With repairs finally completed we were ready to roll the car off of the trailer, in the photo below #43 moves under it's own power for the first time in over 27 years.
Special thanks to the hard working crew of  #43 Jim Brown, Ken Graham and Dave Houser.
They had no idea of what they were letting themselves in for when they agreed to come along!
At this point we thought that at least we would be able to take a few parade laps the next morning before the start of the race. It was only at the driver's meeting on Saturday morning that I learned that there would be a 20 minute full race session instead of parade laps. Full race gear was required and all vintage and historics would be on the track at the same time. That would mean being on the track with some very fast cars like Porsche 935s and 962s with a car that had covered less than 
Luck was not with either of us this week as #52 spun a rod bearing in their fresh engine and they went to work changing bearings on the spot.
In addition to # 43, a second ex works MGA was in the paddock, # 52 had been driven to a 16th overall and 4th in class finish by Andrew Hedges and Jack Sears in 1962.  Owned by Hugh Burruss and restored by Bruce Woodson they too had been racing the clock to make it to Sebring. 

half of a mile at no more than 20 mph and which had not had a seat belt installed yet. Going out on the track didn't seem to be a wise thing to do under those circumstances, so discretion proved to be the best part of valor and we became spectators.