Jay Leno met with a young car enthusiast who restored a 1958 MG A car
Jay Leno is spotlighting young car enthusiasts. His most recent guest on "Jay Leno's Garage" was 24-year-old Daniel Harrison, owner of a 1958 MG A that he began restoring when he was 15 years old.
Whenever Leno sees a cool car, he makes it a habit to reach out to the owner, chat with him, and invite him on the show. Such is the case with Harrison, who restored this MG while pursuing an engineering degree. He named the car Helen after his mother, who died of cancer when he was 16.
Harrison, who also has a YouTube channel called "Limit 55," immigrated to the United States from England when he was seven years old. He began looking for a car to restore when he was in high school and found an MG in Los Angeles. He says its styling was the deciding factor in his decision to buy the little sports car.
The car started out as a "lemon yellow rust bucket" that barely ran, but Harrison said that was the point, and that he and his father wanted to try their hand at restoring it.
Much work was needed to get the MG to its current state, but Harrison said "young energy and ignorance" got the project through.
One of the major aspects of the project, Harrison said, was assembling and installing a 1.8-liter inline-4 engine from MG B after the stock 1.5-liter inline-4 died, presumably due to chronic low oil pressure. The new engine has an output of about 95 hp, he says. Stopping is handled by non-stock front disc brakes and rear drums. Harrison, a mechanical engineer, did most of the mechanical work, but outsourced the bodywork and paint (the latest Jaguar stuff).
Driving around Los Angeles, Leno seemed impressed with Harrison's restoration work and the nimble MG A itself. He noted that he enjoyed getting the most out of such a car because the engine did not overwhelm the chassis.
Check out the video above for the full restoration project. You will be impressed with the work done by this young enthusiast.