(Continued from page 16)
After another long late-night drive, we were visiting Rusty Moose Garage. Having sold the shop, they bought from University Motors in Grand Rapids, they now have a large shop in Grand Haven, MI, kind of in the woods with lots of space. They are still working mostly on MGs. We made a quick stop at Clark & Clark Specialty Products, Inc in Holland, MI, a home run business and a Manufacturer of over 200 parts and accessories, much of it for vintage British cars. They supply parts to other distributors, and you can buy direct by mail order. We made a second (or third) stop at Eclectic Motor Works in Holland, MI, prior MGA specialist and current headquarters of British Motors Trade Association. They have recently acquired another large building with lots of storage space and a good place to conduct their famous tech and training seminars.

Advance Auto Wire, Byron Center, MI

We were looking for Alan Christian Motors in Holland, MI, but no joy here, gone ten years. Then we were off to visit West Michigan Imports in Byron Center, MI, which will service most vintage British cars "other than MG", figuring MG is the primary domain of Rusty Moose Garage. We stopped briefly at Advance Auto Wire in Byron Center, MI. They manufacture upgrade wiring harness for vintage British cars, including power block, lots of relays, and the proper wire colors for vintage Lucas wiring. We were looking for British Carburetors, LLC in Grand Rapids, MI, but ran into a post office. There is a web site with email, FormMail and phone number. Pretty sure this is a decent business, but I am always a bit leery about doing business with an anonymous party not disclosing their business location. We took a shot at Empire British Car Parts in Kalamazoo, MI before I remembered that it is the British car parts arm of Engel Imports, and we have been here before. They are also the home of Terry's Jaguar Parts.

While killing the holiday in Kalamazoo I got the CMGC June newsletter online. Done in Michigan, we wandered back to Illinois to run the Lands’ End Rally with CMGC. Kind of disappointed that it has devolved into a short tour in the suburbs with a couple of gimmicks ending with lunch. I used to look forward to a long drive in the country for this one. We stuck around to attend CMGC Natter 'n' Noggin north in Schaumburg, IL, only to be disappointed again with only five people there (not counting ourselves). Is this club slowing down that much just because we left town?

Does three boots equal three gas tanks?

After another overnight run we landed in Dubuque, Iowa by Wednesday p.m. to attend NAMGAR GT-44. They were reported to have 130 cars registered, but maybe they didn't all show up, as I counted only 103 at the Saturday car show. There were a few vendors selling car parts, tools and regalia, and some interesting tech sessions on History of the MGA, installation of the rubber rear seal for MGA and early MGB 3-main bearing engines, sports car racing over the years, rebuilding Armstrong hydraulic shock absorbers, and Story of the Devin. One or two of the tech sessions were cancelled when the presenters didn't show up. We managed to skip a number of tours and human-interest tourist trap type things, many having scheduling conflicts with the tech sessions.

Lamps and accessories at the GT

Bailing out of the GT after Saturday night banquet, we headed back to Freeport, IL on Sunday to visit International Classics, LLC (previously in Skokie, IL). Now a nice place in the country, large buildings, plenty of space, and lots of vintage British cars here (among other things). On Monday I got to renew my driver’s license and pick up the new registration plate sticker for the trailer, drop by our storage locker to pick up some books to donate to the club, and attend the CMGC club meeting at Mack's (hey, two months in a row).
(hey, two months in a row).

4-door MGB (on Nissan truck chassis)

By the following Thursday we were back cruising around Ohio to visit the rest of the shops we had missed there a couple weeks earlier. TS Imported Automotive in Pandora, OH had moved to new quarters just a couple blocks away. The prior shop had been built by his parents in 1911 to be a car service shop, bold move when there were still more horses than cars on the roads. It became one of the first Dodge sales and service dealers when the Dodge Brothers began building cars in 1914. Another hundred and five years on, still in the family with Ted Schumacher manufacturing and supplying aftermarket

(Continued on page 18)