As I am writing this editorial at the start of the Cheltenham National Hunt Festival I thought I would use the verb galloping to describe our progress towards the next milestone of 2,000 subscribers to TTT 2. We hit the 1900 mark at the beginning of March and coincidentally also topped 3900 cars in the T-Database.
For me, Cheltenham is the start of the M.G. year because it heralds the arrival of Spring here in the UK, when a young man’s/woman’s fancy takes to going for a blast in the M.G. Forget for a few fleeting moments all the ills of this topsy-turvy world and enjoy the wind in your hair (while you’ve still got some!)
But do I detect that the world economy is picking up? The US has started to add jobs to the payroll (funny how things seem to get better just before an election!) and two of its automotive industry giants have emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, leaner and fitter, and are doing well. General Motors still has to sort out its problems of over capacity in Europe and we wait anxiously for a decision on the future of the Vauxhall plant at Ellesmere Port, here in the UK, as the Germans do over the future of the Opel plant at Bochum.
So perhaps things aren’t so rosy after all and always in the background is the unpalatable fact that petrol continues its seemingly unstoppable rise in price. It is unlikely to ever go down!
One was tempted to ask “Recession, what recession?” judging by the numbers who attended the Stoneleigh MG Spares Day in February. Money seemed to be freely changing hands and I certainly didn’t hear any moans from traders – apart from one who was lamenting the number of competitors (to himself) who had arrived on the scene. It was good to meet Tom Metcalf from the US and Heinz Müller from Switzerland and a gentleman from Australia, whose name I can’t remember – sorry! A PB owning friend of mine is eternally grateful to Carl Drolshagen from Germany, who brought over a brand new double hump scuttle for his car made by the maestro Steve Gilbert over twenty years ago and in perfect condition – talk about hen’s teeth!
Life has been hectic over the past couple of months and I’m not sure where the time has gone since Christmas. Due to other commitments I’ve not had much time to work on the J2 but I’m now back on schedule refurbishing the rear springs (I had two new main leafs made by Brost Forge in London N7 and had the ‘eyes’ made oversize to take a 1/16” leaded bronze bush. Eric Worpe, who did the work for me (don’t know what I would do without Eric!) has just supplied a lovely black gooey mixture of graphite powder and silicone grease to coat the tops and bottoms of each leaf. Graphite powder is obtainable from locksmiths as they use it for lubricating lock mechanisms and Waxoil can be used as the retention medium for the graphite powder.
As an independent (of any UK Car Clubs) magazine and website, we work closely with the International MG Y Type Register www.mgytypes.org who are similarly organised. The Register has recently invited us to join them in teaming up with Travel Destinations (ABTA Registered) with whom it has negotiated preferential travel rates for its members. If you are planning to travel to or from Mainland Europe (including Spain) using P&O, the Channel Tunnel or Brittany Ferries then please contact Travel Destinations on +44 (0) 1707 329988 and be certain to mention that you are registered as a member of ttypes.org to obtain your preferential rates. These are not only available to your T-Type, but any MG or indeed your normal daily use car.
If everything goes to plan, a web page will be created on 17th March, which will hopefully be in sync with the release of this issue on the ttypes.org website.
We will give further publicity to this membership benefit in the June issue of TTT 2.
Whilst on the subject of travel, David Heath (TA owner) has asked me to mention that a group of MG owners from the Bristol area are going to the Le Mans Classic in July. They have hired a gite from 3rd July to 10th July for which the cost is £98 per head. You don’t have to stay all week (the race is on 7/8 July) but you do need to book your own tickets and ferry. If interested, contact David at s.d ‘at’ tumbleweed20.plus.com
And finally………. my good friend Gabriel Öhman from Danderyd in Sweden sent me this picture. I’ll let Gabriel “do the talking” in his best Swinglish:
“Here’s a quick solution from Stig Andersson(88) when he had to make a promised trip and the dynamo was in for repair at the electrician’s. Some wood and a ballbearing! Ha, ha!”
JOHN JAMES
DISCLAIMER BY THE EDITOR
Totally T-Type 2 is produced totally on a voluntary basis and is available on the website www.ttypes.org on a totally FREE basis. Its primary purpose is to help T-Type owners through articles of a technical nature and point them in the direction of recommended service and spares suppliers.
Articles are published in good faith but I cannot accept responsibility or legal liability and in respect of contents, liability is expressly disclaimed.