Chicagoland MG Club: Driveline

April 2009

The Right Hand Drive (continued)
notable car was a beautifully restored AC Ace.
The TBCR is an interesting club. They have two driving events scheduled each month. One is a scenic drive to a breakfast destination (possibly that was breakfast first then the drive), and the other a drive to a dinner destination. These are in addition to the regular monthly meeting. Their big event each year is a three day event which includes the show I attended and a rally as well as tech sessions and socializing. There were a number of attendees from Albuquerque and Las Cruces, New Mexico, both which are a days drive away.
The numerous drives that the TBCR does ties in with a idea that I have toyed with that might encourage us to get our cars out more often. It would be interesting to see if there might be a way to do informal tours on a one day or half day or even evening basis. If a member knows an interesting route they could post it on the website with a date and a starting point and whoever shows up goes. This would encourage exploration of more points of Metropolitan area and perhaps get some of us who are less certain of the reliability of our cars to venture out more. Maybe we'll find they're more reliable than we think.
Back to the work on my cars. The unexpected disruption to my schedule has sapped the mental momentum I built up while I was gone. I asked Cowboy if we could do a tech session to "Brainstorm" the whole process. As I've said before, I need to finalize my vision of the finished product and determine the steps necessary to meet that goal. I'd appreciate any input you can offer.
-- Dave Peterson

Meeting Minutes
Monday, March 16, 2009

The meeting was called to order at about 8:10 PM by Jim Evans. There were about 30 members present, plus a few guests.
Past Events: Jim Evans gave a report on last month’s All British Car Swap Meet & Autojumble. There were about 85 vendor spots filled with about 600 shoppers. In spite of reasonable weather, these counts are down from previous years. Although the event was financially successful, Jim said that the directors will be evaluating the current program to see if any changes are in order.
Upcoming Events: The following upcoming events were highlighted: Spring Tune-Up Party (4/25), Kingpin Tech Session (5/2), Spring Chicken Tour (5/17), AACA Car Show (5/24), AHCA Gymkhana (5/31), Secrets of Jo Daviess County Tour (6/13) and NAMGBR Convention caravan (6/21).
There were no committee reports. Library and Regalia were present available to members.
Subsequent to the business portion of the meeting, club member Dino Perez gave a presentation concerning automotive electricals and electronics.
The meeting was adjourned about 9:15.
Submitted, from memory, by Jim Evans

New Members

The officers and members of the Chicagoland MG Club extend a cordial “MG Welcome” to these new members who have joined our club in recent months. We wish each and every one of you “Safety Fast” and hope you will avail yourself to as many club activities as you can.

Eric Neef - Mokena IL - 1979 Midget, 1967 red MGB - Welcome back!
Tom Palmisano - Chicago IL 1966 blue MGB
John Nystrom - Frankfort IL 1952 red MGB-TD, 1976 black MGB
Pete Balland - Plainfield IL 1967 red MGB
Frank Leasure - Lisle IL 1979 brown MGB
Jeffrey Madsen - Manhattan IL
Rich Hartl - Lemont IL 1958 turquoise MGA
Lou Louchios - Rolling Meadows IL 1935 red MG-PA Airline coupe, 1938 grey MG-VA Tickford

Note: Any new member whose name does not appear above, your application may have missed our deadline. If you don’t see your name next month, please call our Secretary, Victor L’Heureux at (847) 516-3093 to verify.

Monthly Garage Keeping

March Meeting Speaker Report
Club member Dino Perez gave an informative presentation on automotive electrical and electronic issues. He discussed the importance of clean connections, wire sizes, fusing and relays as they relate to MG’s. A lively questions and answer session followed the talk. Our thanks to Dino for his contribution.

Club Parts Program
A reminder to club members that parts being sold through the club parts program are offered first to members before being listed on eBay. The parts are listed on the club website for about two weeks before being made available to the general public, so members should check the site often since the stock changes from time-to-time. This info can be accessed through the “Classified” page of the club website.

April Meeting Speaker
Our guest speaker at the April meeting will be Larry Claypool, who will bring a presentation entitled “Who Killed The Corvair?” This was initially developed for the local Corvair Enthusiasts Club but has been well received at several local car clubs recently since the lessons to be learned have a lot of relevancy to current auto industry issues. This is a lengthy presentation, so we will have a very abbreviated business meeting before Larry starts. Larry is a founder of the “Orphan Auto Picnic” and an influential member of several local car clubs; he also operates a full time repair business dedicated to hobby cars.

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