(Continued from page 17)
A few hours later, heading west out of Richmond, VA, the two-month two thousand-mile new Lucas alternator crapped out, going full current at 18 volts with squealing fan belt. Bummer. Immediate solution was to unplug it and retire early to avoid use of headlights

Second Lucas alternator in just two months.

CMGC friends at monthly meeting

New camera (every couple of years). Now pictures are clear since there are no lens scratches.

Next day had us in a frantic search for a new Lucas alternator, nowhere to be found in local stock. We ended up driving all day as far as Dayton, Ohio before stopping at dusk. The following day (Monday 3/21) we drove another two hours to Indianapolis, Indiana to pick up and install the new alternator which was found in the O'Reilly Auto Parts warehouse. We may have set a new record for driving 600 miles in about 9 hours on battery power with no charging. By 7-pm we had made out way to Elmhurst, IL to attend the CMGC monthly club meeting (last here in October).

Wednesday we were in Plainfield, IL helping Chuck McCallum install a retrofit rubber rear seal on his MGA 1600-MK-II engine (involving lots of drilling and tapping).

Vic's gearbox apart for rebuild

Keeping the parts organized

Vic rebuilding transmission with Barney as mentor.

Next day we were in Crystal Lake, IL to help Vic L'Heureux disassemble an early MGB gearbox to determine what parts would be required to rebuild it. A bit more relaxing Friday, I got out to Sandwich, IL to visit my older daughter, and pick up the license renewal sticker for the trailer. Next morning (Saturday) back to Plainfield, IL to help install the engine in Chuck's MGA. This was a cooperative effort with a few more CMGC club members, so by midafternoon it was hitched to the gearbox and bolted down before everyone else left. Chuck and I soldiered on with all the peripheral gadgets and carburetor fixes, and we had it running (badly) late night. We may have been 20 minutes away from final tuning and a test drive when we called it quits at midnight.

Not quite finished in the Chicago area yet, but we have an appointment in Thunder Bay, Ontario on June 6.
Meanwhile, follow our follies at http://MGAguru.com/mobile

~~ Barney and Elliot Gaylord