Hi Digest-ers,
Just a few comments about a few comments:
1) David Littlefield asked about tyres for his MG TD. I had
a TD for almost a decade and just loved it. It had 88,000
orig. miles on it when I bought it ( I got it from the orig. owner, a friend
of the family - came with every repair
order ever written for it!) and except for one valve job
and a couple of clutches it had no major work done to it.
It never broke (BELIEVE IT OR NOT) or left me stranded.
I've been told that I was lucky, blessed or am the Queen of denial - but
except for regular maintenence and recreational tinkering, the car was
trouble free. AMAZING! Now about
those tyres. I too was alarmed at the way the engine revved
on the freeway and was fearful of driving it over 55MPH for any distance
because of all of the clatter that came from under the hood. When I finally
tired of the East German
tractor tyres (VW replacement models), the only 560X15 crossply tyres
available in San Francisco at the time, I
asked by friend and MG GURU, Rod Schweiger of South SF
what the master would do. He said "Grasshopper, I run Michelin XZX 165X15s
on my TD and our cars are the same
color green." That was good enough for me and I found a set
at Four Day Tires (this is an American shop) and them installed. WOW what a
difference, not only did the car
stick to the road (so much so that I had to develop a
different driving technique, when you're used to sliding through corners and
the car now sticks and leans ALOT you tend to modify your driving), the
cruising speed went up 5 or 6MPH so 60+ was pretty quiet and short blasts to
70 weren't out of the question. The Michelins are taller than others and
effectively raise the rear end ratio a bit. They might cost a little more but
I found them a real advantage in all ways.
2) Another lister told of the rigors of smogging a B and asked how these
passed smog in the first place. Answer: The same way that yours did the last
time - by screwing with the adjustments until it passed. I don't think that
the rubber bumper cars with the single carb EVER passed ANY CA test.
Remember, there was a time when only California was testing cars so the
manufacturers were pretty lax about anything except getting them through CA
testing so they were pretty creative. As other states started to require smog
standards, the firms got serious and worked out FI and electronic controls.
Maybe it was just as well that the MGB was discontinued in 1980. Imagine a
Lucas computerized engine management system!? They would have had to replace
at least a few of the diodes with relays that would require cleaning with 400
grit sandpaper once a month, not to mention a "bullet" connector grounding
wire that would crud up and stop grounding. See you on the Funway!
Rick Feibusch
Automotive Journalist/Appraiser
http://www.EnglishCars.com/rick.html
mailto:RFeibusch@aol.com
61 Minor pickup
60 Minor Saloon
59 Minor Convertible
69 Chevelle Malibu 350
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