The MGA With An Attitude
MGA Guru Is GOING MOBILE - (August 16 - August 31, 2023)
Wednesday, August 16, 2023:
Killed another half day posting the new tech page for "Converting Twin Cam Wheels to Wire Wheels" (even though I don't suppose anyone in the world would ever do that again).
We had a good Wednesday Night Garage Club in Lagrange Highlands, Illinois. The first picture was early with more cars rolling in later, maybe 10 visiting cars with half of them needing some attention. Things were going slow at first, so it seemed like a good time for a little service on our own car, like a few things that navigator could do. We jacked up the right side to grease U-joints in the propshaft and one more on the hand brake cable.
Then jack up the front end to grease the front suspension and steering gear. Reach over the front tires to remove top plugs in the Armstrong lever shock absorbers. Set it down to top up oil in the shocks using a fat soda straw and a small squeeze bottle of the oil. Bounce the suspension to get air out of the shocks, and top them off again before jacking up to reinstall the plugs. In the process, we found loose bolts holding the right front shock on the frame. Good to find that early before any damage. Tighten all the bolts and make a note to check these bolts along with every lube job (at 4000 mile intervals).
The Spirfire had new floor pans installed by a pro shop for big money, but they took some shortcuts and botched it up. So it was time to pull the seats out again to finish welding all around and grinding the welds flat.
The club project car was getting some more cutting and grinding to remove more metal to clear space for a replacement body sill.
The MGA wannabe race car got a pat on he rear and not much else before being pushed aside for work on the MGB resto-mod wiring. I think that one is progressing better than it looks, with the MG RV8 RHD dash being in and out a few times. No BBQ tonight, so we were done by 9-pm and off for late dinner and WiFi.
Thursday, August 17, 2023:
Half a day spent ordering up more parts. I order a replacement bearing spindle for the trailer axle, which has been giving us continuing problems ever since eastern Canada in 2018. Also ordered a pair of K&N air filters (danged expensive), the right size to fit inside the original MGA air filter shells. Then put together a large order for lots of MG parts, and got those ordered up by mid afternoon.
 Then we were off to Westmont Cruisin' Night in Westmont, Illinois, with special space set aside for MGs to
be the featured marque. The Chicagoland MG Club has been attending this event annually for several years now, but this is the first time for us since starting the road trip in 2014. There were 15 MGs, including the one Midget stranded between a couple of Mustangs.
Then I started hoofing it from the north end of the street taking pictures of everything. Enjoy whatever you like.
You might notice my car at the end of the last picture. Then skip past the featured MGs and continue on south. Man, these things go on forever,and I was cutting back, taking pictures of maybe half the cars, whatever caught my eye.
After a couple more blocks with no end to the cars in sight, I got tired of walking and turned around to go back to the MGs. More cars were still coming in, being escorted slowly by a walking staff member clearing pedestrians to get through.
Sit down to rest my feet, grab a snack and a soda, and chat with a few folks who stopped to check out the dirty MGA with all the stickers. There was some sort of gimmick ballot for the MG cars, questions like which car was most likely to pick up a date, which was most likely to win a drag race, long distance award, and who was the youngest navigator. Elliot might have won that one, except he was sleeping and didn't get a hand up.
Around 8-pm a few cars were leaving, so we hit the road heading toward Indiana. We stopped at a Loves truck stop in South Holland, IL for fuel and late dinner. Headed out of there at 11-pm, rolling right through northwest Indiana to land at the Michigan Welcome Center on I-94 after midnight.
Friday, August 18, 2023:
Sitting in New Buffalo, Michigan this morning. Just posted a new tech page for MGA (and Y-type and TD) front suspension seals 3D printed with polyurethane for ultra long life in service. Parts commonly molded in Neoprene should be okay, but these days many rubber parts procured "off shore" are horrible quality (likely natural rubber), and we have ongoing problems getting the suppliers to procure good parts. And I ordered up a set of these urethane suspension seals for my own car.
We were sitting a bit too long, and also forgot about the change of time zone. Heading out half past four with 120 miles to drive, we were slowed down in multiple construction zones, finally arriving at the Doubletree Hotel in Grand Rapids, Michigan at 7-pm (later that we had in mind). We were here for John Twists University Motors 50th business anniversary and the MG Summer Party Reunion. Check in, get the room keys, pick up the event registration packet, and head out to the car park for tire kicking session with other MG enthusiasts.
The cars were mostly in one aisle, counting close to 50 MGs present by the time we arrived, more like 60 by sun down, and there would be more for the car show tomorrow. Time for a hot dog and soda, kick around and chat with friends for a few hours.
Any small trailer towed by an MG will catch my attention. This on I had seen before at the British Invasion car show in Stowe, Vermont in 2016, and it was already documented on my web site. It is a California Side Car (CSC) Escapade Trailer sporting inverted MGA 1500 rear plinths and tail lights, and optional rear spoiler with LED brake light strip. With the larger cooler in font, the total volume of this one might be as much as in my "Lil Chip" Chipmonk rectangular box trailer.
I like the Magnettes too. Been drooling over this one for years, and was threatening to buy one as the family car for decades. But I didn't want to spend the time to restore one, and never found a finished one to buy. Some things you need to do when you are younger, and I suppose this idea is now past its prime.
The Morris Minor delivery van is always cute. They used to be prevalent as work vehicles for the British car dealers and workshops. A few more cars came in late, and there will be more at the car show tomorrow.
There was this delightful 1997 MG F, which may have been an MG F-TF, but not to be confused with the older MG TF (which came after the MG TD and before the MGA). I haven't seen one of these up close in person before, so I took some more pictures.
Yes it is mid engine and right hand drive for the home market in England. It was also available in Canada. Now that the model is more than 25 years old e it is beginning to be imported into the USA, one car at a time.
Only a small boot space in the rear, but like any small sports car, it is supposed to be fun, not necessarily practical, and these things are very popular in England. Coolant recovery bottle, oil dip stick and oil filler are accessible near the engine air vent under the boot lid. Pretty sure engine access is a bear for maintenance.
The last picture is a view under the front bonnet, where you may have fun figuring out what all the gadgets are.
Another look at the MGA that tows the Escalade trailer. Nice supercharger. No wonder he has such a grin on his face. Also a look at the MGB GT with the Wabatso sun roof. The owner says it was water tight when new, but is now showing its age with seals drying out to leak, which may be hard to find replacement parts.
Okay, it got dark enough for the night, so knock it off and get some sleep (maybe). I returned a phone call from a friend in Oklahoma who had been leaving messages for two days. That killed two hours, and with review of BBS and email, I ended up not getting much sleep, again.
Saturday, August 19, 2023:
Crawl out late, skip breakfast, and join the caravan for a 15 mile drive to Douglas Walker Park in Byron Center MI. Get there, check in, park the car, and discover that I had left the compact digital camers in the hotel room. Bummer. I will take a few pictures with the dumb phone camera, and hope it works, but not very optimistic. I did ask about attendance, and there were supposedly 78 cars on dispolay, mostly MGS (but also one Mini).
As it turns out I haven't been able to download the car show pictures from my dumb phone (yet), but don't despair, because most of the cars were in yesterday's pictures (see above). I did get a few pictures at the evening awards banquet, all jolly good fun with lots of old friends (and a bunch of new friends).
Sunday, August 20, 2023:
Sleep in bit, then Check out around 10-ish, and try to find a serviceable WiFi spot. Not much luck in the heart of the city, first place with carry out only, the dining room closed, and second place with no WiFi (almost unheard of these days). So we missed breakfast and were 40 miles down the road west before a fuel stop and lunch at a Loves truck stop in Holland, MI (not far from the east side of Lake Michigan). Lots of time there for BBS and WiFi, but the rest of the day went away without posting prior photos and notes since last Wednesday. Late night run south 10-pm to 11:30, stopping at the Indiana Welcome Center to get some dearly needed sleep. Hey, we crossed into Central Time zone, so we got an hour back, and it was only 10:30 pm. Zzzzzz.
Monday, August 21, 2023:
We have an appointment tonight in the northwest suburbs, and I didn't want to get caught in the evening rush hour traffic. So we drove west on I-94 and I-80 into Illinois, the north on I-94 right into and through downtown Chicago. Tail end of the morning rush hour was no treat either with lots of stop and crawl approaching downtown from the south. Not so bad once north of the loop, better with more distance. No luck with WiFi in Des Plaines, IL, but decided on the second non-functional spot anyway just because we wanted the breakfast menu before 10:30 am. And I had tons of photos and notes to process, not needing to be on line for that.
We were sitting in Des Plaines for hours when navigator declared with surprise that the WiFi came alive, and now I had the connection to upload data. So there you are with all of the photos delayed since last Wednesday, only five days in arrears, and just in time to head out for tonight's club meeting.
Meeting with Chicagoland MG Club at Mr Beef and Pizza in Mount Prospect, IL. Typical club meeting with
about 30 people, chat about car projects, the upcoming British Car Festival, and planning for NAMGBR MG2025 to be hosted by this club. Mid meeting break gave us a chance to kick a few tires. Got the car pictures when we were heading out at 8:30-pm.
Tuesday, August 22, 2023:
Added two new MGA Part Number tech pages for radiators ARH61 and ARH120 to document a very early part and change of part number. Kind of odd that my web site may be the only on-line record of the part number for the early MGA radiator. It would be nice to know what the change was, other than just the part number.
On another hunt, looking for a part number for the early production flat engine bonnet, before advent of the MGA Twin Cam. All of the Service Parts Lists show the same part number for both early and late bonnets.
Wednesday, August 23, 2023:
Start the day posting new pictures of throttle pedal pull-off spring and bracket parts to a tech page for throttle return springs. These bits were introduced in mid production of MGA 1500 cars, and are recommended to be retro-fit to all earlier MGA.
Then off to Wednesday Night Garage Club. Nothing needed on my car, so look around to see what's happening. Some of the common suspects hanging out.
Turns out the Vespa with sidecar is a local resident, one of Tommy's toys. The dusty red MGA wannabe race car has been suffering ignition problems, drives okay sometimes, then doesn't want to start the next time. Swapping out the distributor didn't help. The MSD high energy ignition module on the inner fender is highly suspect.
The white MGB has a disconnect between the heater valve and the rotating control knob on the dash. Looks like a cable jacket clamp behind the knob is loose, allowing the cable jacket to move. Tommy's customized MGB is slowly getting the dash wired up, hoping to drive it to the British Car Festival on September 10.
The club project car has been getting some nit picking to remove or beat back a few remaining bits of metal that interfere with fitting the replacement body sill. First time anyone here has ever seen a complete sill assembly from a donor car being transplanted into another car. Lots of trial fitting over the past few weeks, a little cutting, grinding, hammering, more trial fitting, get some clamps, and "Whomp! There it is".
97dF today, humid,hot and sweaty. Time for barbecue and drinks, and call it a good day. Next time they can do final inspection and any minor adjustments, before welding it in place. Nice view inside too.
Thursday, August 24, 2023:
A few degrees warmer today, good day to hide inside with air conditioning while catching up the photos and notes (above), and more research and a few more pictures to add to the Radiator Tech pages.
Still tracking shipments. Three out of four parts orders have arrived, only some spare front suspension seals still missing. Tomorrow should be at least 15dF cooler, so now we plan on hitting brother's place in northern Indiana tomorrow to transplant a trailer bearing spindle, among other things.
Friday, August 25, 2023:
After breakfast, a trip to the hardware store for a hand full of coarse threaded hex nuts for the trailer U-bolts (among other things). Then off to brother's place in Hanna, Indiana to get on with some more deferred maintenance on the trailer and the car. First up some more work on the trailer springs and a bearing spindle. But once we were started on that, navigator got into sealing underneath the door top trim roll on right side, because it has been leaking rain water under there ever since we recovered the door rail several months ago.
For the trailer, remove two U-bolts from each leaf spring lift out the axle assembly with bearing hubs, and take that to the bench.
Just delivered was this nice bearing spindle which I thought we were going to weld onto the square axle after sawing off the old damaged one. The outer tapered roller bearing had been wobbling radially for sometime, and I was convinced the stub shaft had been damaged by a prior seized up failed bearing. While disassembling
the bearings we discovered the inboard bearing was also loose on the shaft. Say what? On further investigation, it turned out the two-bearing kit we had installed last time around was for 1-1/16-inch shaft size rather than 1-inch shaft. Bummer. The bearings were still good, just the wrong size ID, and the big bore inner race was wobbling on the shaft. Oddly enough, the shaft was not damaged at the bearing locations. So off the local auto parts store to buy a pair of tapered roller bearings with 1-inch bore, and get those installed, along with a new seal. No welding required, and the shiny new spindle became an expensive bit of scrap metal. But it will (sometime) need another new Speedy-Sleeve for the inboard hub seal.
Okay, on to the leaf springs. At this time, and with materials in hand, it looks easier to drill out a few holes for larger front pivot bolts than it would be to change the spring eye bushings to smaller size. That didn't take too long.
Then get serious about rebuilding the rear sliding mount for the leaf spring curved sliding rear end, on this 375,000 mile trailer. The way this thing works, there is an inverted U-bracket with a cross bolt where the spring end will perch and slide. These days there is s bit more than 1/2-ince space above the spring leaf. When the trailer sits on the ground, that space is below the spring, above the cross bolt. There used to be a horizontal plate welded in there just above the spring leaf to minimize the free space and vertical motion. But those steel plates must have been fairly thin, because they have long since worn away, gone. As a matter of expediency, we decided to go old time and install a wooden bearing plate above the spring on each side. Soon finished, sorry I didn't get the picture, maybe later. Sixteen jam nuts on the U-bolts got the axle reinstalled, wheels on and trailer back on the floor.
Then we installed new rear brake drums and new brake shoes, and new adjuster hardware, hoping to reduce excessive motion of the adjuster mechanism. None of this made any significant improvement. Rats. The old drums were not badly worn, no more than 0.030-inch oversize. And the old brake shoes also had very little wear. Even with all new parts, the 18-notch adjusters still turned up 14 clicks before the shoes would touch the drums, almost exactly as before. Conclusion is that the new brake shoes are still too short end to end. We will attack this some more tomorrow.
Before knocking off for the evening we installed new K&N air filters in the car. This time just the filter elements installed in the original canisters without the perimeter screens. I'll try to get a picture of that later as well.
Saturday, August 26, 2023:
Going to do more brake work on the car today, determined to reduce the backlash in the brake adjusters. Something I have been resisting doing for at least 10 years, as we were trying to coerce the vendors into supplying correct length brake shoes. Unfortunately it hasn't been working, and likely never will, so now we get to show the world how to fix it. These shims are made from 1/8-inch thick steel plate, cut to 9/16" wide and 1-1/8" long, to be tack welded to the adjuster masks. Each front drum brake adjuster gets one shim, two adjusters per wheel, because there are two slave cylinders up front. Each rear drum brake adjuster gets two shims for 1/4-inch total thickness, one adjuster per wheel, because there is only one slave cylinder in back to move two shoes, and the one double thickness shim is working to space out two brake shoes.
While brother was cutting and sizing shims from flat steel plate, navigator and I were pulling off the LF wheel, brake drum and shoes, to replace two front slave cylinders and brake hose. Those parts were somewhat in arrears after having replaced the RF slaves and hose nearly two years ago. But it didn't take long.
Clamp the shim plate to back of the adjuster mask, mount it in the vice, tack weld one end. Then turn it around to tack weld the other end. Rinse and repeat 6x. Grind the back plates flat, and touch off the ends. File away or grind out any weld that happened to obstruct the inside corners, so the adjuster can seat properly at zero. Finish by adding a second layer shim to two of the masks that will be used for the rear brakes.
The LF brakes were not yet reassembled after installing the new slave cylinders, so we would start there with the newly shimmed adjuster masks. They worked like a charm to bring the shoes up very close to the previously new brake drum. After installing the adjusters and shoes and the drum, each of the adjusters ran up just 2 clicks before the shoes locked the brakes, and back them off one click please. On the right side, remove brake drum to install the new shimmed adjuster masks, get it back together, and run the adjusters up 2 clicks just like the left side. This was looking very good. Front brakes back together, bleed the front lines and get the car back on the ground.
Jack up the rear end to remove wheels and brake drums to swap in the new double shim adjuster masks. While I was doing that, brother was cleaning the new drums with lacquer thinner and let dry, and navigator was spraying them with some heat resistant black paint. That would be a good rime for a late lunch break while paint was drying.
After lunch and paint dry, I did paint the rear hobs to match the new drums. Then with the drums back on, the adjusters ran up 3 or 4 clicks before the brakes locked up, and back them off one click please, very nice. Bleed the rear brakes just to flush fresh fluid through front to back (at least once every two years). Top up the reservoir, check for good brake pedal short travel and firm stop, all good. Wheels back on, car on the ground, clean up and pack away tools. Good bunch of maintenance done in two days.
I had more than a dozen pictures taken in process to remind me what small parts we had used for purpose of updating inventory and re-ordering lists. This is an expedient way to keep track of inventory, but it does take some time to catch up the "paperwork" later.
Before sun down we had cruised 20 miles to Knox, Indiana to a known good WiFi spot, in the general direction of a tentative appointment which we had not verified yet. No answer to a repeated phone call there, so late night we were heading southwest for another hour. I should call brother to tell him the car runs much better with the new air filters, no more bogging down or misfire with heavy throttle at high speed. The car runs like an MG again, insert a smile here.
Sunday, August 27, 2023:
A day off in West Lafayette, IN with time to catch up a few days backlog of BBS and email with tech questions. By evening I had processed photos from the past two days, but didn't finish the matching notes yet.
Monday, August 28, 2023:
Another day off not far along in Whitestown, IN, still north of Indianapolis, finally finishing the notes to go with the pictures above. Still need to update inventory and re-order lists, but will have that done tonight. Making a few phone calls for future appointments.
Tuesday, August 29, 2023:
One hour cruise after breakfast brought us to visit John and Jane Mobley in Martinsville, Indiana. this is a 1956 MGA older restoration with some loose parts, definitely a driving car, just needing some refinement. Making a list of minor items for future attention, like the muffler wanting reorientation,
and a missing P-clip to secure the air vent hose to inner wing, one short vent hose needing to be installed forward of the carburetors. Checking stowage of the convertible top and side curtains, we pushed the spare tire forward top be nested properly, noting missing tire hold down clamp and the securing fastener parts. Nice original Hondura tire cover needing to be cleaned. That was secured with screws rather than original rivets, so had apparently been moved during prior repaint. No tools or tool bag or securing straps, no screw jack or jack handle, and no hand crank. The tonneau cover was an aftermarket installation with snaps rather than LTD fasteners.
Finally getting the rag top properly folded and stowed (on top of the spare tire). Notice the later model battery cover (with front tab) in black, as received as a new replacement part, still needing the Dzus fasteners. The side curtain stowage bag is in good condition, but the original side curtains need full restoration work. LED tail lights work but are very dim, because wrong type of LED bulb where the light output is directed straight down. The rubber gasket was bad, old, baked, sticking, tearing apart. My inventory list said I had those parts, but a long search did not find any in the Magic Trailer, so make note to order more. The last picture is checking out left corner forward of the radiator where the short 4-inch vent hose wants to be installed. Difficult access there, so the grille needs to be removed before the vent hose can be installed.
John had some late afternoon appointment, so we didn't have time to check or detail everything, but we definitely had a long wish list of things to buy and fix. I also turned him on to my list of vendors for parts and services, and the local car club. That should keep him busy for a while, and we will keep in touch on the progress.
Run backup to the south side of Indy for late lunch. The WiFi was flaky, and the place was closing early, so we went back to Whitesville on north side of Indy to work on processing the photos. Also some BBS and email to review, so didn't get the trip log done yet.
Wednesday, August 30, 2023:
Finishing up yesterday's photos and notes, and updating the inventory list (after last week's trailer and brake work). Have some email tech questions to answer, and we have another appointment this evening (back north again). -- Updated a Faulty Replacement Parts tech page to include the Scarborough Faire brake shoes that are too small to work without special shimming of the adjuster masks.
Mid day received a call back from the appointment we skipped Saturday evening (in Rochester, IN). He was in Wisconsin with a friend picking up another MGA. Now on his way back, will be home this evening, so we head up that way.
We were on time,but he wasn't. Hanging out locally until another phone call, then over to his place at 9-pm. Say hello to Shane Rudd in Rochester, Indiana. We were last here march 31 to April 2, tinkering with his MGA. Running well, it is now his preferred daily driver car. For now, we sit and chat until the small hours of the morning.
Thursday, August 31, 2023:
We slept in, like past noon. I had chatting about an earlier era and life style as a kid on the farm. I used to cook regularly, and was on the subject of breaded pork chop casserole with scalloped potatoes in white sauce, and corn custard casserol. Shane took me upon it and ran out to buy the ingredients, so we cooked it up and had a feast for lunch.
Things look different by the light of day. This neat house has been turned into a screen printing shop where Shane does the graphic printing on T-shirts (among other things), not much space left for people. We will be hanging out in the motor home for a while. Taking a brief peek into the garage, nothing to write home about, well stuffed with "stuff", mostly not car related.
A quick review of Shane's daily driver MGA. The fat tires are 195/65R15 stuffed onto 4-1/2" wide wire wheels. Kind of reminds me of my autocross days back in the 90's when I ran 195/60R15's on the narrow wheels to stay in Stock class. Those were the tires the local dealer had in stock on the day Shane needed tires. We took a cruise on some side roads and found the tires to be moderately harsh riding from the stiff sidewalls, and heavy steering at low speed do to the wide tread. But they work and handle okay.
Then we were off to "the farm", Shane's father's place outside of town, to check out the collection of MGA. Let's see if we can count to six here. First Shane's blue car that brought us here. Then the white one just acquired, which had a dead battery because it wasn't charging. Not enough juice to turn it over, so we hooked up jumper cables and set the blue one to idle at 1500 rpm for charging.
Number 3 is in the truck shed with enough space around so they can wok on it. They call this one Calico (three colors). The cylinder head on the bench came from another engine which we will see later. No bolts, body just sitting on the chassis.
From the other end, it obviously needs more body work, having a rusted dog leg cut out. This is the one getting current attention, so it is progressing.
One more picture of #3. On the other side of the truck shed is #4, another 1500, a little farther gone, maybe a parts car.
Heading for another shed to the left, we tripped over the short block that used to be matched with the cylinder head above. Pistons seized, they were trying to beat them out from the bottom when they chipped a piece off of the bock, taking out a chunk of bottom end of a cylinder wall. Being a 1500 block it may just become a boat anchor.
Then we got to #5, a 1600-MK-II largely disassembled. It looks like a lot of work, but being a Mk-II they will hang onto it. Low on the priorities list, but maybe someone else may want to restore it some day.
Not sure if someone was trying to build a race car, or it just had some creative accessories on the dash.
Now #6 in another open work space, and this one was more impressive. I went around this one three times, almost in disbelief. Looks like it is all here, nothing missing, never been pranged, everything straight, and no significant rust. Must have spent its whole life in dry storage. Might be low mileage, and nearly everything appears to be original issue parts. All original, right down to the Hondura cover on the spare tire.
Last registration 1970, so off the road for more than 30 years. A prime candidate for restoration to show car condition, they are not selling this one. -- I had to ask about the VW Beetle. That is a work project for some employees when they may need something to do to to fill in a 40 hour work week. Oddly enough, they seem to be confused with things they are not familiar with, and may prefer more hours on the regular day job, so this one is progressing slowly.
By now #2 is charged up pretty good, so back to that one. A little sniff of ether fired it right up, and it ran fairly well, but the ignition light stayed on. As always, test the generator first, and that checked out fine. Going after the control box, clean the contact points, check/adjust the points gaps, clean everything in sight. Try it again, but still no good, light staying on, and then we ran out of day light. I suppose he next move is to try a control box from one of the other cars, before cash out for a new one.
Done here, so back to Shane's place for dinner and chat.
Right around midnight, heavy into email discussion about structural integrity of the factory design for seat belt shoulder harness mounting in the MGA. Pretty sure it wouldn't pass modern day crash standards, but this was back in the day when seat belts were still optional accessories. More discussion about modern issue brake shoes being too short, and estimating the production date of an MGA form the body number only.
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