A few years ago I bought an MGA to do a cosmetic restoration having been told that the car had been restored and maintained very well mechanically. It ran and drove great and looked very good underneath. Not one to trust my own eyeballs I started poking around.
The toe-in was off a bit, quick fix I thought. My heart skipped a beat when one of the tie rod ends just about fell off into my hand after just a few turns.
The moral is: We’re buying our 60 year old cars from people who sometimes have absolutely no clue. It’s up to US, not the former owner to be sure that we’re driving a safe car.
A few years ago, I bought a ‘65 Mustang from a guy who was NOT a car guy at all. He bought the car because he thought it was “cool”, and had no mechanical inclination whatsoever.
He’d bought the car from a well-known classic car guy, and assumed that it was well sorted, as it had been the well-known guy’s personal car…seems like a reasonable assumption.
When I got the car, I immediately put it up in the air for a once over, and found one of the bolts that attach the strut rod to the lower suspension arm missing. The other bolt was loose, and hanging on by a few threads. If that had come apart at freeway speeds, God only knows what would have happened…the car would have been completely uncontrollable.
I bumped into the guy I bought the car from, and told him he had used up one or two of his 9 lives…he went as white as a ghost.
A very timely warning! Today I was working on my newly acquired 1963 OTS. Maintained by a top-named restoration outfit in MA prior to my purchase. I was investigating a ratlle/knock experienced at low speed when going over bumps. Sounded like bonnet rattle, so I checked out the latch mechanism. Cleaned and adjusted it, but the noise was still present, even with the bonnet raised and rocking the car. Found that the top shock mount on one side was moving. The bolt was not even finger tight. The split pin (a too small, cheap “butter-metal” Harbor Freight type) was the only thing preventing the nut coming off. Looked at the other side. The nut was only finger tight, and this time the new split pin was held in by gravity - totally unbent! I don’t think I’ll be driving the car again until I’ve jacked it up and fully checked out all the fasteners in the suspension…
60 years of hidden corrosion and vibration prolly due to a loose lock-nut. Oddly, the other side was also original and nearly pristine. Luckily the rack and pinion end is available, but took an entire evening to swap out. The ball at the business end is a total bear.
You’re probably right. A loose locknut could result in enough play to slowly wear the threads away I guess.
As the owner of many cars over the years that wear out suspension parts frequently, I can sympathize with your plight. Glad to hear you’ve now got it repaired correctly.
after I inherited my car I drove it all summer and then one day at a cars n coffee Mike Mayuga of the LA JOC says, you know you are missing the bolts that hold your bonnet on right?
had no clue… sure enuf, whoever painted the car back in the mid 90’s put the collars or hat things in, but no bolts. how it stayed on is beyond me.
The night I bought my E I was very lucky to have made it the 20 miles to my house. Parked it in the street while I opened the garage. Would not start because #1 the alternator had gone kaput and #2 the float in the rear carb had sunk and was overflowing with fuel. I felt very fortunate and very stupid at the same time for driving a car that I knew had some mechanical issues before I understood them all.
