OK I'm Back...

First off, as usual, I have to apologize for not posting in forever. I've had a lot of things happen in the past year or so. Getting married, searching for, and finally getting a new job. Life changing events aside, I've had some great car related activities; many fantastic car shows, tons of cool people I've met, and lots of little and big projects underway. But this post is to bring you all up to speed.

As I said before I started a new job and it's close by where I live, a 9 mile commute to be exact, with an average commuting time of 15 minutes. As well as a regular parking lot. Which means that I get to drive my MGB to work on most days. The only downside is that it takes about 8 minutes to really warm up the MGB, even on a summer morning, So the ride is a little rough for about half of the way. But the weather was so nice this year, I was able to drive the ragtop to work 80% of the time. Even better was the fact that we were able to get the blue 1977 MGB on the road, and drive that one to work too! Having both MGB's out here was pretty wild...

Here's how we got there!

Well, remember that parts car we had? We used the front fenders and hood for my Dad’s 1970 MGB GT. And the rest of the car we pretty much butchered for parts. One thing that was also good was the engine.

My cousin and Dad ran the engine, and realized that it sounded quite good overall. So they threw the blue car’s engine in the scrap heap, and placed the parts car’s engine in the Blue 1977 MGB convertible. The blue car had a Weber 45dcoe Carb on it. Back in the day, my cousin had a mechanic that told him that the SU carbs he was having a hard time tuning were junk, and told him to go with a weber. Apparently he was also a Weber re-seller, go figure. So this 1969 MGB GT engine with it’s lack of smog pumps and higher compression now has a Weber carb on it, which gives it a pretty strong performance.

There was some damage during storage though. During one of the winters, snow banks were pushed up against it, more specifically under it, denting the gas tank. So a new one was procured from Victoria British. The rear deck lid was damaged, so I replaced it with one from a 1970 MGB, It didn’’t quite fit right, but It’ll get sorted. In the meantime it looked badass in flat black primer.

After all that work The car was sorted out wiring wise, and during the one day off between jobs, I went and registered and insured it, Driving it to work at the new place, and around town. The only Issue the car had was a throttle cable breaking. A quick trip to a bike shop and I was all set, as it’s the same as a brake cable. Go figure, what stops a Schwinn, makes an MGB go.

A soda blaster was purchased, and the fenders were blasted, revealing pinholes in the lower sections. My Dad had purchased all the replacement sheet metal, rocker panels, doglegs, and lower fender sections. The guys at AB Fab in Woburn, did the metal work for a great price, and the work went well. re fitting the fenders went well, although they still need a bit of fitting.

The next step is paint. and this is where things are going to get complicated. but that's for another blog post, that will not be 13+ months in the making.

Happy Motoring.

CD

Parts car update:

When you get into restoring an old car, a parts car can be a huge resource. Usually they're beyond restoring for one reason or another, and for that reason can be picked up real cheap! We bought this one for the hood and fenders, but so far we've scabbed the following off of it:

Hood
Fenders
Seats
Seatbelts
Switches
Engine
Wheels

We’ve sold some stuff and between that and the money we saved buying an individual part (new or used) has worked out well for us! We've also sold the seatbelts and I've heard from a guy that has interest in the glass, so I think she'll live on in other cars.

There are some parts we're checking into seeing if they can be restored, like the wheels, but between the engine, fenders and hood, we're doing ok..

Things have a way of cycling around, it seems l live between the music world and car world, right now I’m in orbit around the car world..

CD

MGB Stuff

So the season is starting to wind down, the last big show is Stowe, VT on the weekend of September 16th. Which should be a good one, over 700 cars last year. We're planning on bringing up the GT and the convertible. The GT is running well, it still needs a grille, and some of the paint work needs some touchup (as it looks like a critter walked along the roof!).

The red convertible won 3rd place at the Larz Anderson park's MG day. There was a bit of confusion, thinking the GT won, but regardless the award hangs in the Devine family. My cousin also won best MGA..well over due! During the raffles, I won $15 of Dunkin Donuts gift cards, and the 50/50 raffle, bringing home a whopping $61!  We also sold some parts that we brought! Overall a great day

I sold those silver and black rostyles wheels. I have to say I don't mind doing them but as soon this next set of red & silver ones go south, I'm switching to minilites!

I'll have a post later this week (and I mean it) on the NEXT project

Carver 2008 Report

Saturday was the final (for me anyway) British car show of the season,The British Car Day @ Edaville Railroad in Carver. I got up early and headed to Dad's and we made the trek down there. The weather was great, sunny with a cool breeze. OK I'll admit it, there is always a breeze when the top is down. This show is usually a pretty good one, and this year was no exception. Lots of cool cars, and a really good turnout (77 cars), I did pretty good on the raffles, with an MG tuning book, a MG/Rover desk set, and a $50 gift certificate to MacKay's garage! I spent $20 on the raffles, and $20 for the show, so it all kind of evens out

Here's some pics (click on the pic)

Some More MG stuff

Sorry there hasn't been much news lately. My band's been a lil busy, the weather hasn't been all that agreeable, and domestic stuff has gotten in the way. I don't think I've had any seat time in my B since Labor day weekend. I'm hoping to get quality time in this weekend tho.

So MG is finally back, in one way or another. The new Marque stands for "Modern Gentleman" not "Morris Garages". Also it looks like they won't be hitting North American shores anytime soon either. The new MG is pretty much the same as the last ones that rolled off the line, but I'm hoping they don't follow past trends and not change the car for 18 years.



I prefer their older ad:



In other Classic Car stuff, I renewed my (and my Dad's) subscription to Classic Motorsports Magazine. I highly recommend it to anyone that's into cool older cars (not just British ones) My only complaint is that it's bi-monthly, not monthly. Their webpage is pretty cool, as well as their forum.



Awhile back I got up early Saturday morning and headed to Wakefield tire to see if they could spin a set of MGB wheels I had in my dad's basement. They're the original ones from the MGB and they're pretty grungy. I was afraid to do any restoration work on them, and then find out that they're eggshaped. Thankfully they're ok. 1 pair will have to be specified for the rear tho, as the guy said he wouldn't feel comfortable having those in the front, in case of any steering issues.

the rain held off on this particular Saturday just enough for Dad & I to take a trip up to Milton, NH to take a peek at 3 MG's in varying condition up there. One of my Dad's Co-workers lives up there and told him about the Cars she saw on the side of the road, and we decided a road trip would be a fun thing. So we headed up there. Ironically the last time our MGB was up that way, it was on the back of a trailer, coming back from the paint shop in Berwick, Maine. We got up there to find 3 cars

1-1970 MGB $12000-A bit steep if you ask me



2-1976 MGB $7600-Interesting price, 76 for 76?



3-1973 MGB $2000-Rusty.



The cars were kind of a wash, but the owner seems to have his own machine shop in his garage. If there's a part they don't make any more, he makes it himself. He seems like a nice guy, a true car person, it doesn't matter what make or model, Cool is cool. He's doing over a 1959 MGA in his garage, as well as a 1953 TD that's sitting under a tarp in his yard. He also commented that he liked our "buggy" as he called it.

After making his aquaintance, and chatting for a bit, we headed over to Dad's co worker's house. It was a really nice place up on a lake. I bet it's a bit expensive to live up there, as their neighbour has a Bmw Z-8 in the driveway, a fairly new Ferrari Spyder in the garage, oh and his girlfriends BMW Z3-M3 is also a nice touch. We chatted with Dad's friends for a couple of hours, and on the ride home Dad mentioned that he'd like to stop by Brits bits to take a look at their inventory. I hated to tell him that they were closed by now, as it was 6:15. He was really surprised at how fast the day slipped by.

The next Saturday was the MG/Rover day at Larz Anderson. It was quite depressing. The day started out cloudy & overcast, but the sun came out just as we started driving down Brookline Avenue. I prepared myself properly this time, and decided, regardless of the weather I'm wearing shorts. Good thing that I did too, as it turned out to be a real hot day! The depressing part though: 33 cars. It seems as though the Museum basically "demoted" the show from Sunday to Saturdays, because it's not as a good money maker as some other shows, over the past few years they claimed that it's declined in attendance steadily. Well in 2005 it was ok on a Sunday, and on 2006 they canceled it, citing the fact the rain the night before made it too wet, and Sunday morning at 8:00am it was still raining, so they canceled it, and the sun came out around 10:00 to make it a high of 90. in 2007 they (supposedly the Bay state MGA club) moved it from Sunday, citing the weather on Saturdays have been historically better, and I missed it, due to my own scheduling (we were driving home from the Starks, Maine gig) But I heard that they had about 40 cars. At the end of this years show, they asked if we thought the reason for the weak draw was because of it not being on the usual Sunday morning. I said I bet that's half the reason. Saturdays a lot of guys that have families get stuck with a "honey do" list, or go away for the day, some have to work, and some guys are usually working on their cars! Next year MG day may get combined with Triumph day. The really dry turnout is also the reason I don't have any photos from the event other than this one:



I don't know why it actually was a crappy turnout, and it's sad as, the first show I brought my finished MG to was this event. And I remember more than 60 cars being there. Partially I could blame any perceived snobbery from the MGA folks towards the MGB folks. I'll admit it, the MGA is a classic car, and it's far more elegant than an MGB. But my MGB has side windows, interior door panels, and a 5 main bearing crank with a rear main seal. The usual MGA guy will look down on an MGB, It's a bit more modern, but at 30+ MPH driving down the street no one cares, they just point and look, and ask what it is or what year it is. So yeah maybe some elitist behavior may be to blame. Dad may benefit from this "corksniffery" as he's got a line on a British racing green 1970 MGB GT from an MGA guy for a very reasonable price. Hopefully I'll have more to report on that later on.

Car Show alert! - September 26, 27 & 28, 2008

British Legends Weekend 2008 Buzzards Bay, Bridge Park
September 26, 27 & 28, 2008



for more info:
http://www.capecodbritishcarclub.org/

and for what it's worth, I plan on being there..

You have to start somewhere

and this is where we did in November 2001:



and in November of 2005:



I figured this would be a good place to start with this blog.
Latah
CD