Classic & Sports Car - December 2015 UK

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174 Classic&SportsCarDecember 2015

TheGSAhasrackedupa decent
mileagelately, althoughnotbefore
enjoyinga fewtripson transporters
duringa spatof unreliability...
Afterfryingitselectrics ona
journeyto Cheshire,parttwoof
whattheycalla relayrecoverywas
ona Relay, in fact– theCitroënof
DesfromMotormobile.YLCthen
hitchedanotherlift,offto be fixed
byRobMossat Chevronicsin
HitchinwithFriendlyRecovery
Services,alsoviamyRHInsurance.
Theover-enthusiasticalternator
wasonlyabout 18 monthsold,if
that,soRobkindly replaced it
gratisandfitteda newbattery. I’ve
checkedthevoltagesinceandit
seemsto be backto normal.
Then,oneSaturday, I decidedto
takeflowersto Ratleyandwasdoing
fineuntilI turnedofftheM40at
Banburywhentheaccelerator went
to thefloor. I lookedin theengine
bay– guessingthatit wasthecable
or the plastic linkage to the Weber

• butthepedalhadbrokenwhereit
  pivots.Thatmeanttherewasno
  chanceof bodgingit withcableties.
  Cuetherecoveryservice(again),
  thistimedirectto Hitchin.There
  wasn’t anyonethere,of course,but
  noonewasgoingto makeoffwith
  theCitroënin thatstate.
  Robhadthecarrepairedin time

Citroën

GSASpécial

Run byDavidEvans

OwnedsinceMarch 2007

Total mileage91,278

MilessinceJuly

report 2378

Latestcosts£124.80

FOOTTOFLOOR,

BUTNOTHROTTLE

THANKSTO

ΔThe ChevronicCentre: 01462

455280;www.chevronics.co.uk

ΔRH: 01277206911;

http://www.rhclassicinsurance.co.uk

fortheGS/GSARallythatweek-

end (Yo urevents,October),where

therewasan excellentturnoutof 20

flat-foursincludingtwoAmi

Supers.Minewasthescruffiest,but

it willgettidiedup eventually.

I’ dnoticeda hesitationenroute,

whileacceleratingat 4000rpmor so

(thenoveltyof therevcounterhas

yetto wearoff)thatI thoughtwas

thecarburettor. I’d fittednewplugs

thedaybefore,butthatmadeno

difference.I bookedtheCitroën

backintoChevronics,andat leastit

gotthereunderitsownpower–

albeitwitha worseningmisfire.

Thefaultwasnothingmorethan

a wornrotorarmanddistributor

cap,whichI shouldhavechecked

whenI swappedtheplugsbecause

theeasiestoneto getat is rightby

thedizzy. TheGSAwasreturnedto

sparklinghealth,as demonstrated

ona brisktraffic-freerunaround

theM25to helpwithdeputyeditor

Thorne’s Alpineshoot(seep124).

Citroën

Pedalto the metal,whichsnappedat pivot

Citroëngets a piggybackride on a Citroën

Not the only GSA in the

village:a greatturnoutat

Rural Life Centre,Tilford

Autumnis slowlyturningto winter

and,whilethesnowstillfeelsa long

wayoff,theraincertainlyisn’t.

Sadly, theMGis takingthestrain

thanksto a coverthatresolutely

refusesto keepthecardry. Appar-

ently, it’s designedso thatthewater

canevaporateoncethesuncomes

out,thoughI findmyselfexpecting

morefroma £200-plusbitof kit.

In lieuof suddenlybeingableto

afforda garage,thislittleDutchboy

stuckhisfingerin thedykeby tack-

lingthecorrosionthathadappeared

onthebootfloor. It wascausedin

partby thecolander-likecover, plus

twostrangeholesinthepanel

behindtheregistrationplate.I took

advantageof a sunnyweekendto let

thecardryoutandsandedthe

worstrustas bestI could,givingthe

MGBGT

Run byGregMacLeman

OwnedsinceJuly 2013

Total mileage59,588

MilessinceAugust

report 1571

Latestcosts£41.99

FRESHEXHAUST

BARKSINTOLIFE

MGB GT

areaa healthycoatof Hammerite.I

needn’t havebeenworriedabout

thefinish:by sometwistof fate,it’s

almostthesameshadeas theexte-

rior, whichwasresprayedabout 10

years ago fr omits original Tu ndra.

Work onthecosmetictidying

easedlongenoughto addressthe

exhaust,whichhadseenbetter

days.I firstnoticedwhiffsof smoke

throughthebatteryhatchwhile

jump-startingtheBGT, andI knew

thatthecentresectionwasone

sleepingpolicemanawayfrom

comingloose.SoI didwhatany

self-respectingpetrolheadwould

do andorderedthebiggest,loudest

replacementthatI couldfind– a

big-borePecosystemfromLeacy

Classics,withfulltubularmanifold.

It’s madeof mildsteeland,after

readingotherowners’talesof the

redpaintcausingplumesof acrid

smokeon testruns,I hadthesystem

treatedbeforefittingit. I’dheardof

Zircotecviafriends,anddecided

thatitsceramiccoatingwouldbe

ideal(Specialist,July’09).It should

protectthemetalfromcorrosion

andreducethetemperaturein the

engine-bay. Plus,it looksfantastic.

Fittingtheexhaustprovedtricky,

butI gottherein theendthanksto

a lotof helpfromPort.A snapped

manifoldstudslowedprogress,but

therealtroublewasaligningthe

holeswiththestuds:therewasa

2cmdiscrepancythatdemanded

liberaluseof a bighammeranda

breakerbar. Incredibly, noneof the

coatingcameoffduringsurgery.

A fewweekslaterI hadto rescue

myotherhalffromaneventat a

centralLondonhotel,so I tookthe

chancefora midnightrunto Buck-

inghamPalaceanda gameof cat

andmousewitha journalistmate’s

new(borrowed)CivicTy pe R. The

Hondamayhavehadthepaceon

ourdrive,butitswhisper-quiet

turbo‘four’couldn’t holda candle

to theroarfromtheMG’s newpipe.

Myneighboursmightdisagree...

THANKSTO

ΔLeacyClassics: 0121 356 3003;

http://www.leacyclassics.com

ΔZircotec: 01235 546050;

http://www.zircotec.com

WithRobinRowe’s BGTon a shoppingtrip

Manifoldlinedup (withsomepersuasion)

Spotnew Zircotec-coatedPecoexhaust

BootfloorHammeriteis a perfectmatch