The MGA With An Attitude
MGA Guru Is GOING MOBILE - (April 16 - April 30, 2023)
Sunday, April 16, 2023:
In Falkville, Alabama today, we had two walk-ins with much the same story. "Is that your MG? I used to have one like it". A common experience. But later in the afternoon there were two more guys checking out my car when I happened to walk outside to check the weather. These guys knew me and the car through my web site. Better yet, they had just bought two MGA (one for each of them), had hauled one of them home from Huntsville, AL to Kentucky today, and would get the other one tomorrow. Add two more lines to the Friends list, and we hope to get along to check out those cars later.
Monday, April 17, 2023:
Gradually slipping south a bit at a time. Sitting in Faulkville, AL today. A little disappointed that Starship didn't get to launch today due to a boat in the exclusion zone. They will try again likely two days later.
Tuesday, April 18, 2023:
We backed up a few miles to the north today, sitting in Cullman, AL. Checking BBS and email, and a few phone calls, mostly tech stuff, not a lot new.
Wednesday, April 19, 2023:
Have an appointment in Huntsville for Thursday night or Friday, so not wanting to travel too far astray. Sitting in Cullman, AL.
Thursday, April 20, 2023:
Sitting in Decatur AL today. Got word from the two guys who were moving two MGA from Huntsville, AL to Kentucky. While towing the second car on a tow dolly (on Monday), the right rear wheel cam off while sailing along the interstate highway near Nashville, Tennessee. They never did find the wheel, think it went over the guard rail into the Cumberland River. Put the spare tire on the the car, but had no KO nut to secure it. The nut from right front would not screw onto the right rear hub, so they had the car towed the rest of the way home ($$$$). --- They sent pictures of the offending wheel hub (with the spare wheel installed). Staring at those threads for a while, it looks to me like a right hand thread, which belongs on the left side of the car. Bummer. The DPO strikes again.
Friday, April 21, 2023:
Dropped in to visit David and Johanne Davidson in Huntsville, Alabama. Having taken us a while to get here, last year (2022) Dave sold the MGA 1600-MK-II he used to have and bought an MG TD (under the cover) as well as an MGC. The MGC had been running a bit rough, so open the bonnet and fire it up, and get it up to normal running temperature. After a bit of poking around, the carburetors were out of adjustment, the front one running way too lean, and the rear one running a little rich. Not too long to make a few adjustments, and the engine was running much smoother.
The TD hadn't been run for a month, so it was a good time to pull the cover, open the bonnet, fire it up and let it run a few minutes to get it up to normal running temperature. This one ran well and didn't need anything else, so put it back to sleep.
Then we got a peek around the corner of the garage to check out Dave's new tow dolly. The concern here was that
the nearly new
machine was going rusty in multiple places due to what looks like a minimal paint job from the factory. The paint strikes me as primer and pigment in one coat with no primer underneath. As a farm kid we used to call this "implement enamel" as was used on farm machinery that didn't have to look good. Hard to say this is going to need some grinding in several places to remove pitted rusting, followed by some epoxy primer and more black and white top coat. With little more consideration, it might be better to disassemble it to remove all the paint,and repaint it from bare metal. Or maybe just let it rust. It's not a new car, you know.
Saturday, April 22, 2023:
Up early for breakfast, followed by some chat about where to procure some good used parts for the MGC. I do have a short list on my web site of recycling yards for vintage British car parts, so that gives a push in the right direction. Then we were back on the road by mid day. Unfortunately we didn't get very far before having another car problem.
 Heading west on AL-36 south of Huntsville, just making a left turn onto the entrance ramp for I-65 South, navigator noticed the smell of hot oil and piped up accordingly. He has been getting more sensitive to such things in recent years, and especially in the past week. Oil pressure was dropping quickly, so kill the engine, pull over to the shoulder of the entrance lane, and pop the bonnet. Sure enough, the shorter hose of the oil cooler we had re-routed last week with the last oil hose failure had now also failed, and we no longer have a spare hose. The emergency fix now is to clean things up best as possible, and wrap the failed hose tightly with lots of Duck Tape.
This it not great wrapping tape over oily stainless steel braid, but I gave it my best shot. No-go on the first try, still gushing oil at one end of the tape wrap. "If you haven't fixed it yet, you haven't used enough Duck Tape". So wrap it with more layers of tape at the offending location, and check again. That seemed to work, so top up the oil and head for the next exit, keeping one eye on oil pressure.
Better luck this time, five miles on we got off the expressway and into a truck stop near Falkville, AL. Not to trust the Duck Tape under engine temperature and oil pressure conditions, we would be grounded here until we find a more functional fix.
The truck shop here does not have tools to replace the oil hose (using the original end fittings). They did give us contact information for a shop in Huntsville that might be able to do it, but it is now Saturday afternoon, so no-go there until at least Monday morning. Well, nothing new here, and we don't have any urgent appointments for the next few days. So unless someone comes up with a better suggestion, we will order new hoses Monday to be delivered Wednesday, and patiently sit it out. Stay tuned.
Sunday, April 23, 2023:
Day off as we sit tight, and put a parts order together.
Monday, April 24, 2023:
Call to a UPS Store in a nearby town to verify they can receive a package for us, and hold it for pickup. Then a parts order to Moss Motors for oil cooler hoses (and a few other spare parts), which should be shipped out late today. We may get e-mail confirmation of the order, but not likely to see shipping confirmation until after midnight.
Another computer problem popped up today. At first I thought it was a residual of the computer crash recovery from November, but eventually I recon not. My Quicken accounting program has locked up, re-opening the program does not help, and rebooting the computer doesn't help either. Bummer. Lost the rest of the day fiddling with this, and still didn't get it fixed. Now keeping paper receipts for everything.
Tuesday, April 25, 2023:
No email response at all from Moss Motors, about what we have come to expect in the past few years. My card account was charged for the parts order (after midnight this morning), so we presume it was shipped. Waited patiently, but still no email from Moss. -- Most of the rest of the day was spent fiddling with Quicken, trying restart, reboot, reload and reinstall the software, but still no go. After two days of this, now chewing on nails.
Then I noticed if I restored the most recent data backup the program would open, seeming to be working. But trying to add one new data entry, it would lock up again. Restore, it works. Add data, it locks up. Rinse and repeat a few more times with same results. So then I thought, out of data space? Maybe. We have data accumulated since January 1995, so 28 years of data, and the data file is close to 30-MB.
So I went back to January 1995 and deleted the first few data entries, which did indeed allow me to add another data entry at the bottom (current date). So maybe there is a data marker with 32-MB of memory allocated for RAM. Not knowing how or where that data marker is set, it seemed to be most expedient to just delete more of the early data (after doing an archive data backup). I eventually deleted data from 1995 through 1999, keeping all data from January 2000 on, so now Quicken is back in business, and I only killed two days on that pesky problem.
Wednesday, April 26, 2023:
Had some rain in the wee hours of the morning, but then dry. Going to be variable weather next few days, so keep an eye on that. -- Out of patience, so I called Moss this morning (the now traditional next move) to confirm shipment and get the tracking number. Tracking says "Out for delivery", meaning it is supposed to be on a truck and moving, to be delivered to the local UPS store today, "by 7-pm". The store closes at 6-pm, so will have to keep one eye on the tracking status and the other eye on the clock. -- 2-pm tracking report says "delivered", so now we get to go see if we can pick it up. Might as well do that before the weather gets worse. Get two quarts of oil from the truck stop store, just in case, toss those in the boot.
Oil in engine almost a quart low, but no visible leak with engine running. Hoping the duck tape will hold up to run another 6 miles. Got lucky, with oil pressure dropping just as we were pulling into the UPS store in Hartselle, AL, with no more oil in the sump. Shut it down, go inside and pick up the package.
Then we got to fiddle with the new hoses, because the holes in the radiator duct panel are 1" diameter, while the hose hex fittings are 1.070" across the corners. I think it has been like that ever since the first oil cooler kit installation in early 1989. So grab the big Vice-Grip and a hand file to take the corners off the nut at one end of the hose. 30 strokes of the file on each apex (12 corners) was enough, and a half hour later the new hoses were installed.
Happy to be rid of the stainless steel braid covered hoses, which seem to be problemmatic. I'm coming to understand why braid covered hoses are illegal in Australia (and some other places). The braid certainly does nothing for abrasion resistance. If it rubs on a bolt head or metal bracket it quickly abraids right through the braid cover. Broken braid wires will be a health hazzard, prone to poking holes in your fingers. Broken braid wires can also poke holes through the rubber hose cover to cause some leak it was intended to avoid.
Still need to install grommets in the bulkhead holes to keep the sheet metal from cutting the hoses. Been using thin wall rubber grommets for decades, but this time I have in mind to use plastic snap grommets. Need a trip to a store for those bits, maybe tomorrow.
Oil for the engine, two half quarts on hand before the truck stop, and two quarts bought at the truck stop, puts it right near the full mark. Around the block to stop at Walmart to pick up more oil (and a few more minor items). Then back to the truck stop where we know the WiFi works. Relax, the car hasn't killed us yet. By evening it was raining again, so maybe we just sit still a while longer.
Thursday, April 27, 2023:
Moved a little farther south, sitting in Warrior, Alabama today. Got an early phone call from a fellow in northern
Indiana, very close to where my brother lives, considering purchase of an MGA 1600-MK-II Coupe. Looks like a nicely restored car (maybe), going to send some pictures, may be something to look at later.
A tech question about fitting a headlamp rubber gasket and dust seal for the headlight trim ring prompted me to post a new tech page for installation of the sealed beam headlamp assemblies.
Friday, April 28, 2023:
Engine cold starts have been sluggish recently. It cranks too long, then wants to start on two or three cylinders, and has to run 5 to 10 seconds before it clears up and runs on all four. Then it runs okay until shut down and trying to restart from cold again. Suspicion of fuel or water in one cylinder. Pulled the spark plugs this morning to crank it over, and nothing wet came out of any of the ports. Spark plugs look clean enough. Compression test looks okay, so looks like a good head gasket. Plugs back in, fired it up, and again it took several seconds before it cleared up to run on all four cylinders. Spark or fuel problem?
Bought another set of spark plugs today, Autolite 63 solid core (not resistor type), equal to Champion N9Y, same kind of plugs I have been using for decades with no prior issues. I suppose a change of spark plugs will make no difference, but it's good to try, just for the process of elimination.
All new ignition parts in July last year, distributor cap with nice brass terminals, solid core silicone HT wires with new terminal ends. New rotor, points, condenser, all working well until recently. Cleaned and adjusted the points recently, likely not the problem, but willing to try replacing them again. Starter motor cranks briskly. I think this sluggish starting is not an ignition problem, except that so far I cannot explain why this affects only one or two cylinders on cold start.
I know the carburetors are badly worn out, throttle shafts are loose (350,000 miles of normal wear), bits of choke linkage detached from front carb due to choke return spring worn through the throttle body, fuel drips at rear carb, both carbs need to be rebuilt. That was intended to be done last winter, but got side-tracked by body work and repaint. Getting higher on the priorities list again. I did procure another pair of throttle bodies with good throttle shafts at the swap meet a month ago, so about time to get off the fence and do it (soon).
Needing new grommets for the oil cooler hoses, picked up these Dorman parts from nearest O'Reilly Auto Parts store. Packaged as singles in bubble packs, around $6 each these days (get used to inflation this year).
Only one each in stock, so two different part numbers. Both are 3/4"-ID and 1" groove for the panel hole. The thicker one is smaller overall diameter, might be easier to get a thin screwdriver past it to push the smaller flange through the panel hole. Otherwise wrap a string or wire around it to pull it through the panel hole. Smaller OD means less to trim off the side to make two grommets fit side by side in closely spaced panel holes. I intend to install both, then decide which might be better before ordering up a couple more for spare parts. At least I knew from prior experience not to buy thinner grommets with very large OD (which would not fit in the space allowed).
Saturday, April 29, 2023:
We were very near Birmingham today with not much to do, and there was a car show listed on one a Brit car club Facebook site, so we would drop in for a visit. First we bumped into this guy at breakfast, and would end up parked next to him at the car show.
By mid morning we were checking in to Dixie Vintage Antique & Classic Car Show at Veterans Park in Hoover, Alabama. Not specifically British cars, something around 200 cars on display, mostly American stuff. At least I was happy to see that it was mostly vintage cars, 25 years and older. Cars were parked in serial order as they arrived, so you only parked near someone else if you arrived together, and I had to walk the whole show field looking for a few British cars. I did find another MGA, an Austin Healey, and an MGB.
Street rods, muscle cars, and pick up trucks galore. Aside from the little British cars, most of the rest had V8 engines. Give them a break, this is NASCAR country, so the British cars were the odd balls here. A few walk-bys stopped to chat about LBCs, but pretty much only people who actually had them. None of the V8 types even bothered to ask. "What is it"? But at least no one spit on us. The yellow Mustang likely had the most apropos sign of the day.
Sitting half way between Birmingham and Tuscaloossa tonight. Looks like it will be raining heavily until 4-am, so maybe we just sit tight.
Sunday, April 30, 2023:
Got the rubber grommets installed on the new oil cooler hoses this morning. Feels good to have that done up right. -- Most of the day spent doing data backup of my computer hard drive (copied onto a thumb drive). Time consuming pain, but needs to be done occasionally. Had to be done now, after recovery from accounting progran freeze up and Quicken data reduction.
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