Friday, June 15, 2012

Returned in the rain from MG2012

I attended the MG 2012 National MGB Convention last week and, you guessed it, drove home in another driving rain storm.  Again, water seeped in around the top corners of the hood/top, running down the insides of the doors and making small puddles on the floor.  Again, the mystery leak that appears from below the dash dripped water onto my left leg, with a corresponding leak on the passenger side.

I was then reminded of a conversation I had at MG 2012 about water leaks in the MG.  A fellow I was speaking with about these drips asked me if I had ever had the windshield washer nozzles removed from the panel where the wipers and center vent reside. I replied that I had when the car was painted last.  "Did you seal them when you replaced them?", he asked.  Hmm....I don't think so.

He then went on to explain that he had the same problem which was resolved with some small rubber o-rings and the miracle product, RTV.  I will pursue this at my next opportunity.  The good news is that the boot/trunk arrived back home relatively dry, just a little dampness which could have been from condensation it was so small.  I believe that the boot/trunk problem has been resolved. 

BTW, the MG 2012 MGB National Convention was awesome!  I've only been to a couple of these things, but this was a really great event.  The host club out of Atlanta really put on the dog and we were all treated to a super event.  Besides the show there was a cruise-in at a local drive-in theater where over 100 MGs showed up, I heard.  I didn't count them but there sure were a lot of MGs there.  Really great event, makes me want to go to next year's event, but I think it is in Oregon.  Maybe the 2014 show will be back east again.  Maybe it won't rain.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends.....

MG ownership is somewhat masochistic. You will put up with abuse from the vehicle over and over and over again. My MGB Roadster, or Tourer for you purists, is not a show or trailer queen.  I actually take the damn thing out and drive it, though not as much as I would like.  Nevertheless, it is perfect in its imperfections, if you get my drift.

I was out with a group yesterday when the car suddenly sputtered and died, no apparent reason. I thought immediately of the ancient SU fuel pump residing in the trunk. Every now and then you have to bang on it to get it to work properly. I thought of this first as, you guessed it, it has happened before.  Also, one of the license plate bolts that I had recently slathered with RTV sealer to stop a trunk leak is also part of the rear wiring harness grounding strap.  If this was loose the whole car dies.  Neither was the case and just as mysteriously as the car had stopped it started again.

Off we went to our next stop were I noticed that the temperature gauge was rising unexpectedly.  Pull into our stopping place, raise the bonnet/hood and noticed that the water control valve was leaking onto the distributor.  I am unsure why the engineers at the MG works in Abingdon, UK thought it was a good idea to place hot water next to an electrical component, but they did and we now have to live in constant peril of water ruining a perfectly good distributor. 

Because of driving in the rainstorm that caused this whole thing, I had opened the knob on the dash to get some warm air up to the windscreen/sheild to keep vision at a premium.  What I didn't realize was that the water valve was faulty and leaking on the distributor causing spark to go away.  Fortunately, turning the knob back to off sealed the valve and the leak. But it is another thing that will need fixed, again.