MGA Guru Is GOING MOBILE April 16

The MGA With An Attitude
MGA Guru Is GOING MOBILE - (April 16 - April 30, 2025)

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Wednesday - April 16, 2025:
Inventory update to subtract parts we used, add new parts we didn't use (stow the new bits in the trailer), and re-order spares for stuff we used and have no more. In the process, we found the new shift boot (was in the wrong box), so we should install it and order another spare. Having a little email tiff with Moss Motors folks about the magnetic drain plug that doesn't fit the threads.

Thursday - April 17, 2025:

Woke up in eastern Georgia today, goodbye South Carolina. Sitting in Thompson, GA most of the day. Looking forward, left some notes,made some calls. Have an appointment in Auburn, Alabama tomorrow morning (only 215 miles away). Hit the road again at 9-pm. Notice a slight fan belt squeal immediately after start-up. That should survive a few hours, push on. -- Fuel stop at Love's in Madison GA, because we weren't sure the next station would be open late night. Flat tire on the trailer, nearly shreaded, stop on the exit ramp to change it. I recon the little tires don't like running 75-mph with only 25-psi pressure (don't know how they got that low). Also the two on the ground nearly bald, and I don't recall them being that old. Brand new spare now on the road, push on. Fan belt squealing again, should have fixed it, but was distracted. On the ramp now, and not too far to go, so push on. -- Cross the Chattahoochee River, and arrive Alabama Welcome Center before midnight.

Friday - April 18, 2025:
Good morning. Slept in a bit, anxious for breakfast, forgot about the loose fan belt. 20 minute sprint down the expressway to Opelika, Alabama. Pulling off the expressway exit ramp. left turn at a traffic light onto an overpass bridge, and the engine died. Coast to stop near right side barrier, blocking half of the single through lane, flashers on, bonnet up, test light in hand. Less than a minute to find the distributor had popped out of the hold down clamp to disengage the mechanical drive. Two minutes with a wench to put it back in place and fire it up again. Thanks to a local cop for guarding our tail with flashy blue lights for a few minutes. -- Half a block on, left turn to stop for breakfast. fan belt still squealing. Pop the bonnet gain, finding the top two mounting bolts of the alternator gone, rear one missing, front one hanging on by one thread with its hex head touching the fan belt. Seems like we must have been to tired and anxious to get moving after the gearbox transplant, early Sunday morning. Put that back together, and head in for breakfast. -- Late start and two delays already. Still need a stop at Walmart to pick up some oil, and another stop at Harbor Freight to grab trailer tires. That done, tires installed, now have three new tires on the trailer, Push on.

Running two hours late, finally stopping at noon to visit Keith Farley in his new digs in Auburn, Alabama. Ten years ago he was in Columbus, Georgia (when we were forming Brits In The Valley club with a Facebook page). Then he moved to Canton, Georgia (work related, i think). Then he was relocatfile:///C:/barneymg/pub/tales/mobile60/6698.jpged to Ireland on work assignment for two years, After return he got this nice place in Auburn, Alabama. A little more rural, and more garage space, and a lift in the work space. Nice upgrade, get some pictures.

The red Midget is a visiting friend's car. The white MGB is "Grandpa'/s MGB", which started as a 90% finished restoration, inherited in 2013 or so. We worked on this some in late 2014 to finish electrical wiring and a few mechanical issues to get it back on the road, now a regular driver car. At far right is a nice Land Rover parked high on the new Bendpack drive-on hoist.

in second bay from left, next to Grandpa's MGB, is a recent acquisition Model A Ford (very nice). A local Model A club is very active. You might notice these garage bays can be two cars deep, if you were counting spaces. Tucked in behind the Model A is a nice BMW, turn of the century model. Think 6-cylinder fuel injected, good torque.

That Bimmer just got new brakes, only waiting to be bled to be back on the road. Next is the silver 1976 BMW, carburetor car (back in my era). The first time we sw this one, 10 0r 11 years ago, it had a blown head gasket. Long since fixed. Sometime in the past couple of weeks it was running, but maybe hard to start and would die when it warmed up. Now it won't start t all. Sounds like a fuel problem to me, so let's check it out.

Now sporting a Weber down draft carburetor. Said to once have a hot water choke, then changed to electric choke. This makes it a little tricky for testing, until I can figure out how it is supposed to work. Give it a crank, but no fire. Mechanical fuel pump, no electric pump, so crank it some more, but still no fire. It has a see-through fuel filter, looks like no fuel in it. pull hose off the carburetor, hold it in a plastic cup, and crank some more, but no fuel delivery. Connect a manual vacuum pump to the hose, pump like crazy to pull a vacuum, and eventually we pulled an ounce of fuel into the plastic cup). So it looks like the fuel tank and lines and filter are all okay, and by now it should have fuel in the mechanical pump. Reconnect the fuel hose to the carburetor, and try cranking again, but still no fire, still no fuel delivery. About to conclude that the mechanical fuel pump is bad, maybe a ruptured daphragm. Let's see if it will start with sniff of ether. if it will start, run a few seconds and die, that would verify lack of fuel flow, most likely failed fuel pump.

Crank it while I give it a sniff of starter fluid in the air cleaner. It popped few times, but didn't start. Another sniff and crank. pop and stop. Another sniff and crank some more, it finally sputtered along roughly at very slow speed, then quit. Crank it again, give it another sniff, pop, pop, pop, no go. Then the entertainment started.
Must have given it to much starter fluid, because then it backfired and blew some cool liquid on the back of my left hand, which promptly burst into flames, along with the air cleaner. Seemed a bit odd to have my hand on fire, but no panic. Not long to smother the flames on my hand, then toss a fireblanket on the carburetor. There was also a small fire on the floor a few feet away, which turned out to be that plastic cup with an ounce or petrol in it caught aflame.This was also smothered quickly, before any one could grab the fire extinguisher.
Go wash my hand in cool running water to remove any remaining fuel. and of course that feels a little better. Pat dry with clean paper towels, smear some Neosporin ointment on it, and wrap it with gauze bandage. Aside from being somewhat embarrassing, this was going to put an end to decent work day. Keith recommended a trip to the urgent Care Center, and I didn't want to disturb anyone else, so I agreed (even though I thought it was likely a waste of time and effort).-- That killed at least four hours, for what was likely less than one hour of medical service, mostly just waiting time between each 5 minutes of attention with half a dozen different attendants, including a couple of medical students wanting a good look at the "wound" for their experience. By the time it was cleaned and re-greased and re-wrapped, most of the pain had worn off so it just felt like sunburn.
A quick side trip to a pharmacy to fill prescriptions for a mild antibiotic ( capsules) and some slightly special Neosporin ointment, less than $10 total (surprise), and more gauze bandage and cloth tape (also cheap). Tthen back to the garage for a quick review and chat about a few more tech questions. At least we recon Keith will have to install a new fuel pump. I think Keith was going to dinner with his wife, so navigator and I were off to find a WiFi spot and late lunch in the evening. I will report back on the sore hand later,but not to worry, as it is not very serious. Sorry I didn't have time to take a picture of the flaming hand.

Saturday - April 19, 2025:
Sitting in Phenix, Alabama today, right across the Chattahoochee River from Columbus, Georgia. . Not much response from the Brits In The Valley Facebook posting, and no rush to move on yet, so take a day off to catch up on photos and notes from yesterday.

Sunday - April 20, 2025:
Moved a ltttle down the road to Smiths Station Alabama. I finally got the details for the MGA early and mid production gearbox drain plugs. These early plugs are same part number as the rear axle fill and drain plugs. Moss USA has them listed wrong in their MGA gearbox parts lists. I just sent them another response to their open tech issue, so maybe they can get their catalogs and web site fixed. The Moss UK website has it listed correctly with two different part numbers for early and late production. So far no one has a magnetic plug for these applications.

Monday - April 21, 2025:
Sitting in Shorter. Alabama, I had time to update a Part Numbers tech page for the early MGA gearbox drain plug, and magnetic drain plugs for engine and gearbox. -- As a follow up, we have an idea from Christopher Tunnicliffe in Wiltshire, UK. He writes: "I use JB Weld to glue little strong magnets to my engine/gearbox/axle plugs, and these seem to work well". This looks like a cheap work around for some expensive aftermarket parts that may or may not exist. -- Then I spent some time starting a new topic and posting replies to a forum discussion on Crankcase Ventilation (again). This may be a never ending discussion, but I now have some new information related to my new 18G engine.

Tuesday - April 22, 2025:
Much of the day spent creating new Part Numbers tech pages for fill and drain plugs. MGA early and mid 1500 gearboxes, and Twin Cam gearboxes, use 6K499 square socket drain plug, same as all banjo style differentials fill and drain plugs. Late 1500, and all 1600 and MGB gearboxes use 2K5830 drain drain plug. I also found a misprint in the 1500 Service Parts Lists showing an incorrect nonexistent part number 2K5380 for the gearbox drain plug in late production 1500 and MGA 1600 type gearboxes. -- Created a Part Numbers page to document the misprint 2K5380, and redirect to another page with the correct information for 2K5830 plug. Also notice that many parts suppliers are currently selling a hex socket plug in place of the original square socket plug.

Moss Motors has been notified that they call out the wrong part for early and mid 1500 applications, and that they do in fact have the correct part available, as it is the same part used in other applications. I don't know of anyone having a magnetic drain plug for the earlier smaller part.

Wednesday - April 23, 2025:
Seeems like we blundered into Hope Hull, Alabama today. Finishing up new Part Numbers pages for the drain plugs, and making future appointments. We are now expected tor breakfast in Mandeville, Louisiana come Saturday morning, so time to move on. Got derailed late night when a rest stop was closed, and moved on to the next truck stop.

Thursday - April 24, 2025:
Breakfast in Evergreen, Alabama today. Folks on the MGA forum are finally coming around to understanding passive and Positive Crankcase Ventilation. I'm in, except still needing a front tappet cover with vent pipe to upgrade my 18G engine to 18GA spec's for PCV. I believe the BMC factory part number is 12H960. -- Moved farther along in the evening, landing in Biloxi, Mississippi for a fuel stop, and can be a good stop for the night.

Friday - April 25, 2025:
Waiting for a call back that came in mid afternoon. Then we were off for a visit to BMC Restorations in Kiln, Mississippi, with proprietor Peter Brauen. We had been here before, ten years earlier, but this is a dynamic business,and we had a recommendation for a repeat visit.
Find two Jaguar E-Type in his shop at this time, the first one with completed chassis restoration,and another that just received a shipment of all new front tubular frame weldments. The rectangular "picture frame" is the vertical transverse piece that holds the front suspension parts. Do be sure to have the chassis number stamped on top, or save the original piece that bears the original chassis number stamping.

These tubular weldments are prone to damage, and are so fiddly that it only makes sense to buy all new parts.

That's a Sunbeam Alpine on the lift. I do believe that's a Weber downdraft carburetor in place of the original Solex carb. And there's a very mice TR7 "Spider" (as in convertible).

A customer was dropping by to pick up his freshly rebuilt transmission. The complex stamped sheet metal piece next to the brass synchronizer ring, is a gear engagement dog. These must be too weak for the application, as they tend to get bent. The more they get damaged the more they chew on the brass ring, so do replace both parts at the same time. Picture below right is a custom modified remote shift housing extended a couple inches to better position the shifter hand lever with the transplant gearbox.

One important reason for our current visit was to check out the fiberglass fastback hardtop on Peter's Austin Healey. This was an aftermarket kit part made by Kellison of California, back in the day. More information was previously posted in the Hardtops Tech section here: TT-123K - Kellison bolt-on fastback hardtop. It has a very nice affect once installed, but not like you would like to remove and reinstall it regularly (or maybe never). The original boot lid is repositioned higher at the front, so higher pivot point makes different swing angle. This would make the lid hit the bumper overriders, so either turn them upside down or leave then off.

In the evening we were off to the "Last Friday" car show in Covington, Louisiana. We arrived around 5:30pm, as advertised, but we were apparently misinformed All streets barricaded, no way in, no enter point. After driving all around, we went where we thought we were supposed to enter, and squeaked past a barricade. When a cop bitched at us, we told him we belonged here, and which block of which street, and we couldn't find the prescribed way in. When he said we were not allowed past the barricades, I asked how to get out to leave.Then he said we should park it here by the curb, and we would have to stay until the show was over. Go figure. -- There were some parking spaces left, as the threatening rain had scared off a lot of cars. We had already seen a few of our Brit car friends right around the corner, but then it began to rain and didn't look like it would quit, and number of show cars were leaving, so the car show was a bit of a bust. I We hopped into the MG ZB Magnette with our friend Cliff, and we drove down an alley and around the block to find a restaurant for light dinner. After that, still raining, so skip it and let's get out. Navigator an I found a local WiFi spot to last the rest of the evening.

Saturday - April 26, 2025:
Morning appointment with North Shore area of British Motoring Club New Orleans, meeting at Liz's Where Y'at restaurant in Mandeville, LA. This time we arrived at 7-am opening time, half an hour before most of the rest, moved right in to for breakfast. Once everyone was stuffed, back outside for some tire kicking. There was a nice McClaren sitting in a prime spot. This is the third McClaren for this owner, and ye thinks it may be the highest mileage one ever known with 68,000 miles. Apparently they don't get driven much. Followed by a fair line of the more common cars, with our MGA parked around the corner of the building.

There was a black Lotus sitting in the shade next to the orange MGB sitting in bright sunlight. No way to get a good digital picture with that much contrast. The car that caught my eye was the nice Mercedes 300SL. I could only drool.

The party was breaking up with lots of people with excuses to roll off before some touring. Someone asked. "You going"? Yeah, where they going? Fontain Bleau State Park, right down there a few miles, but somewhere else first. Where else first? I dunno, just follow the McClaren, but hurry up, they're leaving now. Oh sure. By the time we got backed out, in the street and around the corner, they were long gone, no way for the MGA with the trailer to keep up with the McClaren in traffic. A few miles on we found the park, and it was time to give up the chase anyway. We found exactly one red MGB GT looking like he was also lost in the park, along with some horse riding activity. After 15 minutes of circles we gave up and headed for WiFi. That was a short club day.

Sunday - April 27, 2025:
Day of to catch up photos and notes from the last couple of days. WiFi not so helpful. Morning stop was a Small McD in Slidell, LA, which was serviceable, except very small, so they didn't want us hanging around, go away. Another McD a few miles away, looked good at first glance, but no wiFi, move on. Headine east and north, passedup a Pilot truck stop in favor of a Loves, exit 1 in Mississippi, but no WiFi. That was strange, almost never happens at a Loves. Go back to the Pilot in Louisianna, beg for a WiFi password at the front counter, and it works, at least minimally). We still have a couple days toi kill, aiming for a club meeting in NewOrleans on Tuesdy evening.

Monday - April 28, 2025:
Lots of fuss today about a failed "Dynamator" (from Accuspark). this is one of the more recent competitors to "Dynalite" from Powerlite. This may be a case of some cheap knock-off part being manufactured in a chap labor country with poor quality, and giving the rest of the industry a bad reputation. the problem is poor electrical connections by bad design of crimped wire connectors. The solution is to solder the wires together to restore function. A pity to pay high price for a specialty part, then have it fail in the field and have to repair it yourself.