Happy Holidays!
Yes, its a bit early to be wishing
everyone a Happy Holiday. But just like
the past few years, we wont send a
December newsletter. Theres not an
event in December, and it saves us about
$50 in club money on the postage.
So, from all the folks who keep the club runningBill Robinson, the Governor General, who represents the club and organizes many events; Bruce Schilling, who keeps the list of members, and helps each month labeling newsletters and getting them to the post office; Pugs Pivirotto, who works on events and copies the newsletter; Marty Van Nood, who keeps our finances in order; Mark Noeltner, who maintains the web page; the whole crew who puts together the Field Day each year, a huge task; all the members who organize the events, making calls, reserving restaurants, driving the route beforehandfrom all of us, a wish to you and yours for a wonderful holiday season.
Last newsletter?
By Nathan Massie
As you have probably read in this
newsletter for the past few months,
weve been seeking someone in the club
to assume the newsletter duties. To date,
no one has come forward. So, this may
be your last newsletter.
Weve kicked around some ideas recently as contingency plans should the newsletter not continue. For now, however, the best advice we can offer is to look at our web page at www.britishmotorclub.org to get club news.
For my part, Id like to thank everyone for the help and consideration during my tenure as editor. I hope to see you at an event!
November event
Our November event is Saturday,
November 16, at 9:00 am. Instead of a
tech session as originally planned, were
trying something a bit different this year.
We will be having a Grounds and
Garage tour.
The Grounds part is a coffee get together at Jitterbugs, 1855 South 700 East in Salt Lake City. Plan to meet there at 9:00 am ishanytime from 9:00 until about 9:30 will do. Besides coffee, Jitterbugs offers hot chocolate, juices, bagels, and such, so you can make your breakfast plans once you get there.
For the Garage part of our event, well leave Jitterbugs at 10:00 am and head north to visit the garage of Pugs Pivirotto. Pugs has a hanger-type garage out by the airport. Theres sure to be a few cars to look at, some tech talk to listen to, and, depending upon the weather, maybe an opportunity to move a few cars around.
Mark your calendarSaturday, November 16th!
Got a hot "A?"
By Bill Van Moorhem
MGAs have a reputation for overheating.
Mine has been something of a problem
for the past 20 or so years, although I
keep slowly improving the situation. The
most recent discovery is that MGAs
should have a bypass thermostat. If you
look in the recent Moss catalogs, or the
official MG parts manual, you will see
that the thermostat shown has a sleeve
around it. The Moss catalog also states
that this type thermostat is "not
available." What is a bypass and a bypass
thermostat?
The bypass is a route for hot water from the engine head to be directed back to the engine block bypassing the radiator. At first this sound like something that you don't want to ever happen, but a bit of thought explains that it allows the engine to heat up quickly, which is important for carburetion, lubrication and cold weather operation. It also explains where the water goes when the thermostat is closed, but the water pump is running. The bypass may involve the use of an external hose, on T-series, for example; may be cast in the head and block, as in the MGA and, I would assume, MGB; or a mixture of the two, as on Midgets with A-series engines. The original thermostats on the T-series, and MGAs included a means of blocking off (at least, partially) the bypass when they were open. A thermostat with this feature of blocking off the bypass when it is open is called a bypass thermostat. The sleeve on the thermostat that is shown in the Moss MGA catalog is the component that blocks off the bypass.
At this point MGA owners have several options regarding thermostats: 1) use a modern thermostat that does not block the bypass, 2) remove the thermostat entirely, 3) remove thermostat and insert a blanking sleeve that blocks off the bypass, 4) install both a modern thermostat and the blanking sleeve, or 5) find a bypass thermostat. Based on the experience of several T-series owners and my experience with my MGA, using a modern thermostat may not totally cause, but definitely contributes to overheating since the bypass is always open and hot coolant can avoid the radiator. Removing the thermostat entirely does not block off the bypass and may result in slow warm-up, and cause a high flow rate though the radiator and engine that may, again, may, increase overheating. Some people have removed the thermostat very successfully, but it has caused problems for others. Moss definitely recommends not doing this.
Removing the thermostat and replacing it with a blanking sleeve (see the Moss catalog or other sources) will definitely close off the bypass, but should result in very slow warm-ups. Moss suggests this for racers but says nothing about non-racers. Racecars are normally warmed up slowly, and with no load before a race, but most of us like to start the car and drive off with little or no warm-up period. Several T-series owners have successfully blocked off the bypass with plugs in the external hose, but the longterm effects are not clear. Using both a blanking sleeve and a modern thermostat is an interesting idea, the problem is if both will fit or if they will result in leaks at the thermostat housing. The Moss blanking sleeve has a small hole to allow some bypass flow and the warm-up time should be longer but reasonable. I know of no one that has tried this and was about to do so when I made an interesting discovery.
A bypass thermostat is available that fits MGAs. XKs Unlimited has one for XK Jaguars that nicely fits an MGA. When the thermostat is closed the bypass is open and a reasonable warm-up time occurs. When the thermostat opens, it blocks off most (but not all) of the bypass. This looks like exactly what is needed and my "A" has not overheated since I installed it, even going up Emigration and Parley's Canyons in 90- 100° weather. This thermostat is part number 09-0160 and is available from XKs Unlimited, 800-444-5247. The problem is the very Jaguar-like price, $36.17, plus shipping, but so far it is working great and worth it. Both Bruce and Mitch (remember Mitch from Partsmaster?) have looked for a more reasonably priced alternative. So far they have had no success. Bruce did learn that XKs Unlimited is having these thermostats especially made for them.
Yeah, but can he tune a carb?
A mechanic was removing a cylinder head from the motor of a Jaguar, when he
spotted a world-famous heart surgeon in the shop. The heart surgeon was waiting
for the service manager to come take a look at his bike.
The mechanic shouted across the garage, "Hey Doc, can I ask you a question?" The famous surgeon, a bit surprised, walked over to the mechanic.
The mechanic stopped his work on the Jaguar, straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag, and asked, "So, Doc, look at this engine. I can open it up, take valves out, fixem, put in new parts, and when I finish this will work just like a new one. So how come I get a pittance and you get the really big money, when you and I are doing basically the same work?"
The surgeon paused, smiled, leaned over and whispered to the mechanic..... "Try doing it while it's running."
MGAs in Oregon
The North American MGA Register is
planning to hold its 2003 annual
convention, GT-28, in Welches,
Oregon. The last GT held in the
western U.S. was a few years ago at
Lake Tahoe. Several members of the
BMCU attended that event and had a
great time. Welches is located between
Portland and Mount Hood, a
comfortable two-day drive from SLC.
The actual site is The Resort at the
Mountain and the GT will be July 14-
18, 2003. The organizing committee
has rooms reserved at $89. per night for
the event, but reservations must be
made before February 1, 2003. You
will need to tell them you are with the
North American MGA Register to get the
special room rate. The resort has a web
page at
www.theresort.com
where you
can check the place out. The article in
"MGA" that described the event did not
tell me anything about registration for the
GT, just with the hotel. I am guessing
this will appear later.
The number of MGAs in the club is growing and it would be great if we can get group together to make the trip to the GT. Traveling with a group is fun and provides lots of support if a problem does occur. Julie and I have traveled fairly extensively in our "A" and the only problems we have had were easily solved. The best way to get your car ready to go on a long trip is to drive it a lot. If you are interested in the event give me a call or send an email: Bill Van Moorhem, 801-582-9223 or van@mech.utah.edu .
The Lucas Calendar
This calendar works about as well as its
namesake, so use it with care. Club
events have
red
dates. The others you
may find interesting. All events are
subject to change.
November 16
. Grounds and Garage tour. See
the article in this newsletter.
December
. No event.
January 2003
. Utah Lotus Museum.
Mark Bradakis, 364-3251.
February 2003
. Pot Luck dinner and
business meeting. Stay tuned for date,
time, and place.
Board of Governors:
Bill Robinson, 947-9480, email:
brobinson@redwoodmusic.com
Marty Van Nood, Chancellor of the Exchequer; 467-0525 (H)
Gary Lindstrom, 532-1259
Newsletter Editor: Nathan Massie, 486-2935
email:
nlmassie@mmm.com
Membership director: Bruce Schilling, 486-0425
email:
partsmaster@sisna.com
This Newsletter is published by the British Motor
Club of Utah, Ltd., a non-profit corporation of
British automobile owners. The group holds
monthly events such as drives, picnics, technical
sessions, and more. We welcome owners (or
potential owners) of British cars, in any condition,
to the group. Membership is free, but we ask for a
donation at events to support the Newsletter and
other activities. If you would like to join the
group, send your name, address, and a list of
British cars owned to:
Bruce Schilling
917 East Mill Creek Way
Salt Lake City, Utah 84106
or to Bruces email address shown above.
Check us out on the web!
http://www.britishmotorclub.org/
Autojumble
1954 Triumph TR-2, early long hood, S/N TS1397, white/red, older restoration, very good condition. $15,000. Please contact Bruce Schilling at 486-0425 or email partsmaster4@sisna.com
Must sell: '77 MGB 1-owner. 32.5 k miles, in storage for past 20 years. Good condition. $3500 obo. Also, '76 Centennial Model MG Midget. 1-owner. Low miles. Garage kept. w/hardtop. $2500 obo. Both for $4500/offer. Call Curtis Van Nood at 801-294-7870
Exchequer report
No report this month, other than to say
that weve earned a few more cents in
interest on the account.