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installed a new spin-on oil filter adapter. The big issue was a nasty fight to remove a jammed oil drain plug, best estimate 200-lb-ft torque on a giant Vice-Grip to get it out. The stuff that came out looked like molasses, likely not changed for about 25 years (while not being filtered). This was a huge relief to get this one sorted out. While there we heard that George Lawson finally had his MGA out doing 80 on the expressway after its 25-year nap for the restoration work. Yee-haw!

We stopped to visit Bruce Banbury in Fort Mill, SC who has recently acquired an MGA 1600-MK-II. Very nice but has a nasty oil leak from front of the gearbox, but he will soon take delivery of a Ford T9 5-speed.

On May 7 we took a side trip to Myrtle Beach, SC area to visit a couple of shops we had to skip out on two months earlier for lack of time. Carolina Car Care in Murrells Inlet, SC works on a lot of classic cars, including a specialty in vintage British stuff. Carolina Auto & Truck Parts in Conway, SC has the owner Dale Lewis very enthused about vintage British cars and has a couple of employees cranked up to work on them as well.

Classic & Sports Car Parts, largest barn find.

We finally found Classic & Sports Car Parts on the north side of Columbia, SC. This is a vintage car "bone yard" with lots of British cars, sitting on nine acres with nine warehouse buildings. Previously a popular going concern, owner in failing health (or worse), now apparently closed (most of the time), in process of liquidation I think. This might qualify as the world's largest barn find. Also got to visit Honeycutt Engines & Machine in Lexington, SC. Nice engine shop, owner with a friendly attitude and decades of experience with vintage engines. Also, Mintz Machine Shop in Columbia, SC for vintage engine work.

Got to visit Steve Weitzner in Wilmington, North Carolina who has a very nice MGA 1500. Working around a few friends who dropped in to chat, we managed to fix a few dim bulbs, bad grounds, and dirty snap connectors. Carburetor issues included improperly assembled, fuel leaks, worn jets and needles (jets being not centered).

On May 12 we stopped to visit Sam Williams in rural Kenly, NC, and we got stuck here for a while. Sam has a nice MGA 1600-MK-II with wide wheels and wide oval tires, and 1800 engine with an aluminum cylinder head made by PMI (nice piece of work). We intended to put a new rag top on this car, but he was dealing with a MK-II style wide top frame and a MK-I style narrower canopy, so that was a no-go. But we did R&R the carburetors to resolve a bunch of problems and get it running well.

The laygear destroyed by the bad layshaft

How bad can a layshaft get?

Then we took advantage of Sam's well-equipped shop with lift to haul the engine and gearbox out of our MGA to replace the badly worn layshaft AGAIN, and in the process replace the laygear that had been damaged due to the bad layshaft causing gear tooth misalignment. We also changed out the quarter million-mile timing chain and tensioner while installing a new timing cover seal, replaced a spin-on oil filter adapted that had developed bad threads. The clutch was in excellent condition after 6 years and 155,000 miles (even the carbon release bearing), but I installed new clutch parts on general principles (and to get the bulky spare parts out of the magic trailer). I found a crack in the exhaust manifold that was new from Moss Motors two years and two months back (just out of warranty), put it back on the engine, but will have to replace it next time it comes apart. Good to have a lot of accumulated maintenance work finished before we head back to Canada next month.

Troublesome 375,000 mile Mallory Distributor

May 18, we had ignition problems again, this time just past midnight in the rain in a construction zone (of course). Not being able to resolve problems with the 375,000-mile Mallory Dual Points distributor immediately, I installed the old Lucas distributor to get rolling again. Later in the day we picked up a new digital camera to replace the one that has been giving us foggy pictures.

On the 19th we dropped at the Moss warehouse in Petersburg, VA to restock the magic trailer, and I picked up a vacuum pipe assembly for the Lucas distributor (and hope to get it installed before I put it on someone else's car, again). Mallory parts are no longer available from Moss, so will have to find another source for those so we can use the Mallory distributor for a back-up unit.

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