The MGA With An Attitude
MGA Guru Is GOING MOBILE - (June 1 - June 15, 2023)
Thursday, June 1, 2023:
My new standard size 1600 pistons arrived today, but it was early afternoon, and I didn't want to chance tearing the engine apart and not having enough time to get it back together same day. So putting this off until early tomorrow morning for start time.
Friday, June 2, 2023:
Today is the day to do or die. Up early for breakfast, and quick check of BBS and email (may have been an unnecessary delay). Engine fired up okay running on three cylinders, nothing gone crunch yet. Nine miles to go, with a stop at NAPA to pick up an oil filter (2 actually) and a wide shallow drain pan for coolant (wanting to save it this time). Arrive at Alex Anastasiadis' shop in Champaign, IL 10-am, and get to work.
 Drain the coolant and remove cylinder head for first look inside. There was of course the broken #3 piston crown stuck in the top of the bore, and that I understand.
But #4 cylinder wall was displaying helical honing marks that had not buffed out in 9 months, nearly 15,000 miles. Scratch marks too deep, so apparently the machine shop in California did not do a proper job of finish honing last August. That could explain what we thought was abnormally high oil consumption, but not likely to be a reason for the broken piston. This is going to add some extra time to today's piston exchange.
Then we set it on stands to get underneath to drain the oil, remove the sump, remove oil pump, and start knocking back the lock tabs. Three hours on we had the pistons out, not a bad start. Rod bearings and crank journals all good, as well they should be, having the new bearing shells installed just 9 days earlier.
A couple other things I should mention. Recall the carburetors we were assembling and installing two weeks ago on May 19 (picture at right). The vertical links mid way along the brass choke arms have 3/16-inch clevis pins in the links. Today the top clevis pins are missing, as the Tinnerman style push nuts have fallen off so the pins fell out. Gawd I hate push nuts. Fix that before reassembly.
Also note that we had a problem with the rear carburetor recently, sometime after the engine rebuild last August. The brass fuel mixture adjusting nut had stripped threads where it screws onto the brass lower jet bearing. I have never seen this problem before, but strange stuff does happen. That let the mixture nut slip down off of the threads to be trapped below the jet bearing, which in turn was holding the fuel jut in lowered position so it was running rich on the rear carburetor, like being constantly on choke. That in turn accumulated a lot of carbon in the #3 & #4 combustion chambers and on the piston rings and in the ring grooves in the pistons. That could account for excessive oil consumption recently, and might be a contributing factor for the broken piston. Good to have the new carbs now.
And there's the problem piston we have been driving with for the past few days. Mind you, we are not recommending that anyone drive an engine with a broken piston. This was an informed decision on our part, having seen this situation a few times before, knowing and accepting the risk. One time many years past (turn of the century) I successfully drove a car 140 miles in this condition to get it home, but in that case I happened to have a freshly rebuilt spare engine waiting to be installed. On the flip side, in August 2014 we had a similar situation where the broken piston ultimately disintegrated before we could nurse the car to the next exit, and that was a very expensive repair. This time we just got lucky again.
Honing cylinders in situ is a tricky business. The primary idea is to prevent as well as possible having the honing swarf get into the working parts of the engine. We parked the crank shaft horizontal where I could over-wrap it with shop rags. Then proceed honing it from above, where the shop rags would (hopefully) catch most of the swarf. Fortunately the buff marks and scratches were not too deep, so a few minutes of honing in each cylinder would clean it up. A couple of cylinders did require a bit more patience, but ultimately cleaned up okay.
After honing we washed the cylinders down with petrol with just a touch of oil added, then rinsed again with petrol and wiped dry. Then pull out the shop rags that were protecting the crankshaft, and wash everything underneath as well, including the camshaft. Finish by greasing the cam lobes for initial start-up in contact with the tappets, and generously oiling the crankshaft. This clean-up work was time consuming, but I wasn't going to rush it. It will also get another oil change and a new oil filter shortly after run in.
We also disassembled the oil pump for a look inside this time. It has been running with good oil pressure, so I
didn't expect to find anything seriously wrong. Internal clearance met the required 0.006" max limit, so that was good. The rotors did have lots of very small scratches, but it does have over 350,000 miles on it, so it doesn't owe us anything. And it does self-prime when turning it with fingers with mineral spirits inside. Note to self, next time the pan is off, replace the oil pump.
Then it was getting late, so we just kept working and didn't stop to take pictures until it was done. Swap the new pistons onto the con-rods and install the piston rings. Squeeze with ring compressor, and tap down into the cylinder, oil and assemble the big ends to the crankshaft. Torque to spec and bend up the lock tabs. Install the oil pump and the sump. Up top, clean and install the cylinder head, oil filter, and fill with oil. Install manifolds and carburetors, hoses, and fill with coolant. Crank on the starter motor until it has oil pressure. Then install spark plugs, switch on, crank it, and it started right up, no fuss.
For the one carburetor with missing clevis pin, I installed a #10 screw with jam nuts. Good to clean up the trash and wipe the floor before we leave.
The short of it is, we succeeded installing new pistons and driving away, but it was 1:30-am finish, so 15-1/2 hours non-stop working with the car. Headed out late night (actually early morning) to get showers and late lunch (at least 12 hours late). And we now have another appointment for Saturday morning.
Saturday, June 3, 2023:
Got a few hours of sleep and woke up with the morning sun. A bit stiff and sore, and still tired, but breakfast helps. Point it north from Champaign and cruised into Rantoul Aviation Center. This used to be Chanute Air Force Base, back in the dark ages. I fact my older sister 11 years my senior) did basic training here in 1956. Since being decommissioned the base has evolved a lot toward commercial interests.
The key here is Champaign County Sports Car Club is part of Central Illinois Region SCCA, and they are hosting a Solo-II event (autocross) here today. I was a member of this club and raced the crap out of my MGA all through the 90's, including sometimes at this location. Seasoned cement on the 4-acre parking pad in front of the hanger makes for good tire traction (after you sweep away the spalling surface gravel).
Arriving at 9-am, we just dropped in for a visit, not going to be racing today. In five minutes 3 or 4 people came by to say hello and welcome back, wanting to know if I brought my race tires. Some things never change.
Well, some things do change, like these cars are all 20 to 30 years newer than the stuff I used to race against. But they're still eating tires, running 50 second lap times, and still a lot of people having a hard time getting a handle on driving technique. Man, if I hadn't just put new pistons in the MGA yesterday I might be sorely tempted to open a few eyes to see what a vintage car can still do.
Well, some things do change, like these cars are all 20 to 30 years newer than the stuff I used to race against. But they're still eating tires, running 50 second lap times, and still a lot of people having a hard time getting a handle on driving technique. Man, if I hadn't just put new pistons in the MGA yesterday I might be sorely tempted to open a few eyes to see what a vintage car can still do.
I was abit curious about the thing that looked a bitlike a shifter cart but wasn't. That's a 550cc snowmobile engine, and it goes like scat in a cart this small.
By mid day it was getting pretty warm in the open sun, and they didn't have any helpful chores for me to do, and we were really short on sleep, so it seemed like a good time to go find some cool WiFi space. Two days worth of
photos and notes to catch up, as well as email and BBS, and it was too soon late night without getting it done. Next day's appointment was in Blomington, IL, so we drove south a bit back to Champaign and headed west another 30 miles or so before crashing for the night.
One more small chore before sleep. Grab the torque wrench and re-torque the cylinder head. Two valve cover nuts, 11 head bolt nuts, about 10 minute job, and then we could snooze.
Sunday, June 4, 2023:
One quest for today, amble a little farther west for breakfast, then onto the David Davis Mansion in Bloomington, IL for the annual Champagne British Car Festival. Took me a while to step back far enough to get a good picture of the mansion. Haven't been here for at least 10 years, before start of this road trip. Once parked, a look around revealed 9 MGA here. Woo-hoo, people to talk to.
The white 1500 a couple cars over from mine (yellow temporary tag) has in interesting story. Now third generation in the same family, grandfather bought it slightly used in the mid 60's, now two generations later still close to original with only 30,000 miles on the clock. The current owner, Josh Paschal from Atlanta, Illinois, didn't even know the car existed until a week ago. It had been parked in protected storage for the past 20 years, but it still lives today. There was a problem with the turn signals, normal on the left, fast blinking and dim on the right, and right front parking light not lighting up. Turned out the RF parking light wire was disconnected, and the contact plate in the lamp was rotated 180 degrees making the parking light bright and the turn signal dim. 15 minutes of fiddling got it straightened out and all working properly. The owner was absolutely elated.
Now there's a car you don't see very often, like once in a lifetime if you're lucky. This is a 1930 MG Six 18/80 MK2 with 2.5 liter engine. It belongs to Simon Griffin from Edwardville, Illinois. He drove it 150 miles up Historic Route 66, and will drive it home as well. A man after my own heart. The windscreen placard said, "Factory demonstrator, seen in many publications, Mostly original parts". I believe that's a MG YB sitting next to the ZA Magnette.
For a show where MG was the featured mark(100 years of MG), there sure were a lot of Triumphs.
Two Aston Martin.
Plenty of Jaguar.
You like Rolls Royce and Bentley? (Just a few). The little black car is an Austin A35, sharing engine and chassis parts with the Morris Minor sister cars. Pity I didn't get a better look at the red thing next to the yellow Mini.
This was about the time my camera battery went dead, and I had to revert to taking pictures with my dumb phone. Stumbling into less familiar territory, nice bunch of Sprites and I kept tripping over more vintage Minis.
Do modern Minis count? Yeah, definitely British cars. Finally found the MG T-Types.
Healeys, Morgans, and a Range Rover.
A Morris Minor delivery van? Never know what you may find at these shows, but almost always I find at least one car I've never seen before. And then it was Trophy time. Announcements for 3rd and 2nd places first, then line up the 1st place cars.
Hey, that's "Sparky" Sparks taking 1st in class with his Midget. Gotta love the purple chrome bumper MGB. Not so sure about the yellow rubber bumper MGB that has lost it's bumpers, but it sure was pretty.
Of course the 93 year old MG Six 18/80 MK2 took a wheel barrow full of awards including 1st in class, Best of Show, Visitors Choice. Bring it on, and have a nice drive home.
Monday, June 5, 2023:
Sitting in Dwight, IL, finally catching up with the last three days of photos and notes (well, not all of it yet). Also added a new tech page for accessory "Jemca Safety Mirror" dash mounted mirror that may have been factory supplied equipment for French (or German) market cars in the early 1960's. Headed north again late, landing back in Naperville, IL (old stomping grounds) before midnight.
Tuesday, June 6, 2023:
The real reason we are back in northern Illinois, needing to get my drivers license renewed (4 year intervals). Also time to renew my car insurance. As these notices are mailed to my official Illinois residence address, it was time to cruise to Sandwich, IL to pick up the snail mail. I now have next year's insurance card (although I haven't paid the premium yet). Also got to the DMV to to get a mug shot and take an eye test, written exam excused, fee paid, temporary new drivers license in my pocket, permanent one to be snail-mailed in a week or two.
The critical stuff taken care of, we still have a trickier problem. We would like to get a drivers license for navigator, but he hasn't had any personal ID since leaving high school 15 years ago. He did once have a driver instruction permit, which the DMV still has on record, but that expired five years ago, so now he has to start over. Problem is a "Catch-22" (a lot like I had eight years ago). To get a drivers license in Illinois he needs to prove residency. For that you meed an ID, like a drivers license for instance. Catch? How about two pieces of mail sent to your address in the past 90 days? Uh, nope, not for him. Open a bank account and have them send you a statement? Not without an ID. So now the $64,000 question is, how do any of us even prove we exist?
In the evening at least I finally got caught up on travel log photos and notes through the Sunday car show. Still looking at a backlog of email.
Wednesday, June 7, 2023:
Some email and tech stuff has been hanging around for several weeks. Just uploaded a new tech page for recovering fabric covered MGA 1600 type side curtains. I now have multiple fabric patterns, but still not convinced I could ever do it myself. Also updated a tech page for floorboard mounting hole locations for Competition Deluxe Seats. Would you believe the factory relocated the slide rail bolts one inch farther forward for that option, which led to different part numbers for the floorboard panels.
Hey, we have Wednesday Night Garage Club at Tom Raddatz garage in Lagrange Highlands, IL. Good time to change the engine oil and filter, a few hundred miles after the recent new piston install, and before we blow town again. Go early and get that done before other people show up. And then they started to pile in. There were a dozen MGs visiting, and a few more inside getting some TLC.
The bright red MGA is resident here. That's one of Tommy's toys. The empty space was just vacated by the CMGC club project car which was pushed outside (sorry, I missed that picture this time). The Jaguar Coupe up top is destined to become a convertible, whenever Tom gets around to it. The MGA below it is a vintage race car, imagine just how vintage when you realize it doesn't have a roll bar.
The Fiat 2000 is a daily driver car, easy to move when the space is needed. The MGB was getting a new bumper installed. Nicely done,guys.
The MGA ex-race car with MGB engine and fancy aluminum radiator was getting a new battery installed, some work on the fuel pump, a few hammer strokes on the starter motor and a sniff of ether. An hour later that one was running, for the first time in no one knows how long.
The purple 1974 MGB belongs to the young fellow standing beside it. He has owned the car for several years,
 since being a poor college student. More recently having it painted, and now working on bits of improvement as time permits. We spent some time chatting about fuel vapor recovery and anti-run-on valve, needing to have the carburetor vent hoses hooked up. It is a very nice machine, and I recon he will be enjoying it for many years to come.
Out back an MGB parts car was being scavenged. Already lost its engine and overdrive gearbox, tonight it is donating the complete parking brake assembly,all going to different people for different cars. We think this one has already donated transplant organs to help at least half a dozen others.
Sneaking up on 10-pm, time to close up shop and haul out. An hour later we were 60 miles south on I-55, stopped in Dwight, IL for the night.
Thursday, June 8, 2023:
Just sitting in Dwight, IL, taking a day off to recuperate while catching up photos and notes from day before. Bail out at 11-pm heading south on IL-47. Hour and a half later camped out at Illini Prairie Rest Stop on I-57, 20 miles south of Champaign-Urbana.
Friday, June 9, 2023:
Two hour 140 mile drive before breakfast. Stopped for fuel 300 miles after oil change, and
oil level is still on the Full mark. Really? Must have done a good job honing the bores for the new pistons. Sitting in Ina, IL, same Loves Travel Stop where we stopped going north 11 days earlier (before the broken piston). Seems like a long time ago now. Good traveling. Two more days before we need to be in Memphis. Let's see what I can find useful to do today.
Well that was quick. Just revised a tech page for MGA Front Frame Extension to add the holes for horn mounting brackets. This issue came up with discussion of installing an aftermarket front sway bar underneath, which interferes with the horns in original location.
Saturday, June 10, 2023:
Another 80 miles south, past Cairo in southern tip of Illinois, cross the Mississippi River, and run another 30 mile south to Matthews, Missouri. I guess navigator just wanted to get out of Illinois (but not into Arkansas). I dunno what we're doing here, but it leaves 150 mile dash for tomorrow going to Memphis.
Sunday, June 11, 2023:
Engine giving us problems again. Hard to start, and misfires at low speed, although it runs okay at expressway speed. Tried to do a compression test, but the tester has a leak at rubber seal where the pressure extension plugs into the pressure gauge. Reading low and bouncing needle, hard to read, but at least it looks like pressure on all four cylinders. And the spark plugs are all clean and good color. Was about to buy a new compression tester, but NAPA store was closed on Sunday. Really suspect an electrical problem, points or condenser, something like that. Drive on, and check it out later.
Breakfast time allows enough time to post a new tech page for MGA Coupe window regulator pinion gear. This new 3D printed part is now available from www.shapeways.com.
Fuel stop in Blythville, Arkansas. Found an Autozone open and bought a new compression tester. Spark plugs all clean and tan, and the engine is not using oil. Hard to start, and misfires a lot at slow engine speed. Reading low compression more than one cylinder. It does not have two adjacent cylinders with same low pressure, so I don't think it is a blown head gasket. Beginning to think burned valves. Drove it on in to Memphis, Tennessee to check into the hotel for NAMGAR GT-48. Take the rest of the day off, relax and recover, worry about the car later.
Monday, June 12, 2023:
Personally parked on the top floor of the 26-story Hilton in Memphis, Tennessee, overlooking the car park
containing most of the MGA and Magnettes that have so far arrived. Nice view, zoom in a bit for this shot. Our car is the little red and black blob trying to hide behind some trees on the left. I recon there are about 30 MGA in that picture, but some more of the may have been out for breakfast. By late night there we at least 60, but too dark for the picture. Will see if I can get another picture tomorrow morning.
Check into the registration desk after 9-am to pick up my registration packet. There was a really sweet 1932 MG J3 on display. Not sure why they display a MMM car at an MGA and Magnette convention, but there it is. Mostly needing to check the schedule to know when and where I have to be for my tech session presentation. Will be 1:30-pm, right after John Twist tech session. The NAMGAR Regalia sales tables were right there as well. In another corner was Wagner Signs and Graphics hawking their wares. They had a neat little numerical control sewing machine running continuously embroidering club logo and names onto sweat shirts. Pretty sure they can embroider anything you like (for the right price).
Into a conference room for John Twist's 12 o'clock tech session on "MG Electrix". Going to be in here for a few hours, and the AC was turned up too much for my T-shirt and shorts, so I made a quick dash to the car park to grab my light sweat shirt. -- Took the opportunity to snap a few more pictures of the MGs on hand. Surely a bunch more here after noon than there were earlier.
Three MG ZB Magnette Varitone and a slightly newer and fairly rare MG Magnette MK-IV (with 1622 engine). A couple spaces over there was a Z-Magnette (commonly called ZA), and more MGA.
There was a very nice luggage trailer painted to match the MGA Coupe that was towing it. Have not seen this model before, and no time to chat, so will try to track down the owner later to find if there is a model name and a current source for purchase.
Back to the conference where John Twist was doing 75 minutes or so with lots to cover on how vintage electrical stuff works, and hot to debug it when it doesn't work.
I got to follow that with 75 minutes on "The Economics of Restoration and Long Term Operation of an MG". The original restoration is fairly well understood, like how much it might cost and why you can't sell it for a profit. The more interesting part here was about separating normal daily operating cost (which is similar for most cars), and long term major repair and restoration costs with lots of driving mileage (for which I may have a unique perspective). As it turns out, the cost of fuel alone is by far the single largest expense (maybe $0.15 per mile). The major repairs an restoration costs are a mere fraction of the daily operating expense, possibly as low as $0.05 per mile (if you drive it enough). Since 1986 I have been systematically in process of demonstrating that for about $50 per month the MGA can be kept on the road indefinitely, covering all major repairs and restoration expenses. Frankly, I can't afford to buy a new car (and watch it depreciate).
The third tech session today was Mike Sabelhaus from LiteZupp chatting about modern LED lighting for your classic car. This includes pretty much every light bulb for the entire car, including head lights. How times change. There are some older articles on my web site describing why LED bulbs can be used for tail lights and parking lights, but not for brake lights and turn signals, because the LEDs are not bright enough for those applications. Isn't new technology great?
After the tech sessions I had barely enough time to check my email before it it was time for the First-timers Meeting (which I am compelled to attend to let the newcomers meet me).
That was followed by the 6-pm Welcome and Orientation party, laying out the schedule of events and all the good fun the participants can partake in the next few days.
After 7-pm the room was dedicated as Hospitality Suite for all to enjoy each other's company. One memorable fellow here was Gary Lock from Australia. First time meeting in person, but long term correspondents via email. But the day wasn't finished.
Beginning 7-pm, coincident with opening of the hospitality room, John Twist was upstairs firing up his Monday night Zoom Tech Session. So I quietly skipped out on the hospitality gig to headed back to the room to fire up my computer to join the evening tech session. That ran well past 9-pm before sign-off. Then while anyone sensible was thinking about sleep, I get to go to work on photos and notes for the day, and here it is sneaking up on 2-am before I get to hit the sack. -- Zzzzzz.
Tuesday, June 13, 2023:
7:30-am breakfast with the Z-Magnette Register, 35 members present. Not everyone owns a Magnette, and not everyone who owns a Magnette brought one to the show. I don't own a Magnette, but this meeting at the NAMGAR show once a year is the only time I get to meet these folks. There was a brief informal business meeting after breakfast, and then I had to dash off to tech session (a little late).
First tech session was with Forest Johnson of Rusty Moose Garage. Hew was chatting about many years working on MGs at University Motors before he bought the business when John Twist was retiring, then moved the business to new quarters out of town (in the woods) and renamed it RMG. Then into the topic of the day, "Engine Rebuild, Top 5 Reasons".
Next up was Pam Irving doing a Ladies Tech session, something about Gardening. This would be a good time for me to catch up on a little sleep, so I took a few inro pictures before heading back to my room.
Then I was back at 1-pm for my second tech session "All About mgaguru.com". This was jolly good fun chatting about the origin and history of my web site, and all the expansion it has done in recent years. Everybody seems to know about thousands of tech articles here, but there is a lot more that many people may not even know is there. lik9e the world wide clubs list (about 10 years ago), and the North American Shops list (2016-2019), and now the combined Service Parts List for all models of MGA in searchable text format with provision for a separate page for each part number. That was all good, so we stretched the 75 minute scheduled session to about 100 minutes before someone needed the technical equipment for another use. I was still a little under the weather, so just back to the room for another nap until time for the evening hospitality social at 8-pm.
Wednesday, June 14, 2023:
Woke up to rain this morning. Schedule said drive to show site, 7:30-9:00-am (about half an hour deice time). Looking out the window at 8:15-am, just beginning to rain, and the sky looked like crap. Needing to check/adjust valves, navigator didn't want to do it last night late, so now we get to do it in the rain? By 8:30 heavy rain, and no one wants to be out in that stuff, and all of the cars were still in the parking lot. Quick look at "Future weather radar", and it looks like heavy rain until after 11-am. Okay, go check to see what the organizers have in mind. First, the car show is delayed until 12-noon start time (good move). Second, there is an impromptu tech session in the conference room (also a good idea). John Twist of University Motors, Glenn Leonhard of Glenn's MG Service, and Barney Gaylord with MGAguru.com all sitting up front for a slide show on the side and Q&A at random. Good way to kill a couple of hours.
10:45-am, rain letting up, announcement made that a caravan will be forming in the parking lot for departure at 11:10-am. Dang, we still have to check out the valve lash, so do get hopping. Up the room to get navigator motivated, grab cell phone and camera, and head down to the car. Wrenches and screwdriver and starting handle out of the boot, cram in the starting handle, remove valve cover and start checking out rocker arm clearance. At least 6 out of 8 looked like good clearance, so do not touch those. #4 intake valve had zero clearance, dead tight, meaning that valve was not closing. At this point that was supposed to be good news, because it was something we could fix quick to make things better.
Not long to loosen the jam nut, back off the adjuster screw screw 1/4 turn (0.015" clearance no feeler gauge required), and tighten the jam nut. #4 exhaust valve had some clearance, maybe a not quite enough, so the expedient move was to adjust that one as well, 1/4 turn back from zero clearance. Slap the valve cover back on, stow the tools, get in the car. Just moving out when someone asked if we had our show placard? What? No.
Quick hike and elevator ride back to the rook to grab the registration packet, then back to the car. Caravan was gone by that time, but Garman GPS in hand put us right on track, so we caught and passed some of the cars en route, not the last to arrive. Smile for a couple of photos, then find an appropriate place to park with like cars.
Photos start with MGA 1500 cars, wire wheels on the left, and non-wire wheels on the right. You may notice that none of these have factory stock steel disc wheels (a common malady these days).
View from the other end of the line-up with non-wire wheels on the left and wire wheels on the right. Finally one 1500 with factory steel bolt-on disc wheels. This one is an early 1959 car with the later style (1600 type) wheels, this arrangement was only done for 4 months of production, January to April 1959, about 4000 cars.
Score exactly two MGA Twin Cam, both of them in the 1500 body style. You should know there are very few substitutions available in either wheels or engines for these cars.
Now this is a bit odd, that there were only 2 or 3 MGA 1600 cars here. We know that 2/3 of the carsproduced were 1500 model, but in years past at car shows more like 2/3 of the cars on display would be 1600 model. I suppose that was because, if they cost the same to restore either way, might as well do a 1600. In more recent years lots of 1600's have already been restore, while good 1600 restoration project cars are getting more rare to source. Also there has been a lot of chat in recent years from folks claiming to prefer the styling of 1500 cars over other models (we like the simpler tail lights). Maybe this is because 1500's are now easier to find to restore, and maybe people seem to prefer the cars they currently have in hand. I don't know if this is a one-off coincidence or a trend.
Then we had some Modified class cars. These are always fun to see and admire the work that goes into doing these mods, being mostly just a love of the art I suppose.
In past years this black MGA trailer used to be blue, much like the mod car towing it. I always thought it looked nose heavy. The owner says it weighs 650 pounds, which is about the same as my 150 pound fiberglass trailer with 500 pounds of tools and parts inside.
There were 7 Z-Magnette, 3 Z (or ZA) and four ZB Varitone (no plain ZB). And just one Farina Magnette MK-IV, possibly the only one known in North America, with 1622cc engine and small tail fins, looking a bit like a Rambler (please forgive me for that comparison). Follow this with the Premier class, which are cars that have won First in Class in prior years. Concours enthusiasts will love these cars.
Lots of friends to chat with for a while, but then I think most of them disappeared into the Edge Motor Museum. Getting rather hot in the sun, I found a spot with table and chairs under a canopy with a few other folks. After a
bit someone had a question about a new generator he had purchased for cheap via eBay. It had a very long tube spacer (about 1") which put the fan and pulley too far forward. Maybe that long spacer was intended to be cut down to suit the belt alignment for various applications. And did I know where he could find the correct shorter spacer? Ta-da, the Magic Trailer came to the rescue with a 37H6836 "Sundries Kit" (which is currently Not Available at Moss Motors). I must have been carrying this one around for several years, just so this guy could have it.
Someone else gave me a neat new tool. This is a wooden bullet, nicely polished and varnished, the right size to push through the steering pinion shaft journal to press the felt seal back into the groove gland while the pinion shaft is being installed. I will measure it and make a representative drawing to post on a new tech page, then stow it in the Magic Trailer with other "Steering Parts".
When voting ballots had been cast and the show was breaking up, some people were off to Barbecue lunch, and/or a drive-by visit to St. Jude's Hospital, and/or a run to visit the Bass Pro pyramid (world's largest fishing store). None of that for us, as we are not tourists, and I had web site work to do, so we headed back to the hotel. We took the expressway this time, and with the properly adjusted rocker arm the car was running much better (delete the anxious worries please). I took a break from 8 to 10-pm for hospitality meet, then back to web site work. Finished all these photos and notes by 2-am, and now I get to sleep late in the morning.
Thursday, June 15, 2023:
After a late night, sleep in (ah, nice). Time to catch up some accumulated email and BBS backlog. Scheduled activities included Vendors and Silent Auction 9 to noon, morning poker run to Collierville Town Square for lunch and/or shopping. 1:00 to 4:30-pm Back Beat Tour on Memphis mojo. No thanks to all that, as we are not tourists. 5-pm happy hour (yes), 6-pm banquet and awards dinner (yes) with about 220 people seated for dinner.
7-pm Awards and trophies (okay), 8:30-10-pm dancing to the Royal Blues Band. I'm sure it was a good band, but too dang loud giving me a headache and couldn't talk to anyone, so I bailed out to do photos and notes and get some sleep.
Announcement was made that next years GT-49 will be held in Welches, Oregon, to be hosted by the Columbia Gorge MG club.
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