The MGA With An Attitude

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MGA Guru Is GOING MOBILE - (October 1 - October 15, 2018)

Monday October 1 2018:
Another slightly murky day in Vermont. We dropped into visit East Coast Collision and Restoration in Mount Holly, VT. They do predominantly frame and body restoration, and yes that is a Mini in the side yard. They can restore just almost anything, but about 80% of the business is in vintage British cars.

Currently working on a Jaguar E-type, an AH 3000, and two MG TD. Recently completed an Series III Land Rover, a Morgan Plus 4 and an MG TC. Find photos of many more cars they have restored on their Facebook page.


Our next stop was Vermont Vintage Sportscars in Fair Haven, VT. Sorry to report the owner is deceased, and the shop was close in 2013.
Then we were looking for a contact for a car club British Motorcars-Vermont (or Vermont Centre of British Motorcars) in Shelburne, VT. Turning onto the proposed street, we were looking for #4, but the first place with the lowest number was #20, so we think we must be led astray on this one. We made a call and left a voice message, hoping for a call back.

Then heading for southeast New Hampshire, we happen to be flying past an old friend Jack Elliot in Lyme, NH, so we stopped in for a minute just to say hello. He sold his MGA a while back, but he did turn us on to the local shop that used to work on his car in White River Junction near Wilder, Vermont. So beat a quick retreat across the bridge back into Vermont to check. To late in the evening, so we will stay over here an check again in the morning.

Tuesday October 2 2018:
'Twas a rainy morning, but we were going shop hopping anyway. As long as it wasn't torrential, it seemed like a reasonable thing to do on a rainy day when you really didn't want to be out doing anything else. So our first stop was at Northern Motorsport in White River Junction, VT. This is the shop referred to us by Jack Elliot as the place that worked on his car (about five years earlier). As we pulled in it was nice to see some vintage British vehicles in the parking lot. Yeah, you might have to stare a while to sort them out from other European cars.

Inside, among the more common stuff, we found a Volvo P1800 sport wagon (shooting brake). These were just the thing in process today. Not only was this a new shop added to our list, but they also recommended a visit to another place we hadn't heard of before, and not too far away.

So we were off to visit Bit Of Britain in Bradford, VT where the owner Mike Buonoduci has stashed barns full of new old stock "odd ball" parts for vintage British cars. That is, don't expect to find a starter motor for an MGB, but you might find a turn signal switch for a Arnolt MG.

Then we had a 2-1/2 hour run southeast to visit Barlow & Company in Wolfeboro, NH. Say hello to Steve Barlow, a vintage Brit himself, who likes to restore vintage British motorcycles and vintage cars. That's an Alfa Romeo DOHC 1300 engine fully restored. In the lower level garage he was nearing completion of restoration on a late model MGB for a very fastidious owner wanting a show car. The bay next to it is still open for service work on other cars. Running out of business hours, we went to find a WiFi spot to catch up on our grunt work.

We dearly wanted to visit New England Classic M.G. Shop in Freedom, NH, but it has a PO Box and RR#1 mailing address. We have no street ddress, and there has been no reply from multiple phone voice messages, so we will have to miss this one (again).

Wednesday October 3 2018:
Laying down more miles today, two hours south across a state line to visit Burnett's Garage, Inc. in Wenham, Massachusetts. That would be Dave and Don Burnett, a father and son team (Don on the right).
This is now a third generatIon family business, as it was the grandfather who opened the business in 1946. It became an MG dealer in 1956, just in time for introduction of the MGA, and they sold a lot of MGA and MGB new. It is now advertised as Sales & Service, quality used cars, general repairs, imported and domestic, but they do love vintage British cars. They provide mechanical and electrical work, but no longer do full restoration body and paint work.

During a lunch stop we got lucky with a phone call and made a connection we have been chasing on and off for two years. Another hour southwest we stopped to visit Steve Shoyer in Wayland MA. He has a nice late model MGB, currently converting it to Weber downdraft carburetor with tubular headers. Naturally we had a L-O-N-G chat about how to modify the Weber carburetor to accommodate continued use of fuel vapor recovery, anti-run-on, and positive crankcase ventilation (the later being of supreme importance).

Running out of business hours we then did another hour and a half dash west to visit Rogers Motors in Shutesbury, MA. I would say "Meet Geoff Rogers", except my camera picked this moment to fog over something like the sensor array inside, which could not be cleared by wiping the front lens. The dang rain and humidity finally got to us. From 35 snaps I got no pictures at all outside and precious few indoors. They have loads of parts for classic British cars and bicycles. They have a very large collection of MGA Coupe doors for instance. All I can say without the pictures is visit their web site for more information.


Thursday October 4, 2018:
Had the little digital camera sitting in front of the warm exhaust from the computer cooling fan for a few hours, and that seems to have dried it out so it should work again.
For a couple days now we have been noticing low voltage on the car battery after overnight rest. Suspect electrical drain through a faulty diode in the alternator, so we have been switching off the battery cut-off switch while parked for extended periods. By a bit of foresight (and recent past experience) we do have a spare alternator in the trailer, so not too worried about the battery drain at the moment.
CMGC October newsletter has arrived in electronic format, so will need to put that on the club web site. That may have to wait until Saturday, because we have a lot of shop hopping to do during business hours today and tomorrow.
What a whacky day. Spent the whole day listing and plotting shops on the map, about 20 of them all on the eastern 1/3 of MA. Also contemplating a ferry trip to and from Nantucket Island to visit a shop over there, which is likely to kill a whole day in itself. Maybe I can do that one on Saturday (need to inquire). Otherwise shop hopping is limited to normal business hours, not on the week end, so I recon this will run onto the middle of next week. Brace yourself for an onslaught of shop photos.

Friday October 5, 2018:
Shop hopping in a serious way today. Our first stop was Federal Hill Trading Company in Oxford, MA. The place is still standing, by some small miracle perhaps. The owner had a long career servicing a wide array of vintage cars, including some rather expensive models, and more recently materials and tooling for you to make your own brake lines. Now he is officially retired, so we need to report that FHTC is retired as well.

Next stop was a search for Jean's Foreign Auto Repair in Worcester, MA. Report from the current occupant of the premises is that shop has been gone for more than 10 years. The current shop here is a Foreign Car Specialist, and they do mechanical work on almost anything, but they are a bit leery about cars as old as ours (depending on physical condition of the cars). They may be good for break-down service, but I won't be putting this on on the Shops list.
Then we dropped in on J & M Machine Co in Southborough, MA, a good vintage engine rebuilder. Staff here is John Gulbankian and Michael Gulbankian Jr (bothers I suppose). I had a nice educational tour of the shop beginning with one of two line boring machines.

Then a crankshaft balancer, a crankshaft grinder, and something I hadn't seen before, a non-contact magnafluxing machine for crack checking crankshafts (love the large circular electromagnet).

There was the boring and honing machine, and too may more machines to display, but certainly equipped to rebuild pretty much any engine. And they pour babbit beaings. How far vintage would you like to go?

Our next stop was Kustom & Restoration Specialties in Marlborough, MA. For sure they do some nice restoration work here with plenty of vintage British cas in the shop. Outside the shop owner Peter Bachand was doing a little electrical work on a Fiat 124 Sport (1400cc engine), predecessor to the 124 Spider (1700), which was followed by the Fiat 2000. I had to smile, because I used to have a 124 Spider. Summer is mechanical season here, while fall and winter are restoration season.

Next stop was The Boston Sportscar Co, LLC in Weston, MA. Yes they service and restore vintage British cars, lots of them. Try not to let your eyes water too much when you look in the back shop room, which was full of Ferrari and Porsche.

Then we were looking for Alston Custom Garage in Watertown, MA. Gone for at least 8-1/2 years. The place is still a service shop (Pleasant Car Care), but not for vintage cars.

The next one was Plug 'N Spanner Garage in Somerville, MA, definitely closed, this time for more than 10 years, owner deceased, and we think the space has been empty that long.

Looking for Tally Ho Sports Cars in Melrose, MA. No luck, but a good story. Classic Muscle Cars has been here for 4-1/2 yeas. Before that it was Aliance Motors, and before that it was a Pontiac dealer. Gives you an idea how old some of these shop listing may be, and why we are vetting this list.
Looking for AutoWorks in Stoneham, MA, we think we found a case of urban renewal. The left half of this apartment building is the correct street address, but definitely no longer an auto shop.
Getting more weird as we go, Gustafson Machine in Gloucester, MA is gone (even though we know they are still in business). This address is now McNiff Company, LLC. Though that door is a stairwell, and the current occupant is on the second floor. However, the phone number is still valid, and the company has moved. Out of business hours today, but we will be looking into their new address another time.
Addendum, October 8, 2018: See "Gustafson Specialty Products" below.
I think we just hit eleven shops in one day, which is some accomplishment considering we spent much of the time crawling about in north Boston, MA area traffic jams. Back on WiFi duty until 10-pm, after which we made a 110 mile dash south on expressways, staging for Saturday's plans (been a long day).

Satuday October 6, 2018:
Up early enough for breakfast, mail check, and figure out how and when to catch a ferry. Parked the car and left it behind for this trip. Caught the Steamship Authority "fast passenger ferry" out of Hyannis, MA for 11-am departure. Gotta tell you, these things get up and go. 12 minutes at slow pace to clear the harbor, 42 minutes at fast pace across Nantucket Sound, 6 minutes at casual pace in the harbor at Nantucket Island, exactly one hour dock to dock. The boat is an all-aluminum catamaran, 154’ length, 39.04’ beam, 4 engines totaling 9,400 HP, 35 knots cruise speed carrying up to 400 persons, luggage and bicycles. I'm impressed. The traditional ferry that carries vehicles takes 2-1/4 hours for the same trip.

Goodbye Hyannis, hello Nantucket, and hello to out friend Chris Witte who graciously picked us up at the ferry landing. We had a short ride to his shop Classic Motor Services where he sevices vintage British cars.

He claims to specilize in MG and Rover cars, but he drives a TR3 which he restored. The customer's MGB was in for some restoration of the engine (but not the engine bay). And there were a few motorcyles lurking in the backgound.

Wouldn't be right to come this far without taking a tour of tNantucket Island, just for sight seeing.

The lighthouse at east end of the island may be a visitor attraction, but very little space to park cars, and the tour bus had a fit trying to tun around in minimal space. Back in the business district (near the ferry terminal), more visitors and conjestion. Not bad in October, but a few weeks earlie this would have been continuous gridlock. Back on the ferry, goodbye Nantucket, heading back to the mainland before dark.


Sunday October 7, 2018:
Part of the plan was to catch a British Car show that was part of "British Legends Weekend" hosted by Cape Cod British Car Club. It was a three day gig with meet and greet Friday evening, couple of car tours and a banquet on Saturday, and car show on Sunday. Preregistration was closed a few days earlier, so we sent an email to the club president to inquire, but got no response. No other way found on the club web site to contact anyone, so we gave up and decided to skip the car show and spend today catching up some grunt work.

Monday October 8, 2018:
Back to shop hopping, first stop was looking for Carriage Shed Automotive in West Wareham, Massachusetts. Not here, and current resident has been here 7 years, but he said he does get mail addressed to Carriage Shed occasionally, so they used to be here. Made the phone call, and got a working number with a recording for Carriage Shed. Left a message, but so far no call back. Looked them up on the internet later and came up with a new address and a Google Maps picture. Called again, still no answer, but we will keep this place on the list and see if we can get back there later.

Then we were off to visit Brittanic Motors in Avon, MA. Nice shop, but the door was locked, no one here. It was about this time that it dawned on us that this might be Columbus Day holiday, which could account for some businesses being closed. If we had thought about this earlier we may have taken the day off. At least the shop is real and still in business. Called then the next day to verify, and all is well with the business.
Next on the list was Classic Roadsters in Hingham, MA. Only a Route number and no street address for this one, so we made the call but got a non-working number. Checking later we discovered this shop was closed end of May 2003.
Next up was a place called Rood's Foreign Auto in Swampscott, MA. On arrival we found no Rood's, but a long building with three other business. Lots of long stories here. This place used to be an MG dealer in a long past life, Rood worked for them, then opened his own shop somewhere else. When the MG dealer closed, Rood came back and moved his business in here. Deceased in 2015, Rood's shop was closed, and the building was split for four other businesses. Now the good news, two of these new shops will service vintage British cars.

The first new shop here is Autobahn Motor Werks, run by Ed Albecht. He specializes in Mercedes Benz, but is also a veteran sports car mechanic who still works on vintage British cars when needed.

The other new shop here is Small Wheels European Car Repair run by James A Dawson. His business card says BMW, Porsche, Saab, VW, but he is also heavy into vintage British cars. His shop is on the left end of the building, and the space is larger, extending around behind a couple other shops, and there was an MG on the lift today. Bully!


Next we stopped to visit a shop with a generic name, Automotive Service in Lynn, MA, run by William Spellenberg. At first we thought it might be closed, but it was open, and second in command was there to tell us the owner was on vacation this week. The business car says "Specializing in electrical problems", but he is a certified general mechanic, owns a Sunbeam Alpine, and will service vintage British cars.

Got a quick snap of this Rolls Royce Silver Cloud (1955-1966) as we were passing it. Gave it a little toot and a wave, and got a big honk back in exchange. That was nice.

For our last shop today we finally found the one we were looking for last Friday, Gustafson Machine (also known as Gustafson Specialty Products) in Gloucester, MA. They moved here 15 years ago, and the prior shop has since been razed in favor of construction of the new aforementioned professional building. Gustafson manufactures lots of gear reduction starters, and recently some alternator conversion kits for vintage cars. There are some local customers who may pick up parts here, but most of their business is providing parts to retail shops. You can visit their web site for a list of some of the widely spread resellers, many that you may recognize and may already patronize.

Our next programmed stop was more than 80 miles away, could have gotten there today, but we had more pressing business to attend to. The MGA dearly needed an oil change, long overdue. We picked up some oil at the local Walmart, but no auto service there, and the next nearest one with auto service was in New Hampshire, more than 20 miles north (wrong direction). So we bit the bullet and checked into the local Jiffy Lube to save some time (just pay the piper). Then off to the nearest WiFi Spot to bring you these photos and notes.

Tuesday October 9, 2018:
Back at it again. Looking for Morris Garages in Fanklin, MA. It turned out to be a residential neighborhood, and the nearest street address was off by a couple digits, and it didn't look anything like a workshop. Tried the given phone number, which is "not in service". Also took another look around the internet and found nothing useful on this business, so we will call it defunct.

Still tying to connect with British Motorworks in Uxbridge, MA. Made another call (third time), got another beg-off, and had to skip it again. I don't think we will get back this way again any time soon, so no picture. If you think you would like this shop to work on your car, make the call and see if you can make an appointment.

Then we were off to visit the publishing headquarters of British Marque Car Club News in Harrisville, Rhode Island. The garage was hiding three Minis and an MGB, so no shortage of British car enthusiasm here.

Greetings from the editor and his wife. The publication services more than 100 car clubs and their members as well as individual subscribers. Most of the upper floor and the basement of the house are dedicated to the publishing office space. Go to their web site and download a free preview copy of the publication.

Then we were off to visit State Line Service and Tire Center in Woonsocket, RI. Took us a while to find this place, as we had the wrong address and had to make a phone call to correct it. Family owned and operated, working on vintage cars since they were new cars. Yes they understand wire wheels and inner tubes, and they sometimes do mechanical work on vintage British cars (helps if you are a friend or a regular customer).

We were looking for British Auto Works in Attleboro, MA. Near as we can tell, it used to be one of the small shops in this strip mall complex, no longer here, and the phone number was no longer working, so this on is out of business.
Then we were looking for GRM Auto Body & Restoration in Cumberland, RI. Current resident of the specified shop space says they have been here for a very long time, so GRM is long gone. No trace of them on the internet either, so we agree it must have been a long time ago. Write this one off.

Then we were off on a jolly good chase, trying to find Her Majesty's Auto Service with more than one address. First stop was in Pawtucket, RI, which turned out to be a bakery there for the past two years. The next stop was in Swansea, MA, which turned out to be a Nursery that had been there for 30 years, so that one must be a misleading incorrect address which is widely copied on the internet. A follow up search on the internet tuned up a third address in Rhode Island and a phone that works (but after hours), so we may have another shot at this one tomorrow.

Today was the day we would finally find Carriage Shed Automotive in Wareham, MA. We had to side track 30 miles (each way) to a location we were very near to the day before. Having found the right place, the owner informed us that he no longer works on the little British cars, as there are so few of them left in this area, and he is too busy with more modern cars. So we get to write this one off the list as well.

Okay, time for one more shop if we can hustle a bit. Hot run down some expressways to West Kingston, RI to visit Rhode Island Wiring Services where they make wiring harnesses for our beloved vintage cars. They can supply the wire in any style and color combination you might need (and the wire terminals). Photo at right is a dash harness for MGA.

Fun to watch the braiding machines weaving threads for the color coded covers.

They can reproduce nearly any harness design given an original one to copy. Just for kicks, a framed copy of the company logo featuring the state bird (a Rhode Island Red rooster).


Wednesday October 10, 2018:
Today's first stop was a visit to British T Shoppe Inc in Oakdale, Connecticut. Not to be confused with MG T-types, this "T" is for TVR cars. Nice place, but the owner is recently retired, so the shop is now for his own hobby, no longer doing commercial business.

Next up was Hackett Motorcars in Old Saybrook, CT. The place was locked up with no signage, but the phone number was still good. Another shop retirement, no longer operating.

Those who have been around for a while may remember Abingdon Spares, previously in Walpole, New Hampshire, owned by Jerry & Doris Gogan. The business was sold to Robert Seymour, and The Westminster MG Car Museum in Westminster, Vermont was closed when they retired in 1999. Today we had a visit to the current Abingdon Spares, since moved to Deep River, CT. In addition to supplying MG T-type parts, they are now offering some parts for MGB, and they are also servicing cars, mostly T-types but also increasingly MGB as time passes.

We wanted to visit Alpha & Omega Auto Restoration in Middlefield, CT. Unfortunately this one appears to be another victim of urban renewal, with the property now occupied by a church. The old phone number rings and then transfers to a busy signal, no go. No further information is available on the internet, so we will mark this one as gone.

Then we were off to visit Motorcars Inc in Plainville, CT. This is a Jaguar shop, only on our list because their ad likely appeared in a local club newsletter or web site. We were greeted in the car park by the owner driving an E-type. After a short chat we were escorted to the "storage building" next door, and all I can say is "Wow"!

If you like Jaguar you can drool your way all the way though here. Back in the main building we found more prizes and trophy cars, and the service and restoration shop.

A few minutes later we ran across this old Jaguar XK120 Fixed Head Coupe casually cruising along the highway. The outstanding feature here was the wave and the big grin on the driver's face. Not sure if it was for our car or his.

Our next stop was AMW Foreign Car Service in New Haven, CT. Very crowded and mostly new cars these days, but yes they do have a specialist still working on vintage cars.

The next one was a bit tricky, looking for Milford Car Works in Milford, CT. The building sign says "Speed of Sound Technologies", but the occupant also has another internet name "Milford Car Stereo" which will redirect to the same web site. Upon further investigation we think the business we were looking for is long gone, as it used to be a Jaguar specialist working on other British cars as well. Best guess from available information is it may have closed about 2005.

Then looking for Ed's Service Center in Milford, CT we found a fuel/service station that was currently closed with a sign "Under new management". So the prior operator is gone, and we will make no assumptions about intensions of the new owner, so scratch this one off the list.

New England Classic Car Company in Stratford, CT was better find. This unassuming looking building with not much around it outside turned up big surprises inside. Meet the owner Marc F. Evans who is a big MGB enthusiast (with three of them at home to drive daily). Older construction with lots of building columns and walls, it goes on and on, and every turn reveals more cars.

I told you he likes MGB. Now sure how the 23-window VW bus got in here. There was a Morgan +4, an MG TD, a TVR, and at least half a dozen MGA.

More on the lower level, a few more Morgan, that's a Riley Elf (rare form of a vintage Mini), a vintage VW Beetle, and a flat-radiator Morgan 4-4.

Back upstairs to check out the main workshop with a couple MGA and a Fiat 124 Spider today. A few minutes later both MGA were out for a test drive, even better to see them come back under their own power. The Lotus Elan was waiting for his tun for a test run. I also found a few Diamonds in the rough out back. I think the Sunbeam will be restored. If you need your LBC serviced, there is plenty of talent here.

Around the corner a couple blocks down was Automotive Restorations Inc in Stratford, CT. When they say "Classic" they are dealing with a lot of European spots cars including plenty of vintage British cars in the mix. The place is a big operatoin, and they were rather busy today, but you can visit their web site for more pictures.

Just a mile up the road we stopped at Burns Tire Exchange in Stratford, CT. I asked "Where's the old guy", and sure enough there he was. Say hello to the Richard Martin, and I can assure you these guys know how to service inner tubes and wire wheels. They do a lot of work for the local restoration shops.
Now we ran over to Sports And Classics (British Classic Sportscar Parts & Restoration) in Stamford, CT. I was anxious to see this place, as this is where my MGA rocker panels came from. There are a couple different entrances to this building, neither marked with the business name outside, so we were around the block a couple of times and making a phone call before getting the rig parked. I recon they have most of three floors here.

I think he said 28,000 square feet, and most of the place is crammed to the rafters with parts. One of my favorites (after the rocker panels) is the bumper mounting rubber grommets with the proper large diameter curved cup shape flange.

On the lower level there are a number of cars parked, but they are now tying to clear out some of them to make space for more parts. Here we have some examples of custom seats they have made to fit you favorite vintage British cars. Some of them are less expensive than original style reproduction parts.

Getting late, and they have to get some next day air shipments out, so we were off. Next stop was C & G Woodcraft in Norwalk, CT. Love the vintage sign. Too bad the vintage phone number doesn't work, but we have one that does work. After hours, locked up, but we're not going very far away, so we can come back on another day.

One more stop, a last minute change of plans, so to speak. It was a place called Norwalk Vintage in Norwalk, CT, given to us by the folks at Sports And Classics. We arrived at a large building with multiple "suites", and no signage that we could recognize. A phone call raised an answering machine, so we left a message and called it a day, heading off for a very late lunch and a WiFi spot.

Thursday October 11, 2018:
Sat still for a day, needing the time to catch up with the photos and notes, a back log of email, and more travel planning (from the Shops list). And it was raining cats and dogs off an on, so it was a good day not to be traveling.

Friday October 12, 2018:
First stop today was back to visit C & G Woodcraft in Norwalk, CT. Start with the building photos immediately above. First note here is that the business has been rebranded as CG Autowood, and it has a very nice new web site. First step inside reveals a wood shop (no surprise). Around the corner was an numerical control cutting machine that will accurately reproduce multiple copies of your favorite wood dash panel without error. And a lathe used to produce nice wood dash knobs and gearshift knobs.

Just for me, there's a dash panel for an MGA roadster. On the flip side you can see all of the proper thinning and cut-outs for mounting brackets and side lighting fixtures. For shift knobs you can choose your material, color and finish. The one on far right is fitted with an overdrive switch.

There's the spray booth in the finishing room, and lots of racks of finished wood dash panels for most vintage British cars. This was well worth the return visit.

Then we did return visit trying to find Nowalk Vintage in Norwalk, CT, but during business hours this time. I walked all around the building, but couldn't find the car shop just one big door into what looked like a truck shop with all the buses around it. A phone call raised another cryptic message. They have a rather impressive looking Facebook page (with part of this building showing on that page), but I don't have time to pursue it just now. By the time I could spend more time chasing this I would be far away and not likely to return again. Moral of this story is, if you want to do business with the public, at least answer your phone.
Beginning to see fall colors in the trees. There was more of this farther north in New Hampshire and Vermont, a little less (so far) in Connecticut. Got detoured a couple of times for downed trees due to early morning wind storms.
Next stop was British Motors of Fairfield County in Bethel, CT. Meet the proprietor, Charles H Pospisil. Established in 1982, the business recently moved to this location, but they haven't updated their web site yet. But it's a good place to get your vintage British car fixed.

On a recommendation from BMFC, we took a short side trip to Custom Spares Ltd in Brewster NY. Been here two years ago, but this time we were looking for brake shoes that might be the ight size to actually work on the rear axle of an MGA. Looks like a good bet, as they measure 4-1/4 inches at the center of ach. Bought these to stow in the trailer, hopefully for near future installation.

We made a brief stop for CoolCat Express Corp in Bedford, NY. They make some fine products for Jaguar cars, see their web site for those items. Otherwise this location is not the right place to procure anything, as it is where the company owner works out of his home, not a retail store.

Next stop was a well known business, Nisonger Instruments in Mamaroneck, NY. If you need your dash instruments repaired or rebuilt, this place is highly recommended.

Made another brief stop for Abingdon Performance LTD in Yonkers, NY. No one home today, but I made the phone call and connected with the owner who was in Hershey, PA for the AACA Easter Region Fall Meet. We had a nice chat on the phone, mostly about the roller cam setup for MG T-types, and trials and tribulations of production.

After some typically painful creep and crawl through mid afternoon traffic approaching New York City, we stopped to visit Uptown Motors in Bronx, NY, auto service since 1916 in the upper east side of Manhattan. These guys know old cars well and are happy to service vintage British vehicles.

With some more creep and crawl we were making our way over the Queensboro Bridge. Last time we did this was two yeas ago sometime past midnight with less traffic (but having a tougher time finding the approach streets without the GPS then). Running out of business hours with fingers crossed, we made a very short stop at Gullwing Motor Cars in Astoria, NY. No service or restoration work here, just buy, sell and trade high end collector cars.

I can count at least 50 cars in these few pictures, and this is just part of the ground floor. There are Rolls Royce, Jaguar, and likely Aston Martin in the mix. Something you fancy, just ask.

Traffic was getting worse as evening rush hour was progressing, well past 5-pm, fingers crossed, hoping to catch one more friendly contact (so we might not have to drive though this area again later). We were looking for Joe Curto Inc in College Point, NY. On first pass we couldn't tell if it was open or not, and we couldn't find a parking space, so we pull up a couple blocks to pull over and make a phone call. Got a friendly voice and a come-on-in (if you're quick about it), so we ran around a few more blocks to return and found a park spot on a nearby side street.

If you didn't already know, this place is aces on rebuilding vintage carburetors. Get the ladder, as everyone knows the part they need is in a box on that top shelf. Found an interesting collection of memorabilia in the front office.

Having cheated business hours enough, it was time to move a little more east of the city to get out of the congestion. City streets were bad, and the so-called expressways weren't helping much, but 24 miles out we found a reasonable WiFi spot (and very late lunch) in Plainview, NY.

Saturday October 13, 2018:
No shop hopping on the week end, so we are going to sit on Long Island for a day to catching up on photos and notes and email and a couple new tech pages, and another day to get the CMGC newsletter posted on the club web site (already a week in hand and not done).

Sunday October 14, 2018:
Spent a lot of time mapping out locations and routing for the rest of the shops in upstate New York, more than 40 more of them. Got a start on posting the CMGC newsletter on line, but no idea when I will find enough time to finish it.

Monday October 15, 2018:
Continued crawling around western Long Island and the New York City metro area. So much time putzing around in crawling city traffic that the car is getting terrible fuel mileage.
Made a phone call early to check on a business with two addresses, Roadtronics Automotive Technologies Co Inc. A few year ago he escaped from central Long Island to upstate New York, so that's one we didn't have to visit this morning, will try to catch him in a day or two.
Our first stop today would be Old English Restorations in Westbury, NY. No luck here, as it turned out to be a very large StorQuest storage facility that has been here for three years, and the prior phone number now belongs to some Medical Facility, so scratch this one and chalk it up to urban renewal.

Slogging through slightly miserable rain most of the morning, we were looking for D & G Automotive in Freeport, NY, which tuned out to now be Reality Motors (here for three years), nothing to do with vintage British cars. The prior phone number could not be completed as dialed (twice), and no more info on the internet, so count this one gone a well.
Next up was Cambridge Motors in Inwood, NY. The given address put us in front of Kings Building Materials in a fairly new building (no go). But the given phone number still worked to reveal the car shop had moved just a block down and across the street, in the current location eight years. So we finally found a live one, and sure enough the owner likes to work on vintage British cars.

Then we were off to visit Hi Tech Auto in Brooklyn, NY. First attempt had us in front of a large apartment building, obviously not a car garage. This turned out to be on the wrong street, Sterling ST when it should have been Sterling PL. That didn't help much, as the shop there was closed, but the phone number was still good. We got a redirect to another place called Toolkit Auto Repairs LLC, still in Brooklyn. Story is, the "partnership" on Sterling PL wasn't working out, so one of the guys moved to the new location while the others ultimately closed up shop at the old location.

So hello to Irvin at Toolkit, and note that he likes vintage British cars. He has the white Jaguar as his daily driver car. Inside he has an MGB with a Ford 302 V8, and an ongoing restoration of an MG Midget (destined to be all original), and another MGB with a new engine and gearbox ready to drop in.

We had a tough time parking at the next shop, British Car Service in Corona, NY. Not to freak out if you see a plumbing truck there with the same address on the truck, as that business is at the same street address.

The shop owner has a nicely restored MGA 1500 (excuse the 1600 tail lights in front). He is also restoring another MGA with some special touches, like the coil-over-shock front suspension conversion. The engine and gearbox that came out of the MGB will be going into the new MGA.

On the fourth day we escaped from Long Island, making our way back across the Queensboro Bridge, on the top deck this time, finally some nice pictures in daylight. I have to smile at the wonderful iron work from 1909. A tentative appointment with a friend on East 63rd Street in New York City was cancelled when the bloke was heading out of country.

Finally getting out of the big city we were still crawling north for another half hour, stopping to visit Storm Crankshaft Grinding and Welding in Mt Vernon, NY. This was a recent recommendation from a friend, as this place does a lot of crankshaft work for a variety of engine shops who rebuild engines for our British cars.

Say hello to the owner who is about to kick the MG Midget 1275 engine block, which happened to be the first item inside the door.

Taking a tour of the shop we passed a few crankshaft grinding machines. The center picture is a Magnaflux machine, followed be the shot peening station.

There we several large rooms full of core crankshafts, and yes he does have spare cranks for most MGs, definitely all of the Austin A-series, B-series and C-series engines (not sure about a Twin Cam). This goes on for a while longer. He said he had to scrap a lot of it, as the prior owner had another building filled with spare crankshafts, but they had to go to make room for more machinery.

Our final shop for the day was M&G Vintage Auto in Tuxedo Park, NY. This took a while to find, as the shop was actually a few miles farther south in Sloatsburg, NY (maybe sharing the same post office). To confuse things more, it also turned out to be M&G Vintage Auto (doing business as) Tuxedo Motor Sports, but they do have a nice web site. The place was closed today, but a phone call brought us a recording with lots of information. Closed on Mondays, sometimes gone to auto shows or racing other days. But they do have some neat stuff in the show room and shop space, as seen through the front windows. Will have to call back again later when we have more time.

Not quite as done as we thought. Later in the evening as we were doing WiFi we had a walk-in. Say hello to Peter Lendved from Chester, NY. He has this very nice 1958 Morgan Plus-4 with a few personal touches, having driven it 11,000 miles since April. And he was more than impressed to see the MGA with a trailer being driven daily.