The MGA With An Attitude

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MGA Guru Is GOING MOBILE - (August 16 - August 31, 2025)

Saturday , August 16, 2025:
Our second day in Petrosky, Michigan, soaking up some nice weather while catching up travel notes, and the nice little video from yesterday. On a bit of prompting, I was whipping up a new Part Numbers tech page for the 11G9093 Turn Signal Flasher Uunit for MGA. A nice part as original, just a little fiddle to install. Unfortunately current reproduction replacement parts often leave a lot to be desired, somewhat ugly, more difficult to install, and very likely unreliable.

Sunday , August 17, 2025:
A 50 mile drive south for breakfast in Mancelona, Michigan. Mark Hester sent a nice picture for addition to a tech page on gearbox rebuild. This is showing the tools and technique for removing the 3rd gear thrust washer from the gearbox mainshaft. -- Evening fuel stop in Kaskaska, MI, and cruise another 80 miles to a rest stop near Big Rapids, MI.

Monday , August 18, 2025:
Destiny strikes again. I don't know why, but I thought I'd do a quick safety check this morning for the turn signals and 4-way flashers. The left side flashers worked, the right side not.Then I made the wrong choice (maybe). Rather than immediately fishing in the boot for the test light, I thought to look under the dash first to see if maybe a wire might be disconnected from the turn signal switch. Such a tight squeeze getting under the steering wheel to look behind the dash, and in the process I hit the turn signal pilot lamp. breaking the green plastic jewel, which is all that really holds it in the panel, so now the pilot light is disabled. Bummer. And nothing wrong with the wiring on the switch anyway, or with the small relay used for the 4-way function, so that effort was a waste of time Go get the test light and get under the bonnet to check the turn signal relays.
Testing the T/S relay, inputs from brake light switch, flasher unit, and both wires from the T/S switch are good. Left side relay clicks, right side does not. I pulled the cover off the relay unit to test the same circuits inside, same results. Dead relay maybe? I gave the reluctant relay a little tap with the handle of the test light, and it began flashing, go figure. I might have to rebuild the relay box again (for the 5th time), or re-do this circuit with better relays. But it works for now, so forget it and get and move on.
Then another apparently bad decision. I was putting the steel cover back on the relay unit when it sparked momentarily. Huh? Oh, I had left the flashers on, so switch off and be more careful reinstalling the cover. Cover back on, and the switch is off, but it's still flashing. What? Shouldn't flash with no power on it. Pull the cover off to check again. Test light applied to every terminal on the box, the only input power is from the flasher unit, and now the rear lamps are flashing, but not the front ones. Scratching head. With relay in rest condition, the left and right rear lamps are connected together (for brake lights), but no front lamps are connected. That means the flasher output power is somehow connected to one of the rear lamps, and yes the test light does verify this. But this is not a failed relay,so must be a flasher connection terminal wiring problem.
The miniature relay terminal pins are only only one tenth inch apart. Looks like the second wire from top was shorting to the tip end of the first terminal pin. A bit of lift on the second wire pulled it up away from the first pin, and immediately everything was working normally. Put the cover back on, and we were on our way. Note to self, order a new indicator lamp for the dash panel.
Driving south on US-131 we hit some stopped traffic with a few faults. One lane closed for construction, flaggers in the work zone stopping traffic, and the second exit closed (know not why). We managed to get off the first exit to go around it all. A few miles on we took MI-37 south, missing normal breakfast hours, and stopping short after just 57miles in Grand Rapids, MI for brunch.
We saw another odd tech question on the MGA forum asking, "Is it possible to replace a generator the a 1962 MGA Mark II without removing the radiator"? Yes it is possible, but it is a knuckle skinner chore involving dropped wrenches and some constructive swearing. So I took time to write a few paragraphs and post a new tech page for Generator Installation. -- Late evening we moved on another 30 miles to Holland, MI for fuel stop, snacks and overnight.

Tuesday , August 19, 2025:
Good morning and breakfast in Holland,Michigan. We have some traveling to do today, on the road by mid day. 88 miles south to Indiana state line, another 50 miles on I-94 West to Illinois state line. Continue west I-94, I-80 to I355 North, paying a bunch of tolls along the way. We hardly ever do that with the outrageous trailer fees, but we actually had that much credit in the I-Pass account that we hadn't used for more than 11 years, and we wanted to be sure the I-pass still worked, which it does.
One small toll $0.55 for a few miles of I-294 where it runs contiguous with I-80, then 14 miles free on I-80 before turning north on I-355. Then one nasty large toll $9.15 entering I-355 North, and another basic toll $4.60 to exit at US-34 (Ogden Ave) in Lisle. IL. $13.75 total for that 20 mile stretch on I-355.

I-pass thinks these are equal.

This is why we will go far out of our way to avoid taking the trailer on the tollways. The Illinois I-pass system calls our little 3-axle rig "Medium Truck" [3 and 4 axles vehicle or passenger vehicles with 1 or 2 axle side-car or trailer]. This includes a 3 or 4-axle dump truck with gross weight up to 54,000 or 60,000 pounds respectively.

Quick stop at parts store before dinner in Naperville,IL.

Wednesday , August 20, 2025:
Wednesday Night Garage Club at Tommy's Garage" in Lagrange Highlands, Illinois. Good assortment of vintage British and other people carrier cars, good turn out with nice weather.

The CMGC club project car has been making notable progress since our last visit four weeks ago. Finishing body work and sneaking up on painting. More on this later.

The white MGB on the low rack is Tom's son's car, which was just made running and drivable last month. Now most of the structural underbody work finished, working on spot patching and rust removal. The naked MGA rolling chassis recently procured is planned to become a California Fun Buggy.

This was very nicely restored MGB. It was on its way to MG2025 car show in Crystal Lake, IL in late July when it was hit by a truck in northern Indiana. Total write-off paid by the insurance company, then sold back to the owner for salvage value (about 10% of book value before the accident). Now going to be disassembled to recycle the good parts, including the good engine and an early 3-synchronizer overdrive gearbox, and all of the chassis parts.

Here is an MGA 1600 with no notable dents, very little rust, lots of patina, a fairly valuable "survivor car". Looks like it may have some racing history early on with front wing side vents, bonnet louvers, racing stripes, alloy wheels, towing eye, fire extinguisher. Plan for this one is to clean it up best as possible and spray it with clear coat to preserve it. Should be an interesting project.

Finally full body priming for the club project car, bit of breeze in the evening,don't stand down wind.

Last spots coverage, finishing an extra coat late evening with a hand held LED lamp, and putting it to bed for the night. This may be wishful thinking, but they would like to finish sand and, 2nd prime, finish sand again, and spray it Orange before (maybe) taking it to the British Car Festival for display on September 7. Check back later.


Thursday , August 21, 2025:
Sitting half a day in Countryside, IL before fighting metro traffic going north for two hours.We stopped in Wadsworth, IL just short of the Wisconsin border. Catching up a couple days of BBS and email and a few phone calls, and processing pictures for the travel log (above). Then we need some sleep.

Friday , August 22, 2025:
Finish posting the photos and notes above from the Wednesday tech night. Kicked off at 6-pm heading north again, lots of traffic. Landed in Neenah, Wisconsin 8-pm with plenty of time for dinner.

Saturday , August 23, 2025:
Good morning Fox Cities British Car Club, meeting 7;30-am at Kwik Trip gas station in Menasha, Wisconsin. More than a dozen British cars (some not so little) and a few more people haulers. The caravan hauled out at 8am for a 35 mile drive on county roads and through a few small towns, arriving in Green Bay by 9-am.


This was to be a combination event co-sponsored by the Fox Cities British Car Club and The Automobile Gallery, a first time event British Car Show with 60 British cars, and a visit to the Gallery. The museum has 100+ cars from the 1920s to the 1980s, including the James Bond collection. This is at least a dozen vehicles from various James Bond movies, mostly British of course, and also a selection of American collector cars from the 20th century, and a few more European cars. Entry to the British Car Show and to the museum was free for all British cars on display and and their passengers.
Pictures of the show cars first, starting with the street view:


The 1964 Triumph TR4 caught my eye, having an interesting hydraulic set-up, dual line braking system with twin brake master cylinders with equalizer bar in between, and the third master cylinder for the clutch. -- The big Healeys turned out in mass.

A nice group of Mini.

1974 Jensen Healey with Lotus twin cam engine and dual downdraft carburetors.

Lotus and Aston Martin.

Very nice weather, and great time chatting with some old friends and more new friends. This event will be a memory keeper.

Then The Automobile Gallery. "Stuff expands to fill the space allowed, and not enough elbow room for panoramic pictures:




The James Bond Collection follows:


The party was breaking up by 1-pm, so we crawled off to the nearest local WiFi spot for lunch and getting down to web site business. Plenty of interesting tech questions,plus downloading, resizing and posting pictures. Heading back south by 10-pm, 65 miles down to Sheboygan, WI by 11-pm, and time to crash after midnight.

Sunday , August 24, 2025:
Early breakfast, and back to processing photos and notes from yesterday's car show and museum visit. Lunch break 2-pm. -- I was looking forward to Space-X launching Starship IFT-10 this evening, but it was scrubbed due to some ground equipment problem (liquid oxygen quick disconnect hose leak). Likely try again tomorrow.

Monday , August 25, 2025:
Up early, no breakfast. Nice weather for traveling, but the engine ignition has been less than stellar recently, like slow to fire up this morning. We had adjusted ignition timing a few days back, but no improvement, so we figure it must be points closing up again. Pull the distributor, and sure enough, near zero points gap, and at end of adjustment. So install a new set of contact points, properly adjusted, set the timing, and it runs well again. Problem is, only 4-1/2 months and just over 7000 miles since last time it had new points, and it had been adjusted a few times in between. Blame it on short life of the rubbing foot on the points set. We haven't been able to buy decent points for a few years now. so, sad to say, but MGA guru is now considering installation of some form of electronic ignition with no contact points.
Head south another 75 miles, and stop for late breakfast just across the state line in Wadsworth, Illinois. Normal BBS and email stuff, but mostly just dragging feet. Hoping to see Space-X IFT-10 rocket launch this evening, but it was scrubbed again, this time due to weather at the launch site. One more day delay?

Tuesday , August 26, 2025:
Mid afternoon cruise south, two hours to make 57 miles in rush hour traffic, arriving Naperville,IL 5:30-pm.Still anticipating third attempt to fly Space-X IFT-10, and this time they succeeded. Launch, booster return, and propulsive splash down in the Gulf.

the ship rear flaps took a little burning on the rear edges during re-entry, while the front flaps remained pristine. There was some mild explosive event inside the engine skirt, but it did not affect propulsive landing in the Indian Ocean. Celebrate.


Wednesday , August 27, 2025:
Since we are still hanging around the upper midwest, we drop in on the Wednesday Night Garge Club(again). The white MGB that was totaled out a few weeks ago has been poked and probed by multiple people placing dibs on various parts for recycling into other cars. The CMGC club project car has a little attention since last week, with some blue spot putty.

Someone has been working on surfsce finishing the engine bonnet, plus underside finish painting. Tonight the bonnet was getting a couple coats of outer finish paint, "Burnt Orange" for the chosen color.


Thursday , August 28, 2025:
By popular demand (multiple inquires), there is a new tech page for DAMPER OIL for Carburetors
Later in the day I bit the bullet and ordered up parts to install Cruise Control on my MGA. It did once have vacuum actuated cruise control installed in 1989. With repeated failures that was abandoned after the Alaska trip in 1997, and nothing since. This time it is electronic cruise control, no vacuum involved. Also much more expensive, so I just hope it works when installed.


Friday , August 29, 2025:
Having to many failure problems with turn signal flasher units, both thermal and electronic, I spend much of the day searching and ordering more parts. One $18 electronic flasher from Amazon, and two $1.25 thermal flashers from a local Advance auto Parts. Yes, dirt cheap on close-out, as there seems to be no more demand for them in the modern world. But as long as I am still using incandescent bulbs in the MGA, I may have a use for them.

Having so many problems with bad ignition contact points in recent years, I have been wanting a Dwell Meter for a long time.So I finally ordered up a new multimeter type Engine Analyzer with Tachometer and Dwell Meter functions Aneng SZ26.
And I ordered an electronic ignition module, YUANJS brand, similar to Pertronix but way cheaper, to fit Lucas 25D + DM2 distributors. Will report later.

Saturday , August 30, 2025:
A bit of fun this morning. Someone sent photos and notes for Dressing Up an alloy valve cover, It was neat, so I posted it as a new Accessories Tech page AT126C.

Some bad news today. I lost a grand son. My oldest daughter Teresa's oldest son Tyler passed away a few days ago. Some kind of abcess in a lung. Mild symptoms for about a month before, like a stomach ache, a little congestion, but no fever. Oddly it didn't seem to bother him much, until it came to a sudden end.

Sunday , August 31, 2025:
Labor Day holiday weekend. Nothing happening on the club scene, and people busy with family affairs, so we take the day off.