Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend the annual business meeting in February which left two issues unaddressed.
First there was a question form the membership about the low interest income from our savings account. Well, for the first half of the year we had quite some money tied up in the project car, and our saving account didn't reach the minimum balance for a higher interest rate. And after that, the bank lowered the interest rates all together due to the overall banking crisis. Therefore the 2008 interest income was only very small.
Also, it has been a good club practice that the book keeping by the treasurer is audited before the annual business meeting. What follows here is the report from club member Jack Feldman who has volunteered to be the auditor for several years now.

Audit Summary The books were fine. Well organized and the cash flow clearly defined. However, I would make two suggestions. First, since you are using Quicken, you would be able to print monthly summaries of cash flow, in and out. That would serve as an index of monthly transactions, and make the big picture more easily available. When I was Treasurer of the Wheaten Community Radio Amateurs, I made that kind of summary available at each meeting although I didn't go as far in keeping all receipts and checks together for each month. Secondly, while I enjoy helping the club, and would be happy to continue, you might want to formalize the role of an auditor. Perhaps have him requested by the Board, or ask for approval from the attending members. Thanks again for the opportunity to help the club. Jack Feldman

I would like to thank Jack for doing this again on last minutes notice and I am already implementing the first suggestion and we will formalize the second suggestion during an upcoming staff meeting.

Please let me know if you have any “treasury” related questions, and MGreetings,

- Reinout Vogt 

Library Muse

Last month we ran a little quiz. And the winner is….no one. The correct answer is a black, ‘57 Chevy Convertible. As you may recall at the beginning of the first Bond movie Dr No, Bond is picked up by an agent of the Doctor at the airport in the Chevy. The agent subsequently takes an L pill and commits suicide. Bond then drives him back to Government House and tells the police sergeant to not let him get away.
Some of our club members know that Deb and I have a Sunbeam Alpine in our LBC stable so I did get replies of a blue Sunbeam Alpine, which Bond did in fact drive later in the same movie. So there was kind of a trick there.
Since the prize was not awarded, let’s try again for the next meeting. In what other classic movie does a blue Alpine have a featured role? Who were the male and female leads, and why would this be of interest to sports car fans, other than the car itself?
At the recent swap meet I picked up several books for the library, one of which is a copy of Bentley’s workshop manual ‘The Complete Official 948cc & 1098cc Sprite/ Midge’ including the driver’s handbook and special tuning manual. This volume will be available at the April meeting.

- Wilbur
 

Continued from page 2 engine and gearbox. I borrowed the clubs engine hoist and set about to remove the engine in a manner that suited the circumstances of my garage. To my great surprise, it came out quite easily! I'm not sure if I did something unconventional or if it was just beginners luck. Either way, I thought I should pass along my method, being that it worked so well. First, I left the car on the jack stands. Next, (working alone) I attached a short chain from the rear of the air pollution pump to the last exhaust manifold bolt. Then, I rolled the hoist in over the right front fender and hooked the chain in its center. As I jacked the engine and gearbox together, I would roll the hoist forward a little at a time. Alternating between jacking and rolling, I had the engine and gearbox out and clear in about 10 minutes. Again, I'm not saying that I discovered a new way to remove the engine from a MG, but I am certain that leaving the car on the jack stands provided extra clearance, and the chain mounting location I used created the perfect angle that allowed me to do the removal from the side of the car, instead of the front. See additional pictures on page - Larry Czachor