On The Road & In The Shop

Reilly Clark wheels an E-type thru Keene, N.H.

Cpl. Reilly Clark wheels an E-type thru Keene, N.H.

Our corner of New England is hot but mostly dry.  This picture from last Friday was taken a little after 6:00 with the temperature still in the low 90’s, near perfect haying weather.

If you want to know if a car like an E-type is going to overheat, semi-urban rush hour traffic will tell you everything you need to know.  This Jaguar kept its cool.  Sharp-eyed observers will also have noticed that the tach’s not working.

Ian & Steve polish up a TD

Ian & Steve polish up a TD

Ian & Steve put the finishing touches on this MG TD which suffered from immersion in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene.  We actually have a sub-specialty in remediating cars which have gotten seriously wet.  A flooded drivetrain isn’t too difficult to figure out.. change the oil and then change it again, but to kill the mold which had established itself in the upholstery (the seat bolsters are packed with horsehair) we stripped &  soaked everything in a wading pool with a high concentration of household bleach

John rebuilt the Bug Eye front end

John rebuilt the Bug Eye front end

Sprites and Midgets use what is essentially a minaturized version of a Big Healey front suspension.  There’s a bit of an irony in this because while everything works quite nicely, it’s imperative that it sees the grease gun at least every 1,200 miles, otherwise the wear rate is diabolical, and the irony is it’s by far the more expensive to put to rights.

This is because while king pins and bushings cost about the same as on their larger breathern, not only are  the A-Arms themselves  wear items, but the unique taper thrust wheel bearings are hideously expensive to replace if they’re bad.  A note to our D.I.Y. friends, if you’re replacing them in your home workshop you need to be absolutely sure of how to align the thrust markings.  Consult your shop manual for fitting instructions.

Steve & Ian finished up this blue MGA which now resides in the Ray Boas “Push-Pull” stable.  Because Ray’s “other car” is a TR3, the reference is to the direction you move the starter switch to crank the car.  We’re on to a red MGA now.  Details to follow.

Ian checks over the MGA front end

Ian checks over his front end work

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