The MGA With An Attitude
MGA Guru Is GOING MOBILE - (August 1 - August 15, 2019)
Thursday August 1, 2019:
For the second day running we started the day with a little vehicle maintenance in the cool of the morning. This time I was determined to install the used distributor I picked up on June 10. I knew the vacuum unit didn't hold vacuum, so began by removing it (after some struggle with pot metal corrosion and seized parts). It is a DM2P4 distributor, and the production date is from MGA 1600-MK-II era. 40761A should a late MGA spec part number. We already tested it on a distributor testing machine (back in June), and the mechanical advance does 11-degrees, which will be 22-degrees at the crankshaft. That means we will set it to 10d BTDC static or at dead idle, so it will make 32d BTDC at road speed. Spent some time cleaning it up and oiling the critical bits. The shaft bushing and mechanical weights and links are in good condition, which makes it an order of magnitude better than the one we have been using.
Then I pulled the distributor we had been using out of the car. That one is a 25D type, so the nylon fitting on the lead wire is different. Fortunately the part that came with the replacement distributor is good to use. Then I noticed the drive dog was 180 degrees off, and the replacement unit likely being more original is probably correct, meaning that the drive gear in my car has likely been disoriented for many years. Figuring it easier to reorient the drive dog, we knocked out the steel pin, turned the dog around and "attempted to reinstall the pin. Having done this quite a few times with other distributors, including at least once with the one that was in the car, it took me as a surprise that this hole was drilled slightly off center so the dog could not be reversed.
 Okay, reassemble it as original, and we will play musical chairs with the HT wires to avoid reorienting the drive gear (for now). We can get away with this when we are using a top entry distributor cap. Then pull the known good vacuum unit from the old dizzy and install it in the new dizzy, install a new set of points with the (probably good) used condenser, and it was soon installed in the car and running. Note to self: turn the gear around and fix the HT wires later.
Grab the set back timing light and set timing to 32d BTDC at road speed (vacuum disconnected). I checked timing at dead idle, and sure enough it was 10d BTDC as expected. Then reconnect the vacuum pipe, and check timing again at road speed (relatively light throttle with no load). Surprise, the vacuum advance was not working. The vacuum unit itself is good, holds a vacuum and moves when it gets a vacuum input. The signal pipe (which is recently new) was producing a weak vacuum signal (noticeable vacuum flow but very low vacuum level). The pipe is connected properly, so for now guessing the pipe may have a leak, but not in the mood to spend more time checking that issue in the car park. So we packed it all up and hit the road, with another note to check into the poor vacuum signal later.
Having missed breakfast, and noting we have an evening appointment, we drove another hour and a half before stopping for lunch (and time for some WiFi work) in Okemos, MI. Spent some time posting up a new tech page on how to make your own rebound straps. Also received the electronic copy of the CMGC August newsletter, and got a little bit of a start on posting that on line.
Then off for 6:30-pm dinner and club meeting with Lansing Area MG Association (a NAMGBR affiliate) at Buddies Pub & Grill in East Lansing, MI. One MGB and two couples there when we arrived, another couple to come later. Nice dinner on the patio, and a club meeting so informal that we weren't sure when it began, but did know when it ended (just as everyone would be leaving). In between lots of chat about recent club events and some personal travels, and general chat more akin to a Natter 'n' Noggin, but a good time was had by all.
Friday August 2, 2019:
Began the day with all good intentions of working on the CMGC newsletter, but it wasn't to happen today. Lots of email and some tech questions, and some more pictures to post with the new rebound strap tech article. Then extensive discussion about another possible tech article on converting a timing cover with felt seal to rubber seal type cover (nice trick if you can pull it off). Apparently tougher than it was thought, so still hung up in the details.
Saturday August 3, 2019:
Time killer. Spent half the day composing a new tech page for converting a timing cover with felt seal to rubber seal type cover. And I didn't even do it, just cleaning up documentation from the fellow who did.
Sunday August 4, 2019:
Today we had the opportunity to visit Bob Shafto in New Hudson, MI. He has a nice MGA to be proud of. This one was off the road for 38 years before he took possession of it a few years ago. Seems like he did the complete restoration in about six months, and it is peachy.
Shortly after he began driving it the engine lost all oil due to a faulty rubber seal ring in the oil filter assembly. Problem is the replacement rubber seal rings are square section where they should be rectangular section. The proper rectangular ones stick nicely in the gland groove when installed. The deficient square ones are too narrow, so when they are installed they promptly fall out of the groove. This makes it quite difficult to assemble the oil filter in situ. In this case the square rubber ring was twisted resulting in it being torn and failing to seal. The consequences of failure can be rather expensive, in this case requiring engine disassembly to regrind the crankshaft and install new bearings.
We wanted to check out the rebound straps on the rear axle. These are the ones he made for himself, wrapped up using synthetic web strap, metal tubes, adhesive and sewing. You can find the resulting tech article in the tech section of this web site. These look exactly like the original web straps, except they will not rot like original cotton fiber.
We were admiring the finishing touches on this restoration. The side curtains, original MGA 1600 type, were restored by Todd Clarke of Clarke Spares and Restorations a few years ago. That surprised me, because I thought Todd was only selling the parts and no longer doing the restoration work.
Bob Shafto is also the guy who has developed the technique for converting a felt seal timing cover to rubber seal. Check yesterday's notes for that information.
Monday August 5, 2019:
Grunt work today, spent most of the day working on uploading the CMGC newsletter, aside from the normal email and BBS stuff.
Tuesday August 6, 2019:
Finished the newsletter upload, then spent some time catching up a little backlog of email and tech questions. Had a club meeting this evening with the Michigan Chapter of New England MG T-Register in Farmington Hills,
MI, with about 30 people in attendance. A couple knew we were coming, and a few more knew who we were when we arrived. Nice dinner opp first, then a typical club meeting with business and jollies. I got to be the guest speaker to follow up, and a good time was had by all. In process I picked up the ID of another service shop that was not yet on our Shops list, maybe something to do tomorrow. To top off the evening several of us rolled over to a local ice cream shop. Then back to WiFi for rest of the evening.
Wednesday August 7, 2019:
On appointment today, the shop we heard about the night before, B K Imported Auto Care Inc in Commerce Township, MI. Say hello to Bob Keslacy, the owner and master mechanic. He works on most anything imported, including vintage British cars. Some of the MG T-Types from the local club find their way here occasionally.
There were three Mercedes in the shop today, but he also has his own Jaguar E-Type V12. He likes working on it mostly because it's a challenge. He doesn't have enough time to drive it much, but it has done a good job of taking over fun time from his Corvette (which he used to drive a lot). We caught him in a good mood. Last night his only daughter presented him with his only granddaughter (we hope only the first).
Thursday August 8, 2019:
A bit of "clean up" work today. Now that the grand tour of the Shops is finished (at least the first lap), we can get back to a short list of clubs we have not yet been able to visit. Some of those are in Michigan and Ohio, so we may hang around here a while longer to make some of these appointments.
Friday August 9, 2019:
One new tech web page added today, a description of repairing Choke and Start cables, so we can retain the original hardware on the face of the dash for appearance reason.
Sat, Sun, Mon, August 10, 11, 12, 2019:
No fixed appointments, so spent much of this time woking on updates for the CMGC web site Library pages, for which update information was not previously forthcoming for several years. We'll see how this comes out.
Tuesday, August 13, 2019:
Club meeting this evening with West Michigan Old Speckled Hen MG Car Club at the Rockford Sportsman Club in Rockford, Michigan. They turned out at least 17 LBCs, and maybe a few larger ones.
About 50 people inside did a pretty good job of cleaning up the potluck buffet before the formal business meeting. Typical stuff about old business, new business, reports, new members and guests. I got to do 10 minutes about the MGAguru web site and our road trip, number of clubs visited, cars worked on, and the 1100 vendors on our Shops list. In general a good time was had by all.
After the meeting we toddled on 33 miles south to visit Bill Hirsch in rural Caledonia, MI. Kind of dark for pictures, but we found a '78 MGB belonging to his son, an MG SA partially disassembled and begging for restoration, a nice MG TC with a slipping clutch, an MGTD missing a bumper and needing a tune up, a Triumph motorcycle belonging to his son (permanently under a friendly contractual obligation), and a popcorn wagon without a cause. There was also a vintage horse buggy, but couldn't get a picture of that in the dark. Bill also has an MGA that we didn't see tonight, but we will likely get a better look at all of the toys in the morning. Up to chat past midnigh,followed bya afew hours of WiFi work, just needing to get some sleep.
Wednesday, August 14, 2019:
After tough night we slept in a bit, had a short late morning chat, ran off to brunch, and didn't get anything notable accomplished. But we did lay plans to return next week end to see if we could help. Then pointed it south and east and sough some more. Had an evening appointment for a club meeting with Lake Erie British Car Club in Maumee, OH. It said 7-pm meeting, but it looked like we were late, as most everyone had half eaten dinner by the time we arrived. Nothing new, just that no one said to come early for dinner. Nice club meeting with about 20 people stating promptly at 7, concluded by 8:30.
We had a chance to spread the good word a bit, but no one took us up on the offer of assistance with their car. As the party broke up we were heading south again staging for tomorrow's appointment.
Thursday, August 15, 2019:
Spent a good part of the day trying to do a hard drive data backup, which had not been done for a few months. Since crashing a couple of remote hard drives I have been trying to use a high capacity flash drive in a USB port, and it is proving to be painfully slow. Less than half finished with that today.
Club meeting tonight with Central Ohio MG Owners at the Old Dog Ale House And Brewery in Delaware, OH. No dedicated parking lot, no space to park on the street. Followed and MGB tourer once around the block but lost him making a left turn at a traffic light. Finally found a space in some small off street lot a block away and walked. Nice enough tavern style pub with space in the rear for at least 30 people, well filled. Food good, service okay, but noisy. When it was time for the business meeting and someone rang the bell, I was surprised how much the noise dissipated, apparently it was mostly from our own folks. So the meeting came off okay, well founded club, active enough, and I got to do a few minutes about our ventures.
By evening's end I picked up a lead for a local shop that is currently in process of moving into new facilities, so I think we will give that one a little more time to get settled in before we visit. Nothing happening after the meeting, so we did an hour on WiFi before heading north for two hours, landing just across the state line back in Michigan again just past midnight.
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