MGAguru is on the Prowl

For those of you left in suspense a month ago, I did get the engine repaired as planned. The engine block machining was done at 11-am 8/25. The engine was reassembled, back in the car and running at 4-am 8/26, and we were back on the road at 7-am. We had a one day casual tour across North Carolina, and the next day I fixed a small coolant leak, re-torqued the cylinder head, readjusted valve lash, and continued the trip. By August 30 we had several hundred miles on the repaired engine and gave it a change of oil and filter.

We continue to visit other clubs for meetings, car shows, tours, etc. We stayed a while in Greenback, Tennessee, where we visited Tellico Village Vintage Vehicles club meeting and English Auto Society of Knoxville. I was tuning up an MGA, then rebuilding a water pump for a very original 1963 Alfa Romeo Julietta Sprint 1600 (a rather rare car). We took a day to run Tail Of The Dragon just for kicks, followed by Cherohala Skyway, all jolly good fun. Next day I was tuning up an MG TD, followed by a run to Chattanooga where we visited more MGs and hit a club meeting of Southern British Car Club of Greater Chattanooga. We then moved up to Nashville to tune up an MGA and visit Music City.

  Late night September 10th we drove north to Bowling Green, Kentucky. Next day we paid a visit to the Corvette Museum and a few other attractions in Bowling Green, then drove farther north to Prospect, KY (on the east side of Louisville). We stayed a few days with a friend at the end of Sleepy Hollow Road, sometimes sitting on a deck overlooking a creek in the quiet woods filled with wildlife. While there we tweaked and tuned a few cars in the vicinity and dropped in on the local Cars and Coffee on a Saturday morning (a gathering of hundreds of cars of all makes and models).

  Tuesday September 16 we crossed the Mason-Dixon Line heading north into Indiana where we stopped one night to visit brother in Hanna, Indiana. Next day Wednesday we were back in the Chicago area where Elliot had plans to spend some time with his friends on his birthday (and for a few days thereafter). He was at College of DuPage on Wednesday and Friday, at a hotel downtown Chicago Saturday and Sunday, and back at COD on Monday and Tuesday (all having something to do with some obscure card games the rest of us would likely not recognize).

  Meanwhile I was visiting some MG enthusiasts in the area, staying with daughter in Downers Grove, tuning up an MGA Twin Cam, and visiting Meadowdale International Raceway (with lots of vintage cars on display) on Saturday the 20th. On Sunday I was replacing a rear wheel bearing (grunt work) in my old Mazda RX7 (now daughter's RX7). Then I stopped briefly to visit an MG Midget in Chicago, that car being reassembled after body restoration and repaint. Monday was a leisure day with a friend, cruising down Historic Route 66 to Bloomington-Normal and back. Been there before, but it is always a nice cruise with lots of photo-ops.

  We may (or may not) stay a few days longer in the Chicago area. Next we intend to spend at least a few days (perhaps a week) touring Michigan before heading south through Ohio, and then taking up where we left off South of the Mason Dixon Line (hopefully enjoying warmer weather during the cooler months). We hope to be seeing lots more friends and MGs along the way. Follow our follies regularly at http://mgaguru.com/tales/mobile.htm

  Best wishes from the MGA Guru.

~~ Barney Gaylord