We Go Chug Chug Chugging Along

The dark side of Master’s Lucas and Smith struck during our October visit to Vidalia LA attempting to stop Ole Red in his tracks before even making it to our home show Brits By The River this year.

I have read with interest in several publications and witnessed a few near catastrophic / adventure ending occurrences this year. With over 1,000 cars traveling from all over the county to Gatlinburg TN for MG 2006 it’s not surprising that a few mis-steps occurred. After all when the newest of the transporters is over 25 years of age you should expect a periodic mechanical gremlin. But most of the calamities were righted and the travelers were able to continue on to their journey. Many of the tales were exciting, humorous and even a few educational. Like how many spares can I fit into a small British car and still have room for your toothbrush? Or should I forego the toothbrush for that #6 screwdriver? Ole Red was no exception. In spite of the wrangling of Mr. Lucas and Mr. Smith he transported his travelers to the show and deposited them all safely at home base at the end of the weekend.

In this edition I’m glad to add another voice to the Off - Side Undo. Ron Stuckey and his wife Haven joined The English Motoring Club about the same time I did three or four years ago. Ron and Haven have mapped out the Drive Thru History tours the last two years and done an excellent job of keeping our group together while traveling the highways and byways of the state finding unique and interesting sites for everyone.

In his note Ron updates us on the travel excitement of his trip to Brits By The River 2006. Ron and Haven were even able to convince close relatives that they should join in the fun and adventure. OH MY!

All Part of the Charm By Ron Stuckey

It was a beautiful weekend in Vidalia with good weather, good food, good view, and plenty of LBC’s to go around at the annual Brits by the River car show put on by The English Motoring Club of Mississippi. Haven’s sister and her husband, Georgene and Danny Ivey, came along driving our TR7 and Haven and I drove the B. LBC Eye Candy and good friends everywhere. Lots of "How do you fix this?" and "Where did you get that?" and some "I wish I had a …. Then I could-a …..". Great Fun!

But alas all was not entirely well in LBC’ville. The TR7 on her second "long distance" voyage forced us to doubt our wisdom and test our patience. The clutch pedal push rod jumped out of socket under the dash twice on the way down before my brother-in-law finally got the snap ring to stick. (Note: If there had not been so much air in the line it might have pushed the piston out.) And THEN the fan clutch (viscous coupling) began to make some serious complaining noises. And who could blame it? Twenty-five years old and sitting under a shed for the last twelve years it was probably feeling neglected. It did make it through all the festivities however. I asked an "expert" (read someone over 25 miles from home) what would happen if it finally locked up. "Nothing, the fan will just turn all of the time." "Is there any chance that it will come adrift?" I queried. "No, it’ll just make fan noise." AH-HA!

Confident in that answer, especially because it was the one I wanted to hear, I slept well Saturday night. Sunday morning came bright, mild and beautiful. A nice run up the Natchez Trace to home was in the offing. THEN, about ten miles north of the rest stop at Rocky Springs I noticed that there was something amiss in my rear view mirror. Danny was stopping and turning around in the road. We quickly reversed course to find Danny under the hood scratching his head. "Well, the fan’s not making that noise anymore", he said. This somehow seemed like a bad answer to me. "What’s up?" "It made lots of noise and then got real quiet. The fan came off." "Where?" "Back up the road." "How’s the radiator?" "O.K. Just a couple of scratches. Let’s go see if we can find the fan." We took the B back down the road about 200 yards and sure enough there it was…dead center of the lane where it had disassociated itself from the rest of the car. We did a u-turn. I opened the door and scooped it up, fan and coupling still in tact. No real damage to the fan just a few small scratches on the tips and some asphalt. The press-on coupling sleeve was still on the fan shaft when we got back to the 7. "Yes Virginia, the fan will come off if the coupling tries to lock up." There is nothing holding it on except for the coupling sleeve. No snap ring, no bolt, no pin, no nothing, nada.

Carefully watching the temp gauge we continued on our journey. We rigged the auxiliary air conditioner fans to run full time and this did the trick. No over heat, no warped head, etc. For a brief moment I considered saving the cost of a new "viscous coupling" but then thought better of it. Victoria-British had me a new one in two days.

I’m still trying to convince Georgene and Danny that this was "All Part of the Charm".

Your correct Ron, it is all part of the charm and I hope that the in-laws are understanding of the slight illness that we in LBC'dom all share and will join us again soon.

Well it’s not over yet, The EMC has a couple of events left on the calendar and here they are.

NOVEMBER 18, 2006 - Tech Session IV / Ridgeland MS Well, I have to admit I was stumped by Ole Red for the better part of October and early November so I don’t have a lot lined up for Tech Session IV however my better half has cooked up a couple of pots of chili to warm the bones on a November afternoon. Just bring sides if you like and a good appetite and we’ll share our 2006 adventures and start our plans for 2007. Wrenching begins at 11:00am with lunch about 12:00pm. Details: Gene or Martha Johnston (601) 607 - 7021

DECEMBER 2, 2006 - EMC Christmas Party / Vicksburg MS The ‘05 party was bigger and better than ever with lots of food, fun and frolic amongst the occupants of Pat and Barbara’s garage. 2006 should be even better so get on board early in the run up to the Fabulous 2006 Christmas Party. Bring a dish and enjoy our kickoff of the holiday season. Details: Pat or Barbara Cashman (601) 638 - 3240

That’s it for the November 2006 edition of The Off-Side Undo.

Happy Motoring

Gene Johnston