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Spring Tour to Wildwood – 2011

Posted on 05/30/2011 by Webmaster

May 20-22, 2011

This was our second year at the Marlane Motel for a laid-back, fun weekend in Wildwood. Owners, Lisa and Chris couldn’t be nicer. They even stock the refrigerator with beer and wine for us! Awesome….

We drove down on Friday morning, arriving right about lunch time. Some DVC’ers had already arrived, some as early as Thursday. Those of us who hadn’t had lunch caravanned down to Cape May and ate on the back deck of the Lobster House. That’s a must for us, it’s just so nice to relax with some seafood and a pitcher of beer right by the fishing boats. After lunch, a little drive through Cape May as Mike Kearns had never been there before. At the Marlane, we congregated on the back patio for our normal “DVC social hour(s)”. We decided to go to “Casey’s on Third” in North Wildwood for a bite to eat and some dancing. This is a little bar we went to last year. They have live music and dancing on Friday nights. They have great food and the entertainment is fun. After lots of dancing and laughs, we drove back to the Marlane for more socializing before bed.

Saturday turned out to be one of the most beautiful days you can have at the shore. We caravanned down to Cape May. The guys dropped the girls off at the bus station, before driving to the Cape May Air Museum. The girls walked through the shopping promenade, laughing and enjoying the beautiful weather all the way. Some of us bought hooded sweatshirts at the sidewalk sales (we’ll need them in Maine at Triathlon). Next time you see Jan Scherbekow, ask her about the “Mad Hatter” hat. We went into a shop that was all “funny stuff” and Jan entertained us by modeling hats. We had to leave before wetting ourselves, we were laughing so hard. After hitting all the shops, we headed to the porch of the Cape May Inn. We all got a glass of wine or a beer and sat in the sun watching the passers-by while waiting for the guys to come and pick us up. Like I said, it was perfect weather, so it was wonderful to be sitting in the sun, by the beach, chatting with the girls.

Back to the Marlane for a wine and cheese party (devised by Gudie). Everyone brought their favorite bottle of wine and a piece of cheese. Gudie supplied her delicious bread. What a way to spend the afternoon! After the wine and cheese, we talked over our trip to Maine for this year’s Triathlon. The route is about set, and everyone’s excited for this year’s competition!

About 7:30 we all walked to Schellinger’s Restaurant for a dinner of delicious hors d’oeuvres. They keep coming out of the kitchen till you just can’t eat anymore. After our fill of food and drink, we walked up to the boardwalk to take in the sights. Jim Sanders and Tom Rippert just “had” to go on a ride this year. Don’t ask me what it’s called, but it’s a caged ball on bungies attached to two tall towers. When released, they go flying straight up in the air. The ball is moving back and forth, they come flying back to earth, back up (get the picture?). We couldn’t hear them, but I think they were screaming like little girls…….. Fortunately, they both survived to tell us all about it………. We continued our walk back to the Marlane, more socializing, then to bed. Sunday brought much cooler weather. We all walked down to the Cadillac Grille for breakfast before heading home. It was cloudy and threatened of rain all the way, but that’s okay, we had our beautiful weather on Friday and Saturday, we were heading home. It was great to spend the weekend with our DVC friends, which included: Connie and Larry Cordeiro, Karen and Mike Kearns, Eva and Adam Ilnicki, Evelyn and Bill Webb, Evonna and Paul Phillips, Lew Phillips, Gudie and Wolfgang Fischer, Jan and Mark Scherbekow, Cyndi and Ben Nolan, Sandy and Dick Suffredini, Diane and Jim Sanders, Patty and Pat Cawthorne, Bob Tiley (unfortunately Terry was not feeling well), and your’s truly Jaimee and Tom Rippert.

Thanks to Gudie and Wolfgang for setting up another wonderful weekend at the shore!! Hope we go again next year.

Jaimee & Tom

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Nuts and Bolts of British Cars (Geoff Wheatley)

Posted on 05/16/2011 by Webmaster

As you are reading this item I think it’s safe to assume that you own a semi
vintage British Car. Semi vintage being anything that rolled out of the
British Motor Industry between 1945 and 1960.

(Please Note my term not any official designation!)

I am sure that at some time you have skinned your knuckles using a spanner
sorry wrench that looked like it should fit the bolt or nut but did not!
There is a complete range of British nuts and bolts that defy logic when
compared with American or European fittings. The Morris Empire produced a
range of bolts/ nuts etc. that had no reference to any other in the world. A
metric thread with a British head that might fit one of your collection of
wrenches but don’t count on it.

This came about when Billy Morris purchased the UK branch of the French
Hotchkiss factory located in Coventry, England, in 1923. At one time the
Hoctchkiss UK operation had been a money spinner for the French company when
it produced a successful light car but in the post war years for reason not
quite clear even today, the company turned to the production of super luxury
vehicles. With Rolls Royce at their doorstep their British venture went on
the sales list and Morris purchased it lock stock and whatever else was
included. As to be expected Hocthkiss used and produced metric fittings
including their own fasteners that Morris decided could be useful in the
production of his range of vehicles. It also was an economical move as he
would no longer need to purchase fasteners from outside suppliers. He took
the same attitude when it came to such items as radiators, breaks, pressed
bodies etc., buying up whatever manufacturer he could find that made such
items. His motto was simple “Keep in the Family; you make more money that
way!” When you are using metric nuts and bolts you need metric tools and
this could involve a major outlay for the production lines. So why not
retain the threads which are the most difficult part in the production of
your fasteners but put a British size head on the bolt and the same for the
nut. All existing tools would fit, so what we now call an Economy of Scale
was produced. No one ever gave a thought to the fact that this whole process
could and eventually did hinder future production especially in the post
war years when Britain exported worldwide with Morris being one of the
leading successful companies in the” Export or Die” period.

Just to make the owner of a British vehicle just a touch upset when he or
she wanted to do their own service, the range of threads and sizes simply
boggle the mind. First we have Whitworth introduced by Sir John Whitworth in
1841 when the demand for high tolerance machinery production was starting to
grow with the success if the British Industrial Revolution. It total he
developed no less than four separate ranges of thread: British Standard
Fine (BSF) British Standard Whitworth (BSW) British Standard Pipe (BSP) with
a sister thread in that same bracket called (BSPT) The tapered version for
high pressure use. All of these can be found on most British vehicles pre or
post war. Not to be out done we have another thread that you will find in
your classic car called (BA) short for British Association. You will find
these fixtures on the electrical equipment. The most common is known as 2
BA. That’s the nut that slips out of your fingers while trying to connect
with a BA bolt under the dash, and is never seen again.

Thank goodness after the close of the 1950’s some degree of sanity prevailed
within the British Motor Industry and they, over a given period of time
adopted a unified, interchangeable system that almost matched to the US
thread standards. So today your wrench should fit most of the post war cars
after the 1950’s and if you are really lucky some that were made before that
date.

C/R Geoff Wheatley

May 2011 South Carolina

As you are reading this item I think it’s safe to assume that you own a semi

vintage British Car. Semi vintage being anything that rolled out of the

British Motor Industry between 1945 and 1960.

(Please Note my term not any official designation!)

I am sure that at some time you have skinned your knuckles using a spanner

sorry wrench that looked like it should fit the bolt or nut but did not!

There is a complete range of British nuts and bolts that defy logic when

compared with American or European fittings. The Morris Empire produced a

range of bolts/ nuts etc. that had no reference to any other in the world. A

metric thread with a British head that might fit one of your collection of

wrenches but don’t count on it.

This came about when Billy Morris purchased the UK branch of the French

Hotchkiss factory located in Coventry, England, in 1923. At one time the

Hoctchkiss UK operation had been a money spinner for the French company when

it produced a successful light car but in the post war years for reason not

quite clear even today, the company turned to the production of super luxury

vehicles. With Rolls Royce at their doorstep their British venture went on

the sales list and Morris purchased it lock stock and whatever else was

included. As to be expected Hocthkiss used and produced metric fittings

including their own fasteners that Morris decided could be useful in the

production of his range of vehicles. It also was an economical move as he

would no longer need to purchase fasteners from outside suppliers. He took

the same attitude when it came to such items as radiators, breaks, pressed

bodies etc., buying up whatever manufacturer he could find that made such

items. His motto was simple “Keep in the Family; you make more money that

way!” When you are using metric nuts and bolts you need metric tools and

this could involve a major outlay for the production lines. So why not

retain the threads which are the most difficult part in the production of

your fasteners but put a British size head on the bolt and the same for the

nut. All existing tools would fit, so what we now call an Economy of Scale

was produced. No one ever gave a thought to the fact that this whole process

could and eventually did hinder future production especially in the post

war years when Britain exported worldwide with Morris being one of the

leading successful companies in the” Export or Die” period.

Just to make the owner of a British vehicle just a touch upset when he or

she wanted to do their own service, the range of threads and sizes simply

boggle the mind. First we have Whitworth introduced by Sir John Whitworth in

1841 when the demand for high tolerance machinery production was starting to

grow with the success if the British Industrial Revolution. It total he

developed no less than four separate ranges of thread: British Standard

Fine (BSF) British Standard Whitworth (BSW) British Standard Pipe (BSP) with

a sister thread in that same bracket called (BSPT) The tapered version for

high pressure use. All of these can be found on most British vehicles pre or

post war. Not to be out done we have another thread that you will find in

your classic car called (BA) short for British Association. You will find

these fixtures on the electrical equipment. The most common is known as 2

BA. That’s the nut that slips out of your fingers while trying to connect

with a BA bolt under the dash, and is never seen again.

Thank goodness after the close of the 1950’s some degree of sanity prevailed

within the British Motor Industry and they, over a given period of time

adopted a unified, interchangeable system that almost matched to the US

thread standards. So today your wrench should fit most of the post war cars

after the 1950”s and if you are really lucky some that were made before that

date.

C/R Geoff Wheatley

May 2011 South Carolina

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NAMGAR NEWSLETTER SPRING 2011

Posted on 04/23/2011 by Webmaster

Hi all – Spring is finally here and we hope that you’ve been able to get out and about in your MGA, Magnette or variant. Judging by your newsletters, your tech sessions are done and you’re now out enjoying those MG roads. Here’s the latest NAMGAR buzz. Please pass this on to your chapter or interest group members.

1. Drive Your MGA Day – Saturday, May 7, 2011 – That includes any cars under the NAMGAR umbrella. Don’t forget to take some pictures and send them to the editor of MGA! (editor@namgar.com) and the web site coordinators (web@namgar.com).

2. MG 2011 / GT 36 – This event is shaping up nicely and it looks like there going to lots to see and do both with MG’s and the beautiful scenery around Reno.

A. Registration – Please register now and reserve your hotel. For information, we suggest first going to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkzSuA_MBY to view the promotional video. Next go to www.mgcars.ork.uk/mgcouncil/index.html for the MG 2011 link to register for both the event and one of three hotels. Registration and vendors will be located in the Silver Legacy Hotel.

B. NAMGAR GT Chapter Attendance Award – The NAMGAR Board of Directors has announced that starting with this year’s GT 36 an annual award will be presented to the chapter with the most attendees. Chapters have always been strong supporters of GTs so recognizing an individual chapter for its efforts at achieving top attendance at a GT is a very visible way of expressing NAMGAR’s appreciation of what chapters bring to NAMGAR.

Here’s the rules for the NAMGAR GT Chapter Attendance Award:

1. All attendees when checking in at registration will also identify which NAMGAR chapter they are representing and how many people are in there party.

2. The host chapter would be exempt from the competition.

3. The chapter coordinators will then tally each chapters attendees.

4. The chapter with the most attendees will be awarded two (2) one year memberships to NAMGAR by the Chapter Coordinators at the awards banquet (at MG 2011 / GT 36 it will be on chapter night). The winning chapter then decides how they wish to distribute the two (2) one year memberships. For example they may draw two names from their members that attended the GT or they may hold a raffle within their chapter.

5. A photo of the winning chapter group would be taken for MGA! and the web site.

Let the competition begin. Don’t forget to tell your chapter members who are attending MG 2011 / GT 36 that they have to identify both themselves and their chapter at registration. May the best chapter win!

C. Annual NAMGAR Chapter / Interest Group Contacts Meeting – Wednesday, June 15th from 3 – 5 PM

Chapter & Interest Group Contacts please make arrangements to attend this meeting. It’s your chance to dialogue with NAMGAR Board & Staff members and also to share common issues and successes with other chapter and interest group contacts. Refreshments and snacks will be provided. If you’re not going to Reno please appoint an attending chapter or interest group member to attend in your place. Please forward any items that you want added to the meeting agenda to us at(leeliz9r@aol.com) by June 1st.

D. MG 2011 Door Prizes – Please check with your officers and see if your chapter would like to donate a door prize for MG 2011. George Merryweather is coordinating this effort for MG 2011 and would appreciate any assistance that your chapter could provide. Please send any donations of door prizes directly to: Gene deRuelle, MG 2011, 4410 Camino Lindo Way, Reno, NV 89502. Be sure and label your donation “Door Prize” and include your chapter’s name. All donors will receive credit for their donations. All donations should be received by June 1, 2011.

E. Segway Human Funkhana @ MG 2011 – Monday, June 13th from 1 – 4 PM will be the first time that an opportunity to participate in a Human Funkhana will be offered. Renofuntours has agreed to provide Segways, helmets, etc. for the event. There will be a brief lesson on how to ride a Segway and a little practice time before setting off on the course. Participants will be required to sign a waiver and pay $10 per person; persons should be at least 18 years of age (14 to 17 yrs old allowed with a parent present) and weigh between 100 and 250 lbs. Sign ups prior to the event are encouraged to reserve a spot. Email Carol Shamonsky at vicechair@namgar.com so that a schedule can be set up. So if you’ve ever thought, “I wonder how much fun it would be to ride a Segway?” or “Gee, I’d love to try to do a funkhana.”; now you can do BOTH! This sounds like a hoot! Participants will also be able to make reservations for a 1 1/2 hour Segway tour of Reno led by a tour guide for another day at a reduced price of $50 per person.

3. Rallye To Reno – There’s already more than 100 cars signed up to participate. If you’re driving your MG out to MG 2011, this could be the drive of your MG lifetime. Go to www.rallyetoreno.com for more information.

4. NAMGAR Regional’s – There’s two scheduled this fall. One in the east and one in the west.

Eastern – NAMGAR at Solomons Island, MD – September 28 – October 2, 2011. The Mid Atlantic Chapter is hosting this regional. Go to www.mga-midatlantic.org for information.

Western – MG Fall Festival – September 29 – October 2, 2011 at Petaluma, CA. The MG Owners Club of North California is hosting this regional. Go to www.MGFallFestival.com for information.

5. Newest Affiliated Chapter – A big NAMGAR welcome is extended to the Florida Suncoast MG Club as NAMGAR’s 53rd affiliated chapter. Long time NAMGAR members Bert & Bruce Rauch are the chapter coordinators. Welcome aboard!

6. Renkenberger Spirit Award – As you attend events, look back on a chapter or Interest group member who has done a lot or is always there when you need him or her. The Renkenberger Spirit Award is given by NAMGAR to a requesting chapter or interest group for presentation to a member. The guidelines are attached.

On behalf of NAMGAR have a great 2011 driving season and thanks for being a chapter or interest group contact. Remember it’s not the destination but rather the journey that’s important. May all your MG roads be sunny and winding. We hope to see many of you at MG 2011 / GT 36. Lee & Liz Niner – NAMGAR Chapter & Interest Group Coordinators

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Attention all B, C and Midgets owners!

Posted on 04/19/2011 by Webmaster

One way to help the our club is to renew or enroll in NAMGBR, the North American MGB Registry. As long as we have at least eight club members, the registry provides insurance coverage for all club events. Other benefits include a bi-monthly color magazine with helpful tech tips and a roster of fellow owners willing to help with any problems while you are on the road. Wherever in North America, you will always have someone local for assistance.

All of this for a mere $25 a year.

More info is at the following link or contact me for any questions:

http://www.mgcars.org.uk/namgbr/index.htm

Safety Fast! Paul Phillips

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Tech Session – 2011

Posted on 04/19/2011 by Webmaster

April 9, 2011

After a quiet start, due to the weather, cars started to roll in .

Not too many projects were completed, and until the food came out and we could really accomplish something, the sun arrived and so did more cars. Bill Shields from Carriage craft brought his MGB racer giving rides to some, Bill Silvershein and his wife Debbie ( Maaco) brought a Cobra, and we really just compared improvements to our cars from the winter months. The Hosts had to leave before the party broke up due to a prior engagement, so the remaining Gremlins cleaned up the food and packed the refrigerator. drank some more beer, and when Dave and Gloria arrived home they found everything tidy except for some extraordinary burnout marks in his garage floor. You really have to come to these events to see some interesting things!!! Attendees were Lee Wesner GMC, Adam and Eva Ilnicki- MGB and daughter, John Hunt- Miata, Chuck Denglinger- MGTD, Tom Rippert and Dick Suffredini-MGB, Lyn & Bobbie Hughes-Ford Explorer, Dave Sarley- MGC, Paul Phillips-MG midget, Donna Bristol-Jeep, Pat Cawthorne-MGB, Warren Dorner-MGB, Bill Boorse-MGB, Dick Comly-MGTD, Jeff Rose-Healey, Louise Story-MGB, Wade Albright-Hulio and friends. With all of them we still had food left over. Go figure!! Thanks to all who came and brought food and great stories!

Dave & Gloria

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