The Steering Column
Left Hand Drive from our President

Where did the Summer go? I turned around and the next thing I knew it was the first day of fall. Still plenty of top down driving days left so get’em out now before the snow starts to fly.
Will progress on the Mustard (Yellow) “B” Sebring Conversion is nearing completion with the Aluminum Bonnet painted and installed. Only a couple of Nats this time but they landed after the second coat of clear so not too bad. I’m still chasing a few Gremlins in the engine. Hopefully I’ll have it resolved soon enough to take her out on the remaining Rallies. If not ‘ol’ Blue (77 B V8) is still running as strong as ever.

The club project a 1958 MGA is moving slowly. We rebuilt the combination brake-clutch master cylinder and the brake side worked but the clutch failed miserably. So, a new master was ordered up and installed Monday successfully. A test drive is yet to come. That’s about as far as the club will be taking this project car. There’s still a lot to do on this “A” but I think it’s time to pass it along. The club will be listing it soon, so anyone interested in Buying a project MGA contact one of the club officers for more information.

As for the Traveling Mechanics we’ve been very busy. A lot of welding going on here and there. The MG YB in Westmont, a MGB in Valparaiso which will hopefully continue the 5th and possibly an old truck that’s right an old truck in Downers Grove. Then in the need future a complete Brake job on another MGB. So, if you’re interested in learning or leading a hand feel free to contact me and join in with the Traveling Mechanics!!


That’s it for this month

~~ Dean Hickenlooper    
your humble servant    

	The Steering Column
	Right Hand Drive   from our Vice-President

Weather or Not?

It’s Sunday night and we just returned from another successful Wine Cheese and Beer Tour organized by Russ & Amy Mehaffey. They did an incredible job of organizing this year’s tour.

While driving along the Wisconsin roads and highways, I observed some discrepancies to some of those long held beliefs and concepts being maliciously circulated about our beloved MGs.

Holy Lucas Batman. Not one vehicle suffered from any electrical malfunction while we drove though dark and wet conditions. There were no dimmed head lamps. No sputtering tail lights. No electrical disruptions to the force field that powers these fickle sleds from the UK. I did however lend a fuse to one driver so his wife could charge her cell phone. I bet Abingdon didn’t envision that one did they?

Also, we had a driver challenge the theory that a hydraulic clutch system actually requires hydraulics. With Super Skegg to the rescue, this created only about a five minute interruption in our journey to the North.

Rain. What can one say when it comes to rain and the roadster? For all those critics out there that say MGs leak, I beg to differ. When checking out of our hotel Sunday morning, I discovered a quarter inch of water sitting in the driver’s side floor pan. This is one water tight vehicle. After five minutes of bailing and we were as good as new.

While driving home during a one hour monsoon that just kind of hung over the Milwaukee area, I was reminiscent of my days as a child running through the lawn sprinkler. This was just a mere annoyance for me, but quite alarming for my non-swimmer wife. I considered pulling over to conduct a life boat drill.

There’s nothing like the spray from an 18 wheeler cascading over the front fenders to keep you on your toes. I was desperately looking for a “no wake” zone. And when exiting the expressway, we didn’t turn, we just “came about”.

So now we are home, dry and appreciative of another great experience we shared with our good friends of the Chicagoland MG Club.

Drive safely my friends,

~~ Phil Wydra