AFFLICTION! Learning to Live with a Life-Long Disorder

The start of my affliction/disease – or whatever you would like to call “MG-itis” occurred in 1964. I was in the Air Force driving home on leave from Maine in my 1957 Dodge Coronet when it lost its timing and blew both mufflers off, just before arriving home in Pennsylvania.

This was the last straw for that beast, as I had sunk so much cash into it – no more! So the next day it was off to find a new “money pit!” There were a couple of car dealers in the area, but nothing that caught my eye, so we drove a little more and looked around in nearby towns. As we drove by Young’s Volkswagen, I spotted a little green car with a convertible top. What is that? Well “that” turned out to be an MG TD and it was love at first sight! A deal was made… how much do you want? Pant, pant…okay!

So, now I was the proud owner of a British sports car, and everybody thought I was nuts! “What kind of carbs are they? Four cylinders, you can’t get out of your own way! Where are the windows etc., etc.? You get the idea. My military leave was over and it was time to report back to Maine. Weather was still good, with no snow, so I load her up and let’s go! I had 500+ miles to travel and most, if not all the roads, were interstate highways. I tried to hold my speed to 55 mph, but by the time I reached the Maine Turnpike I had a burned exhaust valve and was now, at around 2 a.m., running on three cylinders. I managed to get back to my base and then got the car fixed. No problems for quite a while after that.

The University of Maine was to hold an ice race on one of the lakes in the area, so a friend of mine who owned a ’58 MGA coupe, and I with another buddy, decided to catch the show. After driving out into the middle of nowhere, we turned off the main road to head to the lake and realized immediately that there wasn’t going to be anything held that day because of the two feet of snow we ran into! The only thing to do was to continue down the wooded road, me plowing through the snow with my TD, and the guy in the MGA close behind. Nothing to do but keep going! We broke out of the woods and continued down onto what would have been the beach in the summer, made a big “U” turn on the ice and continued back the way we had come – me plowing through the snow again, and the ‘A’ right on my tail! We got about the middle of the way back when the MGA got stuck – really stuck! The only thing to do now was to get all four of us in my TD and make our way back to base. The next day my buddy had a tow truck pull his MGA out. Thinking back on it I must have been a lot thinner then and the same with my friends – think of four of us in the MG TD – next time you get a chance take a look inside a TD!

My TD was really great in the snow – it just kept on going! I guess that had something to do with lots of clearance in its fender wells. But eventually I had a problem with it. It lost some teeth on the flywheel and I couldn’t get the starter to engage, so I had to resort to the hand crank to start it. In Maine the weather could get “really cold” – even below zero! So in the morning when I wanted to start the car, I would pull the choke out, crank the motor, push the choke in a little, turn on the ignition, and crank it again. She’d start right up! This worked for a while until one day the guy with the MGA coupe let it be known that he was selling his MG. Now, a closed coupe in Maine, as compared to a TD with side curtains, is a no brainier! So, I advertised my TD for sale and sold it to a guy from Texas who planned on putting a Buick aluminum V8 engine in her, and I bought the coupe. The coupe served me well until I got out of the service and returned home where, after a period of time, I bought a 1963 Austin Healy 3000. It was a great car, really faster than the MGs and that overdrive – wow! But I didn’t have a garage for it. I was living at home at the time, so the car had to sit outside and whenever it rained the interior got soaked! This got old quickly! Whenever I would get in the car it had such a moldy smell – no wonder they rusted so easily!

After the Air Force I started working at the Bethlehem Steel plant as an electrician, but before long I realized that things needed to change – that job was too dangerous. Eventually I got a job with Metropolitan Edison Electric Company working my way up to becoming a designer, and finally retiring after thirty-three years of service. During those years I met my wife Louise. We had our daughter, Erica, and cars were put on the back burner – for awhile anyway. Well, not exactly! While my wife and I were dating I came across a 1960 MGA sitting in a field looking forlorn. I asked the people who owned it about it, but they weren’t interested in selling it. After a bad storm had gone through the area, they had other problems and offered to sell me the car, which I made sure took place as fast as possible in case they changed their minds! A friend and I managed to get the car out of the field, wasps nest and all, and onto a trailer for the trip home. He lived in the country so letting it sit for a while wasn’t a problem until all the necessary items to get it to run were in place. So it came to pass that one Saturday afternoon, after the oil was changed, a new battery installed, gas added, radiator checked, etc., the car was started. “O joy!” I yelled to my friend’s son, who had just come out of the house after getting showered and ready for his date, “Hop in, we’ll take her for a test ride.” The first bump we hit in the dirt driveway created a dust storm inside the car and needless to say, I suddenly was not a popular guy! “Let me out!” was what I heard next! He never has let me forget that! That MGA was the beginning of my relationship with NAMGAR and the car has been sold and re-bought by me over the past 28 years! Boy, am I getting old!

The next British car in my life was a 1977 Jaguar XJS – another love at first sight, with which I had a love-hate relationship! It was a beautiful car, but I was scared to death to drive it much for fear of something going wrong and then having to sell my house to pay for the repair bill. My wife would never understand. But fate stepped in. A friend who did car restorations put me onto an MG TF that needed “everything.”

He would help me get the car on the road, as I got rid of the Jaguar and was now the proud owner of an MG TF. The TF was to be one of the nicest cars I would ever own! It even won a couple of car show “firsts” after its restoration.

But time marches on, and with my daughter’s college bills mounting up, the TF sadly had to find a new home. We are, after all, just the “caretakers” for these cars for a while until the next guy steps up. As time went by, I met a nearby fellow who did paint and body work in his garage and wouldn’t you know it, he had the body shell of an MGA mounted over his garage door! John was the embodiment of my idea of a sixties era “hippy” who never left the era. We struck up a friendship after he gave me a small tour of his garage, which included showing me a couple of MGBs hidden in the corners . . . hmm? Well you know how this is going to go! I made a deal for one of the ‘B’s. He let me do some of the work on it in his garage to keep the cost down, but he also gave me some hands on experience which I enjoyed.

I no sooner had that car home when I had a knock on the door from someone about buying my father-in-law’s Jeep. But when he saw my ‘B,’ he changed his mind and ended up buying my MG instead! I just can’t hang on to these cars! Then I heard of an MGB-GT for sale nearby. I’d never owned one of those. “Think of the practicality,” I told my wife and myself. I gave the guy a call and took a ride to check it out. Not too bad, but it needed a few things – don’t they always! An agreement was made and it was mine! I got it home and started working on it. I already had gotten rid of the mice in it at the previous owner’s place and wondered what else I’d find? No big surprises, just a lot of crap…literally…but it cleaned up well. I had a few things to fix on it, but in no time at all it was on the road. Now another member of my local MG club came forward with an interest in it. As I said, I just can’t hold on to these cars. The money he offered for it looked good to me at that time. So, Bob and Penny Pilat became its new owners, with Penny being the principal driver, and liking the car very much from what I remember. Unfortunately fate stepped in and on her way to work one day she became involved in an accident, which totaled the car, but thankfully spared her from any serious injury. This has a happy ending though because they were able to find a great MGA after the accident for a good price.

My last episode with an MGB occurred when I purchased a California one to my liking (more money!). Being a California car, the thing that really impressed me was the lack of rust and the ability to turn a nut on the bottom of the car without any WD-40, or similar lube. You just had to watch out for the desert sand falling into your eyes! I thought this car was going to be my last – what a laugh! It was going to be restored the way I wanted it, with a certain color on the outside, and a particular way/color on the interior, etc. Well along came my friends Marty and Mary Beth Chamberlain, and away went the car. It was one of the cars – maybe the only one – my wife actually got mad at me for selling. I guess none of the others bothered her.

The final episode in my life with MGs started when I received an email from John Wright letting me know that an old friend of his was selling a couple of MGs. He asked me if I knew anyone who was interested in them. Well one of the MGs was a 61 MGA coupe, and guess who might be interested? So, along with John and Terry, it was off to Virginia to meet Martha Ludtke, the widow of John Ludtke, and her son Woody. Two nicer people it would be hard to find. Old Southern charm and manners are the best ways to describe them, and Martha’s pecan pie made a big impression also. The deal was made and the process of getting the car on the trailer, along with all its parts, started a long uphill climb from the back of the house, and we made it! We got the car home from Martha’s and now started the process of “what has been done, what needs to be done, and where the hel* does this go?” Anyone who has started a project after someone else may have worked on it, and then left it without any information for the next guy, can imagine what it would be like. Part of the work involved having the stock rear transmission mount removed and an MGB mount installed in its place to accommodate an MGB power train. Enter my MG friend Bob Pilat. Bob’s excellent welding skills came to the rescue! We installed the new transmission mount over a few sessions, which got rid of a big worry for me – thanks Bob!

A lot of jobs can look as if they are so straight forward, and then they turn around and are just the opposite, and vice versa. That was the story on the coupe. It was already registered with NAMGAR so I just switched it over to my name.

The past ten years I’ve been the president of the Keystone Region MG Club (in Eastern Pennsylvania) and have really enjoyed myself. I’ve found myself among people who are like minded in their love for LBCs, and are also some of the nicest people one could ever meet. The club is made up of individuals who gladly step up to the plate, are willing to work for the good of the club, and I can’t remember one bad incident! So no matter where your locality is, an MG club is a great place to meet new friends, enjoying the same interest, and preserving our LBCs. It certainly has enriched my life!