by Russ Van Tine There is often a problem discovered on many XPAG engines that have been worked on by people who are not familiar with its design. The valve seals get installed incorrectly below the spring washer (instead of above the washer and below the cotters) causing a lot of oil to pass down…
By Ned Serleth This little tech article is for all you backyard mechanics who work as wholeheartedly as Ted, my friend and mentor. Unfortunately, so much of my own work, which I attempted before I found Ted, the Dalai Lama of MGA reconstructive surgery, caused me to suffer untold hours of labor that would have…
by Matt Hunter The title was transferred to me on a bright November day, outside a dusty airplane hangar in middle-of-nowhere Mississippi. But my guardianship started as a little boy whose feet barely scraped the floor mats in the passenger seat of grandpa’s car. As little kids, my big sister and I played “drive-thru.” We…
by Ross Robbins As caretakers of old cars we face a lot of skeptics when we plan to venture far from home. In fact, because of others’ skepticism, or even our own, many of us don’t take our old British iron much farther than our local cars and coffee. I think that is a shame….
I had been on the hunt for a nice Bugeye for several years, but I knew that there was a beauty owned by fellow MGs of Baltimore car club member Bert Shirey. I made it known to him years ago that I would love to have his if it ever came time to pass the…
By Richard Santucci Fred Dagavar was a man’s man. A swashbuckling Errol Flynn type complete with manicured moustache. He possessed a distinctive, deep, gravelly, Armenian accented voice and was arrested in 1935 for brandishing a gun at a man after a fender bender on, where else, Gun Hill Road. “I ought to give you a…
by Cal Sikstrom A 1969 MGB Mineral Blue aluminum bonnet stands on my driveway with bright yellow circles around two big dents. PAUL is printed in the middle of the deepest one. My name CAL is printed in the other. The van arrives to pick me up. A passenger door slides open and I settle…
by Joel Justin, Member of the Central Coast British Car Club When I was in high school in the mid-1970s, I was into cars like all my buddies. Most of them had American muscle cars, but my best friend and I were into sports cars. We read Road & Track instead of Hot Rod. We…
Courtesy of the archives of Graham Robson The comic-strip definition of a tycoon is of someone who swishes around in a huge stretch limo, smoking huge cigars, and doing shady financial deals behind the backs of organized labor. Sir Leonard Lord was not like that, rather, by any standard he was a rough diamond. Often…
By Don Zisette It was June of 1966 when my dad brought home a British racing green MG Midget. He purchased the car on Pike Street in Seattle at the old British Leyland Dealership. It was the start of years of adventures with the Midget. I developed a bond with this little car and British…
