MGB & GT Forum

I keep reading people say you need this and that to put in a road kit. But has anyone actually put a list together ?

Since I'm new to the MG world, I have no idea what to put in a road kit.

What would some of you salty guys recommend ?

I try to replace wear items regularly before they fail, so when I replace something that is still functional (and small), I keep it as a road spare.

Currently, I keep in the trunk (servicable used parts):
- Points
- Distributor cap and rotor
- Spark plugs
- 2 HT leads
- Globes
- A few spare lengths of fuel hose

On top of that, I keep a litre/quart of oil and coolant and a can of WD40 (to get rid of moisture). I also carry a fairly basic toolkit (think autoparts store $30 'home mechanics kit). I basically carry enough to do what I would be bothered doing on in a dark parking lot and have a 24hr roadside assistance/towing subscription for everything else. About a month ago, a seemingly good condition uni-joint on my driveshaft crapped itself which no amount of preparation would have fixed, so flatbed it was.

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Jeff; '76 B

AAA card and a cell phone.

My USAA card with towing and cell phone . And maybe a quart of oil.I always carry a spare .




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-12-18 08:28 PM by kuz1.

This has been asked MANY times before.

And in past, others like me now saying "search the past on forum", have been denounced, because some things should have new replies because of different parameters, what to carry as spare has been asked soooo many times in past; and not much changes.

I'd like you and all others wanting this info to do research, them come back and give specific details of your road trip. Three days through untravelled desert highway, totally different than 3 days in Arctic.

However
add some fuses where needed.
Carry a Fire Extinguisher.

After you've driven your car a few years you'll get a sense of concerns.

First ask; What will stop me dead in water (maybe in middle of nowhere), with little chance of fix?

If running electronic dizzy, carry points spare. Prebuild (mine stored in boot) a spare fuel pump i can insert in a few minutes.

Having bought new quality tires, I no longer carry a spare, but a small battery operated air compressor.

Good external battery lighting.

If you follow everyone's advice here, make sure you get info where to install and safely tow a trailer!

A spare...with air...is #1. A small trolley jack and a lug wrench. AAA and cell phone is obvious. The "universal" tool bag would also be carried. It's my bag with tools, clamps, fuses, wire, tape, zip ties etc...that I carry in any vehicle I'm taking more that 100 miles from home. A small old kitchen rug to kneel on(makes kneeling on wet/cold/muddy surfaces much easier) I won't take it any further if I question any component so I forego distributors, fuel pumps, water pumps etc...

Winter sees a blanket, cables, sand, collapsible shovel, a couple of shackles and a small "come along" if I need to either pull myself or someone else out without a tow truck's assistance.

I don't see myself taking my MG any further than a few hours from home and the days of doing major roadside repairs are long gone for me. If it's that bad...it's going on the hook. Been there...won't be doing that anylonger!lol!

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"One test is worth a thousand expert opinions"--Alvin "Tex" Johnston...Boeing test pilot.

"Who do you think you are? I am."...Pete Weber

73 MGB. Tires: Round, black, hold air. Oil: Sometimes old, sometimes new...always slippery. Oil filter: Yellow, usually full of oil. Carbs: 2 SU HIF. Distributor: Yes. Headlights: Not that bright but bright enough. A bunch of other stuff most cars have but not really important enough to itemize. Oh, wait...it has a cool sounding exhaust with stickers on the chrome tips. Really slays the ladies...

http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/travel/tp1.htm
he has a ton of useful info on his site

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Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car and oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car.
Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torque is how far you take the wall with you

A lot depends on how familiar you are with the car's possible/probably/likely failure points. And on how much of a diagnostician you are.

In my case, I've had the throttle cable loosen on the SUs a couple times, so I carry two 7/16" wrenches…two because that's what it takes to tighten that bit of kit, and it happened one time when I had only one such wrench.

50 years ago I had 3 Morris Minors, and I always carried 1-2 spare SU fuel pumps because these things failed on me all the time. I've never allowed an SU pump on my MGBs, and never had a pump failure either. So carrying one seems a waste of spare. I do have a spare in the "parts department" but that's true for many things.

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1973 Pale Primrose Roadster. A nice 10-footer!
SUs, Datsun 5-speed

I have seen a lot of guys say carry a spare distributor , but unless you are actually capable of installing it , and getting your timing "close enough" without having 3 or 4 days worth of posts on the forum ,that may be useless.

I don't carry any spare parts except an extra wiper blade and a couple light bulbs. I do however always carry a good selection of quality hand tools plus some basic repair materials such as nuts, bolts, flat washers, a couple short lengths of hose and an assortment of hose clamps, electrical tape, nylon ties, a long piece of electrical wire, and some alligator clips. I also always carry a spare gallon of gasoline and a quart of oil, stashed in the spare battery box hole. On road trips I carry a blanket, an old bath towel, a roll of paper towels, an assortment of zip-loc bags, a handful of latex surgical gloves, a flashlight, and a bright orange jacket. Oh... and I carried a laptop computer and USB cable which might have helped me diagnose EFI or ignition problems but the need didn't arise.

So far this year, I've driven my MG in 41 states plus DC and Ontario. You can see my Moss Motoring Challenge snapshots here.

If you take everyone's advice, you're not going to have any room left in the car for you! There are a lot of tools and parts you "really must have" but generally they're doing to sit there for years and never get used. I tend toward the one bag of tools, some baling wore, tape, a few bulbs and fuses, and not much more.

I also carry a big bottle of water because I've had once or twice a boiled radiator and it's also nice to know that if I'm ever stranded in the Sahara Desert I can last one more day.

I would never drive without a good spare tire, and I have had flat tires ever few years on my various cars so I know that there are nails in the road. A tire-inflating electrical pump is useful, and they are small enough. I also like having a battery booster or starter or whatever it's called in case my battery goes dead and no one wants to cable their car up to mine to give me a jump. Don't take it often with me, though.

I do take a reflective triangle and some flares and a couple of flashlights. Nothing makes me less happy then a breakdown in the dark along a busy highway. I want everyone to see me so I have some chance of not dying.

One essential is a repair book like a Haynes manual. When you get towed into Joe and Bob's Discount Gas Station in the middle of nowhere, they're not going to have any idea how to fix your car, and that manual will help them.

If I were you I'd just get a bag or two and start throwing things in there from time to time as they occur to you. Eventually you'll have a good kit of "don't leave home without its". Of course, you won't need any of them for years. I've even got spare jackets for the lonely winter night I get snowbound. But I haven't driven in snow for 30 years. But you never know!

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Drew Maddock, So. Calif. USofA

AAA card, cell phone, quart of oil, good spare, toolkit that came with car.

The 'I packed my boot and in it I put' game has been played far too many times for me to go there again.

Carry what you're personally comfortable with but I will say that IMO an AAA card and a cell phone is a complete cop out and anyone who relies on that has no right to call themselves a true MG enthusiast

I have never needed either , and I think anyone that would make a statement like that , may be a better enthusiast than me ,but isn't as good of a mechanic as me ,or is just an ass.(imo)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2014-12-19 08:40 AM by kuz1.

Don't you just love it when someone says something like "I'm not going to weigh in on this --- but here's my opinion."?

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“Ideological certainty easily degenerates into an insistence upon ignorance". Daniel Patrick Moynihan

In any debate, the side which strays from civil discussion is usually the side that lacks confidence in its debate position or in the merit of their arguments. Making personal attacks on the opponents instead of staying on the subject is also a sign of weakness.

Anyone who feels compelled to respond in kind to any perceived slight is often suffering from narcissism.