I've missed updating the blog for several months because I changed jobs and moved 250 miles south from Charlottesville, Virginia to Raleigh, North Carolina. Prior to the move I welded in the dogleg and front wing replacement panels. I may get back to documenting that later. But first, how to move 2 MG's the 250 miles? Why simply back up the MG X Power Transport and load 'em up!
Reality was more complicated. I looked at several options. The GT has no brakes and may not be considered a "runner," in which case it would cost the value of the car to move it. The cost of hiring a transport for two cars was substantial and I needed delivery flexibility because we had not yet closed on our new house.
The MG Shocker: One in the truck, one on the trailer.I decided to rent a truck and place one in the box of the truck and one on a trailer behind. I had hoped to take several pictures but did not for two reasons: 1) I was too busy the day of the move 2) I don't want you kids trying this at home, then suing me when something goes horribly wrong.
I rented a 17' truck (van) from a local moving company. Its the southern USA, so I'll just call it "Y'all Haul" because I don't want to name names. I took a "don't ask, don't tell" policy with the rental and purchased full insurance on the truck. The plan was to put the LE in the box since the 17 footer has a box just over 14' in length - plenty of room for the LE with space to walk beside the car. With the car pulled up all the way to the front you have almost a foot to spare at the back. But how to get it in there?
My original plan was to back up the truck to the slope in our lawn and load the car in using ramps constructed from doubled-up 2"x12" plank, braced with concrete block (a bit dangerous, obviously). I purchased some ramp tops from Lowes and had them ready with my 2"x12"s.
Now don't get any silly ideas - I'm not suggesting anything like this:
The movers noticed what I was doing and offered the use of their loading ramps which turned out to be ideal for the job. One ramp was placed on either side and I drove the LE up and into the box of the truck from street level. The LE is lowered but there was just enough clearance. This is the part where I really wish I had some photos. Driving the MG up and into the box was like taking a ride at an amusement park. Once the car was in I blocked the wheels, secured the car in place and disconnected the battery.
The GT turned out to the be most difficult. Since I rescued it from the impound lot it has always started without a problem. Not the day of the move! Fortunately I was prepared and had purchased a "come along" hand winch from
Harbor Freight.
This allowed me to pull the GT up onto the trailer all by myself. Later I used it to slowly back the GT off the trailer. Very useful and only $17 at the local store.
Here is the moving truck leaving our place in Virginia. Note the LE in the moving van and the GT loaded on the trailer. All that was left was to hook up and trailer and we were off. We left around 10:30pm and pulled into Raleigh around 2:30am with no troubles.
A couple of days later I offloaded both cars. I was able to back the GT off the trailer using the hand winch, then unhook the trailer and back up the truck into the ditch in our yard. This brought the deck of the truck almost level with the lawn. I constructed two six foot ramps using my 2"x12"s, braced them well with concrete blocks, and backed the LE off the truck with ease. Home at last.
This is the connection at the hatch where I had to drill out the bolt that faced inward. It was crimped and there was no good way to get any purchase on it. 
The bolt was removed from the connection to the car body and the two washers reused with the new ball connector.
When fastening the ball to the attachment point on the body, move the ball as far forward toward the front of the car as possible.
With the ball in place for the body you can use the strut to guage distance, but more importantly use Rick's instructions that state the new attachment point should be 12 inches from the original point (measuring down toward the bottom of the hatch). See two pics down for the measure point. Use the new bracket to mark the attachment point and drill two 3mm holes (yes I know I mixing metric and imperial here...). Attach with the screws provided. Repeat for the other side.
Ta-da! Now enjoy the gas-strut action as you raise and lower the hatch. Place your head under the raised hatch and notice how it no longer falls onto your cranium unexpectedly! Right nice.
