Thursday, August 15, 2013

Where has the time gone... Updates to my MG adventures.

I realize it has been months since I have written anything on this page, but I have a good reason...life happens!  With the ever increasing success at my job (yes, I have a real job too) I have been seriously strapped for time.  I guess I shouldn't complain about obvious job security due to success, but it does cramp your style for some of the things you love.

You find less time for your cars, other hobbies and most importantly your wife and friends.  I have been trying to correct that over the last few months, especially the wife and friends part.  My wife, Kathy, is the best and I'm sure that those of you who know her already know that.  The woman actually let me buy a boat this summer and that has helped me to keep connected with the other friends in my life.  We have enjoyed the boat very much over the couple of months we've owned it and have made time to have friends out for days on the lake, which are very relaxing and really help keep in touch with all of the friends around Atlanta.

My MGB Roadster has, unfortunately, taken a time hit because of all of this.  Yet, I have still found time to do some things with it.  One of the projects I started over the winter was to convert the wire wheels to bolt on. Everyone wants what they don't have and I was luck enough to find a Peachtree MG Club member who wanted to do the swap in reverse, so my wires went to him and the bolt on hubs came to me.  Add some really cool Retro Sport Le Mans style wheels in 15" and we're off.  However, the best laid plans...

Since the car had been sitting for an extended period of time the battery had gone flat and I used my jump box to get it going again.  Except that I hooked it up backwards and tried to start the car frying some wiring... and the alternator, and fan relays, etc...  After doing some of the work myself the car went to British Car Service in Marietta, GA and I let Barry Rosenberg handle the rest.  Got the car back and the battery went flat again.  I started looking around for the reason and found that I had accidentally switched the trunk light to the "ON" position and the burning bulb killed the battery in a couple of days.  Well, live and learn!

Speaking of Barry and British Car Service, they are hosting one of the area Garage Parties this Friday, August 16th at the shop on Canton Rd. in Marietta.  The shop is just east of the Canton Rd./Hwy 5E. exit off of I-75N.  For those of you familiar with the area they are just across the road from Rib Ranch BBQ and next to Casteel HVAC.  I've been to some of the Garage Parties, both at area shops like Brian Fuller's Hot Rod shop and Chuck Beck's Porsche shop in Villa Rica, as well as garage parties in private homes.  They are a great event for tire kicking, story swapping and general car related entertainment for the evening.  Stop by if you get a chance, party starts about 8pm.

I'm going to try to post something more frequently and also add some pictures of the car and the wheel swap.  I think it looks really cool!

SF


Monday, January 28, 2013

The GA Legislature is try to get into your collector car!

The Georgia Legislature is at it again, trying to impose an additional tax on hobby and collector cars.  Two years ago they tried to do this as part of a legislative overhaul of the tax code.  That effort failed, in part due to the resounding negative input from the public, both collector car owners and lobbying groups alike. Now they are trying to re-introduce this portion of the code revision as an adjustment to the ad valorem tax structure on cars older than 1986. They want these cars taxed at FAIR MARKET VALUE!  DUH? What exactly would that be?

Georgia law does not require a title on pre-1986 vehicles.  In fact, current regulations do not provide a mechanism for pre-1970  vehicles to obtain a title! So the newly instituted title tax does not effect these vehicles.  Then someone took a look at the registration data for the State of Georgia and suddenly realized that there were a bunch of vehicles that would not be subject to this new tax.  BUMMER!

So leave it up to the Georgia Legislature to try to find a fix to a flawed piece of ill thought-out legislation that nobody took the time to take beyond the glorious revenue number that they thought it would generate.  Now the question is: have they thought this one out?  I doubt it.

In fact, the bill has no provision or mechanism for re-evaluating the fair market value of these vehicles.  So a 1968 Ford Mustang that someone drives as a rolling restoration could be taxed at the same rate as a fully restored trailer-queen that is a true show can and is hardly if ever actually driven.  If they use Barrett-Jackson numbers as a guideline expect to pay more in ad valorem tax on this Mustang than the owner of a new Mercedes will pay for his car.

Make your voice known by signing this petition to be sent to the top legislators in the Statehouse.  Tell them exactly how you feel.

http://signon.org/sign/stop-georgia-from-raising?source=s.icn.em.mt&r_by=6901718

SF