The Steering Column
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Left Hand Drive
from our President
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 Good news!
Our first 2023 meeting is down, and it was well attended. We covered our financials, membership and upcoming events. We will be getting a new Secretary, Sharon Powell who has been a member of our club for many years. We want to thank Victor who has been our phenomenal secretary for 13 years.
We discussed our website, currently under final modifications – we are very close to completing all modifications and once complete will let all members know. The new site will be official, organized and original to the CMGC – or as I call it “OOO”. The Website team has really done an excellent job. We do have to say thank you to Barney Gaylord for keeping our website alive all these years. Barney has maintained it solo.
Another great discussion is the Gathering Of the Faithful – this years GOF will be in South Bend Indiana, if you have a chance to attend, please do so. The members of the GOF have done a phenomenal job organizing this event, starting with their website and easy registration. The Vintage Car Club of Chicago will be hosting the 2024 GOF and more information will be coming out soon. They will be recruiting several members the CMGCC to assist in conducting this event. All I can say is it will be a phenomenal turnout - “Yeah”!
Stay Safe, Fast and Healthy,
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The Steering Column
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Right Hand Drive
from our Vice-President
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This last month has been all about saving MGs for me. I had a buddy reach out to me that inherited 2 MGs. The first is a 1950 MG TD. The second is a 1977 MGB. His intention was just to get these ready to sell. I told him I would come take a look and see what I can do. I was very clear that I am just learning right now so we just do our best.
I went to his mother’s house which was already under contract to be sold (she moved into an apartment). As soon as we opened and the garage, I saw two beautiful MGs. I look around and see pictures detailing his father restoring these cars. Now I’m looking at my friend like he is crazy. How can he sell both cars that are now part of his father’s legacy?
We got to work replacing the batteries and investigating draining all the old gas. For the MGB the fuel pump was not turning on so that kind of killed the progress on that. We attempted to see if we could syphon the gas tank, but not luck. We did hand crank the engine to make sure it wasn’t frozen. For the MG TD the fuel pump worked great to we detached the fuel line at the carburetor and pumped all the old gas out. Pumped a little bit of fresh gas to flush it out. We hand cranked the engine and everything looked great. So, we detached the spark plug wired and turned over the engine. All was good so we started it up and after it warmed it the MG idled great. Next step was to get the TD moving. That’s where we found our blocker. The brakes were locked.
We talked a lot while working on the cars and I recommended that we take the TD to Motor Works in Dekalb to get the brakes looked at and get it ready to sell. Then I mentioned why don’t we just get the MGB to your house, join the Chicagoland MG Club, and start working on it. Hoping to convince him to keep the MGB. After some thought he decided to go with my recommendation. Now his youngest daughter has been able to sit in the MGB and she is at an age where driving is right around the corner. I think we have a new member and a next generation in the works.
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February 2023
