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luck at finding restorable cars

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rld0829

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Hi all.
I've been looking around my area for a restoration project....I'd like to hear your stories on how you found that car just waiting to be shown some love, maybe classifieds..or just driving around and seeing it in someones yard?
 
Well I've actually had luck both ways. I found 2 TR6's and a TR7 just driving around but I found my MGB in the classifieds. Good luck with which ever method you choose. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
 
Be careful rld, because sometimes, they find you, and keep finding you, when you least want them.
 
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Be careful rld, because sometimes, they find you, and keep finding you, when you least want them.

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I wish! I've even resorted to posting flyers in my local grocery...nothing yet! I'll need to do some driving around back roads, living in the hills of Connecticut, lot's of old barns around, bound to find something, I hope.
 
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Be careful rld, because sometimes, they find you, and keep finding you, when you least want them.

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Baz is right. After you find a few they start finding you. Sometimes SWMBO just doesn't understand when one shows up in the driveway and she wants her kitchen remodeled instead. Oh well, a man has to have his priorities. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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Sometimes SWMBO just doesn't understand....

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Sometimes??? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

With my nearest & dearest its none of the time....

She's even offered to help sell 'em... you know, to have "room"....
 
Don't feel bad, it took me 2 cross country trips before I found mine about 5 miles from my house. Since both of those cars were rust buckets I have tons of parts. I essential "found" my car via word of mouth. A friend/fellow enthusiat set up a meeting with the guy. As it turns out the car was in a pasture, in a box canyon, at the end of a deadend dirt road... Anywhoo, a good place to look is with local clubs, the 'net, or just tooling around the back roads! Good luck! BTW, here's my *ahem* score right here; https://www.britishcarforum.com/ubbthread...p;page=0#278786
 
Check with your local British Car Club. I found my project (for better or worse) in the classified section of the local club.

Craiglist can also be a good source, depending on where you live.
 
I found my Bugeye from the Autotrader online site. I got good about checking there, eBay, craigslist, etc. daily and calling on anything interesting. This was for a complete car, not a project.

I found the project/donor Midget through my local British car club. Also had a line through there on a TR3 that I eventually passed on. Local folks will know where cars are hiding.
 
Be careful what you wish for........I found a pre-production Jaguar XK120 (alloy body) in a garage less than a quarter mile from my home, and I knew that there was no way I could afford to restore it. I had to pass the car on to an aquaintance with the resources to restore the car. He sank over 100 big ones into it. It's since been a JCNA show winner, so it was done right. There was no way that I could have afforded to do so.

There was a CB MGB roadster left outside a neighbour's house for years, I think she finally junked it (she wouldn't sell it to me) and she also had a RB roadster in her garage, super low miles because she never drove it, but sills and doglegs were rotten because of the damp in her garage...............she gave that one to her brother last year!

They are out there, and as has been pointed out, if you look for 'em you'll never find one, but you'll stumble over one by accident. Let all of your friends and family know what you are looking for, they are often a good source of leads. If you have any contacts in real estate, that source can often be a gold mine, too.
 
Mine was found unexpectedly when I found out a friend had it in his garage. He had been hoping to find someone who could restore it, and I just knew someday I wanted to find an MG. Sitting for a while meant lots of sticky parts and dried rubber, but the engine turned over, and even the gas was still good. The whole reason he stopped driving it? Bad ignition module.
 
Frankenstang has been busy the past 2 weeks. Good going.
 
So many stories.....they find me!
 
I worked at a british car garage, so they showed up pretty regularly there. I also heard TONS of stories while I was there, and every now and then someone asks me if I have any interst in "this old car I've had for a while" But it usually dosen't pan out.
I found my TR2 about 5 hours away, in Vermont. But I heard about it here on the BCF. Someone posting for a friend of thiers.
There are some cars in our club.. I would strongly suggest trying to find a "local" club and put the word out.
I'm in the fingerlakes region of NY. If you want, I'll keep an eye out for you. I'm not too awful far from you. Send me a PM with what you're looking for if ya want to.
 
I have really good luck with cars....terrible luck with everything else. I check ebay, autotrader, craigslist, and some local online classifieds daily. Plus I used to spend alot of time just driving around in older subdivisions looking for anything interesting. If I don't buy the car right away for whatever reason(might not be forsale, asking to much, no space, etc.) I write down the location in my "book of junkers" to keep record and to check up on it later. It's also good to get the word out about it, we've got a small repuation in our community as "the house of MG's" so a few cars have found me that way.
 
I was doing a drawing with a Bugeye in it. It's the drawing with the mice on my webpage. A female student asked if the yellow car in my painting was a Sprite. I looked at her funny and asked how she new it was a Sprite. She told me that her parents had one and that it had been sitting in their garage for 26 years. A few weeks later she came into class and asked if I wanted it.
 
... And??!!!
 
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