look at it as I already have
most of the major spares I would want for my '79 (except a 3.7 disk wheel
rear end - which the car Kevin listed in VA should have). Bill Hedrick
<MRBILL3@aol.com> has the info if anyone is interested.
The next was a '73 round wheel arch shell. Pretty rocky shape. Homemade sill
cover on the offside which seemed to be glued on pieces of rubber matting.
Both floors half gone with sheet steel laid over. Engine sitting in the
engine bay crossways on its side, no trans. Wants $150. The gentleman's name
is Wolfgang Otto at 630-268-1448. His son bought the car but now doesn't want
to put the time into restoring. Mr. Otto had an MGB in the 70's and is
looking for a decent drivable one.
The one that was most interesting was a '65 GAN3 Mk.2. Complete car. Surface
rust. Rusted through floors and boot floor. 10CC engine (That's a 1098cc
engine designated 10CC, not 10 cubic centimeters displacement ;-) ). Matched
set of AUD135 carbs but once again no air cleaner - my 3rd 60's Midget that
came without them - anyone have a spare?). Still runs although some of the
loveable street urchins in the Chicago neighborhood where it is parked on the
street put a few star breaks in the windscreen with rocks. The sills were
replaced in the 80's. Crackle finish dash with complete instrument set.
Correct title. The dash would look great in the '69 shell (although the '69
is a Mk.3 with the bigger cockpit and attached top instead of stow bows - if
nobody mentions this to Rick Ingram, I might still be able to get away with
this in concours...) So I bought it for $50. Went over and completed the
transaction last night and intended to bring the car home. Took a windscreen
from my shed and planned on swapping it on the street. I didn't however
realize that the top bolts that are accessible on my '79 are covered by the
earlier dash. Didn't want to get into dash removal on a street at night. The
glass was broken clear through, not just cracked so taking a chance on having
glass fly around on the 20 mile ride home did not seem prudent. Plus it
looked like a big neon "Arrest Me!" sign. I had obtained an insurance binder
but begging to get stopped with no plates on the car just added up to
deciding to go back with a flatbed on the weekend and doing the job properly.
So the back end of my driveway once again does a credible imitation of the
export compound at Abingdon in the 60's...
Kim Tonry
Downers Grove, Illinois, USA
|