The MGA With An Attitude
MGA Guru Is GOING MOBILE - (November 1 - November 15, 2018)
Thursday November 1, 2018:
Sitting in rural North East, Maryland today (it's a town) on visit with Ted and JoAnn Dawson. Chance to take a day off and catch up on WiFi work. Also time to take a look at Ted's "new" MGA 1600-MK-II and give him a crash course in the basics of MG. Being a good drivable car is a good place to start. It was running a bit rich and idling too fast, but easy to fix with standard tune-up adjustments. Need to get rid of those restrictive pancake air filters and connect the crankcase breather hose to the front air cleaner for clean air intake rather than road dirt into the crankcase. Should also change the 4-psi radiator cap to 7-psi (long reach for 1-inch deep neck). Engine mounts are sagging so the hand crank cannot engage, so put those on the shopping list. The seat backrests are on the wrong sides of the car, easy enough to swap with just four hinge bolts. Seat cushions are likely 56 year old original parts, badly perished and in need of replacement.
We stuffed the spare tire into proper stowage position, found and installed the hold-down clamp, and found the original hondura tire cover to be in surprisingly good condition. Put the original Shelly screw jack and wheel brace into the large tool bag, and got that strapped in place on top of the spare tire. Spent some time looking at spare parts that came with the car. Now sporting a spin-on oil filter adapter, the original canister filter checked out having all of the original parts (good for someone wanting a concours show car). Time for some head scratching over making a planning list on what to do with the car, having pretty much decided he doesn't want to do a full restoration on a car that is already a decent daily driver.
Friday November 2, 2018:
Back into Pennsylvania today, looking for Flannery Auto Repair in Reading, PA. Building now occupied by another business, and phone number disconnected. I later found an obituary saying the business owner was retired late 1990's, and deceased 2016.
Then we paid a visit to Lippincotts Garage in Sinking Springs, PA. This is a family owned business, primarily a pre-1980 Jaguar restoration shop, five people with hands on every day. Say hello to Terry Lippincott (right) and Phil Wright (left).
For some odd reasons there were a couple of non-Jaguar cars in the shop, although that is not their normal business. The black coupe was really sweet, in process of final trimming.
Then we were off to visit Proper Noise in Reading, PA. Under new management, this was previously Carriage Craft. Nice assortment of cars on hand. That's a 1956 ZB Magnette (with European spec trafficators). Pretty sure those are T-Type and TR6 under wraps. The Midget is waiting his turn, 1972-1974 round wheel arch model is a desirable model. That particular style of bolt-on hardtop strikes me as a bit too large and out of place.
Installing a new dash panel in a late model MGB may be a two man job. Rust repair for full restoration is a way of life here.
Our next stop was at Good Parts in Mohnton, PA. Billed as "Performance engineering for TR6", they do some engine building and a little machine work (very little service work on the cars).
The focus here is on replacement parts, primarily for Triumph TR6, some of which rubs off on other similar models. They are making a lot of new and improved replacement parts (mostly for TR6). The race car is a regular competitor in hill climb events.
We were looking for Robinsons Automotive in Lancaster, PA, but no joy. Yes it used to be Robinsons, but the current tenant PA Auto Service has been here for 17 years.
We stopped briefly at Universal Vintage Tire Co in Hershey, PA. Big place, and yes they do have wide whitewall tires in correct size for MGA. I think the Ford Model A truck is 1933 vintage.
Just enough time to stop for a quick visit with a friend John Saul in Palmyra, PA. We met John and his wife Kristi
at the British Invasion car show in Stowe, VT in 2016. Story was that some fiends had talked John into buying an MGB, (because he was the only one of the bunch that didn't have a little British car at the time). He was having a good time at the car show when his wife was mysteriously missing. Turned out she was in the process of trying to buy an MGA (oops). After talking her out of some possible spur of the moment mistake, they did later buy her an MGA roadster. Looks like the habit got a little out of hand, as they now have two more MGA Coupe and another MGB. One too many, I think MGA Coupe 5E87 is looking for a new home.
Long way to go as time flies. We did quick sprint west to visit Steele Motors in Enola, PA. Trouble finding the building. Street address is 700 but when we finally found it between two other buildings we figure it should be more like 640 (no number on the building, and numbers may be out of sequence). This shop is a member of British Motor Trade Association. Mid afternoon, no one there. Sign on the door said, "No longer accepting appointments for service. Sales inquires should be directed to 717-732-9229 or steelemotors@gmail.com". The phone still works, so we left a voice message. Will have to get the scoop on this one later.
One more long sprint to visit Gemini Enterprises in State College, PA. Having spoken to the folks here, I'm not
sure why this one is on our Shops list. They are a full service auto shop, and they sometimes restore muscle cars, but they do not provide parts or service for vintage British cars. I dunno, they may have done something for one once, raising a recommendation. They say they may occasionally pay for an ad in a club newsletter (just as a bit of financial support).
 As an aside, we have a friend who splits his time between western Pennsylvania in summer and Florida in winter. We had an opportunity to visit here, so gave him a call to inquire, and it tuned out he was in Florida, so scratch the current visit. But there was an additional story here. Some time ago a mechanic had installed a left side rear axle halfshaft in the right side of our friend's MGA, which had wire wheels. This caused the knock off nut to be self-loosening rather than self-tightening, so the RR wheel came off the car while traveling at road speed. Having been nearly killed in this incident, our friend soon sold all of his vintage British cars. A sad day due to the incompetence of one professional mechanic.
Saturday-Sunday November 3-4, 2018:
No shop hopping on the week end. One day to post the CMGC November newsletter on the club web site, then one full day to catch up photos and notes, email, bbs, tech questions, and update the Planning list, ready to strike out again on Monday.
Monday November 5, 2018:
First stop today would be Paul's Chrome Plating in Evans City, PA. Tucked into the far end of a side street, they have plenty of space once you find the place. When you need chrome plating, this place has all the raves on bulletin boards and email lists. In the front lobby there are numerous environmental awards and safety certificates, things we don't think about much but do hold some importance. Custom show plating is their specialty. Check out their web site, and give them a call for a quote.
We stopped at morSpeed Performance Products in McDonald, PA. They offer unique hand-laid fiberglass body products for
MGB's, Midgets, TR7's, and TR8's. Check out their web site for details.
Then we were off to visit McB Autosport in Bridgeville, PA. They previously had two locations, one shop and one storage. A few years ago (about 2015) they procured more space at the second
location, moved everything in there, and closed up the first place. This is a family operation working mostly with race cars. Previously mostly for vintage British cars, these days they work on a lot of BMW in the winter months, and work on the vintage British cars when they are more active in the summer driving season.
We paid a visit to Universal Carnegie Manufacturing in Carnegie, PA (also known as Carnegie Industrial Radiator). This place works on all kinds of radiators and heat exchangers, but our interest here is the fact that they have the materials and skills to rebuild cell core radiators, as originally used in MGA. The little round cell core heat exchanger is part of a heater core from an Austin Healey. In this shop you can send them your original radiator, and they will re-core it and send it back to you, one stop service.
We made a brief stop at B&R Automotive Machine Shop in Verona, PA. Billed as "Your Performance Specialist", it is a speed shop with full engine service facilities, and yes they do machine work on vintage British engines.
Then we got a two-fer with a visit to British Sports Car Restorations in Murrysville, PA. Say hello to Ken Lamers. This business has been winding down restoration work for vintage British cars, although they may still do some break-down (emergency) service. The business has recently re-directed attention to supplying parts with a new company name Vintage British and Mini Parts. You can check out their eBay store for that stuff.
Looking for Cross Roads Auto Systems in Greensburg, PA, but no joy here. Used to be, but now the current tenant has been here for 13 years, so scratch this one off the list. ----------->
Then we were trying to find Mick Conde of Keystone Classic Cars, LTD in New Stanton, PA. No street address, only a PO box number. Tried a phone call, not available, left a voice message. No call back three days later. -- P.S. - Placed another call on the 10th, got an email back on the 11th. Mick is semi-retired from his day job, still dabbling in the T-types for himself and a few friends, selectvely. Call to ask if you need something.
Ran out of business hours, but we had one more contact still nearly two hours away. This was a home business, so we made the call, and the bloke said "Sure, come on over", so we did. Well after dark we hauled in to visit Gary Slagle in New Paris, PA. He has been disassembling cars for years and has tons of MGA parts available, and apparently some Triumph stuff as well.
Tuesday November 6, 2018:
We began the day with an "attempted" visit to Carlisle Productions, Inc in Carlisle, PA. The given address turned out to be the Carlisle Fairgrounds, which was empty today. I recon we were turned on to this because "Carlisle Productions" is a member of BMTA (British Motor Trade Association). I suppose they promote car shows, but otherwise have naught to do with service or parts for vintage British cars.
Then we were looking for J&L Autoworks in Mechanicsburg, PA. The current tenant has been here 13 years, and says another business was here for two years in between, so J&L has been gone 15 years (since about 2003). Phone number disconnected, and I think any references I can find to this business on the internet are also about that old. So scratch another one off the list.
Next up was Merryman Modifications in Hanover, PA. just a little tricky to find, no post box, and tucked up on a hill behind some other businesses, but we got there eventually. Multiple techs and some note vintage British cars in the shop, all services and spare parts too for vintage British cars. Say hello Jack Merryman. Aside from a nice chat (for about an hour), I got lucky and found some parts I needed, including an old school tie rod end, a couple of my favorite fiber head gaskets, and a few more small bits. A lot of service experience in this place, very useful shop.
Might have just enough time for one more shop stop if we hustle. Sneaking down one of those small alley type streets we found Olde York Classics in York, PA. There was a light on, and one last soul about to lock up. Yes, they do full service and restoration for vintage British cars.
After a quick bite for a very late lunch we were on to our evening appointment at "Darrel's Garage", that bunch of friends tinkering the alley in York, PA on Tuesday nights. Immediately found a few of the friends' cars on hand, and voices inside.
Took a step across the alley for a peek into one of the storage garages foe a quick consultation on a possible problem with an MGB. Not sure if we had seen the other toys before, as it has been two years since our last visit. By late night we would (collectively) lift the MGB body shell and get it inside under cover.
The prize tonight was a Morris Minor 1000 (with a 1275 engine) that had just been retrieved and pushed into the
garage the day before. The gang had convened tonight to see if they could get it running. I couldn't get everyone into the picture at once, but I can tell you it takes 15 people to fire up a Minor that was last registered 27 years earlier. We did get it running momentarily, and managed to remove badly stuck rear brake drums to free up the brakes enough so it could roll with just a few people pushing.
Wednesday November 7, 2018:
Since Darrell's Garage was pre-occupied last night, we would return today for a maintenance day for my MGA. Hoping for 10-am start, not to kill the whole day, some other things got in the way and put it off a bit. A couple friends met us there at 2-pm to push two cars out of the service bay and get the MGA in and up on the hoist. First issue would involve two problems at once, changing a failed tie rod end, and changing a failed steering rack boot. Tie rod ends seem to fail when the rubber boot fails and allows dirt to get into the ball socket. I recon this one (LH side) doesn't owe me anything, as it has been in service for 21 years and 313,000 miles. The one on LH side had to be changed after only 15 years and 136,000 miles. Can't complain. This time I managed to find and "old school" part with a grease fitting, pressure relief washer, and it is the correct length not needing to be cut down before installation, making the chore a little easier.
The new rack boot had a different issue. Aside from the appearance of 14 convolutions rather than the original 11, the material is rather thin plastic. When stretched to normal full operational extension length the sides collapse and wrinkle up. Then when compressed to normal full compression length, the wrinkles get crushed and molested. I don't have much hope for long life of this part. It also has too narrow clamping groove on the inboard end, so the large end clamp has to be replaced with a plastic tie wrap. Keep the clamp for future use, in case I might some day be able to find better original type rack boots. Also not much confidence in the tie wrap being tight enough to retain the gear oil.
While we were under the car it was a good time to change the engine oil and filter and give it a chassis lube (a few miles early for a change). Then I noticed the RH rack boot had a short split in it as well. As long as the innards of the rack were clean, and the second boot was split, there was not much sense to putting oil in the rack when it would just leak out. So now I will be shopping for couple of "good" rack boots, ASAP.
One more little chore, changing the driver side door latch pull cable (broken a week earlier), which requires R&R of the door panel and door pocket and the latch. Not a big deal, done and back together in short order. Yes, the replacement cable was in the magic trailer.
After putting two cars back in the barn it was time to grab dinner, then head west out of town and get some sleep.
Thursday November 8, 2018:
Good thing we had a lot of WiFi work to do, because we were going to kill another day while waiting for an evening appointment that was intended to happen yesterday (before maintenance day ran too late in the evening).
So tonight we were heading back west a bit to visit Don Swigart in Newville, PA. Don has two MGA, a '58 roadster and a '57 Coupe, both nice daily driver cars (when the weather is nice and no salt on the roads).
We spent some time chatting about restoration and condition of the cars, and what future touch-ups might be in the works. Then we set about tuning up the Coupe which was running a little rough. This was mostly standard stuff like adjusting the choke linkage and fuel mixture and balancing air flow. When it was still running a bit rough we tweaked the ignition timing a bit, but that didn't help. Then check resistance of the HT wires and distributor cap, which looked okay.
Shorting out spark plugs revealed no fire on the front two cylinders when idling. So we check valve lash and did a compression test, which also tuned out normal. Duh? What next? Noticing a fuel leak from the front carburetor, we lifted the float cover to find perfectly normal fuel level and good action of the float valve. Finally a little more poking about revealed a loose packing nut and washer leaving the bottom cork washer loose, which means the jet bearings were also loose. And we found the air float was sticking just before seating at bottom of travel, so the fuel jet needs to be centered when the packing nut is tightened.
It was getting late, but by this time Don knew how to center the jet, tighten the gland nut, and re-do the carb tuning, so it was time for us to leave so he could get some sleep before work in the morning. G'night all.
Friday November 9, 2018:
It was a dark and dreary day. Well, at least it was cold and raining most of the day. We had a notion to do more shop hopping in the smaller neighboring states to the south, because it was Friday, and if we didn't do it today we would be held over to next week. But a quick review of how many shops we still had to visit told us it wasn't going to get done in one day anyway, so it was either hang around into next week, or come back in the spring. Having a ton of WiFi work to catch up, we decided to sit still and "get'er done", so this is the day we spent catching up all of the photos and notes and email for the past few days when we were too busy.
Saturday November 10, 2018:
Spent most of the day listing shops in Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey. I think there are 32 shops in these states we have not visited yet, which will (or would) be the end of the list in the north east. That's some incentive to get it done now, not to need to return later for one week of shop hopping. It looks like a little more than 1000 miles of travel, 28 hours driving, maybe 8-hours total visiting time for 32 shops.
36 hours is a tight squeeze during business hours, but we may be able to do it in five days, which would run us through next week (mid November) before we would head south. Getting colder here, going to have frost tonight and tomorrow night. Then maybe a few degrees warmer, but expecting rain two days next week (if you can believe the forecasts). Kind of miserable stuff for traveling, but at least not expecting snow. Currently still sitting in Carlisle, PA, but will be heading almost an hour south just into Maryland tonight. Then we get to kill Sunday.
Sunday November 11, 2018:
Told you we had to kill a day.
Monday November 12, 2018:
Woke up to frost again, but determined to get back to business. Got an email this morning from Mick Conde of Keystone Classic Cars Ltd in New Stanton, PA. He is now semi-retired from his day job, still working on T-types for himself and occasionally for friends (on a selective bases). Call him if you need something.
Also got phone call from Keith Rule in York, PA. Been trying to contact him for some time. Turned out he is out of town on business, not to return until next week when we will likely be farther south, so will have to try him again on a later pass. He was looking for a small 12-volt battery for his MGA, didn't find exactly what he wanted, but settled for a Miata battery.
Off and running at 9-am (when the sun came out), going to see how far we can get in one day. First stop was Vintage Restorations LTD in Union Bridge, MD (specialists in English auto restoration and service). The partners have been in service for decades. Plenty of good examples on hand today, including a couple of TF's, a GT6+ and a P1800 back in the corner. The GT6+ was done up with some quite tasteful bonnet louvers.
I think that's a Triumph Sports Six, followed by a TR3 and a TF, and some stuff in the paint room.
Let's see if I can run down this room. MG NA, TF, P1800, TR3A, BMW 2002, XK-140, MGB and Lotus Esprit. Yes, I did say MG NA. This one was in a different restoration shop when the shop burned causing severe damage to the NA. VRL has been persistently collecting parts to get the car back together, and it looks like they are gradually winning the battle.
Just for fun, in the back room there is the owner's train collection beginning with a couple of scale size working steam engines. The lager pieces are restored full size work cars, one gas powered, one steam powered (sorry no hand pump car), and another one in process.
Stopped to visit Jakes Auto Clinic in New Market, MD, but found a locked door. Likely closed for the Veterans Day holiday. Made the call, got a machine, left a voice message, check back later. ---------->
Then we were off to visit Joe Macinnes at Chis' Classic Restorations in Frederick, MD (business named after his father). Photos on the wall of some of the cars they have restored over the years.
Excuse the German bits in front, there was a TVR in that mix. Also found an AH 100 and a MG Midget.
The next one I had to laugh at (excuse the pun). It is an MP Lafer created by Percival Lafer, a furniture manufacturer, and built in Brazil by Lafer S.A. beginning in 1974. While it looks a little like an MG TD, it is a fiberglass body car built on the VW chassis. This was apparently a response to his wife who wanted a TD, but they couldn't buy one in Brazil, so they built this. If you call it a kit car they will be offended, because it is factory built with 4300 cars produced over 16 years from 1974-1990.
We stopped briefly to visit Auto Motive Precision, LLC in Williamsport, MD. No one in the shop at the time, and we weren't particularly sure about the street address, and someone next door was peeking out at our car, so we asked them. Tuned out to be the guy's ex-wife (interesting encounter) who assured us that he had just left but was still in the business. We may get to call this one back later.
Our next stop was Rankin Upholstery in Gaithersburg, MD. This place is huge. All the typical questions, yes they work on vintage cars, and pretty much any kind of fabric on any part of the car is fair game.
Looking for Looper Service Center Inc in Rockville, MD. Alas, no more, disbanded in 2016 (obsolete photo from Google maps) it is now a tune-up and lube service (amazing what a coat of paint can do).
We stopped to visit Mountjoy's Autoshop in Hyattsville, MD. Contrary to a prior rumor, the place is still in business and doing well, and they still service vintage British cars in a big way. Seeing is believing.
Running out of business hours, our last stop for the day would be City Imports, LTD in Glen Burnie, MD, and they parked the best business card right out front. Plenty of clean space inside, a few tech's always busy, and some interesting cars. After a Quick glance at the TR4, The car that caught my attention was the Bristol 404 2-Litre, 1954-1956. It was the only 4-door saloon ever produced by the company, a long wheelbase development of the 2-door Coupe.
Only processed half the photos, then crashed early so we could get an early start tomorrow.
Tuesday November 13, 2018:
Our first stop today was Ye Olde Wheel Shop in Elkridge, MD. "You bend 'em, we mend 'em". They can straighten and repair steel wheels and alloy wheels. When I got specific about issues with wire wheels, they mentioned a current problem is that they recently procured all new balancing machines, and these machines have larger spindles than the old ones. The special cones used for balancing wire wheels do not fit on the new machines, and they have not gotten around to having the WW cones modified yet. I suppose it is only due to nobody walking in with a WW work order yet.
I was looking forward to the next visit with Pete Groh of British Car Keys in Ellicott City, MD. He has loads of key blanks for vintage British cars. If you can provide the key code he can cut the keys and mail them out to you.
We headed out to find British Sports Car Center in Sykesville, MD. "A Rd" leading to the shop was an interesting approach along a rail road right of way. On arrival the place was quiet, but the shop contained a an MGB and a more modern Jaguar. We made a phone call to find out the shop was retired in 2013, so as promising as it looked we have to scratch this one off the list.
Looking for Treasured Motorcar Services LTD in Reisterstown, MD, we thought we had the right address, even found the shop name on the marque. Well, don't believe everything you see. The shop had moved just three months earlier in August, but we had a lead on the new location 16 miles to the north in Manchester, MD, so we were off and running again.
Half hour later, whoop, thar it were. We had to wait a minute while they were unloading a vintage Mustang from a flat bed and running it into the shop. Story here is that this was their body and paint shop while the other place was their mechanical shop. Now they have consolidated all operations into one location. We are right on top of this one, having updated our list within three months of the move. Oh, they have some nice cars inside too. The TR3 is in for brake work, while the MGA is nearing end of full restoration.
Sixteen miles backtrack, then continue on looking for David's Classic Cars in Baltimore, MD. Alas, gone at least two years according to the current tenant, now it's a mailing service. Phone disconnected, and no more
information to be found, so scratch this one off the list.
Then looking for Dean Street Motors in Baltimore, MD, but an even longer story here, Chesapeake Auto Service has been here for 15 years (nothing to do with vintage British cars). Where do people get these shop listings?
Looking for Free State British in Forest Hill, MD, also long gone. The current resident has been here for five years, phone disconnected, and no more information.
Then looking for British Images in Bel Air, MD. I think this guy used to do posters with a picture of your car, but apparently no more. The current resident has been here 7 years, and there is no follow-up information available for this business. We just stuck out four times in a row, not such a good day here.
Okay, enough of this, let's get out of Maryland. Heading east we wanted to visit British Racing Green in Newark, Delaware before closing time, and we just made it. Jim Knight has been scaling back the business in recent years, but he is still definitely in the business servicing vintage British cars and supplying parts. In fact I just picked up a pair of steering rack boots for my MGA which are much better quality than the current common collection of crap parts made overseas.
Addendum:Shop closed before January 2024.
Wednesday November 14, 2018:
Shop hopping again, off to an early start, and we did much better today than anticipated. Out of Delaware into New Jersey, our first stop was Motorcar Garage LLC in Maple Shade, NJ. I recon the Mini is vintage, and there were some parts cars outside. A few cars in the mechanical shop, a couple MGB and an MGA nearing completion of restoration.
The sheet metal shop was busy with a Spitfire, an MG-MGB-GT and an MGA. This MGA was a nearly rust free example with the only metal replacement being in the tail end of the inner body sills. There was a nice inventory of service parts, especially the stuff needed to keep the cars running.
We were looking for Passport Foreign Car in Maple Shade, NJ, with very little hope. The given address could not be found by any known mapping program, and Garmin GPS also had no clue. The phone number is no longer in service, and we cannot find any other information about this shop anywhere on the internet. Scratch another on from the Shops list.
Our next stop was Flemington Foreign Car Repair in Flemington, NJ. Good news is, the place is still there. Bad news is, the owner is no longer doing service for vintage British cars. These days the business runs on service of modern cars, and he says he has neither the time nor patience to work on the vintage stuff. Pity to lose the talent, but of course times change.
Then we hopped over to Don's Jaguar Service in Flemington, NJ. This sign is still on one of the doors, and the name is still (sometimes) used when dealing with some of the parts suppliers. But in fact George Hughes took over the business in 1990 and has renamed it Authorized Imported Car LLC (which is posted on another building). We found a number of vintage LBC's outside, either parts cars or awaiting their turn for restoration.
In the first shop we found some modern British cars which constitute a large part of daily business. Across the lot in "the other building" we found the interesting vintage stuff, and it's not just Jaguar.
There were a couple of vintage Land Rover in early restoration, A nice vintage Jaguar XK150 FHC, and one E-Type Series-2 that was unfortunately somewhat past its prime, most likely destined to be a parts car.
Then we were looking for William Thomas Roadsters, LLC in Frenchtown, NJ, which is a little off the beaten path and likes to keep a low profile. Not having a known street address, we made the phone call to chat with the
owner and were invited to meet him at Performance Garage Club (also in Frenchtown, NJ), which we knew about in advance but were not intending to visit (until now). This is a private club, not a public service shop, so it is not on our Shops list, and I didn't take any pictures inside. But I did have a nice chat with Bill Thomas about his vintage British cars restoration shop. We didn't get to visit there today, but you can check out his web site for more information and photos of that shop.
We then took a shot at Souza's Auto Repair in Maple Whitehouse Station, NJ. Definitely the correct address, but now just a gas station, no longer anything to do with British cars. The old phone number is no longer working, and no information at all about the prior owner or prior operation relative ti vintage cars, so scratch this one off of our Shops list.
Then we stopped to visit Auto-Tech Corp in Long Valley, NJ. Lots of nice LBC outside (bet you can't count them all).
Several more cars inside for service and/or restoration, including the MG TD with wire wheel conversion and that "traditional" vintage Volvo engine transplant from back in the day. They were reviving this long sedentary car to put it back on the road.
Next up was British Car Company LLC in Wayne, NJ. Meet Nick O'Donohoe, a man after me own heart.
Nick works out of his home shop doing bench work like rebuilding carburetors and gearboxes for local club members. He also travels some to work on other folks cars at their place. Nice MGB that he restored. He currently has a couple of restoration projects going on at home, including this TR6 giving him a struggle with ill fitting replacement panels.
He has a couple drawers full of vintage factory issue shop service tools. How many of these could you name? On the wall is a factory Jaguar service tool board that he inherited from his father (who used to be in the business for decades past).
Looking for The M.G. Shop in West Milford, NJ. No one home here, and the shop space looks like it hasn't been used recently. The cars sitting around appear to be mostly untagged (and definitely not vintage British), and the given phone number is no longer in service. Pretty sure this shop has long since been closed (and we hope the current owner is not ticked about us stopping in his parkway to knock on his door).
Getting late in the day, so we were hustling to get to eMachineShop in Mahwah, NJ. This is the place that will machine up custom parts on special order from your drawings using state of the art NC machine tools, one piece at a time if necessary. Check out their web site and give them a call for information or a quote.
Maybe time enough for one more stop, looking for The Auto Works Ltd in Westwood, NJ, arriving at the specified address at 4:45-pm. No joy here. This shop has been gone long enough for the old phone number to be reassigned, and there is no other reference to it anywhere on the internet.
That's all for today, off to find a WiFi spot to bring you these photos and notes. I think we touched 12 shops and one car club today. Considering the past three days hustle, we are now a day ahead of planning with just one more day to go in New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. Unfortunately, we are in for a hard freeze tonight, and snow tomorrow afternoon, but still pretty determined to get this job done before we seriously head south. Looked at the weather forecast saying it was 4-drgrees warmer in Toms River, NJ, 80 miles to the south, and maybe rain instead of snow, so off we go late night again.
Thursday November 15, 2018:
Yes we had rain last night in Toms River, NJ, not snow, and today is overcasts but so far not raining. Our morning stop was looking for British Classic Car Service in Toms River, NJ. They have a Facebook page advertising "Moving sale" with British car parts as recently as June, but not much activity since then, so I wasn't really expecting much. The current resident has been here since August, and told us the prior owner had moved to Florida. So scratch this one off the Shops list.
We had one more target in Ocean City. NJ, about 90 minutes south in traffic, so off we went. 15 minutes on it was raining. A few minutes later is was showing lightly. Then ut was snowing heavily, and we decided to abandon the last target and head back north. Navigator told the GPS to avoid tolls and avoid Ferries, so it was directing us northwest to a bridge north of Philadelphia (considerably farther north than Toms River where we stated in the morning). By the time we turned west the show was heavy and traffic slow, and the wipers were bogging down with wet snow, so we stopped to clear the show and fuel up. About five minutes back under way and the wiper drive broke disabling the wipers. Oops, this was seriously bad. With near zero visibility we had to stop in thick wet snow on the shoulder of the expressway to clear the wind screen, and then figure out how to get back under way in traffic. Having done this a few times (including breaking the left side wing mirror) we finally made it off the next exit and muddled our way into a safe port (WiFi spot) in Langhorne, PA to consider our options while waiting out the storm. Soon to have rising temperatures, snow turning to rain, and we were officially grounded for the rest of the day. At least we could use the time to catch up on grunt work. And we ended up staying over night, tomorrow would be a better time by daylight.
|
