Classic/Antique Car Repair: Beginning a restoration project, shop mechanic, better business bureau

Question
My dad has a 1953 MG TD that has been sitting in my parents garage for about 30 yrs. The last thing he did with it was remove the pistons, measured the cylinder walls, and ordered new pistons and rings which are in the garage (somewhere). He says the only reason he garaged the car was that it was losing power. Anyway before he got back to working on it again he had a heart attack. He never really fully recovered from the heart attack thus he was unable to return to work or resume the repairs to his MG. Just a few months ago he had a valve replaced in his heart and a double bi-pass. He is 73 yrs old now and I would like to see him riding in his MG again before he is gone. He loves that car. Problem is my parents don't trust anyone to do the work. Looks as though I'm elected and I don't even like to change the oil in my own car. But I'm willing to give it a try. I'm not concerned with costmetics at this point, I'd just like to get it running. What would you suggest as a starting point? I'm sorry I was so long winded.  

Answer
Duane:

Humm........Pistons are out- which means at least the cyl head and oil pan are also off (somewhere in the garage!). Unless you are a pretty fair hobby mechanic, I'd probably not get into it. I don't know where you live, but if you live around a large city there are probably at least one or more shops which specialize in BRITISH cars (note- I didn't say foreign cars). I'd search out some places which do this work and are familiar with the TD (XPAG) engine, try to get references from other past customers, check the better business bureau for complaints, get a quote/estimate for reassembly and make your choice of shop/mechanic.

You said your dad said it was "losing power" and this could also be (beside worn out pistons)- bad valves in the cylinder head. I'd be sure to have the cyl. head gone over and at the least, have the valves reground in. If the car has lots of miles, could also be a worn camshaft, or bad engine timing (distributor settings/ ignition points/spark plugs, etc.) OR it could be that the twin SU Carbs are worn and need rebuilt.  You could personally do all of these things- I have many times, but without experience it will be much slower and difficult for you.

Having said this, if you are still personally committed to doing this yourself, I'd suggest at a minimum that you, talk with a knowledgeable mechanic, get a copy of a shop manual and study it, plan out your work, line up (rent)the tools you will need, THEN start the work. You will run into things you hadn't planned for (if you've never done this work before) so, don't get frustrated when you do, just be determined to solve the problem / fix it, and get on with the reassembly work.  Good luck! Let me know how it goes.

Brian