How to Create a Great Restoration Photo Album

Take pictures of the engine compartment at all angles. Get up close and personal with clamps, caps and dipsticks. Make prints of these photos to have with you at car shows, when talking with your mechanic or thumbing through your restoration manual. Pictures are a bit easier to carry than your disassembled car when comparing it to similar vehicles that have been restored to the original factory specs.

We were fortunate that the MG’s engine had apparently been rebuilt prior to it being parked. The cylinder compression tested at 110 psi and the cooling system was flushed and successfully tested for pressure and water temperature control. Apparently in a previous restoration, the engine had been painted bright orange.

All TD engines were originally painted different shades of deep red depending on the year. The rocker cover was normally painted silver, the cast iron exhaust manifold was not coated and the oil dipstick was chrome plated with a neat MG insignia outlined in red. The oil filler cap, gearbox dipstick and hose clamps were cadmium plated while other engine components were flat black.

These pictures show the MG's engine compartment’s transformation back its original factory specification.