Barney, Barney, Barney,
Are you sure your OK? I don't want to hear any "ever since I rolled the
car stories" when next we meet in Iowa. I rolled a car in very similar
circumstances 21 years ago. It was a 1963 Galaxie 500 and I know I went
over at least twice and ended up right in an Orchard upstate New York.
Had it towed to my parents house and when my father got home from work
and saw it in the driveway he walked in, looking horrified , looked at
me and said "you are a ghost, because there is no way you lived through
that". I guess the difference in amount of damage was speed, I was
doing at least 60 when my wheels dropped off the pavement. And by the
way, I was this way before the accident.
I agree with Barney on the roll bar thing and would like the fellow on
the list with the ones for sale to repost. I'm interested in the
combination roll bar / clothes drying hanger, for the B. I also need
one to fit 66 Midget/67 Sprite applications.
Barney, you want to come over and help me get the Midget running on
Thursday(it has not been started in 18 years). As a token of my
appreciation I'll cook a turkey or something - WAY A MINUTE, I GOT AN
IDEA!! - We can call it "Thanksgiving" and maybe start a new
tradition. It's so crazy, it may just work.
A Happy Thanksgiving (in case I don't post again till then)to all and
remember this is day to count your blessings and if you have a MG and
are in a position to have a hobby like this, you have much to be
grateful for.
I have a new rule for the list. I call, no more rolling cars allowed.
Not even if it is a Mazda. Safety Fast, David Deutsch
P.S. I just reread this and found nothing offensive, if anyone does.
don't gobble to me you turkey.
You wrote:
>
>I just got back from a rally in Red Wing, Minnesota a few hours ago.
The
>rally was Saturday night, I took the Mazda RX7, not the MGA, so you
can tune
>out now if you're not interested. I only venture this to this list
because
>of the recent discussion about roll bars, particularly the parts about
how
>likely it is to be able to get an MG upside-down.
>
>Left home at 9 am. registered at 3:30 pm. first car off at 4:31, I was
car
>#3, started at 4:33. Started to snow big time at 4:35 sharp. 30
minutes for
>the ODO distance, rallymaster dropped the average speed from 35 to 30,
didn't
>help much, roads got very slick very soon.
>
>Had a tough time getting up one hill, claimed a 1-1/2 minute time
allowance
>at the first checkpoint. Then couldn't make it all the way up another
long
>hill, backed down 3/10 mile and took a better run at it, like 15 mph
max all
>the way up. Lost 5-1/2 minutes, nobody caught up or passed me, made
up 1-1/2
>m, took a maximum 3-1/2 m time allowance at the second checkpoint and
went
>on.
>
>Five minutes later, easily running on schedual, I slipped the RX7 off
the
>edge of a crowned road into the ditch at about 20 mph and hit the
brakes
>hard. Just before stopping, keeled over about 30 degrees to the
right, LF
>wheel hit a 3" high bump and flipped the car on its roof, made a nice
big
>sitz mark in the snow. Seat belts worked good, no bumps or bruises to
me,
>just a little disorienting hanging upside down. I killed the
ignition, put
>one hand on the roof, popped the seat belt and slid out the drivers
side
>window.
>
>Shortly there were a few other rally cars there, and a couple of cell
phones.
> Standing around in 2" of snow, called only for a tow truck. In a few
>minutes there was a volunteer fireman there in a pickup truck, said
there was
>a fire truck and ambulance on the way. I'm ok so he called to cancel
the FD
>& Amb, but they came anyway. The local sherrifs cop showed up next,
nearly
>lost his car into the ditch at the same spot at 2 mph, so figured it
wasn't
>my fault, not much help either but kept the flashers going to protect
the
>scene. Then the fire truck showed up, looked things over and left.
Then the
>ambulance came, signed off and left. Finally the tow arrived (after
about 45
>minutes), winched the car out and back upright.
>
>I checked the oil, brake fluid, battery, all ok. The car started
right up
>and was driveable, but the roof was down about 2" in the center front
and the
>windshield crushed in, so the cop wouldn't let me drive it, had to be
towed
>into town. I stayed over in Red Wing for Saurday and Sunday nights,
ordered
>a new windshield glass Sunday morning, made arrangements for a local
shop to
>straighten the roof enough so the glass could be installed. Got the
work
>done on Monday and drove it home. Now I can attend to the wrinkles
and paint
>at my liesure.
>
>The primary reason for taking tha RX7 instead of the MGA was that I
didn't
>have a navigator, was going to run solo and decided I needed the good
reading
>lights in the RX7. Otherwise it may have been two of us in the MGA.
The RX7
>tends to lend itself to a bit more serious thrashing on the country
roads,
>also gives the driver a more confident sense of a security blanket, so
maybe
>likely to drive more vigorously? I assure you I was being quite
careful with
>the RX7 at the time. If I was running the MGA that night I probably
would
>have been even more careful on the slick roads, but not sure all the
care in
>the world would have kept the MG on the road in the same place.
>
>Maybe this will give some of us another chance to think again about
how ugly
>a roll bar is (or isn't).
>
>Barney Gaylord
>1958 MGA
>
>
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