The MGA With An Attitude
MGA Guru Is GOING MOBILE - (May 16 - May 31, 2024)
Thursday May 16, 2024:
Rain day, real gully washers and flooding. Great day to be sitting inside working on photos and notes from the past few days.
Friday May 17, 2024:
Had in mind to visit a shop in Conroe, TX, today, but but got a bit carried away documenting the recent incident of faulty ignition points (above). By the time I got that done, and called Moss Motors to file the heads up notice, it was after hours and the shop in Conroe was closed for the day (or for the week). Not sure if we will still be here come Monday.
Saturday-Sunday May 18-19, 2024:
Mostly killing a two day weekend before next appointment on Monday.
Monday May 20, 2024:
Weekend past, time to get back to work. On a recommendation from some random stranger at a truck stop, we headed for Conroe, Texas to visit Jud's Eurotypes shop.
Jud Morriss has had his hands on machinery since he was working on Allis Chalmers tractors in the 50's. As the tractors were getting bigger and heavier, he decided to try working on cars, much smaller and easier to work on. This was back when our beloved vintage cars were not vintage. Little British cars were common then. In more recent years Jud has taken a liking to Mercedes and Lotus cars, but he still works on vintage British stuff occasionally. If you have a need, give him a call.
Then we ran another 30 miles south to visit British Sports Car Center in Houston, TX. Bill Kitts, the owner, likes working on vintage British cars. It appears he also has an assortment of project cars and parts cars, so he can also supply parts, new or used.
Heading back north in the general direction of Dallas, Fort Worth, one hour or 60 miles in the heat, we picked a good time to hit an exit ramp at Huntsville, TX. We needed to visit an O'Reilly Auto Parts to get the failed alternator tested and figure out how to order up a replacement (under warranty). Verified dead okay, failing five out of six electrical tests. Looks like the replacement has to come out of Nashville, TN, and would take 3 or 4 days for delivery. We're not sticking around for that, got a better idea.
Another 27 miles north, we find a nice cool WiFi spot for late lunch in Madisonville,TX. Sit down, do a little search, Call another O'Reilly store in Arlington, TX to order a new alternator, to be delivered to that store by Friday, when we will be there to pick it up. Now we need to drag our feet some more to kill a few more days. See if I can find something useful to keep me occupied.
Tuesday May 21, 2024:
Take some idle time to add the two new Texas shops to my North American Shops list.
Wednesday May 22, 2024:
Drove a little out of our way to visit two more shops in Texas. Start with Sportscar Warehouse in Arlington, TX. Say hello to the owner Byron Carlson.
Immediately there was a customer checking his cell phone. He had just brought in an MGB project car, which he bought from this shop two years earlier. At first glance it didn't look too bad, but looking a bit closer, it turned out to have badly rusted floors. Also the air cleaners had been removed as well as the shifter extension housing. Being left outdoors and subject to rain, it had water in the engine sump and in the gearbox. Seems the project turned out to be more than the enthusiasm, so now he was selling the car back to the shop, and likely the car will be split for parts.
Another MGB arrived on a flat bed. after this one was rolled off the truck, it started and ran okay, and was driven into the shop. No idea why it needed a tow. Busy place. Seems like they are getting a few cars daily for service. A look out behind reveals plenty more projects to keep them busy.
A look inside the shop to see what they are currently working on. Lots of TR and MG.
A nice Morris Minor truck, and a Morgan
Head up front for a peek in the show room. Lots of toys here. Maybe not everyone needs a Ferrari, but there was a vintage Jaguar sedan, an MGA, an MGB V8 conversion, an MG TD, an MG TF style kit car with fiberglass body and MGB engine and chassis parts underneath.
We had a nice long chat with staff and customers, and then it was time to roll out again. We jumped on I-20 West, only 37 miles to go,but it it was a disaster. Mostly stop and creep, stalled vehicles and an accident in the left lane, construction closing the right lane, lots of traffic needing to merge in just killing the traffic flow. At least the MG was running very well, the bilge blower keeping the carbs from boiling alcohol fuel, the nice original cell core radiator keeping the coolant temperature steady on scale, it never missed a beat the whole way. ... We finally arrived to visit Jimmy Hilton SU carburetors in Aledo, Texas .
At first it seemed a bit odd that there was some business work going on in the kitchen. Really?
But then we figured out why. Jimmy was very near completion of his new workshop garage behind the house. Sweet. That's a 16x8 foot door, high ceiling, lots of lights and power, tall roof with attic space, and yes he is putting in a cargo lift elevator.
Jimmy has apparently figured out the right combination of abrasives to use in his vibratory polisher. It does a real nice job of cleaning up the alloy parts.
Getting on to late evening, time to find a WiFi spot to work on the photos and notes.
Thursday May 23, 2024:
Finishing notes with yesterday's photos. Navigator having WiFi connection problems (the kind of stuff that makes you beat your head on the wall). in mid afternoon we moved to a different WiFi spot, but still had the same WiFi problem. That pretty much killed the rest of the day.
Friday May 24, 2024:
After breakfast (more like mid day) we were headed for an O'Reilly Auto Parts store in Arlington, TX, to pick up our exchange alternator. Everything going swimmingly well until we turned off the expressway with two blocks to go. There was a mild "pop" followed by disengaged drive. As I was casually coasting into a gas station parking lot while navigator was asking, "Why stopping here"? Me: "Broken half shaft". He: "Again"? Me: "Yup, crisis time". Remember, this is the only car we have, so when something serious breaks, we ain't going nowhere until it gets fixed.
 We know the drill. Grab the computer, open the Friends spread sheet, and check on who we know in northern Texas. A few phone calls later we have a plan. Remember Sporstcar Warehouse from two days earlier? Less than three miles away, friendly and helpful. Call for a tow truck. Waiting for a call-back from the tow company, we had enough time to grab the failed alternator out of the trailer and walk it two blocks to the O'Reilly store for the exchange. Just returning to the car when the phone rang, and the truck will be here in ten minutes. It's a little embarrassing to need towing, but it doesn't happen very often. Last time was August 2014 when the engine broke a piston. So nearly 10 years and 265,000 miles, doesn't seem too bad.
Got the car unloaded at Sportscar Warehouse and paid the towing bill. No space in the shop, but plenty space outside. We pushed the car onto a nice cement apron in front of a garage door, jacked it up to set the rear axle on a pair of jack stands, and proceeded to drain the differential oil. Remove two wheels, two brake drums, and two halfshafts (one broken). By great fortune they happen to have one very rusty MGA 1500 steel wheel parts car in the yard, nearly folding in half in the middle. Remember this picture
from two days earlier? We finally managed to get a jack under the differential and got that onto two jack stands. Not long to remove wheels and brake drums, and pull the halfshafts out of that one. By that time the mid afternoon Texas sun nearly had us frazzled, but we persist. I crawled under the back end of our MGA to disconnect the propshaft and block it up out of the way. The combination of lying in the shade and a slight breeze helped recovering from heat stroke, so the work could continue. Remove another 10 nuts, and give the the diff a whack or two to break it loose and pull it out.
Using the trailer for a work bench, we had to do partial disassembly to pull the ring gear and differential out of the carrier. Then use a drill bit to drive out the pinion shaft locking pin, and knock out the pinion shaft. Then we could get a drift in from the far side to knock out the spline end of the broken halfshaft. Check to be sure the replacement halfshaft fits cleanly into the splines of the sun gear, no damage there.
Not long then to reinstall the planet gears with spherical thrust washers and pinion shaft and locking pin. Finally use a center punch to peen two spots either side of the hole to swedge the casting metal inward a bit to secure the locking pin. Then get the ring gear and differential assembly with bearings back into the carrier with the nuts tight on the bearing caps.
Back under the car for the drudgery part of he job. Seemed like nearly an hour scraping remains of the paper gasket off of the front face of the axle housing in between ten threaded studs. mopping up and washing out inside he banjo housing. Finally install a new paper gasket, push the differential assembly back into the housing, install he ten nuts with lock washers, four more bolts to reattach the propshaft, apply Teflon tape to two pipe plugs, install the drain plug tight and the fill plug finger loose (to be filled later).
Then we had time for inspection and pictures of the halfshaft splines. The first two pictures are the replacement halfshafts that came from the parts car. Amazingly these look like factory new with no visible wear at a ll on the drive splines. We install these left and right side respectfully same as they were in the parts car, so they will drive in the same direction as original. The third picture is the unbroken halfshaft just removed from our car, showing lots of wear on the splines, deep enough to set my finger nail into the depressions. That was the moment we decided not to keep that one as a spare part.
Now take a step back and smile while thinking about how we converted the 2-pm crisis into a repaired car by 10-pm. Keep repeating, "It's just maintenance". When something breaks, just fix it and drive on. Tough day, time for some sleep.
Saturday May 25, 2024:
Up early, pump some gear lube into the differential and install the fill plug. Get the car off the stands, hitch up the trailer, clean up and pack away anything we didn't get last night. Pay the man for the replacement halfshafts and thank him for use of he work space, clean ourselves up as best we can, bid our adieus, and head off to the nearest air conditioned WiFi spot to get back on track. We did stop by a Walmart to pick up a USB-WiFi adapter, as navigator was having some issue with WiFi connection on his compute. We were also shopping for two quarts of EP80W90 gear oil to flush out the differential short miles after the surgery, but they onl y had one quart in stock, need to find more elsewhere. By mid afternoon we were heading a bit more north, but stopping at a truck stop in Denton, TX to try another WiFi link. Then take the rest of the day off,while recovering from the prior harsh work day and lack of sleep.Could get a quart of gear lube here, except $15 seemed bit too steep.
Sunday May 26, 2024:
Doing mobile guru things today, BBS, email, and posting photos and notes from the car repair day. Happy Memorial Day holiday weekend for everyone.
Monday May 27, 2024:
On a mission today, very high priority to flush the differential before driving it too far, and wanting to do it before the day would be heating up too much. I know how dirty my hands were when working on the oily differential, and just don't trust leaving Texas dust inside. First stop then was an 'Reilly store in Denton to pick up another quart of gear lube, and a cheap drain pan and rags.
We got lucky and found a shade tree in one corner of their parking lot where we could jack up the car for the differential oil
change,
which we did 59 miles after the halfshafts transplant. With that done, we also got to grease the front suspension, which was only a little overdue.
Hot again today, and there was a tempting WiFi spot right next door, but no power outlet there, At the next one north the WiFi was dead. so keep going. 30 miles on we found a friendly spot in Gainsville, TX where we intend to just hang out in the cool A/C until the sun goes down. Got my monthly cell phone bill paid. Tried to pay the car insurance annual renewal, but it's a legal holiday and the office was closed, so not today. In the evening navigator mentioned that we were 11 miles from the Oklahoma Welcome Center (didn't realize we were that far north). So I stepped outside for a few minutes to soak up a little more Texas sun before we leave the state.
Tuesday May 28, 2024:
Rained pretty good over night, still raining in the morning, so we slept in until 9-am. Then headed north a couple hours, arriving Shawnee, Oklahoma in time for late breakfast. We were immediately met by Ron Cleveland from Prague, OK. This is the guy who was rescuing an ex-race car MGA project car from St Louis, MO area in early September 2022, when we spent a few days helping get it moved off-site. That one is currently in process of restoration in Prague, OK, , and we may get a few photos later. But today we are on a different mission. Ron recently bought an old Ford F150 truck with engine running two years ago, but not since. It is a 250-cid 6-cyl with 5-speed gearbox, but was missing the 2-piece 3-U-Joint propshaft assembly. Now he has a new propshaft, and we will have a look to see if we might be able to get it running. So grab the propshaft, a couple gallons of fresh fuel, a good battery, a ground mat and a tow strap, An hour and a half later, 80 miles to the west, we get first look at the truck in the grass in Tuttle, OK.
It didn't look too bad, just needed a little penetrating oil on the hood hinges and latch parts after sitting out for two years since last touched. There were two old fuel tanks in the load bed, one of which was obviously not for this vehicle. The second one was same style as the installed tank, but missing the fuel pump and fuel level sender unit. The installed tank looked complete, not known if it was original issue or replacement. We did find the wiring harness with proper 4-pin tank connector, providing ground and power for the pump (switched by the computer). and resistance signal terminals for the gauge sender unit. Fuel filter and all plumbing still there, tank to filter and filter to pressure regulator at the engine. The propshaft was missing, but we have a new one and the bolts to install it. Best guess is that the propshaft may have been rmoved to gain access to the filter and plumbing, but work stopped there leaving the vehicle abandoned until it was passed on.
Since it did run previously, the object today would be to drain whatever might be left of 2-year old stale fuel,but alas, no drain plug in the tank. Then flush the lines all the way up to the engine, and pump through some fresh fuel. While we had a battery and some jumper wires to run the fuel pump, we were stuck when we did not have the special tool required to separate the quick connect fuel line couplings. So in the end this would require a trip to a parts store for the (cheap) tool, and quickly running out of daylight, it would have to wait for another day. Bummer. We did take the friendly rooster back to the coupe before we left.
End of another hot day with less than ideal working conditions, we were cooked, so we toddled off to the nearest truck stop for cooling and dinner
Wednesday May 29, 2024:
First possible WiFi spot today had meat freezer A/C,, so we didn't even check for power or WiFi, didn't sit down, just picked another spot several miles away, and ended up sitting in Moore, OK. Got yesterday's photos and notes posted. No reply to inquires in Nornan,OK or Amarillo,TX, so skip the next two visits. Ron didn't get to the parts store, had other things to do, so that would be end of our truck adventure for now. We should be heading west tonight, now intending next appointment in Peoria, Arizona, more than 1000 miles away next Monday, which should be some casual travel days. We headed out around sundown, made one fuel stop in Elk City, OK, continued to cruise west out of Oklahoma into the Texas panhandle to stop at the Texas Welcome Center.
Thursday May 30, 2024:
We intended to fix an exhaust leak this morning, but woke up to heavy rain, so just continue west and find a sheltered breakfast spot at a truck stop in Claude, TX. Rain stopped by mid day, so we finally took the opportunity to fix the exhaust leak that had been bothering us for a few weeks. Found a dry spot at one side of the truck stop parking lot, to jack it up and reattach the exhaust pipe to manifold flange. Not the first time, as the hex nuts rattle loose occasionally. All three studs still there, one of them still had the nuts in place. Easy fix, just double nut the studs, tighten the first nut and jam the second nut on tight to prevent loosening. Cross fingers and pass a quick blessing, hoping it works better that the last time.
Continue west passing through Amarillo, TX, out of the Texas panhandle into New Mexico, next fuel stop in Glenrio NM. Another 30 miles on with afternoon sun beginning to bug us, time to stop for lunch and cool WiFi spot in Tucumcari, NM, 380 miles since leaving Moore, OK last night. Will be driving more tonight. Changed time zone, set the clock back an hour. Will be heading into Arizona where they do not use Daylight savings time, so will be setting the clock back another hour. Just got a phone call changing our upcoming appointment in Arizona from Monday to Tuesday. Going to be a challenge meeting those guys at the right time.
Friday May 31, 2024:
Early breakfast, then head west. 150 mile stop at a Walmart for a replacement flashlight (and other supplies). The things are different every time you walk into the store, can never buy the same flashlight even when you know exactly what you want. First half day the car seemed to be running okay on the expressway. Then as we got into more hills and higher altitudes, it seemed to be loosing torque disproportionately, not pulling the hills as well as it should. Also needing more throttle than normal, so the fuel mileage was getting worse. Looked like we would not make it to our planned fuel stop, so we stopped 40 miles short, and I was sure the cheap plastic points were closing up again and adversely retarding ignition timing. Pulled the distributor out for a look, and sure enough the points were barely opening. So now for a creative tech session.
We have been monitoring the points mileage and adjustments lately, trying to figure out how bad this is, and how often we may need to stop to adjust the points. Last time we were dead on side of the road and installed new points was 5/15/2024 with 32,320 miles on the odometer, adjusted to 60 degrees dwell (0.015" gap as specified). I don't have a dwell meter that would fit in my pocket. Also too much of a chore to measure points gap accurately with feeler gauges. So I do a close estimate of dwell by looking at angle of the distributor rotor between contact spots on the points cam. From opening point to closing point should be 30 degrees (open). From closing point to opening point should be 60 degrees (dwell). If you hold a 30/60/90 triangle in your hands for a while, you quickly get the mental picture of what those angles look like. Rotate the rotor left and right to get a gentle bump-bump. and compare the rotation to the mental 30 and 60 degree angles desired. Easy to see when 30 is half of 60. Rotor pointing one way should move 30, and pointing the other way should move 60. When you get it right, the points should open 0.015" each time it goes over a cam lobe. You can eyeball that, and it will be close enough to run like a champ when you get the timing set right.
As the points rubbing foot wears down, the points open later and close earlier with less opening gap.
0.015" gap equals 60 degrees dwell. 30degrees open.
0.000" gap equals 90 degrees dwell and 0 degrees open (in which case it will not run).
In round numbers, the opening angle will be roughly proportional to the points gap.
In this case, the open angle was about 10 degrees, leaving the dwell angle about 80 degrees. Splitting the difference means the points were opening 10 degrees late and closing 10 degrees early. That means spark timing was 10 degrees late in the distributor, and 20 degrees late at the crankshaft. That is ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE for engine running when ignition is retarded 20 degrees. It may be reasonable to allow points wear to retard timing by 5 degrees before needing to readjust the points, BUT NOT 20 DEGREES.
That means this car just ran four times too long between points adjustment. The bad news is, the points were set accurately at 32,320 mi. and today failed at 33,592 mi. That's a travel span of only 1272 miles. Dividing that by 4, means we need to readjust the points gap every 318 miles. That would be once every day when we are traveling a lot. Does that sound reasonable? ABSOLUTELY NOT. This whole exercise serves to demonstrate how bad these red plastic molded points really are with excessively rapid wear on the rubbing foot. Now the issue is that we have to suffer along with these garbage plastic points until we can get a good set of Phenolic points that will actually fit. This time we set the points with 45 degrees open and 45 degrees dwell, so they will be able to run longer without going completely closed. Rapid wear will still retard the timing, but it is easier to reset timing than it is to readjust the points gap each time.
You may recall two weeks ago on 5/17 I notified Moss Motors about the faulty Phenolic points that do not fit, and my concern about the plastic points with very rapid wear rate. I did get an email reply, but not very encouraging. The Phenolic points are from Moss Europe, primarily from Intermotor, usually pretty good, but now complaints about the way the base plate is formed on these contact sets. To paraphrase the rest, we know they are bad, the Lucas boxed points have the same problem, not telling anyone how to fix it, do not have a dependable source of accurately made low price points, recommend using the 152-225 Premium Point Set ($23.99 each please), but they will only work on the full length pin, not on the later quick fit plates. Will continue to request that Intermotor improve the quality of their point sets. Grrrrr. I think we may have to try to modify the Intermotor parts to try to make them fit.
While I was busy with these notes, navigator went to the car for some odd reason, and found someone in the car park with with the bonnet up on a Nissan Armada. Problem was the car would not go up a hill at normal speed, only going slowly in lower gear with light throttle. Navigator suggested clogged fuel filter. He's learning. But the guy was installing a replacement fuel pressure regulator first (apparently easier access). Did we have a 10-mm wrench? By coincidence we do, so it was lent, and the pressure regulator was changed. The engine would still start and idle, so the new regulator was probably okay, but the old one may have been okay too. He hadn't taken it for a test drive yet, had more time to spare, was not in a rush to change the fuel filter yet, and we didn't see him again. I recon that car will not get stranded on the road, will just have to go slow up hills until it gets the fuel filter changed (but the owner knows that). Score one for navigator doing the right thing.
Getting on to late night, thought we would move on another 50 miles west to a rest stop near Cubero, NM, but it turned out to be closed and barricaded. Bummer. Move on another 25 miles to a 24-hour truck stop in Milan, New Mexico after 1-am. Grab a quick snack and get some sleep.
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