The MGA With An Attitude
Thursday March 1, 2018:
Next up was All Tech Tire & Auto Repair in Greenville, SC. Meet the owner Jonathan Thomas. This is a busy place servicing a lot of more modern cars, but there is one veteran mechanic who works on vintage British cars. None in the shop today, but there will be a MG TF coming in for work in a day or two. Work on the vintage cars is to be by appointment only, because they will not leave them sitting outdoors. You might have to bring your car in for inspection and estimate and a list of needed parts, then bring it back later when you have the parts in hand for immediate service.   Then we went to visit Hap Waltrip at Acme Speed Shop in Greenville, SC. Been here before, fully documented, but now passing near by, so just thought we'd drop in to say hi. Found the place locked up with a sign on the window noting a permit application
for another business. Really? The phone number still works, so we soon had the new story, and ran a short distance to visit Hap at his home. The old shop has been sold, and he is currently running his engine building business in his home shop. He is also building a new 40x60 foot shop on the premises which should be finished by mid summer. We will check back again later to see how the new shop turns out. 
 We had a bit of search to find D&M Restoration on a dead end side street beyond a cul de sac. 
Not exactly what I was expecting, like no garage door, but it was indeed the right place. They restore smaller things like vintage dash instruments and electric motors for wipers and window winders. Looks like a good place to get your smaller vintage parts rebuilt. 
 
 Spartan Import in Spartanburg, SC was a bust. Empty building, and disconnected phone number. Established 1978, now gone, and no more information. Presumed defunct. Then we made a phone call before running a half hour north to visit Gallaher Restorations in Landrum, SC. A little trouble finding this one. The only street side indication was a silver mailbox about a city block out of position tucked in between two other addresses with disordered street numbers. Having found the right access road, we drove a quarter mile up hill to end of the road to find the large shop tucked away in the quiet woods, and we were in for a treat. Plenty of British car here. The MGA Coupe belongs to the shop owner. 
 Okay, ignore the Fiat, it is "import sales and service". Beautiful Lotus Europe and a very nice MG TC. 
 This one kept me guessing. It is a very rare 1957 Rometsch convertible with aluminum body built on a Volkswagen Beetle chassis (all native German stuff). 
 The big Jaguar is being prepared for competitive rally. 
 That was supposed to be our last stop of the day, but the shop owner had recommended another shop a half hour run north into North Carolina. 
Down another side road in the mountains we found Special Interest and Nostalgia Automotive in Flat Rock, NC. That would be the owner Bennett French hiking up to greet us. The grey building in the background is the original shop for "British Restorations" started by his father some decades back. Bennett ultimately inherited the business, then subsequently sold it. Some years later he returned to lease the building and re-start the business under its current name. 
 Plenty of vintage British cars in here too, so you may lose count as we browse through the shop. Start with the TR-250 and MGB right up front. And that must be a Datsun 280ZX. The Volvo P1800 came in for a little paint touch-up, but quickly escalated onto body sill repairs. The TR6 is about to be repainted from this funky metallic purple-green to a nice tame blue. Beyond the MG TD is Land Rover chassis (think real truck). 
 This Datsun 240Z is a bit special, carrying a de-tuned NASCAR engine, only 500-HP and fairly civil to drive on the street (but still very loud). The engine is set low and far enough back to be a front mid engine car. The last picture is the latest addition to the shop building, more space for sure, but in the far back beyond the center door will be a new paint booth. Enough for one day. We need to be heading back to South Carolina. 
 Tuesday March 6, 2018: A rainy day in Newberry, South Carolina, good time to take a day off, get caught up with photos and notes from yesterday's busy day. Also got a good start on posting CMGC newsletter on line. Wednesday March 7, 2018: On the road again. First stop was Brad’s British Cars in Chapin, SC. Brad was just finishing up a full restoration on an MGA which came to him with the front clip cut off above the wheels, assorted rust and bent panels, requiring a lot of work to make it nearly new again. 
 He also has a very nice MGC that looks like a show stopper to me. I was particularly interested in the "MG" branded windscreen glass that was a product of British Motor Industry Heritage Trust. They made "MG" glass for MGA as well, and it was noted for very high quality and good fit. There was this rag top center catch left over from the MGA restoration. First impression was tht it may be an original factory issue part worth its weight in gold, but on closer inspection, alas the "MG" symbol was right side up, meaning it was an aftermarket reproduction part. Yes, that's right, the original parts had the "MG" upside down as it was installed in the MGA. 
 Next stop would be Carolina Auto Salon in Columbia, SC. The primary service here is auto detailing to make 
your vehicle look better than new, or an absolute cherry for concours show. The owner also restores BMW cars, the white one out front being his own car since purchased new. However, he may also restore other cars occasionally, perhaps for a friend. There is a flat-rad Morgan in the shop today, been here a couple of years making progress when the owner may supply more funds. I think this shop may have been recommended by a local club member. 
 Then we stopped for lunch, made a few phone calls and an afternoon appointment. On returning to the car we found a business card on the car for Import Specialties of Columbia. This would be a new shop not previously on our Shops list, so we delayed our appointment for a bit to make the shop visit. Say hello to the owner, David Cohen 
who opened the shop here in 2014. There happened to be an MGB here today, so we could get a picture. The car was running at fast idle, and when switched off it sputtered and ran on badly. I asked, "Weber carburetor"? He replied, "Yes. How did you know"? Weber conversions are almost never done correctly, so we opened the bonnet and had a ten minute chat about how to do it up right, plug the atmospheric vent in the carburetor, tap and drill a new port for a hose connection to the float chamber, install appropriate vent and vacuum hoses, and install a PCV valve (with reference to photos and notes on my web site). This will restore fuel vapor recovery, ant-run-on, and positive crankcase ventilation. Figuring the two of them have a good handle on the fix, we were then off to our next appointment. 
 By mid afternoon we stopped to visit Elliott Cox in Columbia, SC. Been here before, and have worked on this 
same E-type before, last time having installed a new clutch slave cylinder and hose. Since then someone else had installed a new master cylinder, and now the rear bumper was off for a swap. Today I would figure out how to make it run better (like at least minimally drivable). Someone had hot wired the electric fans so they ran all the time the ignition was on. Reconnecting them in original configuration was successful with the thermal switch working, so no idea why someone had hot wired it.
 
The car was running very rough, likely caused by the dual carbs being badly out of balance. The front carb was essentially closed while the engine must have been running on the rear three cylinders. Balancing the carbs and turning the idle back had nice results. I was about to christen my new Zenith-Stromberg carb mixture adjustment tool, but alas it was a no-go on these carbs. The mixture adjustment here was a screw on the side, so back to basics, and we soon had it running well. Thursday March 8, 2018:  Today we were two hours farther south, an took a short dogleg to visit the business British Corner in Moncks Corner, SC. Alas, not to be, as the property is now vacant (currently up for auction), and the phone number disconnected. No further information on the net, so call this one permanently closed. Half hour due south we stopped to visit Charleston Import Automotive in Charleston, SC. One of the larger shops this time, and loaded with vintage British cars (lot of them not in these pictures). Today there were several MGB, as they seem to come in flocks. Another time there may be a number of Jaguar XJ, or a bunch of TR's come in all at once. In any case, always busy. 
 Without moving more than 10 feet in any direction, I found two MG TF, a Morgan on the lift, and a make believe Bugatti (for a man who loves expensive vintage cars but builds replicas for far less money). I liked the dog in the office (wait, was there a dog in that picture?). The lady is the office manager who will make your appointment. 
 
One more official stop today at MASCO Starters & Alternators in North Charleston, SC. It looked promising, but in spite of the evidence the owner wishes to be removed from our Shops list, as he now deals primarily with industrial parts, and no longer services the vintage stuff. Okay, time for a late lunch and some WiFi work. Friday March 9, 2018: Interesting tech question today. Someone with an MG that runs, clutch "apparently" works, can shift into any gear, but when clutch is released (to be engaged) the car does not move. Obviously a mechanical disconnect somewhere between the clutch and rear wheels. Needs diagnostic work, stay tuned. Finished configuring the CMGC newsletter for web pages and getting it on line. Now they sent me the Driving Events schedule to configure for the web site. Lots of events for this year, so that will have to wait for another day, as we already pushed this one late night. Saturday March 10, 2018: Off early for a breakfast meeting with British Car Club of Charleston at Marina Variety Store Restaurant (in Charleston, SC) Maybe 25 people in the room, a little short because some of the regulars were at the 2018 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance this weekend. Bad lighting for photos. Good chat with friendly people, lots of curiosity about what we have been doing for the past couple of years since our last visit here. No one needing help with the cars this time, but we got a couple of appointments for home shop visits, and one pro shop we were not previously aware of. A little late leaving, but there were still a few LBCs in the parking lot. 
  After the meeting we hopped across Charleston Harbor to visit Wray Lemke at his marine electronic shop in Mount Pleasant, SC. Outside is his award winning 1974 MGB, many years since the restoration, but low mileage and well detailed. A little farther back, another MGB waiting its turn with many stories to tell I'm sure. 
 In the back room is a Chevrolet Thriftmaster 3100 delivery. We have no idea what may be "thrifty" about it, but it does have an interesting feature. The vacuum advance for ignition timing will rotate the entire distributor while it is running. Need a double take for that one. 
 Behind this is the workshop with space enough for at least four cars. The late model MG MGB GT is lady's car, and she is disappointed because it is her daily diver and it is temporarily tied up for front suspension rebuild. She will have to drive the show car today (is that disappointing?). Along side is a beautiful MG ZB Magnette Varitone. Next over is a fairly rare MG Magnette Mk-III. On the rack is the MGA 1500 with older repaint, on the verge of running well enough to be driven. 
 This morning I noticed my MGA driver seat backrest frame was broken near the pivot bolt. Been suspect for a while being a little wobbly and a bit too far laid back. Records show there was a welding repair here in November 2004. I guess 208,000 miles is not too bad since the last quickie repair. Wray had a MIG welder handy, so this seemed like a good opportunity to fix it before it got any worse. Just five minutes to lift the cushion and remove two lock nuts. 
 It turned out to be broken on both sides, so the only thing keeping the backrest from folding far back was the leather cover being securely stapled to the bottom of the frame. Not long to pull all the staples, remove the leather cover, and strip back some of the padding for adequate working access. 
 A little grinding, clamping, tapping into correct position, and a quick welding job. Repeat on other side. 
 A little more grinding, some quick dry etching primer, and a touch of quick drying lacquer. Not long to reinstall the cover and staple it back in place, haul out a couple new bolts to replace slightly worn ones, and in short order it was back together and ready to roll again. It's just maintenance. Well, during reassembly we found another crack in the base frame tubing, but that can wait for another day. A bit more tape please. These 13 year old 208,000 mile seat covers were supposed to be replaced last year, but we missed the spring fabric sale by a few days when attending to an engine problem. Must be about time for the next fabric sale, so maybe soon. 
 Then we were off to visit Robert Morey at British Sports Car Consulting in Charleston, SC. Robert has been in the business for decades, since the age of 14. The first obvious project out front in the sun is a Lotus Elan. Inside is the completely restored chassis waiting patiently for the body to be finished. I should say that Robert is particularly fond of Lotus cars. 
The blue TR4 is Robert's personal car, and his first car (constant ownership) with 600,000 miles (when he quit counting). There are a pair of engines for TR3 and TR4, and a shot of the machine shop extension in the back. 
More cars in process are a Morgan Plus 4, a Triumph TR6, and an all original Jaguar XK 140 OTS. Customer instruction on the Jaguar is, "Do not touch the patina". 
 There are walls full of photos of projects that have passed through Robert's hands in past years. When he offered an autographed copy of his book "British Car Restoration", I casually requested that he send it to Chicagoland MG Club for their members' library. As we were leaving we were introduced to his daily driver Lotus 7. Fiberglass wings for this one, as original aluminum parts are a bit frail for daily use. 
 One more appointment today, a visit with Torsten Kunze in North Charleston, SC. He has a very nice MGA 1500, just about 2000 cars into production from February 1956. The luggage rack is interesting, most likely an early vintage period aftermarket accessory. Kind of wide, it looks like it should be adjustable for width with telescopic tubing, but apparently not. Nice to see the early style instrument faces (except for the wrong fuel gauge). 
 A bit of work left on the carburetors before the MGA will be running again. In the next bay was his MGB race car, lots of jolly good fun, but not being street legal it only gets out occasionally. 
 
As a side note, in the evening the odometer rolled over all zeros again, for the 4th time since the first restoration in late 1986. So the car now has 550,000 miles since new, 400,000 miles since late 1986, 146,000 miles on this road trip since May 2014. Keep up the maintenance, and they will run forever. Sunday March 11, 2018: Day off (the real work day), catching up photos and notes from yesterday (among other things). One tech question on possibly rebuilding MGA front shock absorbers. This may be the beginning of some research on replacement shaft seals.  In mid afternoon we had a walk-in, the guys from Sports Car Parts LTD in Knoxville, TN (where we stopped for a visit a year earlier). They have recently acquired much of the prior inventory from The B-Hive in Clemson, South Carolina. Good for future business, and for future customers. Then we had another walk-in, a local couple who used to own a 1956 MGA.
Turns out it was equipped with a Lebron Snorkle, and this is the first time I have ever heard of anyone who actually had one. Additionally, the guy's brother lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, and has an MGA that has been parked in a barn for 40 years. They took our web site address, so we will see if the brother might contact us some day. Monday March 12, 2018: A couple hours back north and we were in Lexington, SC to visit George Lawson. We were here back in November to "analyze" his MGA 1500 nearing end of a 25 year restoration. He had made some progress with wiring and brake cylinders, but would like to have some help today. We would start with assembly of the left rear brakes, easy enough. That done, we noticed and immediate "oops". 
 The rear knockoff nuts were on the wrong side of the car, so instead of self-tightening nuts there would be self-loosening wheels. Getting the priorities right, take the time now to swap the halfshafts to put the right hand threads on left side, and left hand threads on right side. After adjusting brake shoes and bleeding the brakes, we torqued down the nuts and bent up the lock tabs. 
 Next issue was difficulty bleeding the clutch. That was easy to explain, as the supply hose and bleed nipple were switched on the slave cylinder. This is a common problem when the replacement cylinder is shipped with the bleed nipple installed in the end port (a matter of convenience for packaging). The Service Parts List also shows an option for hose connection with a banjo fitting, but that only applies to very early production cars with two side ports on the slave cylinder. The end port is actually at the bottom of the cylinder, so you can't get the air out that way. Easy to understand once you see where the bleed port drilling goes inside the cylinder. Quick fix to swap the hose to the end port, and even had parts left over when finished. 
 That done, I found the slave cylinder mounting bolts were loose, and the top bolt had stripped threads in the bell housing. That required a quick trip to a local parts store to pick up a 3/8-16-UNC Heli-Coil kit(because the magic trailer only had fine thread Heli-Coils). Not long to run through the special tap, then use the special tool for insertion of the Heli-Coil (and break off the drive tang), after which we had fresh stainless steel threads in the aluminum gearbox case. Sure glad the other hole wasn't stripped, because that one is above the frame tube (so the engine and gearbox would have to be moved forward for access). 
 Next task was assembly of the distributor, which was a hand full of loose parts in a box. Nice little jigsaw puzzle, not too difficult, except for the power input flex wire. This was a new part with same size small hole in the eye connector tab on both ends, and it was a bare stranded wire. We had to use a Dremel tool to enlarge the hole on one end to fit over the nylon shoulder insulator for the points connection, and add shrink tubing for insulation. 
 
We spent a little time adjusting the distributor mounting clamp plate, then lucked out with correct orientation of the drive gear in the engine. Had to install HT wires in the new distributor cap, and then it was done. There are a few things to tidy up yet, but out of time for today (pushing 9:30 pm). Having appointments tomorrow, we will have to return later for a bit more work here. Tuesday March 13, 2018:  Fly away, three hours to the east we stopped (briefly) to check out Allmake Auto Electric in Murrells Inlet, SC. No luck, as the current occupant (a transmission shop) has been resident here for eight years, and the prior phone number is out of service. Scratch one listed shop. Then we were off for an evening dinner meeting with Grand Strand British Car Club 
at Maggi D's restaurant in Myrtle Beach, SC. We have been chasing this club for nearly four years, and finally made the connection at the right place and time. Several British cars in the parking lot when we arrived (definitely not early), and about 35 club members present. Apparently the restaurant closes at 8:30pm, so there was a time limit for the club meeting. But there was enough time allowed for a little presentation by the MGA guru, quite well received I recon. 
 One more LBC in the car park when we were leaving, and I likely missed a few more in between. No one with a hand up for help tonight so we had enough time on WiFi to post these photos and notes. 
 Wednesday March 14, 2018: Frozen morning in SC, good time to take a day off to catch up some desk work. New web page for MGA Coupe door latch Pawl Spring (make your own maybe). My CAD program quit working, free license expired I suppose. Had to download a new copy of the installation file, 180-MB via S-L-O-W WiFi connection, but finally got that installed and working again. A challenging question on how to recreate the front section of the bonnet skeleton that had rotted away. Thursday March 15, 2018: Still frozen this morning? Sheesh. Rising quickly though, so just put off work start until noon when it turned 50dF+, after which it turned out to be a very nice day. Back in Lexington to work on George Lawson's MGA again today. He has had these new dry pack batteries sitting around for about 20 years, and just recently purchased the box of dilute sulfuric acid at the local auto parts store. We didn't actually follow the full 24-hour routine for topping up the pre charge, just filled the cells and put the batteries on a settling charge for a couple of hours. Happy to report it all worked out well, and the old batteries are still new and happy. Three cheers for dry pack batteries in long term storage. 
 Early on George was under the car, I suppose installing the horn. I got a shot of the rubber seals on the suspension trunnions, fully deteriorated in storage, never having been touched by grease or sunlight. Those will have to be replaced again before it hits the road for serious. Found a good time to attach the oil filler cap lanyard to the valve cover. 
 After some searching we found the thin brass disc used to connect the screw-in HT terminal on the ignition coil. Re-oriented some parts to get the coil solidly mounted, tightened the fan belt, got the heater valve adjusted to completely shut off, checking all the fluids. Beginning to be enthused about possible start up. A long ago Moss supplied battery ground cable was too short, so off to the parts store momentarily to buy a good one, and we soon had the new batteries hooked up (still needing the hold-down clamps). 
 Then we got tied up with electrical issues for the rest of the day. Having to spend some time on our backs under the dash, it was a good idea to conjure up a nice adjustable pillow from a one gallon milk bottle. We had to pull out the dysfunctional horn to clean the points to get it working, no big deal, just grunt work. 
 One red wire disconnected under the dash made a little spark when the lights were switched on. Kind of a pain to 
reconfigure a few red wires, but got the lights working okay. One bright tail light was cured but swapping two wires under the lens. One bright front parking light was cured by rotating the contact disc 1/2 turn. Head lights work, but the new (many years old) dipper switch was junk right out of the box, didn't switch at all, so that came out, now looking for a good used one. 
With ignition switched on it promptly blew the top fuse (green wires). Disconnecting all green wires, using a jumper wire for power, we eventually found the short to ground in the wiper motor, which turned out to be toast and needs repair or replacing, just left it disconnected for now. Brake lights work perfectly, kudos to the vintage brake pressure switch. No light up or flashing for the turn signals turned out to be a failed vintage flasher unit, but the rest works okay including the original relay unit. So it needs a dipper switch, a flasher unit, and a wiper motor, but otherwise the wiring is all verified and working. This was a really long day, finishing 11:30pm, but very satisfying to have the electrical stuff all debugged. |
