The MGA With An Attitude
MGA Guru Is GOING MOBILE - (February 1 - February 15, 2019, 2019)
Friday February 1, 2019:
Time allowing, we have one last visit to Tech Central in Bonita Springs, Florida today. The TR250 dropped in again, running well. Three MGB (2 red 1 white) also running well, and the MG ZB Magnette Varitone which will need a little attention later.
The silver MGB has a non-charging problem, traced to faulty regulator in the alternator, needing to be replaced. Also doing alignment adjustments on the bonnet hinges and latch pin.
A recent acquisition Porsche 928 (circa 1988) is here for the first time. It runs, not sure how well, seems likely a solid body shell, slightly tatty interior, taped over sun roof joints, and propped up hatch because the tiny air struts have failed. I suppose it was cheap enough, but will keep someone busy for a while.
The MG Midget restoration is continuing assembly, finishing up the left door and windscreen seal. It has a new solid wood dash panel (3/4-inch thick) nicely varnished. The electronic unit at center includes a CD player, GPS navigation, back-up camera and proximity sensors front and rear. Large box of tricks with lots of speaker wires and coax connectors at the rear. Aside from the added complexity, it seems like a thoroughly modern upgrade option for a vintage car meant to be driven regularly. There is a neat hand wrapped and heavily padded top crash rail above the dash, looks pretty good and should look good after installation as well.
After lunch it was time for a little TLC on the Magnette. Not running well, immediately diagnosed as running on two or three cylinders. Playing musical chairs with spark plugs and doing a compression test reveals very good compression, badly fouled plus, and two plugs not firing. Found a loose wire retaining nut on the contact points, tightened the nut, and then no fire at all. Finally found an extra fiber washer on the wire post that belonged under the contact arm, without which the contact leaf spring was grounding out on the base. Getting that all back into proper order got it running again, and a quick trip out for a new set of spark plugs had it running on all four. Running very rich, which explains the fouled plugs, we leaned out the mixture to get it running better, and it was ready to go home. The front mixture adjustment nut was very tight, likely needing to be disassembled later to clean dirt out of the threads.
Saturday February 2, 2019:
Hanging out in Punta Gorda, FL today. Received today what may be the last article in the series from the Manchester XPAG Tests, "Ethanol Blended Petrol". Interesting stuff. Given the chance, you might like to read it. Also spent time on a tech question about removing the MGA gearbox for service (not at all like the Workshop Manual recommends). Headed a bit north and east in the evening, a few hours on landing in (or near) Alamonte Springs, FL.
Sunday February 3, 2019:
Breakfast meeting with Central Florida British Car Club. Been here four years earlier for their holiday party, but it was good to attend an open club meeting this time. The web site said 8:30-am, but it looked like we might be late. The real story is they meet for tire kicking around 8-am, then breakfast half hour later. Silly web site. If it told the truth we might have had a little more fun. Forgot the breakfast picture, but there were at about 30 club members present. After most had left I got a picture of the Board meeting. At least there was a little post-meeting tire kicking with a Jaguar XJ6 up for discussion.
As we were about to leave a TR6 kicked up a little ruckus, idling rough and smelling of wasted fuel, obviously running very rich. Took a few minutes to put oil in the dashpots, which helped a smooth out the idle a little. Unfortunately the Zenith-Stromberg mixture adjustment tool I have been carrying around for a couple of years didn't work for these carbs, but a small idle speed adjustent would help.
Ran back a little west, out of the busy Orlando area, to spend most of the rest of the day in Lakeland, FL to catch up the photos and notes, and a few tech questions. Have another club meeting tomorrow evening.
Monday February 4, 2019:
Been up to some good today. Happened to notice a dimensional error in some drawings for MGA Coupe map pockets, and spent some time correcting the drawings and web page.
We intended to visit Nature Coast English Car Club / Sun Coast Classic Car Club at Brits Pub in Hudson, FL. Unfortunately there was no one there when we arrived. Tried a couple phone calls, left a couple messages, no immediate reply. Later inquiry disclosed a relocation of the meeting place since the month before, and the web site had not been updated.
Tuesday February 5, 2019:
Email, photos and notes. Added some dimensions to a roadster door panel drawing. Report of a door panel stiffener bar that doesn't fit. Question about engine stalling when clutch is depressed.
Wednesday February 6, 2019:
Meeting today with All British Car Club of Valusia County. Seems they change the meeting location every month, and it is not on their web site or Facebook page. I don't know how they pass the work around. No phone number anywhere, but I found email addresses for a few of the club officers. Fired off an email to multiple addresses, got lucky and received a call back with enough time to get there. 1-pm lunch meeting at St. John's River Grille in Deland, FL. Nice weather and good turn-out, and I think I counted 37 noses for lunch.
Nice selection of British cars, dominated by four MGA (counting ours), at least two Jaguar and an Alpine Tiger (and I may have missed a few more).
One of the MGA was sporting a neat hand made wind blocker. The frame was plywood assembled with wood screws so it can be disassembled to replace the fabric screen if needed. The mounting is a pair of heavy duty suction cups commonly used to pick up plate glass. The creator had tested multiple shapes and sizes, and the best working configuration is likely a lot smaller than you might think would be needed. It fits with or without the tonneau cover, and it can be left in place when the rag top is up.
Thursday February 7, 2019:
Dropped in for a short visit with Glen Moore in Flagler Beach, FL. The first distraction was his MG TC with an Austin B-series 1500 engine (no tach drive), and Austin A-series rear axle (possible a Morris transplant part). That gives it reduced size 8-inch rear drum brakes, somewhat questionable move, but we think it was done for the change of gear ratio. It also has a VW master cylinder and dual line brake system, all of which came with the car as received.
Just behind the TC was his MGA Coupe 1500 with cross flow aluminum head and TWO Weber side draft carbs. I wonder how fast that engine is expected to turn. The head was out for shop service. On the side he was working on refinishing the wheels for the TC. Time to chat for a while before moving on.
In the evening I finally found time to fiddle with setting up a new 1080 HD web cam and messing around with Skype software in anticipation of a video conferencing call a couple weeks hence. Instructions with the camera only indicate to set it up straight and plug it into a USB port, so I was on line looking for more information. Once I had it working and tested it turns out to provide 1920x1024 resolution (full screen) and good color, about an order of magnitude better than the 760 camera (640x480 resolution) built into my laptop computer. Skype was a lot more trouble to figure out, but finally got that working as well. Late night I finally got connected to a friend in Australia for a test run, and it works, with certain reservations about the shared WiFi channel in the restaurant. Should be cleaner on a better broadband WiFi when time come to use it for serious.
Friday February 8, 2019:
Killed the entire day posting the February issue of CMGC newsletter on the club web site, but at least that's done so we can move on.
Saturday February 9, 2019:
Sitting in St. Augustine, FL catching up photos and notes. Killed some time answering tech questions about a small air compressor and large impact wrench (kind of a lost cause). I hope the guy buys a larger compressor before he tries painting. Need to actually read the newsletter I uploaded yesterday, and have to do some updates to the club web site, since they suddenly have a tentative schedule for the new driving season. Got restless and moved a little farther north late night.
Sunday February 10, 2019:
Sitting in Jacksonville,FL area today. Updating a tech page on MGA Coupe door window guide attachment bracket, which needs to be detached for chrome plating, and re-riveted afterward. It is tricky setting the rivet end inside of the window guide channel. Some tech questions on 1978 MGB wiring for fans and induction heater (had to dig up the 1978 wiring diagram to research that one). Question on parking position of wiper arms, and three different wiper motors.
 Investigating bad fit (or no fit) for current issue stiffener bar for the MGA roadster door panel. The panel is 3-mm or 1/2-in plywood with vinyl cover. Measuring the one on my car makes it 3.8-mm (0.150-in) thick, but the new stiffener bar is formed with 3-mm space inside the channel, so no fit unless it is modified (hopefully before painting). Need to notify Moss Motors on this issue.
Monday February 11, 2019:
One inquiry about a synchronizer ring worn on the inside cone surface. Kind of surprised me, as I always wear out the brass ears before seeing much wear on the cone. It does happen sometimes, like a result of dysfunctional clutch regularly dragging, not quite full release. Another question about rebuilding a master cylinder that had plastic parts for the anti-return valve, which actually worked okay for 20 years (wonders never cease). The plastic parts are not available for service, which illustrates the folly of using non-standard parts in a vintage car.
Tuesday February 12, 2019:
Update to a tech page for the web straps securing the tool roll in the boot for MGA. Good news, as Ron Bissland in Kenosha, WI, USA is now producing replacement parts with concours originality on the strap buckles and the metal tip ends. Question about residual pressure and dragging disc brakes when using a new TRW/Lucas master cylinder in the MGA, so apparently that problem is still around. Posted a new tech page for a Faulty Replacement Part, the MGA roadster door panel stiffener bar that does not fit over the edge of the panel, and notified the supplier (because the customer didn't want to bother after having to modify the parts).
Wednesday February 13, 2019:
Updating CMGC web site to post (tentative) upcoming driving events on the web calendar and event info pages. Takes a while to post at least half a season of driving events for an active club.
Thursday February 14, 2019:
Tech question about priming the oil pump before startup. Nothing else worth mention (or I can't remember three days later). Moved a little farther north late night, goodbye Florida, hello Georgia.
Friday February 15, 2019:
Found ourselves in Kingsland, Georgia today. Good news from Simi Valley, California as Steve Lofaro has his MGA engine running again. This is the one that suffered engine failure after pro shop rebuild, three times, two different shops, two years ago. When I was there in May 2017 It was easy enough to find the incorrect fitting in LR corner of engine block allowing oil to pass directly from pump to main oil gallery without going through the oil filter (which two different pro shops had missed). After sech expensive errors, the engine is now back together with the correct oil fitting, so hopefully that MGA will have a rosy future.
Drove a few hours farther north in the afternoon, landing in Macon, GA for dinner. Drove another hour north late night (good to be moving again).
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