January 2012: Patrick gets ready for a roadtest
It’s Thursday, December 27 and we’re getting hammered by the first significant snowfall of the season. It’s a big enough storm that Butch and John decided that discretion was still the better part of valor… and stayed home. Steve who made it in from Ludlow a little late says that there are plenty of out of state SUV’s, presumably with those ubiquitous “three season radials” as we call them, off the road. some of them quite a ways off the road.
So it seems appropriate to start off a brief recap with a Jaguar E-type, Patrick at the wheel, about to seize an opportunity to get in a roadtest on a dry road.
John, Steve & Patrick lift an MG TD body tub off the chassis
This has been a very, very busy year. As I believe I noted, last week we managed to get two cars out, but three came in. We are virtually at capacity with regard to our ability to store cars undercover, and as you might suppose from this picture from late winter or early spring, much of it is what we refer to as heavy repair. This particular MG TD is undergoing a ground up restoration, and it’s one of two. We’ve reported out recently on a series one 4.2 E-type also in process, which is about as far apart as an E-type can get. Last week we brought you briefly up to date with our Plus 4 Morgan restoration. But most of our heavy repair and overhaul work stops a good deal short of restoration.
David strips an "A" type Laycock deNormanville overdrive
We have also been busy all year in the driveline shop, mostly engines, and transmissions. We also do some rear axle work right here. As an example we commissioned tooling a number of years ago that allows us to accurately re-gear MG TD & TF rear axles using the more road friendly MGA ratios.
But we also use outside experts like our friend Jeff at Keene Driveline who recently re-geared an E-type Jaguar differential, including new bearings and the clutch pack, for less than some vendors want for just the ring & pinion assembly. Oops, did I forget something ? Jeff’s price also included the labor. Strange to say, but we try to spend other people’s money like it was our own.
Hemmings set up to shoot video while Steve, Butch & John look on
One of this year’s highlights ocurred right after Memorial Day when a Hemmings Motor News crew came in to shoot video. I spent the entirety of the long weekend hoeing out the shop only to discover to my chagrin that their Florida-based video consultant had never been inside a barn before, and his attention was therefore diverted by what we regard as a strictly perepheral situation.
Of course it was a great opportunity to pick up our tools and put away parts so the effort was hardly wasted, and you can see the clip by going to the “links” page on our website.
So now the end of the year is upon us and this is our last write up of 2012. Instead of using the off season to gear up for spring and summer, we’re still deeply involved in maintaining, repairing and rebuilding work. That means there won’t be any art shows or wine & cheese tastings here this year, either. But if you’d like to ring us up on the phone to talk about your car, or drop us a line via e-mail or whatever, we’d be only too glad to hear from you.
Not put away quite yet: Our close friend Carleton Palmer, just down the road a piece.
December 24: Local enthusiast Carleton Palmer in Putney with his 1957 TR3
