MG Midget Forum

After worst day ever yesterday, I am off and only one day behind schedule. So far 76 west from philly, lots of traffic so got on 23 west to conshahockin and back on 76 to the pa turnpike west. 23 is hopefully the first of many great roads to drive on this trip, curvy and through the woods. First and hopefully last breakdown due to faulty side mirror but, repaired with gaffers tape. A minor thing but if I lost the mirror and drove the whole way without it, I would have been constantly paranoid of it attracting police attention. Campgrounds are mostly booked, reservations would not have done me any good as I'm a day behind. Shanandoa has backcountry camping most everywhere, I just need to be .25 miles off the road, no fires is the only bummer there. If I make it to Charlottesville tonight I might have a bed possibly.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-08-17 01:43 PM by fairmounter.

Got to Carlisle and heading down 81 to Font Royal. Overheated and luckily wandered into Williamsport auto care in Williamsport md. Waiting for new fan belt and jb quick to be delivered. Overflow tube coming from radiator is loose, hopefully the jb quick will hold it. There is only one old time radiator shop in Hagerstown and they are closed until Tuesday.

Looks like a bit more maintenance might have been in order before the road trip...
Good Luck, I hope things go smoother after these repairs

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If it ain't broke, I'll fix it until it is!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-08-17 04:19 PM by dlrhine.

I'm pretty sure those words apply to all MGs on road trips.

Out on the road and traveling! Good for you....far better than a garage queen. A friend and I have a mutual "Road Side Assistance" pact. If either of us have a problem with our Brit cars the other drops whatever he is doing and hooks up to the trailer!

Kurt.

Hey, so you are having a little trouble, so what! You are on a adventure and that can be expected. Think of Lewis and Clark, I bet they had their share of trouble. The neat thing is you are in a older British car, just like our older American cars when something happens it can usually be rectified on the road. Newer cars, huh, open the bonnet and you can't even find the engine much less repair something. Mike, you Rock dude!!

Thanks for the encouragement. All depends on the jb weld. There has not been time to let it cure, only dry and that proved not good, I made it down the road to a hotel and I reapplied the jb weld. It will cure overnight and we will see. I am 191 miles from home and triple A is good for 200. At this point I have a free tow and ride home but if I keep going I will leave the comfort zone. I guess I will try to overheat it tomorrow and see what happens. If it holds and stays cool, I guess I will keep going.

Is the leak too much for stop leak? Stuff is surprising.

Kurt.

Yeah the overflow nipple has a crack.

So on a good note, the guys at Williamsport Auto Care in Williamsport, wv were great. I drove in overheating bc it was right there. I got a good feeling bc there were a bunch of odd and older cars in the lot. They didn't blink an eye or complain about my car. They had a fan belt delivered in 15 minutes. The young guy doing the work told me about an MGb he brought back to life and his b that he used to own.

I limped it to a hotel and did a more "permanent" jb repair that will actually cure over night.

Hotel directed me to a Mexican restaurant across the street, it is now a bar with exactly zero female customers a lot of bud drinkers. Seemed rough at first, but they have yeungling and crab cakes made my the cook from Baltimore. When the owner heard my plight he started calling around for me, maybe one of his leads will turn up a radiator.

Out of the blue a customer negatively brings up Obama, the owner says fine as long as it's not 'this guy' (trump), then the bartender agreed with 'not this guy', thought I was in trump country here in rural wv, seems not.

Laddie's Bar in Martinsburg WV just gets more and more interesting. As some customers are leaving, the owner Laddie yells , 'We are' over and over until they respond 'Penn state'.

I have found that most people in WV are not one side or the other. They just would like someone to do something to help. The downturn of the coal industry has had a devastating effect on the state. I checked on the one radiator shop I know of nearby and they have closed down. That stinks they had over 75 years experience. But the trend of remove replace forced them under. If the jb does not hold could it be soldered? You'd probably have to find a garage with an older mechanic to get that done.

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If you never try to do it You will never be able to do it

Thanks, I appreciate the call.

The first chapter of the book "Volkswagen for Dummies" says to start a drive across country - when you get back, you will have fixed everything! It even has detailed instructions how to lower the engine to the ground, pick up the car by the bumper and move it over the engine, then pick up the engine and head to the service station.

Where are you going for the eclipse? I'm about 4 hours away from one of the "mecca centers" to view it in Kentucky.

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Bill Murphy

'75 Midget


Progress is not the mere correction of evils.  Progress is the constant replacing of the best there is with something still better.
 
- Edward A Filene

Mike, I am really enjoying this thread. Please keep the pics and story coming...I am hoping to take a similar adventure in my Sprite in the future and this is inspiring.

Did the JB hold?