Greetings,
It's officially spring, and I'm working hard trying to get my MGA ready for
the First Annual British Car Week May 12th - 18th. I'm down to the simple
but time consuming tasks that seem to creep up on you when you least expect
it. I slowed my work down to a trickle this past winter, to spend more time
with the family, since I had spent so much time on this project over the past
two years. But now that It's getting close to driving season (here in
Northern Indiana), I've got to pick up the pace and get busy!!
Right now I'm working on getting the headlights installed and wired. The
interior needs finishing touches, and I need to order and install a new
grille. Then I've got all of the other little things that will require some
attention like the tonneau cover studs, dash wiring, double checking the
tightness of all of the nuts and bolts that seem to mysteriously loosen over
time, even when the car is sitting idle in the garage!! I'm sure it's not
because I just plain forgot to tighten them?!?
Most of the people on these lists probably have cars that run and are driven
any chance they get during nice weather, otherwise we probably wouldn't be on
these lists. But there are a lot of LBC's just sitting in peoples garages
with nothing to do. I can count on all my fingers and toes, the British cars
in my area that haven't been on the road in recent years, and would only take
a fair amount of work to bring them up to roadworthy standards. Whether the
owners are just too busy with life itself, or are simply out of touch with
the rest of us British car enthusiasts is anyones guess.
The rest of us need to work on getting those people sparked again and help
them get their cars on the road. Not everyone has the expertise that some of
the more knowledgeable people on these lists have and maybe need some help
and encouragement. This is part of what British Car Week is all about,
getting these cars back on the roads where they belong and keeping them there
for years and years to come!! There has been concerns about the Government
threatening the future of old cars in general, and we need to do what we can
to preserve our treasured cars as one large British car group, before it's
really staring us in the face, even more so than today.
Our local club, Michiana Brits, in northern Indiana is planning a Breakfast
Tour on May 17th to celebrate. We're planning to meet for breakfast, then a
tour (not sure where we're going yet). Any others planning anything for
British Car Week? I'm sure we'd all like to hear about it.
Thanks to those who are partcipating, see you on the road!!
Scott Helms in northern Indiana
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