The MGA With An Attitude
MGA Guru Is GOING MOBILE - (November 16- November 30, 2021)
Tuesday, November 16, 2021:
Bunch of tech questions today, nothing to write home about or to generate any new tech pages. More investigating clubs in Florida, and now I think we have an appointment for a club meeting come Thursday.
Wednesday, November 17, 2021:
Morning hello to a friendly emu as we are moving east. Late breakfast in Live Oak, FL.
 Then I got a question about an odd Dunlop Disc brake. Took a while to figure this one out, as it is the brake for the propeller shaft on a warship (in Chile I think). One disc rotor, three calipers, four pistons in each caliper, 12 pistons for one brake. The question was about the retractor limiting central bushing in each piston, which is similar to the parts used on MGA 1600 Lockheed front disc
brakes, and on MGA Twin Cam Dunlop all-wheel disc brakes. The really odd thing is, I actually had the answer.
This happens, almost daily, and more than once today. Leave this curious car parked in public, and occasionally someone will stop to check it out, poke around the stickers to see where it has been, explain to a friend or family what the car is, and kind of renew the interest in the old cars, at least for a few minutes.
Thursday, November 18, 2021:
Evening dinner meeting (4-pm) with some folks from Gainesville British Car Club at One Love Cafe in Gainesville, Florida. Five here before us, and a couple more later, everyone heading home by 6. I think there would be a more formal club meeting on a different date.
Friday, November 19, 2021:
An increasingly more common occurrence this morning as two white Teslas passed us within two minutes. I happened to have the camera in my hand because the odometer was about to roll over zeros again. We stopped for breakfast before it did, so I may get another shot at it.
Saturday, November 20, 2021:
Got to cruise past a long column of Corvettes around 9-am, Northbound I-75, they all turned off near Ocala, FL. I recon they were all headed for a car show (not hard to find). When we stopped for breakfast someone yelled. "Nice car, Buddy. I got a '74 Chevelle at home". Interesting how people who used to stare down their nose at us have a change of attitude when their old car gets to be a classic. (Or it's not the same person who was the original owner).
Half a day spent posting new tech pages for part numbers for oil pressure signal line hose and connectors at both ends (two different numbers
for each part). The small hose was recently reported to have incorrect thread in the end fittings, and now multiple vendors with the same issue (common source). Also new pages for the thermostat blanking sleeve and fuel pump rubber cover (which was discontinued in May 1960).
Sunday, November 21, 2021:
Another day off, so more work on the parts index list. First part up today is AEH313. the special banjo bolt for oil pressure signal hose on the MGA Twin Cam. The banjo part of it provides a connection for an oil supply pipe running to the cylinder head. The part is generally not available, so Neil Burnside who needed one machined up a hand full of them to be available for other people with Twin cam cars.
Then I finally found time to catch up (more than 2-weeks late) posting a new tech page for disassembling a steering rack housing for the process of converting it from LHD to RHD. Fortunately I didn't have to actually do this. The article and pictures were provided by Mark Wellard in Australia.
Monday, November 22, 2021:
Fielding email tech questions on harness wiring, fuel gauge calibration, brake fluid, some found NOS heater controls, and another upcoming appointment. Typical stuff for a busy day.
Tuesday, November 23, 2021:
Club meeting this evening with Tampa Bay British Car Club in Clearwater, FL at "Quaker Steak & Lube". Yes it's
real and pretty much what it sounds like. We were aiming for 6-pm dinner before 7-pm meeting, got held up in traffic arriving 6:20-pm, but had time to eat before the meeting anyway. Been here a couple of times, 5 years and 6 years back, different venue this time. Aside from growing older the club is doing okay, 40 people for the monthly meeting, 75 RSVP for an upcoming club picnic, cash in the treasury, and chat about how to attract the younger generation. I got to do a little song and dance, and they were happy to hear what we had been up to since our last visit.
Wednesday, November 24, 2021:
Our first spotting of a new Rivian electric truck today on I-75 southbound near Port Charlotte, Florida.
We didn't intend to be this far south yet. Got as far as Tamps Bay for the club meeting last night, then headed back north a bit late night. But then we had a new problem, a broken hinge bracket on the driver seat base frame, all of which were brand new just a few years ago. Looks like the new parts may have been made out of tin plate, sub-standard thickness sheet metal, not strong enough for a structural seat frame. We blocked the seat back up with the two-piece tubular handle from our hydraulic floor jack. That seemed to do the trick for short term, but not wanting to drive too far with the seat in that condition.
Weighing our options, Moss Motors sells a 2-piece seat frame for something over $300, but that's where we got the one that just broke, so not very enthused about that idea. Scarborough Faire would sell the bottom seat frame separately for less than half that amount. but being a holiday week end not sure when it might be shipped, and don't really want to be driving around like this for another week or more. So we did the expedient thing, called a friend in Bonita Springs, FL to borrow a work space and a MIG welder.
On arrival we found our friend working on n MG Midget, having just replaced a broken lug stud. He was a bit dejected to then find a broken wheel bearing, time out to order some parts.
So we got to work on the broken seat, jacked up the left side of the car to remove four bolts underneath to remove the seat. Got the bolts out of the hinge brackets, power wire brushed away some powder coat paint (some of which was peeling off due to rest under the skin. I measured the metal thickness to find these brackets were made from 16-gauge sheet steel (only 0.060" or 1/16-inch thick. Even though it looks like double layer, that's still pretty thin for a structural hinge bracket.
We noticed the parts were brazed together with brass rod. Really? Who brazes anything any more? A little hammering to beat the parts into reasonable mating shape, and weld them back in place (we hope a little better this time). Notice in the last picture with the paint applied, the one metal layer has a 5/16-24-UNF thread tapped through it, while the other layer has a clearance hole for the 5/16" bolt. Since the metal is only 0.060" thick, that makes only 1-1/2 turns of thread (and no lead-in chamfer), so be very careful not to strip it out.
The bolt goes through the backrest bottom bracket first, then through a thin flat washer serving as a thrust bushing between the moving parts. Then through the clearance hole to be threaded into and through the last thin layer of the bracket before gentle tightening. Just eliminate any excess clearance, but leave it free to move. Finally install a hex nut to serve as a jam nut to make the bolt one with the fixed bracket. Then the bolt stands still while the seat backrest can hinge forward around the bolt. The more I think about this arrangement, the more I'm convinced that the bracket material is way too thin. I will have to check this against some original parts to see if the aftermarket supplier screwed up.
Then we had another problem to attend to. While working on the seat we had the left side of the car jacked up and noticed the right rear tire had gone almost completely flat. Oops. We knew it had a slow leak, having added some air every few weeks for a couple of months. But last time adding air was only 5 days ago, so that leak is a bit too much, and time to fix it (while we still had a little bit of daylight). Not long to find the culprit with a little soapy water and bubbles. It looked like just the tip of a tiny nail, and it popped right out (followed by a loud hiss). Just a few minutes to plug it and shave it and bubble test it again (no bubbles), then get the wheel back on the car and pack away all the tools as daylight suddenly disappeared completely.
Lastly I took a few minutes to grind off a rivet to open up the failed heater valve from last month, the one that wouldn't shut off the flow of hot water. This time the rubber diaphragm didn't dissolve and leak, but it went hard so it didn't want to flex and wouldn't make good contact with the sealing seat. Sorry I accidentally deleted the pictures when being rushed late night. Since this one lasted 2-1/2 years, I rate it as a good improvement over the prior ones the leak after 10 to 12 months in service.
Short days now for sure, especially noticeable since we lost Daylight Savings Time. The good news is, shortest day of the year is only four weeks away, and then the days start getting longer again.
Thursday, November 25, 2021:
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Kicked the tire this morning, and it still held pressure, so that's good news to start the day. The bad news was, it's Thanksgiving holiday, and more of the prospective WiFi spots are closed or closing early, so we ended up driving farther than planned. Found out the hard way that the fuel gauge has been gradually drifting out of calibration the past few years, so we ran out of fuel 5 miles short of our intended stop, and I ended up walking a mile to the nearest gas station. Live and learn, and put fuel gauge recalibration on the work list (and meanwhile don't run it so close to Empty).
I missed a really good picture, not being able to grab the camera fast enough while driving. There was a very nice mid size motor home needing a second glance to recognize what it was. Kind of plain cream over crackers paint job, like a blank canvas. Club colors? Made me feel like a graffiti artist, wanting to paint the CMGC club logo on the side.
We stopped at a Walmart to pick up antifreeze and oil, but the place was close on Thanksgiving day? There were signs all over the windows playing up the Black Friday specials, but that's for tomorrow. Rats. Pick up one quart of oil at the next truck stop.
Nearly evening by the time we made a second WiFi stop, one that actually worked (for late lunch or really late breakfast), and got to check the day's email. A bit of good news here. Someone in Georgia, USA, just took delivery of two pairs of leaf springs for MGA, special ordered from a spring shop in the UK, and they are spot-on correct for all dimensions, spring rate and ride height. Had to post a new tech page for that one, and immediately we have more people clamoring to get on the band wagon to order correct leaf springs (hang the cost). First time in 25 years I have heard of anyone being able to get new leaf springs that weren't too tall and too stiff,
Friday, November 26, 2021:
Some discussion on the BBS about oil filter mounting leaking got around to looking at the external oil pipe and its end fittings. The engine block to pipe adapter had two different part numbers, The pipe assembly had two different part numbers. There were three different oil filter assemblies, plus some aftermarket spin-on adapters using the same external pipe and end fittings. Odd thing is that the adapter fitting changed first (getting longer), and the pipe changed much later when the one piece canister changed to two-piece. There is also a special note in the Service Parts List that seems to be advising the parts counter to always supply the later adapter fitting for all applications. That implies that the increase in length of the adapter fitting does not materially affect misalignment of the pipe.
Saturday, November 27, 2021:
Been traveling some. north and east, sitting in Starke, FL for breakfast. Time enough to add a picture and some notes to a tech page about rear wheel hub oil seal baffle. This is a rather rare item from Austin/Morris Motors Canada (the Canadian distributor of Austin and Morris cars). Someone had the baffle misaligned so the bearing hub would not install properly, so the new notes serve as instruction for proper assembly.
Then we were heading for a visit with MG Classics of Jacksonville at Trout Creek Memorial Park & Marina in St Augustine, FL. There were about 13 MGs (don't count the motorcycle) and a few other odd species, and about 40 people here.
This was their Annual General Meeting, so there was discussion of recent events and upcoming events and election of new officers for the next year. in the midst of this the MGA guru was coerced into five or ten minutes of "entertaining" chat on our road trip over the past several years, quite well received. Some of these people already knew me (or about me) from the web site or prior email, or a prior year visit to this same club. The MG 1600 was a late comer, but I had to check it out. I spotted three 1500 type wheels, which I think the owner hadn't noticed before.
The Parish Plastics hardtop was a very nice fit with proper screw-down "eye" bolts in front and turnbuckles in back. The AMCO aftermarket side curtains were also an impressive good fit, nice and snug, quiet and mostly air tight all around. I was not much excited about the aluminum radiator, as I think an original cell core radiator will cool better, but this one was a Chinese made unit from Moss Motors, and it seems to fit well right out of the box and it works okay, so it's hard to criticize cheap if it works. We may get another visit with this one later.
Then fuel up the car and hunt down another Walmart for oil and antifreeze. I'm beginning to think there may be an oil supply chain problem in the southeast. We found only three quarts of our traditional 20W50 (house brand) in Columbus, Georgia, then a store closed on Thanksgiving day, bought one quart (odd brand 10W40) in a truck stop, and now an empty shelf in St Augustine, FL where I bought one more quart of "other" brand 20W50. The stock lady says they should have more on December 2nd, but we will be somewhere else by then. Follow this with three stops to find a functional WiFi spot, and we were in for the night just about sun down (mostly to bring you these photos and notes).
Then the place that was supposed to be open until 10-pm closed at 9, so we drove another 30 miles north to a 24-hour Love's truck stop on I-95 where I could continue WiFi work until midnight. Then we drove another 15+ miles north to the state line and a welcome center, and hey, we were back in Georgia?
Sunday, November 28, 2021:
One exit north we found a friendly spot comfortable enough with wall power and functional WiFi. After being somewhat discouraged in NE Florida, I'm getting that warm fuzzy Georgia feeling again.
Lots of ongoing and repeat discussion about how to unclog the water drain port on side of the engine block. So it was time to whip up an illustration and another note for the existing tech page to clarify how to use an ice pick (for those who have trouble figuring out what to do with the pointed end). Hard to believe that sucked up nearly half a day.
Then someone was asking about the Duck Clutch again. An aftermarket assistance accessory not unique to MG. First posted on this web site in 2011, just because someone was asking about it. Vendors seem to come and go frequently, so I can't keep up with the contacts (but I still get the inquires). Now there is a short YouTube video demonstrating one installed on a Morgan Plus 8.
Monday, November 29, 2021:
Turned around and drove several miles south, crossing back into Florida again, exploring. Found another serviceable WiFi spot, following an increasingly familiar theme. Front counter cash registers shut down for lack of help. Apparently no one wants to work these days. So order and pay at the kiosk with a card, or go through the drive-up window if you have to use cash. Seems very odd that a traditional cash business will discourage customers like that. But I don't want to discuss politics here.
Had a start last night on a new tech page, finished it this morning, for conversion of a standard MGA steering rack to Twin Cam specifications. That means swap to slightly longer input pinion shaft, and relocate Zerk fittings from top to bottom of the assembly.
All settled in for the Monday evening John Twist UML tech session, but couldn't get the Zoom connection. Killed an hour and a half trying to reboot and connect, but no go, missed the entire session, boo hiss. Spent the rest of the evening identifying pictures of parts of old MGA wiring harnesses.
Tuesday, November 30, 2021:
Little hassle to start the day with three stops to find a serviceable WiFi spot, and then they closed the dining room in early afternoon for lack of help (nobody wants to work). Fourth stop was another 24-hour truck stop.
On line, made a reservation for a club holiday party on the 11th. Spent some time to find the size of a tube spacer mounting the MGA hand brake cable under the battery carrier. The part is currently not available, so may need to make a drawing of that part.
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