My old MG

Nice. It looks like a Midget, but what I can see of the front is unusual. Do you have other pix of it?

Last week I gave my 79 MGB to a Club TMG member. It may end up restored or as parts for a bunch of other cars, but at least it won't be scrap.

I still have a 74 1/2 MGB and a 50 TD. Lots of fun, but lots of work.

Don

Would anyone like to make an offer for my genuine MGB workshop manual? Not many grease stains. :)

If it's a hardback version it should sell. I have at least one of everything for my cars.

What years does it cover?

Don

It's an Austin Morris loose leaf ring binder, part number AKD 3259 (13th edition).

It is dated 1972.

Yup, Midget, the last one before they jammed the Triumph engine into it, after which they drove like a truck. I should ask Adrian if he has more pix. I drove this from New Orleans to San Francisco when I moved out here. I must have hit a pothole somewhere, because I cracked a front a-frame which began to tear more and more as I drove across the country. I *thought* it was pulling pretty badly as I drove through the Grand Canyon. By the time I got to SF, it was work to keep it on the road.

I sold it to Adrian, who completely restored it and painted the ocean all over it. It's now on display in his studio, although he does take it out for a ride once in a while.

Yup, barbaric hardware.

John

Now *there's* a fun car to drive. And one to keep you home weekends (keeping the SU carbs in tune will keep you outta' the bars...)

Mine was a '51, I think... I became quite adept at tuning the SUs, as they would change mixture with the phases of the moon.

I have the twin vacuum tool that clamps onto the carbs for balancing them. It really makes a complex job simple.

The 51-54s were a bit easier to work on than the 50, which was made with many left-over TC parts.

Although the TF immediately followed the TD, the car that really inherited the TC/TF driving characteristics was the Midget. I may need another of those.

Don

And so you keep it in the glove box, for quick access, right?

I've never had to do emergency repairs on the carbs, so no.

The only "on the road" problem I ever had with the TD was the need to rap the electric fuel pump with a heavy object to restart it occasionally. Replacement with a non-Lucas part fixed that.

Nice!

Last week I parked next to an Austin Healey Coupe at Costco. Couldn't help but marvel at it. Looked like new, had this color:

An elderly lady came up and said she'd bought it used in 1961. Drove it as an every day vehicle ever since, never owned anything else. She must be the auto industry's nightmare. Just imagine, buying a car when you are 20 or so and then driving that same vehicle until the day you keel over or where DMV won't renew your license anymore. Amazing.

No problems with the voltage regulator? A friend finally replaced his with an LM319(?).

I suppose I'll do a mod on the regulator one day. It's been doing it's job of making me complacent, so it's probably due to fail any time now.

Don

The photo is of a 100/6. I had one of those, too. Southern Arizona is *not* the place to one a six-cylinder British car, I can tell you that!

His failed every time the outside temperature got above 100F. When he moved to Tucson AZ it started failing every day on his drive home from work. Even the fuel pump failed only half the days. ...or seemed like it. I used to car pool with him.

them.

I had a '66 Toyota was continual fuel pump / starved carburetor problems (in AZ). Cured it with an electric fuel pump.

...Jim Thompson

them.

The Midget's fuel pump was electric (under the left rear fender, IIRC).

them.

A Toyota Stout? Geeze, I haven't seen one of those in so many years... I remember it being surprisingly large compared to what I had expected to come from Japan.

Tim.

them.

rap

No. It (IIRC) was one of the very first of the Corolla series.

...Jim Thompson

Ah, I remember those, thinking they looked a lot like Opel Cadets of the early 60's.

I had an Uncle who was a used car dealer and somehow we ended up with all the cars that did not have a dealer for hundreds of miles from the part of Iowa we lived in :-).

Tim.