The MGA With An Attitude
MGA Guru Is GOING MOBILE - (August 16 - August 31, 2026)
Sunday, August 16, 2026 :
Moved 80 miles farther east over night, sitting in Gretna, Nebraska today. Added new Part Numbers tech pages for the clip to secure the MGA thermometer signal pipe to the lower bolt holding the heater valve (or blanking plate) on the MGA engine cylinder head. Originally a two-piece clip with part numbers AHH5802 andBHA4081, there is now an aftermarket part number BHA4081K for a clip assembly, and alternate part number 281-920 (from Moss Motors).
 This clip was introduced in February 1958, two months before introduction of the MGA Twin Cam. Makes me wonder if they found a vibration fracture problem with the thermometer pipe during Twin Cam engine development (food for thought).
Revised the Care and Feeding tech page CF-125 for Production Changes For MGA by Date, Chassis and Engine Numbers, to show the introduction point of this clip. -- Moving along in the evening, landing in Shelby, Iowa by sun down, no fuel needed yet.
Monday, August 17, 2026 :
Moving 3-1/2 hours more east today with fuel stop in Des Moines, IA, then stopping in Davenport, IA for late lunch.
Tuesday, August 18, 2026 :
Early morning heading east on I-80 to to cross the Mississippi River at Le Claire, Iowa, planning for fuel stop and breakfast at
Atkinson, Illinois. Traveling well, getting good fuel economy, we decided to continue on to Utica, IL before fuel and late breakfast. Then the road changed with a sign declaring "Accident Ahead". As motion slowed to a crawl, we were forced off next exit at Annawan, IL, re-routing onto the parallel highway US-6. Okay, I-80 was closed, so we would likely get back onto the interstate at the next entrance ramp. Uh, nope. The I-80 bypass detour signs just kept going on US-6, passing three more entrance ramps. We were finally directed back onto I-80 east at Spring Valley, IL, 40 miles after the exit point. Never could figure out what kind of accident would close 40 miles of interstate highway including three interchanges.
We must have had a good tail wind for the past two days, because the next fuel stop at Utica, IL gave us 264 miles with only 10 gallons of fuel, and 26.4 mpg is pretty good when towing the trailer at expressway speeds. Having gone 50 miles farther than originally planned, we could stop here, with not too far to go tomorrow.
Wednesday, August 19, 2026 :
One hour up the expressways, I-80 and I-55, put us in Romeoville, IL in time for breakfast. We seem to be developing ,or following, a bit of tradition. We like to drop in for Wednesday Night Garage Club at "Tommy's Garage" in Lagrange Highlands, IL, whenever we're in the area with an open Wednesday. Can't wait to see what these guys are tinkering with now, so we shuffle on into town for 6-pm meeting. The white MGB-GT is Tom's Son's project car (his first car , I think. Looks like it is driving condition now, just missing front wings.
There's om's GM-MGB with V-6 engine and 5-speed gearbox, LED headlights, RV8 interior, and bunch more modern upgrades. The guys got a head start on us, munching down pizza before we got here.
Another new toy out back. Looks has picked up a project truck to tinker with.
The CMGC club project car is still progressing (slowly). We were pushing, shoving, nudging, bending hinges, realigning the bonnet, pulling forward center of the grill to get the grill badge to clear the nose. That worked out okay. Still needing the release cable and latch pin with spring.
Some time pop riveting fasteners for the side moldings. Dash and panels are mostly in, seats still loose,and more trim work remaining.
Warm evening,lots of friendly chat. Pushing dark, we were heading east and south and east and south some more on expressways, heading over to northwest Indiana.
Thursday, August 20, 2026 :
Looking for early breakfast in Merrilville, Indiana, but first WiFi spot had the doors locked. No biggie, move east to Valpraiso, IN, but the next place had the WiFi not working. Heading for another place we knew in LaPorte, IN, we ran into a road closure onUS-2. During the detour we accidentally ran across a new McDonald's in Westville, IN, and stopped to check that one. It works, and it looks like all new, pretty sure it wasn't here five years go. -- Late afternoon, a short run south to Hanna, Indiana to visit brother. Will hang out here tonight.
Friday, August 21, 2026 :
Moving on mid day, east on US-30, diverting around north side of Fort Wayne, IN, one fuel stop on the fly, and continue east to Love's Travel Stop at Woodburn, Indiana. A bit surprised we didn't get out of the state yet, but no rush.
Got a phone call at 3-pm with first report of a vehicle failure en-route to MG International 2026 convention in Sandusky, Ohio (which of course is where we are heading). One MGA driven by Mark Ahistrom from Cornelius, NC, heading north a few hours from home. The car has been running okay for several years and several thousand miles since it had fresh rebuilt clutch assembly installed. Driving perfectly well, accelerating or climbing a hill in 3rd gear, just up-shifting from 3rd to 4th, clutch down, shift out of 3rd, does not go into 4th. Coast off the road to safe cover. After that the clutch will not release, so it will not shift into any gear with engine running. We did some over-the-phone diagnostics, and my best guess is the clutch disc delaminated and jammed a piece of friction material between disc and flywheel, or between disc and pressure plate. Everything else works fine, including clutch slave cylinder travel, except the clutch will not release. Driver's choice, looks like it will be towed at least three hours back home to repair shop Elite Vehicle Restorations in Denver, NC. Pity, that one will miss the convention and car show.
Saturday, August 22, 2026 :
Checking the MG International 2026 web site Sunday schedule latest information to decide what time of day we would like to arrive to check in and pick up our registration packet, and where to meet for start of the Sunday evening driving tour.
- - - https://mginternational2026.regfox.com/register
Say WHAT? Looks like the entire Sunday events list has been deleted from the convention daily schedule. Now the convention is only Monday through Thursday? What happened to Sunday Arrival day? We have been planning our travel schedule for the past two months based on Sunday arrival. We know a few other people who have reserved a room for Saturday night to be on site Sunday morning. -- With the recent changes to the event web site, any contact information has also been deleted, so we can't even call or email anyone to ask. And of course it is too late for anyone to cancel a hotel room reservation for Saturday night. Looks like we now have to drag our feet for another day, and then arrive very early Monday morning. -- Then I looked on the MG Council web site:
- - https://www.mgcouncil.com/all-mg-2026
And it still says, "Join us August 23-27, 2026" (starting Sunday), with a link to: https://mginternational2026.org
And that web page is now failed. The MG Council web page has a "Contact Us" link that lists two email addresses, if anyone was inclined to try that at such a late date. They didn't even send en email to people already registered for he event to tell them that Sunday was cancelled. Do I sound a little PO'd?
Sunday, August 23, 2026 :
We shuffled along to Perrysburg, Ohio, mostly dragging feet to kill a day,
Monday, August 24, 2026 :
Driving west to east, timing things to arrive at the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center in Sandusky Ohio at 8-am. The first picture shows the early morning sun we had to drive into for an hour. Intending to check in at the event registration table, not expecting to get into the hotel room before 3-pm. Surprise, they checked us into the room immediately, which was nice, except that made us later checking into the convention registration table.
All is well, picking up our pre-registration info packet, and then the rat race began. Lots of walking in the big hotel and convention center, and the floor maps were confusing. With four national car clubs combined for one convention, and each club doing their own things, there was no time to spare. For everything scheduled, they could have easily taken six days, but had it done up as five days. Then Sunday had disappeared from the schedule, so everything was crammed to four days.First tech session scheduled for 9-am, so rush, rush, rush, need to jog. Two tech session time slots in the morning, plus two in the afternoon, both Monday and Tuesday. And there were two or three tech sessions in different rooms in each time slot. a few of them were to be presented twice, but that still left overlap and conflicts, so it would be impossible to attend all of the tech sessions. Sorry I had to miss a couple of them.
First session at 9-am was on History and Importance of MG Books, presented by Gordon Whatley who runs the book store The Armchair Motorist. Good information, but it ran a little long, so I think we had to skip out on him immediately at 10;30. -- Luckily the next tech session was in the next room, all about Building the MGA/MGB Engine, by John Twist of University Motors. Time flies, so three hours from 9 to noon disappeared in a flash. There were other things going on in the same time frame, so I flat out missed a Newsletter Editor Forum by Robert Rushing,and the tech session on MG Badges from Around the World, presented by Art Lewis. Also missed a bus trip for Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. There was also a full afternoon drive to Snooks Dream Car Museum, scheduled on two different days, conflicting with the tech sessions, so no go there either.
Afternoon tech sessions, 12;30 to 2-pm would be MG For Historians by John Nikas, SU Carburetors by Alan Vinegar, and The Problem With Parts by Doug Pelton. I jumped on the problem parts issue, but had to miss the other two sessions due to schedule conflicts.
Then immediately jump to another room for the MG T-Type Forum. These forums are jolly good fun with two to six experts in the field at the front table, and everybody else in the room throwing questions at them. For this one Kelvin Dodd (ex-Moss Motors) and Doug Pelton (From The Frame Up) and were in the hot seats, and a few more late scheduled whom I do not recall the names.
Take time off for dinner, followed by a Welcome Reception, followed by Hospitality until late night. Then I took some time to download pictures from my camera, and check email and internet forum messages, and it was well past midnight before I could get some sleep.
Tuesday, August 25, 2026 :
Damn that alarm clock. Up early for breakfast, and haul my carcass down to the conference center, because I was on stage for one of the 9-am tech sessions. The room was full up, around 50 people I suppose, come to see me do the song and dance about Deferred Maintenance, and how to Avoid Catastrophe. This is not as bad as it sounds. Deferred maintenance can be good thing, making life easier and sometimes saving you money, as long as it is properly managed. Sorry I was busy entertaining and no time to take pictures. One hour flew by in a rush, after which it was open season for questions for 20 minutes (lots of questions). Then we graciously cleared out to allow a few minutes for the following tech group to move in.
My tech session was in the same time slot with MG For Historians, and Restoring MG EX186 by the Gundersons, with no more repeats, so I had to miss both of them. Meanwhile there was Lake Treasure Crafts, and Bulldog Open House, both schedule conflicts, so missed those as well.
Late morning tech sessions were MG Vintage Racing by Manley Ford & Jonathan Lane, SU Carburetors, and Electrical Systems In 21st Century by Bruce Woodson (Mercer & Woodson Automotive). I jumped into the electrical systems tech, having to miss the other two. -- Mid morning to early afternoon was for Beer Tasting & Pizza at Twin Oast Brewery, then Wine Tasting & Pizza at Firelands Winery, both schedule conflicts with tech stuff, so no go. Most of the afternoon was a repeat of tour to Snooks Dream Cars again, and I still didn't get to go.
1:00-2:30-pm tech sessions were Tuning For Speed by Carl Heideman, and Electrics In the 21st Century (repeat). Seen the second one yesterday, so jump into the speed tuning session. -- Immediately following was the 90-minute MGA Forum with six experts up front, including me this time. Cecelia Bruce (Scarborough Faire), Kelvin Dodd (ex-Moss Motors), Barney Gaylord (MGA Guru), Forest Johnson (Rusty Moose Garage), Bruce Woodson (Mercer & Woodson Automotive), and don't remember who, but they snuck a 6th in there somewhere. Another packed room with lots of questions for the experts. If you didn't get the answers to your questions here, you didn't ask.
After a longer break there was Hospitality, then Register Dinners, and more Hospitality. Each of the four national MG
registers held a dinner session in separate rooms (private time for the registers), two at a time. Today it was for NAMMMR and NAMGAR (that's for me). Sorry, no cross over. Then stuck in Hospitality until late night before crawl back to the hotel room and try to get some sleep.
Wednesday, August 26, 2026 :
Ah, it's show day, so get your rides over to Osborn Motro Park in Huron, Ohio, after 7;30-am, hopefully by 9:00-am.
See below a small selection of photos from the 600 cars on display. For my full set of 130+ pictures,
see the Supplemental Photos page for MG International 2026 car show.
For my full set of 130+ pictures, see the Supplimental Photos page for MG International 2026 car show.
After hiking around taking hundreds of pictures of 600 cars at the car show, I was pretty tuckered out. I did download pictures from the camera to my laptop, but no time for processing them yet. Checking messages on a couple of email lists and one MGA forum, I seem to have missed Wine Tasting & Pizza, and Beer Tasting & Pizza, and the MGB Forum (dang, I missed that one?). Also missed the MG Boot Sale and the Rocker Cover Races. Wow, lots of entertainment, but too many things happening with overlapping schedules.
At the evening social, the Wednesday Night Garage Club guys from Tommy's Garage in Lagrange Highlands, Illinois were getting together (yeah, me too). The Silent Auction was winding down with winners paying their tab and picking up their booty. Then the Live Auction was kicking up a ruckus,and boy those things were selling well!
Once the auctions and hospitality was breaking up, Tommy and friends from the Wednesday night Garage Club crawled out to the back patio to extend the evening for a few more hours. The black MGA had a generator problem, so plugged into a battery charger for the duration. Cecelia from Scarborough Faire and myself and two more friends were off to Applebee's for late dinner from 10 to midnight, then returning for the last hour of party on the back patio, until a security guard kicked us all back inside and locked the doors.
Thursday, August 27, 2026 :
Damn alarm clock. Up early for breakfast, then stagger outside for John Twist's University Motors Rolling Tech Session from 9-am to noon. Fifty people surrounding John and one car, elbow my way through the crowd to get some pictures. First up was an MGB GT V8, very interesting car with traditional dual SU carburetors.
Then a very long line of patients waiting for tweaks and tune-ups and diagnostics, and expert advice on special issues.
One green MGB GT,1972-1974 vintage, was giving John fits over the dual HIF4 carburetors. Running rich and bubbling fuel and air in the wrong places, it was diagnosed to have leaky O-rings in the automatic choke mechanisms. No time for extended repair, so push that one forward to get on to more cars.
This is when tag-team cooperation team work began to kick in. After someone pulled the carburetors off that car, Glen Lenhard from Glen's MG Repair
sat down on the sidewalk to pull the carbs apart enough to replace the bad O-rings. Half hour to remove the carbs, half hour to replace the O-rings, half hour to reinstall the carbs, get it running and tuned up.
Then a bit of a mishap when it was running again. A screwdriver fell off of the radiator, touched the fan blade, and poked a small hole in the radiator core, drizzling coolant on the ground. Just a small leak, and someone came up with a bottle of Bars Leaks Cooling System Repair. There really is a real world application for this stuff, and it works. Leak stopped so the car can go on its way, do leave the radiator cap loose for zero pressure for now.
While this was going on, there was yellow MGB several places farther back in line, not likely to get to visit the doctor today. It was hard starting and running very bad, difficult to drive, so the owner bumped the MGA Guru on the shoulder with a request for help. The fuel mixture adjustment nuts were turned all the way up to full lean, which should be an easy adjustment. Front carb turned down two turns in short order, but the rear brass nut was too tight to turn with fingers. So we drove it around to the car park where the MGA with the Magic Trailer was parked, so we could grab the little SU wrench to work the stubborn mixture adjusting nut. Still had to remove an air cleaner for clear access, but then easy enough to get the adjustment right, so the MGB was soon purring like a kitten.
Then back to the party where the green MGB was getting the final touches after carburetor work (and the impromptu radiator repair). A few more MGs were getting the magic touch from the Twist Master before time ran out and we all had to quit. Send at least a dozen disappointed MGs back to the car park, and pack up the tools before heading back inside.
Mid afternoon tech session, MGs Through The Ages Talking Tour. Fourteen MGs lined up in the ballroom for a two hour tour of the species. Captivating and amazing, and unbelievable how much time end effort and money has gone into restoring all those cars.
5 to 7 pm, Register pre-awards meetings. Again separate rooms for each register, time for all car show trophies that were NOT 1st In Class, and any other awards or ceremonies that are register specific. I was of course in the NAMGAR meeting for MGA (and Magnette) cars, so can't say what went on in the other rooms.
7 to 9 pm in the ballroom, MG International Banquet & Top Awards. The banquet dinner first, good food,stuff you silly, hundreds of people, so it takes up the first hour. Obligatory chat about the big 5-year event, organization and people, welcome everyone, hope you have enjoyed the time here, do come back again. Presentation of all the First In Class car show awards, and a few more special awards. The final picture is a group of business heads who run shops to supply parts, restore and maintain the cars. Most of these folks are (or were) members of British Motor Trade Association, including myself (but I'm holding the camera so not in the picture). Then the room was empty, some of us off to hospitality as everyone was turning in for the night.
Friday, August 28, 2026 :
Take advantage of the room to sleep in, wash up, breakfast from the mini fridge to clean it out, check out by 11-am. Pack everything out to the car, long walk full length of the complex, stuff everything into the vehicle(s), and get it moving. Out of Sandusky, and heading 90 miles back west. Fuel low, stop to refil, good time to rest at Love's in Napoleon Ohio. Time to begin the process of downloading photos and updating web pages. After a four day convention with hundreds of photos and some good stories, this will take at least two days to catch up. But we have another obligation, so need to keep moving.
Saturday, August 29, 2026 :
45 minute cruise to Woodburn, Indiana before breakfast. Good that weather was overcast (and drizzly) with not too much sun in the eyes. More time for computer work before evening cruise another 90 minutes west to Plymouth IN.
Sunday, August 30, 2026 :
More travel, less time for work. Breakfast first to let the western sun get up off the horizon so we don't have too much sun in our eyes. One hour plus to a short stop in Gary, Indiana for the less expensive fuel, say hello to a friend who happened to be traveling in parallel from Sandusky, OH heading west. Continue another two hours into Illinois, still avoiding tollways, through city traffic, taking I-94 west and north into and through Chicago, heading more west on US-20, ultimately arriving at Sycamore, Illinois. Check out a first WiFi spot at north end (not so great). Then drive around the DeKalb County Courthouse to find access doors and parking, because Elliot the navigator has a Jury call summons to be here tomorrow morning. Then on to Walmart in DeKalb, IL for supplies, then back to a second WiFi spot in Sycamore (better). We will be here for lunch, and rest of the day, taking what time is available to work on the car show photos and notes.
Monday, August 31, 2026 :
Early breakfast at the better WiFi spot before sending Elliot out solo with the rolling rig to tend to his Jury call obligation. Should be an interesting experience for him, first time thing, while I get to sit and work. He was back by half past one, reporting at least 66 prospective jurors (maybe more). The court had screened through about 20 before selecting 13 for duty, and releasing the rest, including Elliot. So we don't have to hang around for a trial. -- Spent the rest of the day finishing the convention documentation, and catching up a back log of email. On special request, sent 11 car show pictures of a black Twin Cam with red interior to a friend who is currentlhy restoring one.
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