Sorry to be getting into this so late. But, it's been a busy week -
Freezing temps Monday AM and a scramble getting the last of the ads in for
the April issue - feature car is a Jolus Formula Jr.
This discussion used to be more pertinent when I lived in Connecticut a bit
east of Cap'n Bob. I used my MGB's as year-round daily drivers. My
antidote to the metal eating chemicals was to hose down the underside when I
got home. I had an in-garage hose bib with c. 50 degree water & a section
of graveled parking area across from the garage. Worked fairly well. Plus,
I gave the B's a bi-annual treatment of Corrosion-X. (Originally known as
ACF50 & only available at airplane maintenance shops. Now available in many
hardware stores.)
The '80 B didn't have any visible rust when I sold it in '97. And, the '66
has been needing rocker work for quite a while. The rockers on it were
already pretty tatty when I bought it in '97. Although I didn't see that
until we did some roll-bar work in '99. I replaced the outer rockers. But,
didn't have time to do more. Now the inner piece is pretty shot. And,
since this is my vintage racecar, I have to do the repair to keep the
chassis stiffness.
Driving the B in Connecticut snow was one of the things that pushed me to
abandon the Northeast & move to Hurricane Gulch, aka Florida. It was tough
driving in 6" of snow in a car that has 3" of ground clearance. Now I don't
have to contend with snow, just idiot drivers on insane roads. The result
is I barely drive the B on public roads down here. And, this is a car that
I usually drove 7,000 miles a year plus a few races during the year.
BTW, article in Sports Car Market says you can't have an MG that's a
competitive racecar & drive it on the street too. While I'll never finish
first in class or group, I've usually been in the top 25% in class when I
raced, & always first of the street licensed cars. And, my B is completely
docile & comfortable in traffic, including the rush hour crawl through Cap'n
Bob's hometown on I-95.
BTW, our March issue should be on the newsstands now. Our featured car is
the D-Type that won LeMans in 1955. Lucky Ed, our European Editor, got to
drive it.
Cheers! Spring isn't far away.
Norm Sippel
'59 Turner
'66 MGB
Vintage Racecar Journal
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