It was another great meeting at the Golden Corral. Dan Blackwood, our President started us off by going around the room and asked each of us to tell who we were and talk about our current car project.
Dan is in the process of replacing the windshield on his TR4A. When he opened the new windshield from The Roadster Factory he discovered that it was cracked. He has contacted TRF but this should remind all of us to open parts when you get them. They could be damaged or they could be the wrong part. Dan has since heard back from Chuck in customer service at TRF and they are willingly working to correct the problem. Dan will receive a new windshield and UPS wants to look at the crate. Barry McCoy said that Victoria British was good to work with. They replaced his defective part and didn't ask for the old part back. I had the same experience when I ordered a quick ratio rack for my TR6. The one I received had about an inch of play in it. The new one is fine even though it is Chinese made but, you know, it's getting harder and harder to get other than Chinese parts.
Nick Konnovitch didn't really have an ongoing project but he did mention the he has a Delorean an a Lotus 3
Richard S. having his E type Jag tuned by Kevin Roberts.
Kevin R. is usually working on other people's projects and has little time to work on his own. He is going to sell his XJ6. It's a solid car and is in the process of being painted. This should make a good car for someone. He bought it for his daughter but she decided she didn't want it.
Barry McCoy is still working to liquidate the parts that his friend had. His friend passed away and left quite a few parts. Among them is a 1275cc MG Midget engine. He's also looking for an MGB overdrive unit.
Ken R. Is changing the timing chain on one of his Jags. He's also looking for rubber moulding for his 1989 Jaguar. Jim Sturgeon suggested checking with Ford. Since Ford owned Jaguar at that time it is possible that they used a Ford part. Ford apparently did that a lot when they owned Jaguar.
Don Berry bought Jerry Davis' TR6. Jamie C. talked about Jerry who was his best friend. Jerry was very miticulous about the work he did on his TR6. Jamie said it was his dream car. The frame is powder coated, and Don said he had receipts for about $46,000 in parts and modifications. Don says he should have it back on the road in a few weeks and intends to drive it a lot. Everything on the car is new. Jerry also had a 1973 MGB that Jamie is buying. Don has quite a few TR6 parts for sale. I'm going to get new front side marker lights from him.
Charles J. doing a ground up restoration on a TR4a with his son and right now he needs a wiper motor. Apparently there aren't any reproductions available. I'm sure he's going to need a lot more parts than just a wiper motor. Charles also has a solid axle TR4 on our website for sale.
Don Gross had Richard Reese put new webber carbs on Don's spitfire but they were causing flooding problems. They discovered that the electric fuel pump was delivering the fuel at about 8psi and it should be about 1.5psi. This caused the fuel to overwhelm the floats and overflow the bowls. That problem has now been resolved and his car is running good.
Jamie C. has been working on John Hackney's 1965 Austin Healey BJ8. He was working on the glazing for the
windows. He finally decided to call for help and went to Mountaineer Glass in Dunbar and they knew exactly what to do. They are the guys to go to with glass issues. Jamie also mentioned the Bentley that he refurbished after it sat in a garage in Huntington for 20 years. Jim Sturgeon talked about the mechanical power brakes with a servo that is powered by the transmission. Fascinating! The engineering and quality that went into these cars is just amazing. Everything on the Rolls Royce and Bentley cars are top quality and over engineered. Jim mentioned that when asking his Rolls Royce advisor about when to do certain maintenance items he would get responses like. “That part doesn't need maintenance until 500,000 miles.” Those cars were built to last almost indefinitely.
Jim S. has a 1967 MGB that he bought new and he is working on a 1275s mini cooper. He's doing a total frame off restoration of this car. He also has 6 lotuses, and a 1938 Rolls Royce bodied by Thrupp & Maberly coach works. He's working on the doors right now and they are made out of ash. So it's a woodworking project as well as a car project. Jim had some problems getting door handles so he carved wooden models of the door handles and sent them to the foundry to have them cast in bronze. Then he filed and sanded them smooth and took them to Leonard's in St. Albans to have them chromed. Wow! That's a pretty big commitment to a quality restoration. Leonard's is a great place to have vintage parts chromed because the modern triple plate process produces chrome that doesn't look period correct for vintage cars. I think Leonard's is a St. Albans treasure.
I talked about my recent radiator replacement project. I especially liked the Gates Rubber Gator Grip hose clamps and the Hose Candy braided nylon hose coverings. I think they look much better than the green hoses that I originally used.
Jim Patrick, Kevin Worthy, Steve Ewing, Mark Mason, and Bill Halstead introduced themselves but didn't really have any ongoing projects.
I received this years car show list and made them available to all who wanted them.
We talked about upcoming events. I've put quite a few of them on the website calendar. You will always find the most accurate information there.
Dan B. mentioned the NAMGB meet in Lousivlee this June. This is a several day event but for those who are interested in going just for one day, Jim Blackwood, Dan's brother, has offered his place in Florence KY as a place to stay.
British V8 meet is in Townsen TN. Dan is going and I'm sure Jim will go as well. He was instrumental in the development of the Roadmaster V8 after all. This event starts on Mother's day May 8th. and continues through Wed. May the 11th.
Kevin R. talked to Happy Days about hosting our mid month meeting, Pistons & Pints. I'm still calling it Pistons & Pints even though we won't be having any Pints. Casa Grande is another option that we may use later in the year. We decided to go to the Happy Days Cafe on D Street in So. Charleston on Tuesday the 12th at 6:00pm. Steve Ewing is very happy since this is one of his favorite restaurants. We had a good turnout and a great time at Fat Paddy's last month and there's no reason to think that this event won't be just as good or better. Thanks to Kevin Roberts for making the arrangements! We have other plans in the future that will include garage tours from club members. Kevin W. asked Jim S. about a field trip to his garage & Don Gross's Garage-Ma-Hal. We definitely want to visit both of these shops this year.
Richard S. mentioned our Back of the Dragon cruise in August. It's on the calendar.
ALERT!!! Scheduling conflict follows:
Jim P. wants to support the Troopers Cruise In Clay this year on May 21st. He was a good friend of one of the troopers who was killed and for whom this Cruise In honors.
Also on May the 21st. Barry M. has proposed an Ohio cruise. We would take I-77 from Charleston to Love's truck stop in Fairplane then on to Ravenswood and over to Ohio and follow the river. There are some civil war monuments along the way that may be interesting stops. We would end at Buffington Island state park where Barry has volunteered his family to cook hot dogs for us. I hope Barry doesn't get in trouble for this, but hey, as long as we get to eat we don't care how much trouble he get in to. We would then come back to Charleston via the same route.
Our annual spring drive to Hawks Nest is on for April 30th. We will meet at the capitol parking lot on the corner of Washington St. and Greenbrier St. at 9:00am. After Hawks Nest we plan to continue to the New River Gorge bridge and have lunch. Then back to Charleston via Rt. 16 to Chimney Corner and pick up Rt. 60 for the home leg.
The MGC meet is in Charleston SC this year on September 23rd.
In mid July Ken R & Richard S. are going to the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. I suspect others will join them as well. I've been to this event and it is certainly worth the trip. It's similar to the Mid Ohio Vintage Grand Prix that I try to attend every year. If you haven't been to a vintage race you are missing a great time. If you enjoy racing at all this is something you will enjoy. Not to mention that you can get "up close and personal" with the cars and the people behind them.
After the indoor meeting there were a few parking lot meetings. You have to come to the meeting to find out what is discussed at those meetings.
I can tell you that the Executive Committee met in the parking lot. If you don't know, the Executive Committe consists of Dan, the President, Jamie, the Treasurer, Scott, the Secretary, who wasn't there for this meeting, and me the Vice President. We discussed how to publicize the list of members who have paid their dues for this year and are therefore considered members in good standing. Once we get the current list finalized I will post it on the website. Then Dan will send an e-mail reminding those who haven't paid their dues that they can use the website or mail their $25.00 to our post office box: PO Box 4823, Charleston, WV, 25364.
See you at Pistons & Pints on Tuesday the 12th. Check the club calendar for details.