The “Odd” Natter 'n' Noggin and MG Ladies Night

September 8th is of course Natter 'n Noggin up North. September is an odd Month, so we'll be at Finn McCool's in Schaumburg. We've had great attendance at both locations lately, but the participation of the MG Ladies has fallen behind a bit. Danielle, the manager at Finn McCool's wants to do something about that and has agreed to MG Ladies Night. Yes, a special ladies evening, with a free first drink just for our MG Girls! We have reserved a few extra tables in our usual corner of the restaurant and we hope to see many MG Ladies this Natter 'n' Noggin.
Finn McCool's is very easy to find. It is right at the Algonquin Road off-ramp from Route 53 (which is the I-355/290 extension) Coming from the North or the South, turn Right, West, on Algonquin and Finn McCool's is right there on the left side. The reservation for 7:00 PM on September 8th is in the MG Club name. And they know that we are not all coming at the same time and like to have separate checks.
September 8th, starting at 7:00 PM Finn McCool's
1941 E Algonquin Road
Schaumburg847 303 5100
www.finnmccoolschicago.com (select the Schaumburg location)

Please call Reinout Vogt at 847 342 9804 for any questions.

Parts Program CMGC has implemented a program to find good homes for its inventory of generously donated MG parts. The parts are located in Glen Ellyn or Wheaton. The classifieds for these parts will be active for about one week, so check the site often. Items that are not sold will be auctioned on eBay under the seller name of cmgc-parts. Please contact David Evans at ebaymaster@chicagolandmgclub.com for any questions or part requests. The current eBay items may be viewed here at http://myworld.ebay.com/cmgc-parts

As MG owners you may have asked this question to your fellow members of the Chicagoland MG Club, or, you have tried to answer similar inquiries by other club members. Either way, the real answer is not so simple anymore. Most of the local MG specialists are no longer operational and even our good friend John Twist in Grand Rapids, MI recently announced the end of University Motors. In our own club we have a few members who work (part time or full time) on MG's; Don Gottlinger, Tom Josefek, and Wade Keen come to mind and there may be others as well. But Chicagoland lacks a full service, full time, MG maintenance, repair and restoration shop. And that indeed brings up the question "Who Fixes Our MG's?". There must be a lot of MG's in the club that are being fixed by local garages, foreign car places, and weekend mechanics. How do we know that for sure? Well, let's do the math, it is quite easy and based on a few simple assumptions. The most recent membership list from our secretary Victor L'Heureux contains 282 members with a total of exactly 400 cars; 361 MG's and 39 'others'. The 361 MG's are 6 MMM's, 31 T-Types, 37 A's, 241 B's, 10 C's, and 36 Midgets but although that is interesting in itself, it's not relevant to our question.  Now let's assume that 1/3rd of these MG's are not running. They just sit in a garage or are waiting to be restored or something. That leaves 240 MG's on the road right now. Let's also assume that 1/3rd of those 240 MG's is being serviced and maintained entirely by their owners, at their homes, maybe with the help from MG friends or maybe at our Spring Tune Up, Technical Sessions and Fall Tune Down. That leaves still 160 MG's out there that are being maintained by these local garages, foreign car places, and weekend mechanics.

  Wouldn't it be great if we could create a list of these local garages, foreign car places, and weekend mechanics that you would recommend to other MG drivers because you are a satisfied customer. Not that the club can formally endorse these places, and not that anybody will be held responsible. But it could be very helpful to many of us, from long time members to new MG owners in particular, if you could just find a garage in your area that might be able to help with your MG for maintenance and problems. And that you know that this place has experience with M's or has helped other members and did a good job.  The list should include suggestions that you know and that have delivered satisfactory results on your MG. Places that you may have seen or only heard about, should not be included. Please list only those places that you have had a positive experience at.

  Please send your suggestions to Reinout Vogt, either by phone at 847 342 9804 , by mail at 211 E. School Lane, Prospect Heights, IL 60070, or via e-mail at reinoutvogt@gmail.com. I will then assemble the list which and make it available to the entire membership.