Showing posts with label british cars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label british cars. Show all posts
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Cars & Coffee
Cars and Coffee. the concept is simple; car enthusiasts gather early on a weekend morning, before the soccer moms & the honey do-er’s hit the road. Bring your car to a desiginated location, usually an out of the way place, hang out, and then be gone. No “civilians”, no kids dripping ice cream over that freshly waxed paint, no little dogs running about like at a cruise night or a regular car show. Start at 7:00 and be done by 10:00 and home by 11:00.
Lars Anderson’s Museum of transportation, in Brookline, MA, started one in recent years, and I went to a few this past summer. It was a blast. The first one Dad & I went to, I don't think he was really psyched about it when we got there. Not alot of vintage cars, at least at that weekend. The funny thing was watching people with $50K+ of new automobile, not being able to parallel park, or back up into a spot without 5+ gear changes.
I went one on my own a few weeks later, and it was ok. But I felt out of sorts. It's tough to relate I’m too young for the old guys with vintage Porsche’s and too poor for the investment bankers that have the new Ford GT. I’m too old for the young crowd that brings a whacked out Subaru STI that has more horsepower than all of my cars combined. But later on I found my speed. The older guys are psyched to see and talk to a younger guy that likes that 68 Jaguar, and the young guys like hearing stories about the days when your first car was 20 years old.
The last one I went to was with my brother in law. Bringing an MGB to one of these events is pretty wild. Your intentions don’t get questioned, you know your cars, you respect what everyone brought. My Brother in law was suprized at how I’d get into a conversation with a total stranger about a Lotus Elise, and shift into the merits of a vintage Chevelle vs a 442.
As this year’s car season winds down, I’m already looking foreward to an early dew covered morning, and unleashing all 60HP of my MGB down the Jamacia way to next year’s cars and coffee.
CD
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
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...
.JPG)
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
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...
.JPG)
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
Sunday, August 14, 2011
MGB Stuff
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
Sunday, September 21, 2008
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.
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.
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