Harvey and the Cheshire Cat

Life with an RV8

In 1996, as social secretary for Cambridge and District MGOC I was approached by a local charity to provide a Cavalcade of ‘MGs Through the Ages’ for their annual fund raising event. Between us we could muster several B’s of various ages, a couple of Maestros, a Midget and a brand new MGF.

In order to complete my list I asked Roche if he would be prepared to lend me a couple of cars for the event, he kindly offered his 1953 MG TD and his MG RV8.

As soon as I sat in the RV8 it felt comfortable and after just a few minutes driving I was totally hooked – this was the car for me.

I was no stranger to fast and powerful cars as we already owned two highly modified MG Maestros, one with a genuine 230 bhp, but this RV8 was something else altogether. The feel of the powerful 3.9 litre V8 purring away was superb and I had a wonderful time driving it but it was only on loan so I sadly returned the car to its owner, dismissing the idea of owning one as a nice dream……

Early in 1999 I received a ‘phone call from Roger Parker telling me he knew of and RV8 for sale and might we be interested in taking a look at it?

We arrived to view the car and I went out for a test drive, as I drove the car back after an all to brief test drive, Roger and my husband took one look at the big silly grin on my face and “The Cheshire Cat” was born.
“Do you like the car?” Asked my husband.
“I love it” I replied
” That’s good”, came the response. “We’ve just bought it!”
It isn’t often that I am lost for words but this was definitely one of those occasions!

From day one I was in love with this car, a 1995 registered, Woodcote Green, Japanese specification vehicle complete with air conditioning.
My husband christened the car “Harvey”.

After a full check up and service from Roger the car was proclaimed ready to be delivered and we went to collect it.
I have never enjoyed a drive as much as I did on that afternoon, the weather was dry and sunny, so down went the hood and off home I drove. Harvey had arrived.

We happily drove Harvey all that summer and having agreed when we bought the car that there was no need to subject it to our British winters we bought a Carcoon system and put the car to bed for the winter.

Spring 2000 arrived and we took the car out of winter storage and prepared it for another summer of fun, sadly this was not to be.

On August 5th in readiness for an MG event in Yorkshire, we arranged to have some work done on the engine. We decided to use a trailer to transport the car, something we had done many times over the years with our other MGs.

This time something went horribly wrong and the trailer/tow bar linkage broke releasing the trailer, which then jammed under the nearside rear of the towing vehicle, our Range Rover Classic.

Interior stripped

Front wing off, rear wing and door repairs in progress

Engine out

The Range Rover rolled onto its side and the trailer, with Harvey still tied on, finished up in a ditch. The impact of the trailer was severe enough to break the new heavy-duty tie down straps, specifically bought and certified for the purpose, and allow Harvey to impact nose first into the earth bank. In retrospect this is evidence of the extent of the impact forces involved.

We scrambled out of the Range Rover and assessed our damage, a couple of broken fingers for me, concussion and broken ribs, along with numerous scratches, bruises and cuts for us both and a very nasty graze on Philip’s elbow where it had scraped along the A14.

We rang Roger to tell him what had happened and not to expect to see us that day; we then went off to be checked out and treated at the local casualty unit.

A recovery vehicle was called and took both cars to our home.

The Range Rover was a definite write off. Holding our breath we went to survey the damage to Harvey and found to our immense relief that it didn’t look too bad on first inspection. A broken headlight cowl, a smashed near side wing and a few knocks and dents.

A couple of the alloy wheels were also damaged. I knew these to be no longer available and thought this would be the major problem for the repairs – little did I know!

On hearing of our accident from Roger, and knowing the car was certain to be repaired at the MGOC workshop, Richard Monk and Jonathan Kimber came to collect Harvey in order to get the repairs underway as soon as possible.

The car was still driveable so I reversed out of the garage and it was winched onto the trailer – there it sat looking very sad indeed but we were confident it would be home again in no time fully restored to its former glory.

The next day an assessor was called to look at the damage and when he said the car would probably be written off none of us could believe it.

The underside of the car had sustained a heavy impact to the nearside front corner as it collided against the ditch wall; this caused the chassis to twist out of line. Which meant the car would need to be placed on a jig in order to pull it back straight. There was also a lot of other hitherto unseen damage to the car which was hidden by carpets and bumpers etc.

All of which was repairable but it would cost a lot.

I pointed out to the insurance assessor that I had an agreed value insurance policy for this car and that they ought to meet my claim in full and repair the car. The assessor insisted that in his opinion this car would be a total loss claim.

Thankfully, at this point I remembered to ask whether in his view this was a safety issue or whether it would be a write off on economic grounds. He stated that the cost of repairs would be close to the value of the car, therefore he would be recommending a write off.

I insisted that this was unfair and that they ought to meet my claim in full and repair the car. The Cheshire Cat started to show her claws!

As I clearly was to get nowhere with the assessor I rang Lancaster who have insured all our MGs for a number of years. Myra Alvin was very helpful in ensuring the claim was progressed and that the agreed valuation was honoured.

We waited and eventually the news we’d been hoping for came, the insurance company had agreed Harvey was to be repaired.

The go ahead was given and the MGOC workshop team began the long job of the rebuild.

As this was the first RV8 to be totally rebuilt, it was decided that a photographic record be taken in order to help the future restoration of these beautiful and rare cars.

The team actively encouraged us to visit, to take photographs and to ask as many questions as we wanted.

I cannot praise the team highly enough; in fact we had total support from Lancaster and everyone in the MGOC workshop. Not once were we made to feel as if we were in the way or a nuisance.

Every stage of the rebuild was documented and we were present for the major milestones such as when the engine was re-started for the first time.

The air conditioning unit is located in the front nearside of the car and the pipes were damaged beyond repair. As these were no longer available a new set had to be commissioned and then the unit re-assembled, fitted back into the car. Finally the system had to be re-gassed.

We took the opportunity to have the whole car treated with an anti corrosion treatment – having spent this amount of time and effort on the car we weren’t going to risk losing it to the dreaded tin worm!

A full set of second hand, but perfect condition, genuine RV8 alloy wheels were sourced and fitted.

The old Japanese stereo was replaced with a modern UK specification one and all the wiring hidden to look neat.

The rebuild was long and tedious, no-one had done one before so we all learned along the way.

The day to view the completed restoration dawned and we arrived at Swavesey. The finished product was worth the wait.

There proudly sitting in the Club workshop fully restored with bright gleaming paint work that was better than the day it had left the factory some 5 years before was our car.

Finally collection day arrives

The workshop team had replaced the number plates as the front plate had been smashed in the impact. A measure of the care of the workshop was that they had taken the time and effort to print “Harvey” on the bottom of the new plates. I would not have expected them to even notice that the old plates had the name printed on them, it is very minor detail but they had noticed and Harvey once again proudly proclaims his name.

I happily reclaimed my keys, the Cheshire Cat had something to grin about again!

Having decided to keep this car as long as we are both able to drive it the decision was made to add a few improvements to it.

Firstly a niggling problem had been the location of the handbrake lever, it was uncomfortable to use and jabbed into our legs whenever we drove the car. It has now been adjusted and reshaped to avoid intruding into the driver’s space.

We added a Clive Wheatley stainless steel single pipe exhaust system, purely for the pleasure of hearing the fabulous throaty roar and growl of that V8.

Next came a pair of modified heads, courtesy of Peter Burgess Engineering and Roger Parker, these heads are polished and ported to allow the fuel and air to flow more efficiently and thus produce greater fuel economy. I currently achieve around 31mpg around town, more on a long run and an enhanced performance of around 10%.

Then came a hard top, this was found via an advertisement in EMG. I contacted the seller and the sale was agreed. We hired a van and drove to a little village near to Goodwood to collect the hardtop.

Harvey complete with hardtop

It proved to be a genuine Krafthaus part and was in immaculate condition. We even have the original receipts for the purchase and fitting and the stand to store the hard top when it is not on the car.

Fortunately it was already painted in Woodcote Green so we could fit it straight onto the car.

We are very happy with the hardtop as it means we can drive the car for greater distances in better comfort. It is very easy to fit and looks good too.

We found that because the RV8 has a very large engine in a relatively small space it has a tendency to run hot, particularly in heavy traffic.

To combat this we interrupted the wiring circuit for the engine-cooling fan and added a switch on the dashboard to enable us to manually switch the fan on and cool the car before it gets too hot.

Finally, we were asked if power assisted steering would be of interest to us, I was a little unsure at first but we decided to find out more.

Harvey was to be the guinea pig as the MGOC were considering extending PAS conversion to the RV8 with air conditioning would be ideal. If it could be fitted successfully in that confined space then all other RV8s could be converted.

We were introduced to John of Somar Engineering who was to carry the installation. After a discussion of our requirements and what Somar could offer we were convinced that a PAS system that could be adjusted by the customer was what we wanted.

That enabled us to have as much or as little assistance as is required.

We agreed to the work and Harvey was fitted with an electrohydraulic power steering unit, along with a new steering rack and simple assistance adjustment.

This has totally transformed the car’s steering characteristics. If I am truthful before the PAS was fitted the steering was a bit heavy, particularly when manoeuvring in a confined space, now it can be parked easily. We are delighted with the PAS and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it, especially with the owner ability to vary the level of assistance from zero to motability levels.

So, is Harvey perfect now? We think so, but who knows what other improvements await us? Watch this space.

Jackie Harper
Aka Cheshire Cat