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Pick up day!

The day has finally arrived: 7th May 2005. One and a quarter years delay and one and a half years completion time!

Philipp (my son) and I drove over to England with a trailer behind us. We arrived at Peter's at about 10:30 am. The car was waiting for me. Peter was cheerful and George Edney was also there. Peter and I jumped in the TC and took her for a test run. About 10 mins down the road, we swapped seats and I got to drive her first time. However, she wasn't accelerating very well. We got her back to his workshop and George and Peter plus Karl (Peters employee) started to analyse what was wrong. George finally found the weak spot - the carb wasn't getting any petrol in the first chamber. A valve was stuck. So after cleanup and bonnet back down, we took her for a second test drive. This time things were perfect.

Peter and I got back, and then his employees helped me load the car on to the trailer. That was really nice of them, as I hadn't done this before. After paying off the final amount and shaking hands, Philipp and I left.

We headed straight down to Dover, crossed the channel and drove a couple of hours in Belgium, where we stopped over for the night.

On Sunday 8th May, MG TC 1245 finally arrived at her destination - her new home in Germany!
I've added pictures to the gallery.

Brian of Classic Assessments met up again on 19th April at Peter Edney's workshop. It was a bit of a gloomy day. The TC was up on a ramp, and Brian and Peter were discussing things. The TC looked much better now. The doors had been re-adjusted and repainted.

After removing the car from the Ramp, we took the car for a 20 minute drive. She was still losing some Oil from the Rocker cover, but Brian was pleased the way she was running. After getting back, Brian gave a run down of the issues that still needed correcting. Peter said he'd get the issues resolved as soon as possible so that I could pick the car up on May 7th.

You can read Brian's final report here. I've added pictures to the gallery.

I met up with Brian Page of Classic Assessments on 28th February at Peter Edney's workshop. Brian was already there, Peter was out. He took a long look at the TC and made some notes after which he discussed with me. Peter had meanwhile come back and we shook hands.

Brian gave me a run down of the car, saying that his first impression was very good, however, the closer he started to look, the more he came to the conclusion that the car had not been rebuilt with care taken and that shortcuts had been taken.

Brian refused to take the car for a test drive. Oil was leaking, petrol was leaking from the carbs, so that Brian said it would cause more damage if we test drove her.

In our discussion, he said that the interior was very good and scored 8/10, paintwork 7/10 but the alignment of panels was 4/10 and the doors were terrible - nearly falling off at the hinges. The engine was not ready to drive, so that he said he would test drive her when the car had been fixed. He gave the chassis a 7/10.

We discussed Brians findings with Peter. Peter said he'd need until end of March to complete the car.

You can read Brian's report here. I've added pictures to the gallery.

OK, here's the situation: Peter Edney set up and signed a contract in November 2003, saying that he will deliver a TC rebuilt to the highest standards and completed in Feb 2004. Payments are to be in 4 steps. 50% at signing, 2 further instalments at the end of Dec 2003 and end Jan 2004 and final payment upon completion. I paid the 50% as requested plus the 2 instalments end Dec 2003. That was the deal.

We are now into January 2005, the car is still not finished, and he still wants further payments. I'm not prepared to make any further concessions, as he has intentionally delayed the completion date (claiming he has no more money to finish the car).

I've assigned a solicitor to resolve the issue. He suggests we try to complete this without going to court (I'm in a different frame of mind). He phones Peter Edney a couple of times, and the agreement is this: Edney will finish the car for inspection for 1st March 2005. We'll see. I've instructed a professional to inspect the car, just for safety's sake. Stay tuned for further info.

Peter's been telling me that he's got no more money to finish the car. Quote from his email: 'Without a further cash injection into the project (particularly as I have just paid over £3,000 for the interior to be completed) ... I would find it very difficult to allocate the required resources to continue.'
However, on his website - www.peteredney.co.uk - he proudly claims he's just built an new 4000 sq.ft body shop. Something's not right here. The car is still not with me. I'm going to a solicitor to seek some legal advice.

Met Peter down at Beaulieu with brother Keith. He's telling me that he's out of money as it's cost him 3000 GBP for the trimming job, and he therefore needs a further forward payment in order to continue with the next steps. I'm not keen on this idea, and convey this to him. After all, 80% of the car is already paid for, and it's way over time. February 2004 was delivery date according to our agreement and the final payment is upon completion. Hmm, I think I'll get some advice on this.

New pictures sent by Peter can be found in the gallery. He seems pleased with the work.

She's arrived back from the trimmers today. Why it took so long, I don't know. Brother Keith went round to Barton and Sons and interviewed them. According to them, Peter took the car in a week later than planned, and so they had to start work on another car before getting on with TC1245. Oh well, not long to go now I suppose.

According to Peter, she's booked in with the trimmer company Barton and Sons Ltd in Luton today. It should take approximately 2 weeks to get the weather equipment (hood, full size tonneau and side screens) sorted. I've chosen a nice dark brown mohair material to contrast the sequoia cream colour. Furthermore, all the interior needs trimming except for the seats, as these were already given. This is to be a nice dark red colour to match the seats.

15th June 2004

Phone call 15.6.2004. I asked if the Instruments he was going to put in the car that he showed me the previous Thursday were replicas. Peter said no, but he’s now changed his mind and is going to put replicas in because Vintage Instruments want 230 GBP per instrument to repair the 2 large ones, and it will cost him a total of 190 GBP for a pair of replica’s. I said that this wasn’t what we agreed upon. He said that his aim is to get the car MOT’d with functioning instruments, and he doesn’t care if they are replicas. He’s already spent 3000 GBP more than planned on the car, now totalling 24000 GBP! He also conveyed to me that the painter has billed him 300 GBP more than planned because I wanted a special colour (the agreement has the code colour for sequoia cream). I was shocked! Also, if I want to keep the original instruments, then this is going to cost an extra 130 GBP!
I also pointed out that the dashboard was missing the petrol light.
I also pointed out that the Bonnet panel on the drivers side needs fixing and repainting, because the slats are not straight. He said that this is impossible to rectify unless a new panel was going to go on. But that’s not in his budget.
We discussed his situation that he’d been let down by his suppliers, who hadn’t obviously delivered all the parts to the car in the state that was originally promised. I told him that I had trusted him, and now I was feeling let down. I asked if he wanted to sell the car, quoting him saying that it was worth 25000 GBP with 0 miles on the engine. He said this was a possibility. I said I’d consider this as an option.

10th June 2004

I arrived via London Gatwick where it was raining, jumped in an Astra rental car and drove up to see Peter. As soon as I hit Leaden Roding at around 14:15, the sun came out. Was this some kind of sign?

Peter was busy as usual. Anyway, TC1245 was sitting on a ramp in the workshop. It was the first time I saw her with the wings, bonnet and doors on. I seem to remember the colour being a bit lighter, but it was the light playing tricks on me. Peter drove the car outside where she shone in all her glory. I had a good first look at her. The paint work looked very good, and Barry the painter had done a good job with the tops of the doors. Ian hadn't yet finished with adjusting the Bonnet - she was still crooked and the tops of the doors weren't yet fully lined with the scuttle. Peter reassured me that these would be fixed. The petrol tank sides hadn't arrived yet - Peter was expecting these to be back from chroming within the next couple of days.

I asked Peter if we could take her for a spin. I asked him to drive because I was having difficulty driving on the right hand side on English roads. The starter motor still hadn't been replaced (Peter was having difficulty trying to find one) and so they had built a push button under the bonnet to get the current motor started. She lit up first time, and sounded beautiful. Peter adjusted some carb settings as the choke cable wasn't yet in.

We went around the garage a couple of times. I asked if we could take her out on the road so we drove down the country lane - what a feeling. TC1245 was actually being driven for the first time in ??? years! Peter said the steering was very good. After a couple of miles, we swung the car back round and drove back to his garage. About half way, she stopped. Peter thought the petrol tank was empty but, after a few minutes, he restarted. She sprang back to life. Hmm, must be the petrol pump. He'll look into that.

We got back safely, and Peter told me about the instruments. Apparently, they were at Vintage instruments, but because of cracks in the back of them, they would cost a fortune to repair. He had ordered a spare set, which we then took a look at. They seem to be from a newer TC (or was it from a TA?- clock is not a separate unit). He will get the dials, needles, chrome and glass replaced, so that they all have the same dull green colour (and not the bright green/turquoise as in the TD). The instruments will also been cleaned and checked for faults. We also spoke about the flashing indicators - he will put a pilot switch on an aluminium strip underneath the dashboard.

I left Peter to get on with some work, and went outside to take a closer look at the car. Apart from the doors and bonnet not lined up, I noticed that the slats in the drivers bonnet side were not straight. This needs fixing. Also, the edge of the nearside front wing didn't have a nice smooth line (looked like some bulge was in the panel.) He had also put the water temperature gauge so close to the rev counter, that the fuel warning light was missing. I decided not to say anything at the moment and to check back with my MG friend in Germany to see what he thinks.

I took a bunch of pictures (which you can see in the gallery), and headed back inside. Peter and I discussed the history of the TC1245 as far as he knew.

To finalise things, we discussed the next project steps. The car is going to Barton and Sons Ltd in Luton for trimming on 28th June. I told Peter that I would like to pick the car up the week after the MG Silverstone event (26th July) and drive her back to Germany. He agreed to drive her down to Dover, and I'll take over from there. He'll also discuss with me how to drive the car in and maintain her. We'll do that over a pint (or two) down the local pub!

I thanked Peter for taking his time and left about 17:15.

Still to do:

Lining up of doors
Lining up of Radiator and Bonnet
Replacement of Starter motor
Petrol tank sides
Mounting of Badge bar, Fog light and Horn
Refurbishment of Instruments
Finishing off Instrument panel
Electrics (wiper motor, instrument lights, turning signal, ..)
Wheels painted

Interior trim (28th June)
Weather equipment (Hood, Side screens and tonneau)

21st May 2004.

Flew over to England. Drove up to Peters. Car was still not finished according to conditions that I had set in my email. Panels were still missing. Took some pictures. He promised me it would be finished the next time I'm over.

April 2004

Came back from holiday and called Peter. He told me that the paint still wasn't finished. I blew my top, and said that I wanted to cancel contract. Wrote him email to confirm our discussion

Called him Thursday. Asked him what he wanted to do. He said that he will have car ready by 21st May, when I come over.

February 2004

Examined pictures, and found that the running board under the doors were not aligned properly. Also, the bulkhead was dented on passengers’ side. Wrote email to peter and sent pictures of my discovery. Called him later that afternoon. Peter seemed angry, that this was all costing too much, and that I had bought an unfinished basket car and this was the risk I had to take. He estimated that it would cost 250 to fix bulkhead and 600 GBP for realigning the running boards (panels would have to be taken off; bonnet would have to be trimmed, etc)!! I would have to carry these costs. I told him to go back and think it over.

Phone call made a few days later. He seemed calm, and said that the bulkhead would cost me 125 and that he would carry the costs for the running boards, as this was their mistake. The car would have to be taken back into his shop, where Ian Brown would fix these issues.

January 2004.

Called Peter beginning of 2004. He said that payment hadn't arrived yet. car was being aligned. He sent some pictures.

2nd Payment made.

Flew to UK end January. Went to Barry’s shop where car was. We decided on colour. Looked at Mercedes colours and compared them to sample that I had brought with me from Germany (ICI no. 4138 sample). I said we'll paint Mercedes colour. Took pictures of car. We talked on the way back in the car, that the project wasn't going to be finished in February, and that I'll give Peter 2 more months (mid April) to finish her off. Peter agreed to this.

Got back to Germany and decided that we should paint in Original colour. Called Peter – he said this wasn't a problem; however, Barry needed to order the colour and could take a couple of weeks.

December 2003.

Signed the document and sent a copy back to him. Made initial payment of 11500 GBP. Car arrived sometime beginning of December in Peter’s workshop.

November 2003.

Called Peter and said that I'm interested. Peter wrote an email detailing what would be done, when it will be finished and the payment plan. I said that I need a legal document, so he wrote a "Heads of agreement", signed it and sent it to me. He also clarified that the Shock absorbers were going to cost 1000 GBP, but he found someone who had a refurbished set for 300 + 60 VAT. I said we'll go halves on the cost (180), to which he agreed.

Oct 2003.

I went to Peter’s with brother Keith. I said I was looking for a TC in mint condition. We went to George Edney's home. Car was 18000 GBP to put the car back together (including weather equipment) and that she would be better than new. However, panels were dented and they felt that beating, alignment and re-spray would be needed. Cost to re-spray car is 5000 GBP, however if bulkhead was to stay black (and she had already been repainted by George Edney), then it would be 3500 GBP. Promises made by George/Peter that everything was in perfect order. Weather equipment would be specially made to fit car. There would be a 3 year guarantee on the engine and 1 year on all other parts.

Second trip: showed car to Petra - she said no to Black, so I said we'll paint car in cream and leave the bulkhead black. Vince said that no filler will be used on the panels. I asked Peter if car would be ready by Mid February. He said that this was no problem. Car will be re-sprayed between Xmas and New Year. Impression was made that Vince and George would finish car. (Peter also stated later (June 2004) that this was the original plan, but George decided to back out after the car was having to be re-sprayed)