The MGA With An Attitude
MGA Guru Is GOING MOBILE - (April 16 - April 30, 2022)
Saturday, April 16, 2022:
Late last might we rolled on west to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to be close to our morning appointment, intending to attend the Saturday Breakfast with British Motoring Club New Orleans, Baton Rouge Area. We missed this one last Saturday when the borrowed truck let us down with a failed fuel pump. And we missed this group's monthly business meeting on Tuesday when we were working on the MGA ring job. Thinking we were several minutes early for the 7-am meeting today, it turned out the restaurant was closed for the Easter holiday weekend, so no go here. Three strikes and you're out, maybe?
 But we do know where there's another breakfast meeting. So back on I-12, point it east sailing along with the faster traffic, and an hour later we were back in Mandeville at Liz's Where Y'At Diner for Cars & Coffee with the BMCNO North Shore group, just about half hour late but plenty of time to catch breakfast. Remember this place? Nice weather, no rain, so better turn-out than two weeks ago. I think we had 22 friends for breakfast, then out to kick some tires,
Then a smaller group of 7 cars was off for a run heading east, sticking to the side roads, along the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, through Slidell, around the east end of the big lake here the white MG Midget dropped out (at home I think). Then west on US-90 crossing a couple of bridges along Lake St Catherine for a short rest stop.
Then a few more miles west before turning north to another long causeway bridge on US-11. The bridge structure here isn't exactly like the underskirts of a wooden covered bridge, but can be interesting to an engineer. That got us back into Slidell where we dropped out of the caravan for early lunch and WiFi stop. Well, we were familiar with this area, and the tour was going back to Mandeville where we didn't need to be again today. I recon that was a 60 mile tour for us, nice drive on a beautiful day, and what better for our car's first full day back on the road with a happy engine.
Sunday, April 17, 2022:
Update to a web page on MGA starter switches, adding photos and notes for a new part from a UK source (found on eBay). No other information yet, needing to wait now for a user report.
Monday, April 18, 2022:
Some discussion about MGA dash panels being painted or vinyl covered, and when, and what the trim toll piping looks like.
Tuesday, April 19, 2022:
Some discussion on repair of the MGA safety gauge (specificlly the tenperature gauge) and the thermal sensor bulb. Some replacement parts have the mounting flange of the bulb being incorrect shape, having a problem sealing aginst the counterbore in the cylinder head. A second problem with the tubular male threaded compression nut being too short, so not properly compressing the bulb flange on the sealing seat.
Wednesday, April 20, 2022:
Monthly business meeting this evening of the North Shore chapter of British Car Club New Orleans at at Cucina Cangemi in Mandeville, LA. Been here before, but at least a few years past. Jovial bunch, at least 20 people (more arriving after the picture), and a good discussion of activities for a very active club. There were a few jabs with "Barney stories", so I guess that makes us part of the family now.
Thursday, April 21, 2022:
Another Faulty Part report, several years after first report and still happening. The Too Small brake shoes for MGA seem to be still in production, not just a case of selling off existing inventory of faulty parts.
Then we had a late morning appointment, heading back to Cliff Hughes' place in Mandeville. It bugged me that his speedometer didn't work when I was driving his Magnette last week, so we should do something about that. After some fiddling around we managed to disconnect the speedometer drive cable from back of dash and drop it down for access. Then jack up the rear wheel and run the car in place for a bit to verify the cable was not turning. Then just grab the cable center wire and pull it out. The piece that came out was only about 18 inches long before the break point, so there's the problem.
Then jack it up on one side for access under the middle of the car, needing to disconnect the bottom end of the
cable to pull out the rest of the core wire. Then lay the two pieces of wire end to end to carefully measure overall length, so we could see about ordering a replacement part. The fun bit here is that the 5-speed gearbox is a Datsun part, and the cable is a non-standard length (not well documented). So now to grouse around to hopefully find a local speedometer shop to make up a new cable core.
Then we got to chatting about air filters and crankcase ventilation and camshaft wear, and Cliff pulled a used camshaft off the shelf. So I pulled out my dia caliper and began measuring cam lobe base circle diameters and lobe height to see of there was a common pattern of wear on this used cam, and there was (just enough to measure). As predicted, 3 out of 4 of the cam lobes on front half of the cam had some measurable wear, while the four rear lobes measured close to new cam dimensions. It is an interesting phenomenon that may be related to crankcase ventilation and some ingested road dirt.
Then another minor find. Cliff has a local source air filter, brand name NAPA Gold, part number 2373, that
is said to (maybe) fit in the original MGA air cleaner housing, So we measured it. Thickness = 1-7/8". OD = 5-13/16". ID - 4-9/16". So the radial thickness is 5/8". Looks like it should fit, except for the radial thickness which would require cutting and wedging the inside surface in one place to clear the vent tube for the front carburetor, Going to have to try fitting one of thee sometime.
Friday, April 22, 2022:
Received a casual suggestion that turned out to be a good idea. When an analog temperature gauge is repaired
with a new thermal bulb and retaining nut, they sometimes come back with slightly undersize bulb and shorter nut, which can cause it to not seal at the cylinder head when installed. Original Smiths brand gauges used in MG Midget and later production MGB may have the same problem. For these cars there is an adapter with a copper sealing washer to fit the cylinder head port, then giving a shorter or shallower female threaded port for the sensor bulb. This adapter works nicely on the MGA as well.
Saturday, April 23, 2022:
Took another shot at Saturday Morning Breakfast with Baton Rouge branch of British Car Club New Orleans.
Apparently most of the local members were off for the week end to one of the larger car shows, Brits On The Bay in Pensacola, FL, or Natchez Euro Fest in Natchez, MS. But two brave souls in an A.H. 3000 showed up, not knowing that no one else would be there, so at least it was four of us for breakfast at Warehouse Restaurant in Baton rouge.
With some time off we took mid afternoon as a good opportunity to get the engine oil and filter changed, being 500 miles in 8 days since the new ring job. Need to remember to re-torque the cylinder head again one of these days, sometime when the engine is hot. Since it was re-torqued hot the last time, after the ring job, it probably doesn't need it, but I like to "err on the side of caution" for such things (just covering all the bases).
Received an invitation for a personal visit and club meeting in Chattanooga, TN on May 9, and there is enough time in our schedule to do that (before going to Texarkana, TX), so add another line to the Planning sheet and draw another side trip line on the map for a week from now.
Sunday, April 24, 2022:
A small project today to post a new Part Number tech page for the threaded stud to attach the tachometer drive housing to engine block for all MGA. Strangely, this part seems to have three different factory part numbers for the same piece, so, three new tech pages all cross referenced to avoid some confusion. And yes, you can buy a close equivalent part at NAPA.
Monday, April 25, 2022:
Update to a tech page adding two more examples of currently available starter switches that (hopefully) may not be faulty parts.
Then someone sent me a link to a small double lip shaft seal for the gearbox speedometer drive and engine tachometer drive spindles. While updating a tech page for these seals, I pulled out a seal I had bought from Moss Motors a few years back, just wanting to check the width. What I found was a helical thread rubber seal, which I have never seen before, but there it is. Good for augering oil back in as it runs, but wondering now if the gearbox seal (which is below oil level) will leak when moving in reverse, or even when standing still when parked.
Tuesday, April 26, 2022:
Off to a club meeting this evening with British Motor Cars New Orleans (General Meeting). Had a few British cars outside when we arrived 6-pm at Italian Pie in New Orleans, LA, and a few more arriving shortly thereafter for dinner. By 7-pm meeting time we had 24 people mostly well fed.
There was a serious business meeting discussing upcoming events and organization. This was followed by a
presentation on the history of one club member's MG TD from new through a few interim owners to a full restoration before the current owner bought it.
Then yours truly had some time for a presentation on what we have been doing for the past 8 years, and especially what has happened since our last visit here a few years ago. Once the meeting broke some folks reconvened in the car park checking out the long traveled MGA. And then we were off for late night WiFi session.
Wednesday, April 27, 2022:
Morning WiFi with breakfast, catching up email and BBS and yesterday's photos and notes. Then killed half a day on research to expand cross reference lists for front wheel bearings on MGA Twin Cam (and "Deluxe") cars.
Thursday, April 28, 2022:
Spent most of the day doing data backups for my local hard drive and for two complete web sites. (Boring).
Received a note advising me of a possible discrepancy of information on one of my tech pages. Then killed a couple hours on research and head scratching, before making a revision to a page (actually 3 or 4 pges) on Side Curtain Model Matching after the factory was consolidating part numbers for reduced inventory for replacement parts.
Friday, April 29, 2022:
Detective work today. One MGA reported with a fairly new engine now having a bent exhaust valve. Currently advising owner how to proceed with measurements to determine why it had interference. --- Another reported case of blowing the fuse for Green wire circuits (fused with ignition on). Advising owner how to find which wire has the short circuit.
Been hanging around lower Louisiana for the past few days just to attend Final Fridays street car show in Covington, LA. (We call this Cruise Night up north). At least half a dozen cars here from British Car Club of New Orleans, mostly from the North Shore group in the immediate area). Arrival about quarter to five, parallel parking, not half the cars here yet. The Porsche was parked at end of street, the Baja Beetle behind, and the Sunbeam Alpine across the street.
Before things got hopping too much, it seemed like a good time to investigate a scraping/grinding noise that
developed in the left rear brake a few miles back. Pull out some tools and the spare brake shoes, jack up and remove LR wheel and brake drum to find a broken brake adjuster mask. Put the spare shoes back in the trailer and dig out one of the spare masks. No big deal, soon back together, and a good opportunity to pull the right rear wheel and adjust rear brakes both sides.
By this time the cars were moving around from parallel parking to backing in angle parking for better show and to cram more cars into the available space. The Henry J was then parked along side some of the Brit friends. Pretty good contingent of British cars mostly grouped together. Someone made the observation that aside from two Porsche and the VW's, the rest seemed to be domestic issue, with no other European cars, and also none at all from the orient. Just curious. I guess the non-American cars were pretty much here on this one block.
There was one Bricklen. Sitting next to the red Ford roadster was (I think) an Austin Healey Sprite kit car looking a lot like the Ford roadster, right down to the dummy side pipes. Cute, but why? Yes, that's a Cobra 427 kit.
P.S. -- The blue roadster next to the red one was built by Charles "Boogie" Scott, hand crafted. I think the red one is his '27 Track T Roadster.
The next one was new to me, a Vanderhall 3-wheeler. Not only that, but there were two of them.
The second one was across the street parked next to the Polaris Slingshot 2014 to present production. For 2020, more than 200 horsepower.
The 1955 Mercury Montclair in Sun Valley trim caught my eye. Chrome, chrome, and more chrome.
Trucks are always fun. Well, I did drive trucks when I was young(er). and just one antique Ford.
Quite a few street rods in various forms. The '58 Corvette is always an eye catching classic. And a whole block of Jeeps on both sides of the street. Hundreds of cars here, but I just got tired of walking and headed back.
Time for some chat with the Brit car friends, then a light dinner break while the sun took a hike. My camera was having trouble with auto-focus in the dark, so I gave up on any more pictures.
The place was clearing out after 8:30, ready to roll up the sidewalks by 9-pm, so time to head out. We went northeast to Bogalusa before hanging a right to cross the boot toe out of Louisiana into Mississippi. Stopped at Poplarville, MS for late night WiFi to post these photos and notes.
Saturday, April 30, 2022:
No rush for the next few days, so we stopped most of the day in Hattiesburg, MS. Received a note on master cylinder repacking kits
(for MGA and other dual barrel master cylinders). The thin metal shim-type washers in these kits should be wavy, not flat. These are technically Faulty Parts, but you can easily form them with your fingers to be wavy profile.
Spent time on planning, trying to contact a couple of car clubs in Texas. Heading farther northeast in the evening to Sandersville, MS. Crossed from Mississippi into Alabama late night.
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