Well, I thought of this list yesterday... and of the person that had
mentioned laughing at the Z3 owner on the side of the road while his/her
MG was driving right along. I think quite a few Z3 owners got their
return laughs at me yesterday.
I had one of those Murphy's Law kind of days... which leads me to why I
need a COMPETENT MG mechanic in the Albuquerque area ASAP!
1) The newly replaced (as in just four days ago) exhaust pipe (the one
that connects to the manifold) broke.
2) The battery died. This one I won't blame on Murphy's Law since the
battery is from the DPO days and plus it survived a rather HOT trip from
San Francisco to Las Vegas two days previously.
3) The air filter assembly fell off. This I can blame on the mechanic
since it was supposedly replaced three or four months ago. Upon
up-close inspection I see that he merely cleaned the old one up and
added a washer to keep it screwed on. Now the hole is even bigger and
the whole assembly still needs to be replaced.
4) The air temperature control valve also broke. Also to be blamed on
the same mechanic responsible for 1 and 3.
5) The gas tank broke off where it connects. This I'll just blame on
the car's old age.
6) Starter solenoid. Chronic problem. I was told it was replaced four
months ago.
7) Anyone have any leads on a V8 engine??? This one just isn't
powerful enough! <G>
And then another question about the head.
When I bought this car back in late October, I took it in to have the
head checked because I wasn't convinced it was in good shape. This
isn't my forte, so I wanted a professional's advice. He told me that
the head needed a new gasket so he had the head resurfaced first and
then put back on.
Two days before I left for Europe for two months, the car died on the
freeway and sounded much like a blown head. And in fact there were no
compressions in two of the four cylinders. I left the car with him
while I went away for two months and asked that the car be trip ready
when I get back. This guy came well recommended and in fact his name is
on the list of providers at mgcars.org.uk. While I was away I spoke to
him about it and he said that the head was fine, but the valves that had
been in were from an earlier model and thus too small, which in turn
caused my breakdown. Well, my question is whether the valve situation
should have been seen when the head was off the first time. He says no.
I'd say I'm off to find a new mechanic... one for right now here in
Albuquerque, and one for when I get home to San Francisco. Actually,
after the breakdown before I left I was planning on going to O'Conners,
but I figured the person I had been using could handle the little things
on my list (most of which didn't get done).
Anyway, I haven't given up on the car yet, although I think I may have
to give up on the idea of going to OKC for the June 4-5 show...
Thanks in advance,
Joanna
79 MGB LE
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