news update may 2016 (No3/16)

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Phebe Wade
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news update may 2016 (No3/16) After an unusually cold April, a marked improvement in the weather has encouraged us to venture out in our old M.G.s. On May 8 th, the popular Regency Run to Brighton took place.

1 news update may 2016 (No3/16) After an unusually cold April, a marked improvement in the weather has encouraged us to venture out in our old M.G.s. On May 8 th, the popular Regency Run to Brighton took place. This year s event is expected to be the last and it attracted over 320 entries from the very earliest to the latest models of M.G. cars. The inaugural Regency Run, which took place in May 1984, was organised jointly by our chairman, Geoff Radford, and David Diplock. It was good to see each of them taking part in this final running of the event. The first Regency Run in 1984 started from Battersea Park, London and finished at Madeira Drive, Brighton. Entry was capped at 250 cars, and 200 of those were Square Riggers as Geoff calls them, in that they all had traditional M.G. radiators. Only the remaining 50 entrants were given to more modern M.G.s. During the early years, The Regency Run was massively over-subscribed, peaking at more than 700 cars. After 5 years, Geoff and David offered the event to be taken over by the M.G. Car Club and the M.G. Owners Club. At the finishing line this year, arrivals were interviewed over the public address system by John Day, representing the MGCC and by Richard Monk from the MGOC, who between them have great depth of knowledge about the various M.G. models taking part. John of course, runs WL 7196, the super example of an 18/80 Mk I Tourer and as well as being President of the MGCC, is a staunch member of The Early M.G. Society.

Early arrivals at Madeira Drive a 1925 Super Sports and a 1931 18/80 Mk II.

This year s run being the last, the Radford family was out in full strength, bringing the Tigress, MGA

It s a shame that Sunday motoring on country lanes is these days spoiled by the numbers and arrogant

2 Early arrivals at Madeira Drive a 1925 Super Sports and a /80 Mk II. The two EMGS cars were joined later by Geoff Radford s 18/100 Tigress. This year s run being the last, the Radford family was out in full strength, bringing the Tigress, MGA and MGB on the event. It s a shame that Sunday motoring on country lanes is these days spoiled by the numbers and arrogant riding styles in club cycling. Virtually every driver interviewed at the finish bemoaned the congestion caused by cyclists. On a lighter note, Geoff sent in this picture of a sewage transport truck that he spotted, which carries an important political message:

Keith Herkes sent in this item for inclusion in the News Update: See also the enlargement on next page. It s wonderful how period photographs of our early M.G.s keep turning up.

3 Keith Herkes sent in this item for inclusion in the News Update: See also the enlargement on next page. It s wonderful how period photographs of our early M.G.s keep turning up. I recently purchased a picture of M.G. Mk I 18/80, GU 8217 taken when it was in the ownership of Morgan Marshall in Bristol, but now safely in the hands of Peter Jones since The caption on the back reads, on way to Naish Hill Climb, This was a popular hill climb venue from 1938 until the 1970s when the M5 Motorway was constructed and cut the course in two. It was situated about 10 miles west of Bristol at Clapton-in-Gordano. (what a lovely evocative name) It can be clearly seen that even by this date the car had obviously had a pretty hard life even though it was only 17 years old. The number plate is safely bolted up higher out of the way for trialling to give it better ground clearance and the front wings still bear the white markings from the wartime identification during the blackout. We know that Morgan Marshall competed the year before as it is recorded that he was in the Class 2 War-time Hacks Over 1100cc and put up a time of 77.4 seconds against the fastest car with 53 seconds - remember it s the taking part that counts! I have no idea who the gentleman sitting in the passenger seat is and I am not sure if one of the other three standing is Morgan Marshal himself. He would have had more hair then as compared with the later photographs I have of him. The other car in the image, BYK 340 is an M.G. KN saloon, now owned by Peter Prosser, a well know MMM man. In 1946 car was owned by a Mr S G Miskin of Somerset. Competed in Trial with the car for the Lawrence Cup, Naish Hill & The Allan Trophy. Between 1972 and 1984 it was owned and used extensively by Peter Mace who currently owns the Mk I 18/80 WL 7125.

It would be interesting if anybody recognises the Tea

Information Technology on us oldies continues.

4 It would be interesting if anybody recognises the Tea Rooms, which were probably a regular stop for car enthusiasts in those days. Keith Herkes * * * Our interest in the impact of Information Technology on us oldies continues. Every week we hear of new scams & computer glitches that seem designed to confuse us. These images might ring bells for you: Is this you? Or do you adopt a more scientific approach? Maybe you need this type of computer?

At the finish line of the Regency Run, the two commentators entered into a discussion about the pitfalls of erecting the hood on old sports cars and how easy the job can be on very modern cars.

5 At the finish line of the Regency Run, the two commentators entered into a discussion about the pitfalls of erecting the hood on old sports cars and how easy the job can be on very modern cars. It brought to mind this cartoon which captures the problem in a nut-shell. I know it s one of Great Malvern s finest, rather than an M.G. but the sentiment surely is similar and familiar to many of us! Let s hope that we can now look forward to a warm summer of open air motoring. * * * New Member Kevin Atkinson, from Canterbury, New Zealand is welcomed as a new member of the Society. He has recently acquired one of the M.G. 18/80s that Irvine Black took out from England to New Zealand many years ago. A Mk I Speed Model with good, known U.K. provenance before having been dismantled in the 1960s, the car is still in component form, but Kevin has already begun sorting through the parts, and is building a wish-list of the bits and pieces he has yet to acquire in order to restore the car to a roadworthy condition. The car is recorded as having been a demonstrator used by The M.G. Car Company, registered RX 7207 on July 14 th The photographs below were used in the Autumn/Winter edition of The Early M.G. Society magazine, with the kind permission of the LAT Photographic Archive. It is believed that the two photos were taken at Brooklands in late 1930 or early 1931.

6 We wish Kevin every success with his restoration of the car. No doubt we ll hear more from him as the project progresses. * * *

by Hightone Restorations of Bicester. Vehicle originally left factory as a saloon, but at some point in time was purchased by the retailer Dorothy Perkins Ltd. and the body converted to a gown van.

7 for sale A non-member has been in touch asking if there would be any interest amongst our members in a car he has for sale. Whilst it is not an early M.G. it s a very close relative and might be the kind of vehicle that a member might wish to acquire so read on: MORRIS ISIS GORDON ENGLAND SLIDING HEAD COUPE, 1934 Major restoration undertaken in 2002/4 by Hightone Restorations of Bicester. Vehicle originally left factory as a saloon, but at some point in time was purchased by the retailer Dorothy Perkins Ltd. and the body converted to a gown van. This may have been during or just post WWII when commercial vehicles were almost impossible to buy. Little is known after that until 2002 when it was rescued and a very expensive restoration begun and using original Gordon England blue-prints, to build the current body. It has the 2468cc OHC engine, very similar to the M.G. 18/80 unit, together with a four speed gearbox and hydraulic brakes. New wiring and many other details to make this a unique and reliable car. The rebuild history file and a number of spares go with the car. Price negotiable around 27, Please telephone Chris Beech, evenings, on to discuss and for further information.

8 Readers viewing this News Update via a link from another club such as from the electronic newsletter of Totally T-Type II might like to know that Associate Membership of The Early M.G. Society is available to those who do not currently own an eligible early M.G. but who are interested to know more about them. Perhaps you are interested in the prospect of acquiring an early M.G. at some time in the future, and this Society is the obvious portal for such an acquisition. There are but 80 owners of Early M.G.s world-wide, owning just 102 known original cars. Associate Membership includes the two full colour magazines each year, regular electronic News Updates and the opportunity to take part in our renowned events the next of which is a tour of Brittany and Normandy in June & July. Later in the year our Autumn event The Hampshire House Party takes place from September 13 th to 15th Please enquire to our secretary, Rodney Kettel by at alykett@aol.com * * * June 26 th to July 7 th E.M.G.S. Brittany & Normandy Tour Entries are now closed all places fully booked. August 5 th, 6 th & 7 th Vintage Prescott Hill Climb Weekend, near Cheltenham, Glos. This popular event is a 3-day event again this year and is our traditional summer gathering, with local Meet & Eat gettogethers in the evening and a grand picnic in The Orchard on Sunday lunch-time. September 3 rd & 4 th Beaulieu International Autojumble Bargains, tea and sympathy usually available from Bod & Grudge s stall in Red Field, and next door at the Herkes stall.

9 September 12 th to 15 th E.M.G.S. Autumn Rally The Hampshire House Party based at Audley s Wood Hotel, Cliddesden, near Basingstoke. Information for this event has already been sent out and so far 15 double rooms have been reserved. Anyone wishing to join the event or requiring details, please to earlymgsociety@btinternet.com From Keith Herkes: * * * MG Off with its head, again and again and again. Last summer, I stripped a thread in the engine block of my Mk I 18/80 and thought that it would be a relatively easy job to take the cylinder head off and fit a helicoil insert to the offending stud hole and all would be well. What a wrong prognosis that turned out to be. The full story will be told another day, but this snippet relates to the problems when an engine block is skimmed on the top surface. Because of all the past welding problems and current stitch welding, it has been skimmed almost 2mm, which is quite substantial. This led to problems with the pistons touching the cylinder head and required a certain amount of reprofiling of the domed piston crowns. Once this job was completed, it was time to replace the cylinder head together with the cam shaft and rocker gear. As anybody who has done this work for themselves knows, it all takes time. Imagine my horror when as I was torqueing the nuts down, another stud stripped its thread in the area where all the welding had been done back in 2007 (see EMGS mag. August 2007 p22 ). I subsequently spoke to the welding people who told me that cast iron can lose some of its strength when subjected to the type of welding processes that my poor engine has undergone over the years.

10 So, off with the head again and this time I fitted inserts into three other stud holes in the repaired area of the cylinder block. Once again the laborious task of replacing and building up the head, only to find that I could not insert the timing chain idler gear pin. Normally this takes just a little nudge to lift it against the chain tensioner, but this time there was no movement. A closer inspection revealed that the lower edge of the bronze bush was already higher than the outer opening in the cylinder head, through which the pin passes. The bronze bush in-situ. Any attempt to force the pin into its housing immediately locked the gear and fabroil cam gear solid. After a few minutes of thought, I came to a possible understanding of the problem. This prompted a phone call to Fred Body who very quickly came to the same conclusion as I had done ten minutes earlier. When the idler gear pin is removed to take off the cylinder head, the gear rests in an aluminium cradle which is fixed to a landing inside the block. Because the top surface of the block had been heavily skimmed, the cradle height was still at its original level relative to its fixing point. This meant that when the camshaft was replaced in the cylinder head, the fabroil gear was approximately 2mm lower, leaving no room for the idler gear to come up and mesh with it when the pin is inserted. Instead it locks the two together. So, off with the cylinder head once more.

The aluminium cradle and where it sits in the engine.

easiest was to do this was to dismantle the spring tensioner mechanism to release enough

This avoids the difficulty of splitting the chain at the join and the risks of dropping it

11 The aluminium cradle and where it sits in the engine. To cure the problem was relatively easy, as all it needed was the thickness of the base of the aluminium cradle reducing by 2mm. However, to unscrew it from its fixing required the idler gear to be removed and the easiest was to do this was to dismantle the spring tensioner mechanism to release enough slack on the chain to free the gear. This avoids the difficulty of splitting the chain at the join and the risks of dropping it down the block into the sump. Timing chain held with wire. Thankfully I was able to save the gasket each time without damage, even though it took hours to clean up all four surfaces, before I could refit it. Keith Herkes. - May 2016 Drive safely,

News update August 2013

News update August 2013 The Morris Centenary Rally, held on July 14th at the Motor Heritage Centre, Gaydon, attracted several members of the EMGS, most of whom are also members of the Bullnose Morris Club,