The Steering Column
Left Hand Drive from our President

So, the other evening I was getting ready to go pick up Kerry from work around 10:00 pm when she gets off work. It was raining a bit so instead of taking the MG I thought I’d play it safe and use my daughter Amy’s Volvo. I made it to Oak Brook Mall to get Kerry just fine. Then on the way home the car stalls out and we’re stranded on the side of the road in the rain.

Normally this would be quite upsetting but for a well-seasoned MG couple we just took it in stride, call for a tow and waited. Got the Volvo home and proceeded to look for the problem. Not long into it I discovered a broken timing belt. Okay no big deal - take the front of the engine apart and make the replacement. Well if you’ve ever been here before you know it gets very involved quickly.

After a day and a half, the new belt is in and I go to start her up. Chug, chug, sputter no go. Hummmmm. I’m sure I set the overhead cams right so what could it be. Decided to do a compression test.  180, 175, 0, 0....... son of a bunny!!! Turns out this is what they call an interference engine. Meaning when the belt breaks, the valves and the pistons decide to get friendly and kiss resulting in 4 bent intake valves and 2 bent exhaust valves. Now I must take apart everything I just put back together plus take the cycle head off. But to get to that, a ton of electrical wiring, hoses, fuel lines and fuel rail etc. must come off first. Two days later the head is off and over to the shop $$$$$

Needle to say I’d take working on a MG any day than to work on a modern car. Even the V8 conversion I did was easier than this. Well hopefully I’ll get the head back from the shop in a day or two spend the next 20 + hours putting it all back together and then get back to my 2nd true love. Working on British Cars.

That all for this month wish me luck with the Volvo!

Cheers

~~ Dean Hickenlooper    
your humble servant    

	The Steering Column
	Right Hand Drive   from our Vice-President

The Laziness of Winter

As the leaves fall down, the top goes up.
As the temperatures lower, the collars are raised.
Less sun, more headlights.

For all of you lovers of the fall season, I say bring on spring. I love the promise that new growth provides. Longer days suggest warmer temps and less bundling up. Cabin fever is over and we encounter a renewed energy. But mostly spring means my winter car projects are behind me.

Oh wait, I still didn’t get to the projects planned for two winters ago. This indicates that either our winters are too short, or I am a profound procrastinator. It must be the latter, because there is no such thing as a winter being too short.

Maybe, just maybe, I can blame a lack of automotive skills for my falling behind on my endeavors. This brings me to the Chicagoland MG Club.

The best part of our club is the friendships one develops on all of the great tours and rallies. However, you simply cannot discount the technical information that is freely exchanged and the offers of assistance that go along with it. If not for the club, my beloved B would be spending a lot more time in some shop with a stranger trying to figure out the difference between an SU and a Weber carburetor, all the while costing me a ton of money.

So as members, we need to get the word out there. Explain to other MG owners the great value of the CMG Club and what it means to keeping the MG spirit alive.

And if you run across anyone with an understanding of how to stay dry in an MG during a rain storm, send them my way.

Drive safe my friends,

~~ Phil Wydra