[Mgs] Flat towing

[Douglas McKinnie]

Just completed another flat-tow of the MGB from Massachusetts to Indiana this
time, as I've relocated for a new job. The state seems to want to see the car
and check that the "VIN" matches the paperwork before they will register it,
for some reason. Working in two different states I always seem to have the
wrong car in the wrong state.

After an initial problem with the brake-pedal not being "springy" enough to
push back against the "Brake Buddy" towing brake actuator (to unbrake after a
stop), all went well. I learned that using a finger through the spokes to
check the temperature of the brake drum is a bad idea...

I also learned that you get much better gas mileage if the parking brake
lever
on the "toad" isn't bumped and accidentally left partly applied -- that left
one (??) of the rear drums slightly warm.

On one previous tire purchase I ended up with some directional "light truck"
Viking brand "mud and snow" tires as an attempt at approximation of the
stickiness and sidewall stiffness of the original tires, and I've still got
two of them on the car. As it happened, I picked the only snowy day of the
month to pick up the car, and wouldn't you know it but the "snow" tires had
been rotated to the front wheels. Made me feel a bit silly...

For those new or inattentive, my rig for flat-towing is the Harbor Fright
"5000-lb-capacity-adjustable-tow-bar" bolted through a piece of angle-iron to
the front bumper support brackets, and magnetic stick-on towing lights that I
stick to the C-pillar, supported by the fenders so that they don't
slide-around when I hit a bump. Last spring I surprisingly won an ebay action
(with a very low bid) for a Brake-Buddy supplemental braking system, so that
has become part of the kit.

Douglas
'70 BGT
Now in Bloomington Indiana -- Club recommendations?