On the 1st of February we took one last shot at Tech Central in Bonita Springs, Florida. Typical MGA guru activities here, diagnosing a failed alternator, adjusting bonnet hinges and latches, bit of assistance

New wood dash for the Midge project

assembling an MG Midget, tuning up an MG ZB Magnette. Next day posting online copy of what may be the last article in the series from the Manchester XPAG Tests, "Ethanol Blended Petrol". And some tech question about removing the MGA gearbox for service.

Nice Windblocker for MGA

Sunday Feb 3 breakfast meeting with Central Florida British Car Club with a presentation about our trip and some tire kicking in the car park. On the 4th we intended to visit Nature Coast English Car Club / Sun Coast Classic Car Club at Brits Pub in Hudson, FL, but they had changed the meeting place without notice, so no go. On the 6th we met with All British Car Club of Valusia County at St. John's River Grille in Deland, FL. They had also changed their venue, but we managed to find it after a bit of a chase. One of the MGAs was sporting a neat handmade wind blocker, which I should probably document.

MG TC with MGA engine, getting wire wheels tuned up

On the 7th we had a home visit with Glen Moore in Flagler Beach, FL to check out his slightly modified MG TC with an Austin B-series 1500 engine and Austin A-series rear axle (not the best, but it came with the car). He also has an MGA Coupe 1500 with crossflow head and two Weber side-draft carbs. Spent a little time fiddling with a 1080 HD web cam in preparation for a special event a couple weeks later.

Answering tech questions about air compressors, updating a tech page on MGA Coupe door window guide attachment bracket, questions on 1978 MGB wiring for fans, worn synchronizer ring, plastic parts in a master cylinder, and a web page update on MGA tool roll straps, and a question on priming the oil pump.

Snoopy Special 3-wheel TC GOldWing 1100

By mid-month we were in Hiawassee, GA, almost on the North Carolina state line a few thousand feet up in the mountains to visit Edward Wesson. He has a cute "Snoopy Special" 3-wheel hand built with a cut-down MG TD grill surround carrying the Jaguar cat (kudos to the Brits) and a Honda GoldWing emblem paying homage to the Gold Wing 1000cc opposed 4-cylinder engine. But the main attraction was his MGA that had been running bad for a while, very rich with worn fuel jets and needles, and severe backfiring. Found an undersized (and damaged) distributor cap to toss in the trash, while a good one made it run better. Upon returning from a test drive it lost all electrical power. The cross-over cable between two 6-volt batteries was too long and was dragging on the propshaft rear flange, wearing away insulation and shorting the near side battery to chassis ground. This blew out one of the lead connector bars on top like it was a small line fuse (later patched with a brass jumper bar and lag screws).

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