Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Modern Classic Cars Frontline Abingdon Edition

Looking good Chris!

+1

When you see the amount of work involved in producing a good quality shell from what looked OK to me to start with, you start to get a feel for where all the money goes.

Those that do a "proper job" charge for the use of their collective experience and the time taken. Not cheap, but nothing of value is.
That is looking really rather good.

Well Chris that car is going to last a lifetime and become an heirloom, fantastic level of workmanship I can't wait to see the end product

So the question of the questions, which colour have you finally chosen?

Excellent work. Looks really good.

I had my MGB GT upgraded at Frontline Developments two years ago. As the shell wasn't bad - it was "just" suspension, engine rebuild (1860ccm FastRoad specs) and long list of other things.
If you haven't done so already, I suggest you explore the site that Frontline uses to document most of their rebuilds:GetPatina

Especially check out the archives if you might plan to go "Full Frontline Abingdon" specs and go with a Mazda/Miata engine. There are several modifications made in engine bay and gearbox tunnel during the "bodywork phase". What I can highly recommend is the Frontline front and rear suspension. I believe their uprated 4-pot brakes are just rebranded HiSpecs (I just installed those on my Morgan) - but their kit is complete and, in the end, just slightly more expensive.

Ed Braclik and Tim Feena are super nice and helpful. They are both also excellent in sales;) I doubt that anyone that specs an Abingdon edition or LE50 with them will end up below 120K GBP on the car. There are tons of great options that they have a team of excellent craftsmen.

The Frontline cars use the EZ Powersteering system. I love it - but if you don't want to spend that much money - get the Castor Correction kit. A really simple mod to make the MGB steering much better.

Keep us posted with your project.
Regards
Tim

Thanks all for the nice comments.

I was surprised to see parts being replaced especially seeing the car looked very good before. Lifting the carpet on the car the floors looked great so was surprised they decided to replace the passenger floor, however as it is a fixed price I am very happy they are doing such a good job and I don' think taking any short cuts. I could imagine that starting with a car in worse condition would take a lot more work. They have managed to sell the engine, gearbox, wheels and tyres so hopefully recouped some of the costs from purchasing a better car.

I certainly do hope the car last a life time, maybe in 20 to 30 years time I will have to get it converted to electric, hopefully by then many people will have done that and this company or another will be around to do a good job. But I think like most people here with petrol Morgan's we hope to drive our cars as they are for a long time.

The Green car imported from Frontline in the UK I went to see in December was still there, the poor owner is still waiting for it. They did the work required before Christmas and sent all the engineering certificates required to Queensland Road Services. They are supposed to send back the metal compliance plate that needs to be attached by the workshop to the car to show it has been engineered to comply with local rules. They have been waiting for over two months but the owner understands it is not the workshops fault.

This time I got to see the car in the sun and the shade and I do like it so will go for that colour. However I will probably go for a black roof.

Heinz - I did mention the colour code for the Bullitt Mustang (Highland Green) and he phoned me back to say it has a bit more sparkle than the BMW Alpina Green so I decided to stick with Alpina Green.

Tim, nice looking MGB GT, that would go nicely in the garage with a Morgan. I have had a good look at Get Patina and I agree the work Frontline does is great, it is interesting to see that all the earlier cars get the same panels changed at the front as my car is getting done. Modern Classic Cars is the Australian Frontline dealer and it appears everything they fit is supplied by Frontline, even the Mazda engine and gearboxes seems to come from Frontline based on the packing on the boxes I saw when there. I would have thought they would have got the engines from OMEX. Maybe it is easier to get them from Frontline, or maybe Frontline does some extra work to the engines after OMEX has built them.

I know that the demo LE50 was a 2.0L GT and then the Abingdon is a 2.5L Roadster. I think most people think of the LE as a GT and the Abingdon as a Roadster, however after looking at a few cars I think it is more the case the LE is the 2.0 regardless of the body and the Abingdon is the 2.5. Would that match what you think?

I am getting the 2.0 215bhp engine with 6 speed MX5 gearbox, Frontline suspension and brakes and the power steering. I have attached the specs below. I think the $122,000AUD is much cheaper than I would get away with from Frontline in the UK.

Congratulations on your choice of colour, Chris! It will be the car of your life