Chicagoland MG Club:Photos
Fall Tune-Down Party at Al Piemonte Ford
November 9, 2003

We would like to thank Russ Casolari and Al Piemonte Ford
for the use of their facilities at
2500 North Avenue, Melrose Park, Illinois.

 


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A day that started a little chilly, turned up very nice by noon. About two dozen MGs (and one Jaguar?) came out for the tinkering party. With five lifts going everyone got the service and attention they came for.

Oil change and lube job was the general order of the day, although Cowboy couldn't resist hauling out the hammer to work on his bumper. Yes we know there's a filter up there somewhere. Is that thing leaking?

One newly installed sway bar needed a little adjustment of the lateral stops. Several cars were being treated to a little tune up along with scheduled services. And when there's a bit of a problem, there's no shortage of expert assistance.

Classic problem of the day trophy goes to this rubber bumper Midget with the B-A-A-A-A-D u-joint!!!. With at least 1/2 inch of lateral play and 30 degrees of free rotation, This one was almost a menace to society. The U-joint pins had worn all the way through the bearing cups and were chewing on the jokes. This propshaft is definitely trashed, but luckily Kim Tonry can provide a spare. A little too late in the day for the parts run, but it can be picked up on the way home (if the car drives REAL careful along the way). At the other end of the bay a rubber nose MGB was getting a brake check and a bit of oil in the steering rack.

Meanwhile, out in the parking lot, an MGB was getting an odometer calibration test. Pull the speedometer out of the dash, disconnect the drive cable, and put a little flag on the output end of the cable so you can watch it turn. Get out the tape measure, lay out 52 feet 9-5/8 inches on the pavement (exactly 1/100 mile), and push the car through that distance while counting rotations of the speedo drive cable. Multiply by 100, and you have the turns per mile number required for the speedometer shop to recalibrate the instrument. Or otherwise, at least you know how bad the error can be while you're driving. When the work is finished, we can all head over to Portillo's for a well earned late lunch and more MG chat.


©2003 Chicagoland MG Club, All rights reserved.