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29 January 2006
SUNDAY 29 January 2006
Oh gosh! What a couple of weeks! Just about two weeks ago my wife's father passed away. The memorial service was scheduled for the Saturday of the shop's 31st Birthday Party. We had no option but to cancel the Birthday Party. The weather just about would have cancelled it, too! Last year, if you remember, the weather was perfect on Friday, then abominable on Saturday, then plowed clear on Sunday. This year was a near repeat. It was just fine on Friday until the evening when it began snowing with a fury (flurry?). By Saturday everything was pretty well snowed in -- oh, the traffic was moving but it wasn't really nice. Then, by Sunday, all was OK. So what happened to us? Friday we were coming home from my sister-in-law's house where we had received friends and relatives all evening. It was late, the weather was horrid, the roads covered with crunchy, icy snow. We were driving south on Buttrick, about a mile from our house. Up the big hill we went, about 35, driving slowly and carefully. Down the big hill, driving a little too quickly for conditions, came the 18 year old. Oh -- he ran off the road on the right. Oh -- he corrected by turning his wheel to the left. Oh -- his wheels hopped out of the shoulder and the car began sliding towards our van. Oh, Oh, Oh. He caught us at the left front, collapsing the front suspension, then crumpling the entire left side of the van. We bought that 1998 Toyota Sienna new, we had about 150,000 on the clock. Caroline's plan was to hold out until 200,000. The insurance company totaled it. But, the flip side is that we found another 1998 Toyota Sienna in the same color, with fewer miles, for considerably less than the payoff -- but it's in Minneapolis! My son and his cousin will drive up there in the next couple of days to collect it. But you didn't come here to hear me whine about our misfortune! 
When we're not working at the shop, we're having some fun. Here's Ken flying from the engine hoist.
The 1937 MG VA is all done, and here sits next to the shipping trailer which will take it home to Massachusetts.
Here, the 1957 MGA (MS) is nearly done. Just a couple of more days! 
We're in the process of fitting a turned crank into this Land Rover's engine. I swear this is the same unit that was featured in "The Gods Must be Crazy."
12 January 2006
BIRTHDAY PARTY CANCELLED!
31st Birthday Party Saturday, 21st Jan Never have we cancelled the shop birthday party! Last year the snow impeded attendance, that's for sure. And I'm not sure if I had a first birthday party in 1976 -- I do distinctly remember the second birthday party in 1977. But this year a family death has intervened. Caroline's father, Oliver Robinson, age 77, passed away on Friday, January 13th. The visitation is scheduled for Friday, January 20, and the memorial service, Saturday, January 21st -- the day we had scheduled the Birthday Party. The technical seminars commence the first of February, so rescheduling the party is just not an option. Please watch this website for updates regarding the February Technical Seminars -- and for information regarding our line, bench, and restoration services. We always appreciate your business!
09 January 2006
Monday 9 January 2006
Monday was a day of accomplishment and visitors!  Casey hung the doors and began working with the wood cockpit rails on the MGA. We're now at the point that we'll have to stop for a couple of days so that the missing parts can be order, received, and used parts assembled. It's all so very, very close!  The young men worked on the 1973 MGB, even fitting the soft top. Now all that's left is the final fit of the windscreen. Curt was gone all day. He had two funerals to attend at the same time, but not in the same place. He chose to visit his family in the Bay City area where his father's sister just passed away on Friday. He said he saw family members he hadn't seen in thirty years.  I finished the Sunbeam Tiger (I would have attached a picture of that, but it was slightly out of focus). I began work on this 1974 TR6. My job is to tune it! Earlier in the day one enthusiast stopped by to ask about the Carburetter Seminar. His wife and mother had jointly given him, as a Christmas gift, a registration in the carb rebuild seminar. He wanted to know, today, what tools and parts he should bring. I copied a section of the workshop manual so he could study up and better learn the function, care, and feeding of the SU carbs. Then, a customer from Hastings, needed a housing for his Midget 1500 distributor. Later, Mr SC stopped around to purchase a second rear soft top bar. Seems that the upholstery shop discarded the first. Then, a tire shop in the greater Detroit metropolitan area called, hoping for a miracle. They were changing tires on ROstyle wheels and two of them ended up stolen or junked. Few owners can drive their MGB on three wheels! Mr KMcK called from Peterborough ON to purchase a tech book. He bemoaned the fact that he'd be hit with customs. I launched into my anti-NAFTA speech, which calls for the succession of Quebec from Canada, at which time the rest of the Provinces would throw in with the USA and we'd be one big country as it should be. Then they could be rid of those dual language signs and we'd have more fishing lakes. Oh, there's more.... Then Craig called from SCS, another MG shop out east, looking for a paint code for the Ivory on a TD or TF. An enthusiast called from MN to ask about hauling an MGB/GT from Texas back home -- with an incomplete differential. I suggested he take another diff with him and swap them, there. A long time friend and associate stopped by to say he'd had it with trying to find employment in Grand Rapids. He was keen to join the Peace Corps and move to the Samoan Islands. I located and photographed a Magnette gearbox for Barney Gaylord of IL who hosts the MGA Guru website. We received a steering column for an MG PA from a customer in WI. Another customer from FLA called about the costs of bringing in a Heritage Body Shell. The day kept going, but I shan't bore you more.  Say, here's a new addition. If you haven't already seen "The Gods Must be Crazy" you must! Every Land Rover owner has a copy (just as every Mini owner has the Michael Caine version of "The Italian Job"). This Land Rover has a rod knock. Ouch! Notice the shovel and axle chained to the front bumper.  Well, if you've made it this far, you'll want to know about our Castrol sign. This was wired to our fence at 614 Eastern. For years and years we have been loyal Castrol customers. When Steve French approached me, representing Michigan Automotive, some 20 years ago, and asked me if I would buy a different oil if he PROVED the other oil was better -- I told him NO! Castrol! A product of the Burmah-Castrol Corporation. It's in the workshop manual. From our long association we became friends with Larry Elliott who had been, for years, the Michigan Castrol rep. I mean, really, in the great scope of things, our purchase of Castrol products doesn't merit even an asterisk -- but Larry appreciated our loyalty and always provided cool gifts for the Summer Parties. He got this sign for us, too. Remind me to tell you about the time Gregg snagged the fence and pulled it around the block.
07 January 2006
Friday 6 January 2006
Friday saw quite a lot of progress on several fronts! 
Mark Kenworthy is nearly finished with the 1979 MGB LE (JG). As soon as he finishes the painting and buffing, applies the LE striping, and fits the chrome strips it will come back to University for completion. 
Casey has the lights fitted, fore and aft, on the 1956 MGA (MS), as well as the fender piping. We were going to fit black piping, but since the car is truly original and nearly stellar in appearance, we just couldn't move from the originality of the gray piping. 
Mark Schellenberger came in and worked on the left front fender on the 1974 TR6 (PR) which had sustained a long scratch -- perhaps a child's bicycle or a ladder. Standing is Paul Schellenberger, son of Mark (also pictured) and Lisa Kenworthy. Paul attends Grand Rapids Community College. 
Curt Saunier has nearly finished the assembly of the 1957 MGA (CB). He stalled at the selector rods since the rear selectors were so horribly worn. We welded them up and have to grind them on Monday. I heard from JP at tech time. Jerry struggled for about three years to get a brake master cylinder which wouldn't leak in his chrome bumper MGB. New cylinders, rebuilt cylinders, resleeved cylinders -- they all leaked. Very odd, indeed! Now he's had one in the car for about a year and a half which is still dry! Ted from Fast Cars stopped around a picked up a pair of demister vents for an MGB. Bob called at tech time to ask about the felt washers used in the MGA steering column. He said he couldn't find "graphite oil" so I suggested he combine powdered graphite with 90 weight oil. The workshop manual asks to have these felts oiled BEFORE fitting, but my experience is that oiling before swells them so much that you cannot fit them. It is not uncommon to trace stiff MGA steering to a steering column which has swollen felt washers. Andrew and James made a run to the plater to take fasteners, and to the radiator shop to collect a TD petrol tank and a TF petrol tank. Both had been cleaned out. The TD will be on eBay this week -- it's a really good tank! During the year I lived in London, 1972-1973, we would visit the Mississippi Bar on Gloucester Road. It was on the second floor of a building, just across the street from the Gloucester Road Tube Station. It offered some food in addition to beer and wine. There were paddlewheel steamers and caricutured Negros on the walls. They often had a jazz band playing. I heard a drum solo there that must have lasted for 30 minutes. An interesting place! We often attended the bar with a group of Spanish girls who either lived in the flat or were friends of theirs. One girl, Carmina Andres, told me that she had difficulty distinguishing between the English words "hungry" and "angry." I told her I could help her separate the meanings. I feigned starvation, holding my stomach, and cried, "HUH, HUH, HUH, hungry." Then I snarled up my face, and barked, "Ah, Ah, Ah, Angry!" As I looked up the whole bar had gone quiet and everyone was looking at me. I didn't think to ask what the word "embarrassed" was in Spanish.
05 January 2006
Thursday 5 January 2006
 Thursday mornings I catch up on paperwork at home. When I returned to the shop, just at tech time, Mark Kenworthy was welding repair sections into the frame of a 1967 MGB. Mark does our painting, too -- and took hinges and splash panels from the MGA to paint red.  Casey is cruising right along on the MGA! Curt continued on CB's 1957 MGA today, but most of the repairs were underneath and I didn't have an opportunity to photograph him doing the work on that car today. I finished a small job on a distributor, got that boxed up, and sent out to the customer in 49058. During the course of working on the various MGs, we, the mechanics, end up with old coffee cans full of nuts, bolts, washers, odd bits, etc. Several years ago we purchased a tumbler -- so we pour most of a coffee can of fasteners into the tumbler and let it shake away for the better part of a week. Then we take the parts to our local zinc plater and within several days we get back a bucket of brightly plated fasteners. Not only do we send out nuts, bolts, and washers, but specific parts from the carbs and distributors, brakes, and some of our Goldstar units. Today I spent several hours sorting through a very large pile of nuts and bolts, washers, and "special things." My daughter asked me if this sorting wasn't better done by one of the younger guys. I quickly pulled a BSF bolt from the pile -- No one else in the shop can discriminate and sort these was quickly as I can! Then, at 3:00pm we had a shop meeting! A Birthday Party! Trevor just turned 19 two days ago; and my wife, Caroline, has crossed over to 52. Plus, Casey made a big deal about crossing his two year employment date several days ago, too. And, Curt has just started his twelfth year at UML. All kinds of birthdays and anniversaries! Lisa purchased cards and ice cream, bananas and toppings, and we celebrated in style. I did ask everyone what they had been doing on THEIR 19th birthday, but four of the people present have not yet made it that far!
Wednesday 4 January 2006
Wednesday! Nearly a full crew today.  Casey continues to make great strides on the 1956 MGA. We received the fender washers right at the end of the day -- which means he'll be hanging the fenders on Thursday.  The young men continued to push forward with the 1973 MGB -- here the grille is nearly completely fitted.  Curt worked away on an engine and gearbox from a 1957 MGA. The gearbox was in pretty tough shape -- as evidenced by the teeth on the laygear. I worked on several small projects. We are endeavoring to change the compression ratio of the TR6 to about 9:1. We have already cc'd the top of the block to find 3cc there -- between the top of the piston and the top of the block. I measured the cylinder head gasket to find 0.733 cc there, as the diameter was 7.56cc and the thickness 0.038". SN stopped by -- he's a photography professor at a local college. He's working on a very early MGB. We trade some labor -- he prints contact sheets and I do some simple repairs for his car. I just hazarded upon a stack of glass plate negatives which I'm looking forward to seeing in positive. I took a call from a British fellow from California who complained that his late model MGB got only 15 mpg. I have yet to go through all the possibilities, but the driver's right foot has a great deal to do with the mpg -- especially in city driving. I took a call from a retired HS English teacher who will be attending the Mechanical Technical Seminar on Feb 3/4/5. She says this is her third MGA -- this time a coupe. Lisa was back at work after two days sick in bed. When she arrived she was the color of a page of paper -- but slowly regained her color throughout the day. Our weathermen have been reminding us that we've had two minutes of sunshine in the past fourteen days.
03 January 2006
Tuesday 3 January 2006
Yet another thoroughly octagonal day at University Motors!  The boys continue to made great strides on the MGB. The seats are in, the wheels on, the grille in, and by this evening the front bumper was attached. We're leaving the windscreen to just about the very last!  Casey fitted the radiator, started up the engine, but was puzzled by the tiny things floating in the radiator. It turns out they were seeds! Some rodent had made a home at the bottom of the radiator sometime in the past 20 years and provisioned it well. Casey removed the radiator, and flushed it AND the engine with water. No the cooling system is seedless! And, the engine controls are all fitted. This MGA runs and drives as photographed.  Curt disassembled the engine from the 1958 MGA today to find these wonderful examples of toasted lifters. The two on the right are slightly taller and in much better condition than the ones on the left. They must be replacement parts (how could any lifter have been worse than the ones on the left?). Surprisingly, the cam looked OK. It will be replaced -- but it's interesting to note how one component, wearing against another, can appear to have taken all the damage! I answer emails every evening. They come from the USA, mainly, but they do come from around the world. We have in our employ Andrew Caponi, whose grandfather passed through Ellis Island following his emigration from Italy. I received a note from an MG owner (64 pull handle MGB) named Caponi, with an Italian email address,who hails from a city not far from Andrew's g-father's home. We're frantically emailing back and forth, trying to establish a family connexion, if there is one. MG! The marque of friendship.  If you've made it this far, then a picture of sunshine and green grass will lighten your winter blahs. This is my MGA with my red, octagon barn in the background. The area of an octagon is about 4.8 times side squared. The sides here are ten feed, so the square footage here is nearly 500 feet. We can fit two MGs plus the garden equipment into this attractive edifice.
Monday 2 January 2006
The first working day of the year found us all hard at work! 
Casey started the day with two very large pieces of motorcar
and ended the day with one piece. There were six of us who helped lift the body from the sawhorses to the chassis-frame. We would have fitted the fenders, first, but the washers are not yet back from the zinc plater.
Curt concluded his work on the 1974 TR6 (PR) today.
And the young guys made great strides assembling the 1973 MGB.
Since it was a Federal Holiday we were one of the only businesses open up and down the street. When my son James and I drove to work at 7:45am the streets appeared as they do at 6:00 on a Sunday morning -- only an occasional pair of headlights.
Since you've made it this far, this is the center of the steering wheel from my own 1962 MGA 1600 Mark II Deluxe. The steering wheel center was prepared for me by David VonEpp, one of the "Three Musketeers" (the others were Dave Kercheval and Bob Connell (now of Connell's MG Service)). The center itself was an original University Motors Special badge enamelled for the original UML in Hanwell, London W7, for the 1969 MGCs that University Motors purchased from the factory and prepared. These discs are now easily obtainable (I'll sell you one!) but this, THIS, is an original! 
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