The Steering Column
Left Hand Drive from our President

Well as many of you might know I've driving my MGB V8 this season without a 5th gear. Not a big deal til I'm on the Highway or Interstate trying to maintain 65-70 mph. I worked out a few of the Gremlins over the summer such as the fuel pump location. Turns out the electric pump I bought needs to be located level with the bottom of the gas tank. I had mounted where the factory pump was well above the gas tank. Unfortunately, the pump burnt out in this position on the Chicken Run Rally leaving us stranded out in the middle of nowhere! So, I relocated the new pump down level with the bottom of the gas tank which worked just fine till I hit a rather large pot hole. This caused the rear end to bottom out pinching the gas line causing it to rupture! From there it took around 18 gal. to go 5 miles home. The high-volume gas pump was working just GREAT. So, after relocating the gas line out of harm’s way I was back on the road but still no 5th gear and highway driving was still a challenge.

To get to the transmission, both the engine and trans must come out together -- but before this the starter, exhaust, wires, speedo cable, engine mounts, trans mounts & cross member, clutch hydraulics, prop shaft, rack & pinion, etc..... I think you get the picture. It's quite an elaborate process so I really wanted to wait till after the British Car Festival.

Now after having attended the Festival the time had come to finally find out just where oh where was my elusive 5th gear??? After a few evenings of spinning wrenches, the engine and trans were ready for extraction. With the help of a good friend we had the engine and trans out in an hour or so. Next the trans was disconnected from the engine and the investigation of the missing 5th gear began. After the trans tail housing was removed and the shift forks were removed I couldn’t help but notice that the roll pin on the 5th gear shaft was MISSING!!! I don't want to mention any names (namely mine) but whoever rebuilt this trans (me) forgot to install the roll pin on the 5th gear shaft! So, after a quick trip to the local Hardware store to pick up a 54-cent roll pin and a 2 min. installation I now have ALL 5 FORWARD GEARS!! Now it’s time for reassembly and back on the road again. Then I'm going to have a long hard talk with that guy (me) that rebuilt my trans!

~~ Dean Hickenlooper your humble servant

	The Steering Column
	Right Hand Drive   from our Vice-President

Our driving season is winding down. Winter will be all too soon. I can’t get over all the fun we had this season. Be sure to vote for your favorite event for the Members Choice Award. Also I want you to think about a few things. We can discuss at the October meeting. Could we start the driving season earlier? Do we want to limit the number of events in a given month? Can we get some more events in October and November? Would you come to these events if we did? We had over 20 events from May till November. June and July felt like we had something every weekend. For many that’s great. For my household that was a bit much and I had to miss some events. Then again maybe it is unrealistic to expect to attend every event.

With winter approaching, do you have your winter projects decided yet? The fall tune down is yet to happen (November 4th) and is a great opportunity to get under your car and see what work needs to be done.

ATTENTION ALL: Jim Evans is looking for help to organize the Swap Meet this year. Please reach out to Jim if you can help. Nominations for club officers will be coming up soon. Think about serving. Phil Wydra (treasurer) has decided to not run again. Haven’t decided if I will run again as Vice president. VP is a good “job” as you don’t do much unless the president can’t make a meeting. And maybe if your nervous about being an officer that would be a great place to start. The treasurer position is a bit more work. Phil can tell you all about it. Of course all the officers serve at the discretion of the membership. Maybe you want to run for President? I’ll let Dean tell you if he will seek re-election. And the true heart of our club is the secretary/editor Vic. No idea if he wants to keep up the fine job he’s done but, if you’re interested I’m sure you could always help out. We have other positions that can help make the CMGC an even better club. The more folks helping the easier and more fun the task. That’s all I’ve got this month.

~~ Jim Compton

Safety Fast