I would like to thank Andy Banta, the walking Haynes manual, for
helping us replace the A-arms and kingpin on our MGB down at his house
in San Jose on Monday night.
Andy showed us the invaluable jack and chain trick for removing
springs. Admittedly, I mostly watched (although my fingernails are
STILL dirty!) Chuck did most of the work and Andy gave most of the
instruction: usually it was telling Chuck to hammer harder on things
and to only use the YELLOW screwdriver for hammering bolts out. The
job would have been completed in four hours, but Andy and Chuck put the
kingpin in backwards, so another hour was needed to turn it around. I
understand Scott's _still_ working on his.....
Sam Sjogren was on hand, but pretty useless, because he was practicing
using a MIG welder on some rusted brake disks. Wait -- that's not fair.
Sam _did_ supply the trick bushings.
But the best part was that Andy and Linda painted the used kingpin that
Andy picked up at British Motorsports PURPLE for us. We will now have
to make all of our friends get down on the ground and admire our purple
suspension.
San Jose was a bit of a culture shock for me, or maybe I was a bit of a
culture shock for San Jose, or most likely Andy doesn't buy enough
imported beer at the local liquor store, because when I brought the
Watney's, Bass, and Red Tail Ale to the register, the guys at the
counter asked me if I was Italian. Italian? Now I have blond hair,
fair skin and blue eyes. And the beer was certainly not Italian.
There must be some urban legend I am not aware of about Italians and
imported beer.
So thanks again, Andy (and Linda and Sam)!
And thanks to everyone for the advice about the Road Trip down the
coast! We leave tomorrow!
Lydia (and Chuck)
gregoret@cgl.ucsf.edu
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