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, who organised the event. The Society displayed two Bullnose 14/28s, two 14/40s and a Mk II 18/80.
More pictures from the Morris Centenary Rally. Michael and Marie-Christine Applebee arrive at Gaydon in their 1926 2-seater M.G. Super Sports. Tony Hartnell s superb 2-seater Mk II 18/80. We had the great pleasure at this event, of meeting, Col Schiller from Queensland, Australia, who is an overseas member of The Early M.G. Society and a serial M.G. owner! Col was touring the U.K. with his charming wife & daughters, so it was good to meet them after several years of correspondence.
Your scribe arrives at the Centenary Rally, Gaydon, with John Cooper navigating. * * * * * M.G. Owners Club 40 th Anniversary. On the very same weekend as the Morris Centenary Rally, The M.G. Owners Club celebrated its 40 th Anniversary, and was kind enough to invite The Early M.G. Society to display some cars. The two events coinciding meant that we were spread rather thinly over that weekend, but here are some pictures taken at the M.G.O.C. event held at Swavesey, near Cambridge. Keith Herkes 18/80 Mk I Speed Model at the M.G.O.C. 40 th anniversary.
Rita Herkes & Pat Radford on the EMGS stand with Keith s 18/80 and Geoff Radford s Mk III Tigress. We extend our congratulations to Richard Monk and the management of the MGOC on achieving this milestone, and our thanks for their assistance in producing our Early M.G. Society magazines. * * * * * Another EMGS member from overseas, Ruudy Vinke from Holland, brought his immaculate 2-seater Mk II 18/80 to the MG Live! event at Silverstone in June. It was good to see both car and owner here once again. Ruudy Vinke s 2-seater Mk II 18/80 looking resplendent, if rather hemmed in, at Silverstone. An EMGS member also from Holland, Cees Roeleveld, was at MG Live!, with a stall full of M.G. components for sale.
September 7 th & 8 th Beaulieu International Autojumble Bargains galore from Bod & Grudge s stall in Red Field, plus tea & sympathy from the Herkes next door! September 24 th to 27 th EMGS Autumn Event 2013. - The Defence of the Realm Based near Chichester in West Sussex this event will feature a day at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard to visit HMS Victory, HMS Warrior and the new Mary Rose exhibition. Our cars will be parked in a display within the grounds of the museum, close to HMS Victory. A guided tour of Arundel castle is also part of the programme. A brochure with entry forms is available from me on request, but be quick as the event is almost fully subscribed. The latest hot news is that on the first afternoon of this event, it has been arranged for our group to visit the Rolls Royce car factory at Goodwood. Events in 2014 and beyond! As mentioned in the previous News Update, the results of our Events Survey amongst the membership will be published in the next edition of our magazine due out in December. Plans are already underway for events in 2014. In the early part of June 2014 we propose to hold an event in the West Country and then at the end of September, our Autumn event will be held in Wales. Watch this space for details of these two events. In response to the Events Survey mentioned above, which showed overwhelmingly that France is the most favoured destination for overseas events, we are currently investigating prospects for an event in June 2015, based in the Charente region of western France a region of great variety, but as yet unexplored on an EMGS event.
Vscc Prescott hill climb weekend August 3 rd, 4 th & 5 th 2013 As usual, many members of the Society made the annual pilgrimage to this beautiful venue, for the most popular annual event on the VSCC calendar. The entry list of a maximum of 260 cars was full, and had been over-subscribed by 80 further would-be entrants. On Friday evening, Tony Hartnell organised supper tables for our group at The Plough P.H. at Ford, and then on Saturday evening, Ros & Tony put on their Prescott Supper at Toddington village hall, where almost 100 invitees enjoyed a superb buffet amongst some great company. We are all grateful to Ros & Tony for the work they put in making these arrangements so long may it continue! For Saturday practice on the hill, the weather was scorching hot, but for the competition on Sunday it was wet, which naturally slowed the cars down considerably. Geoff Radford had been given an entry for the Tigress, but unselfishly passed the opportunity to his son Anthony. There has been a father and son competition over the years in regard to the fastest times posted in the Tigress, but this year the wet track prevented a new record being set. Andrew Radford brings the Tigress to the start line at Prescott. Away he goes on his first practice run.
John Venables Mk I 18/80 spectating at Prescott. Prescott tail-piece For this spectator, all the excitement was just too much!
Car movement At VSCC Prescott, David Legg came over to where the early M.G. contingent was parked and introduced himself as the new owner of the Mk I 18/80 Tourer, UU 5737, which for many years belonged to Bev Hicks. He had several technical questions in connection with improvements he plans for the car, and asked for an application form to join the Society. spares Earlier this year, a differential casing bolt came undone on a Mk I 18/80, when one of the tab washers, that lock the long bolts through the casing, broke off. These unique tab washers, (differential bolt lock plates), should ideally be used only once, because the action of turning over the tabs causes fractures to develop at the bend point. You might get away with re-using them twice or even three times but eventually one will break off. I fell victim to this problem a few years ago, and I know of at least one other member who had the same occurrence. The nut comes off the bolt and the bolt begins to slide out of the diff. casing until it hits the carrier. If you re lucky, the bolt bends if not, the carrier fractures. There s no mistaking the problem when it occurs, because it sounds like a machine-gun going off in the back axle! Keith Herkes has taken the initiative and has had some new lock plates manufactured. There are 8 plates in a set, and Keith has them available at 14.00 per set of eight, plus 50p U.K. postage. Old locking plate above & new below. Keith also has available some big end (con-rod cap) nuts (see below) in high tensile 50-ton steel, castellated M10, as illustrated below. These are 24.00 for a set of 12, plus 2.20 U.K. postage. Contact Keith on keith.herkes@btinternet.com These items, if pre-ordered, may be collected from Keith at Beaulieu in September. Problems caused by ethanol in petrol continue to be reported, with a recent incident on one of our cars where the rubber inner of an armoured fuel pipe started to disintegrate and blocked fuel flow. It is so easily and cheaply prevented, simply by using an approved fuel additive that counteracts the deleterious effects of ethanol, each time you fill your tank. Extra unwanted costs, yes but far cheaper than new fuel lines or even a new petrol tank! Drive safely, Chris Keevill.