Living in Southern Arizona has been great, but soon I will be moving back to
the East Coast. Since I have more than one car, I needed a friend to help me
transport a car back for me. The MG was the best candidate for the trip and
my friend Adam has always liked it, so that’s the car that I sent. We spent
about a week drinking beer and making sure that the car was ready for the
long road back to Virginia. Adam left Monday morning and drove all the way
to Ft. Bliss Texas the first night with the top down the whole time.
Tuesday morning he got up, went to Pep Boys and bought a 180 thermostat. The
summer thermostat that was a necessity in the Arizona desert was keeping the
engine too cool at highway speeds. The temp gauge needle was just above the
blue, and he was getting about 18 miles per gallon. Once the thermostat was
in he put the top back down and headed east.
At about 1:00 am Wednesday morning I got a call from Adam who had made it to
Little Rock. He had been driving at about 75 mph on the highway (top up)
when he lost all visibility. For your information, the safety latch that
prevents the hood from flying open at 75 mph on the highway IS NESSECARY
EQUIPMENT! In retrospect I should have realized that every other car I’ve
ever seen had a safety latch and this one didn’t. I guess I didn’t think any
of it, just a quirky Brit car right?
Anyway, Adam managed to pound the hood back into shape so that it would
close and with some safety wire and a bungee cord got back on the road. The
rest of the trip was uneventful, and he was back in Virginia late Wednesday
night. After the thermostat was replaced, he averaged about 20 – 22 miles
per gallon at highway speeds of 70 to 100 mph. This is a fresh engine (3
thousand miles since rebuild) with dual HS4 carbs, a mild cam, free flow
exhaust and header, and a Mallory dual point distributor. Not too bad for a
car that will cruise a 100 all day (if you can handle the noise.)
Looking back, we should have used the winter thermostat (195 degrees?) and
obviously should have noticed the missing safety latch. The engine still ran
on the cool side when it was cold outside, and the fans only came on after
long periods of idling.
Anyone near Blacksburg Virginia have a good spare B hood they want to sell?
I’d rather not deal with having the twisted up one fixed, and shipping from
Moss is more that the cost of the hood! I prefer using original parts
whenever practical, but if anyone has a deal on a repro I’d consider it.
Thanks,
Jason
79 MGB
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