After I turned the key that would bring my 71BGT back to life after a two
month dormancy, the engine immediately started. The car lived! But the quick
start was a bizarre fluke as I was to discover later.
It was unusual that the car would end up being garaged for part of the
winter. But as I worked on the clutch several winter storms passed through
bringing subzero temperatures to the Montana plains. Even my heated garage
saw below freezing temperatures to the frigid weather outside. So why hurry,
I thought.
Once the transmission gently slid towards the engine with the final clunk
bringing them together, the car looked like it would be on the road by the
end of February. But as usual, there were complications. With my son
assisting me, we bled the clutch hydraulic lines on two different days with
minimal success.
Then I had to order carb gaskets as I decided to do an overhaul on them
since they were on the floor anyway. And then I realized how poorly stocked
my local part supplier at the BAP/GEON store was - he had to order them. And
I thought BAP meant British auto parts.
A week later, I installed the carbs. That was when I noticed that the upper
radiator hose had started leaking. While the antifreeze dripped on the
garage floor, where was our garage cat? Inside the MG, using the worn carpet
between the seats as a scratching pad. Off to BAP/GEON again, I found they
had to order the hose. I started to wonder if I should have ordered from Moss.
So close. And then another storm buried the driveway with almost a foot of
snow. Well I guess I didn't need to hurry. But on the otherhand, I seemed to
suffer a malaise (to quote Jimmy Carter), undoubtedly due to MG withdrawal.
Once the snow melted, I completed the reassembly of the car. The quick start
and a short test drive later, I was ready to drive the car to work again
(after all, it was a daily driver).
But then the next morning, the car was very slow to start. For my 71BGT,
this was very unusual as it has always started good (well almost always). It
finally started so I drove it anyway. Life was good.
And the fast idle was too high when the choke was in use. There was a squeal
when the car first started. It looked like I had some more work ahead of me
- but the usual stuff an MG owner should be accustomed to, quality time with
the car. And when I stopped at the BAP/GEON store (an official Lucas
ditribtor no less), I actually got the points and condenser without having
to have them ordered in. Besides, my last few tuneups were with non-Lucas
electrical parts, brand x components from Victoria British .
After giving my 11 year old son pointers on how to tune a car, timing light
and all, I readjusted the fast idle, tightened the fan belt, and closed the
hood. The car was now running at its peak performance just in time for spring.
And that was a week ago. I have been too busy driving around to finally
finish off the saga of the clutch death. I guess I must be thinking too much
like Will "I love this care" Zehrig.
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David Councill
dcouncil@imt.net
http://www.imt.net/~dcouncil/home.html
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