The TRUTH about Downton
engines
Hello, it's Richard here.  I'm glad to hear that at least one person reads my mutterings.  I'm also glad to hear that my mutterings each month are not just there to pad out our Club magazine and make our editor, Laurie, a happy chappy.  Yes I had a reply from last months muttering about the article in Classic and Sports Car magazine describing a decent C-Series engine.

A Decent C-Series Engine

Hello, it Richard here again.  Polly that pesky, poodle from across the road has been over here again.  She'd been rolling in something and left a nice brown stain on my trousers that made foot odor a more preferable option.  So it was time to change and have a sit down in the old wing back.

That 1985 Classic and Sportscar magazine that I was reading a couple of months back and shared with you back in April may have talked about the MGC as a botched job but the journalist also wrote about the successes.  So here's what he said;

“Decent Engine

The best of the Cs were the works modified racers and the University Motors/Downton modified cars.  University Motors was the main London MG dealer, and they got together with Daniel Richmond's Downton tuning concern to produce a C with a decent engine.  In stage 2 tune, the car was good for approximately 130 mph (10 mph higher than the standard car) and a 0-60 mph time of 8.2 secs, a whopping 1.8 secs faster than the factory offering.  All they did to produce this remarkable improvement was to modify the head, fit new inlet and exhaust manifolds and lighten the flywheel – it also meant better throttle response and torque.

The race Cs were superb, with lightweight shells, four wheel discs, aluminium cylinder heads, triple dual choke Webers and other tuning mods, and rear anti-roll bars, which, allied to the lighter engines, made them handle.  At Sebring in '68 Hopkirk and Hedges came 10th overall, and won their class, while one of the cars came sixth in that year's Marathon de la Route (race duration 84 hours) at the Nurburgring.  Tony Fall managed to lap the demanding 'Ring at over 60 mph twice – without any brakes …

The C died in '69, and at first there was no successor to it.  By the time, a fundamental change had occurred in the corporate structure in which MG was a part.  British Motor Holdings, as the alliance between Jaguar and BMC was called, merged with Leyland Motors on January 17th 1968.  This meant that MG was now in the same group as Triumph, and that British Leyland was effectively duplicating sports car lines. MG management was perturbed, especially as the only car people who had had any dealings with BL boss, Lord Stokes, were the Triumph managers who had been part of the previous Leyland combine.  Guess which firm's sports cars would have priority?”

It's a sad story really, so much potential but no commitment.  Triumph?  Well the new TR6 was made between 1969 and 1976 and they only made 94,619 of them!  With a production run 8,999 I guess that means the MGC is not quite so common!

Well, I heard of a few new items that relate to us C owners and I enlisted help from that young rascle from next door who gave me some instructions for that American invention, the innernet – what does 'http' mean anyway?  Well I hope it means more to you than right clicking mice.

New Spares

Now you've heard about the nut behind the wheel, well Moss-Europe now have a top nut for a MGC king pin. Previously unavailable, you can now buy one for £9.60.  http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/.  Click on MGB/C, then Steering & Suspension, then Front Suspension and scoll down and look on the right side of the page.

Also Veloce Publishing has updated and revised the excellent MGB Electrical Systems book by Rick Astley to include information about MGCs and MGB GT V8s. It now has over 400 illustrations!  At £29.99 it will be a handy manual for sorting out those princely designs to help your MG when it's going at the speed of darkness.  http://www.veloce.co.uk/shop/, book search is top left.

And wait there's more, for those older members that still like to use the street directory.  Do you remember those, no, you probably don't.  Well here's a pocket for your GPS (I guess it stands for gentleman's pocket sausage).  Anyway the MGB Hive now have an MGB/C map pocket designed to fit into the passenger side footwell just like the original GTs.  They're £19.95.  http://www.mgbhive.co.uk/.  Moss USA also have them for US $32. 

http://www.mossmotors.com/Browse/ComponentMenu

NewProducts.aspx?WebCatalogID=8&PlateTypeID=4
Remember ladies and gentlemen keep ‘em tuned,

“Idiot” designs C-Series Engine

Hello again, it Richard here.  Blimey I'm quite exhausted – that pesky Polly the poodle has escaped from across the road.  It came over and started biting the wheels of my nice old Victor when I was out mowing the lawns.  One day I'll tie that pesky poodle up with a 4 foot lead from a 6 foot high branch.

Anyway it was time to recover so I sat down in the old wingback and Mrs Mixture made me a cup of English Breakfast and I rumaged through the old cardboard carton of classic car magazines.  Classic and Sportscar, 1985, looked like an interesting one with a red C followed by a silver V8 pictured on the cover.  The subtitle read “MG Muscle”.

“Botched Job”

“According to Thornley (GM of MG), all the subsequent C problems date back to the engine: “The C unit should have incorporated all the features that Abingdon designed into the old four bearing engine for Healey competition use.  But some idiot decided the engine should use the same bore centres, should have seven main bearing in an already crowded crankcase … if the engine had been anywhere near right, the car would have been sensational.  But because of its weight we had to make a botched job of the front suspension.  If we had known that the engine would be 70 lbs overweight, we would have designed different front suspension ab initio”

The engine, a six-cylinder unit with a capacity of 2912 cc and pushrod operated valves, was installed in a highly modified B structure.  Thus there was monocoque construction, with independent front suspension and a live rear axle suspended on leaf springs.

But the front end of the C bore little resemblance to the humbler B.  The front of the floor pan, the inner wings and the U-shaped suspension cross member were all different, and the new suspension layout, with two piece upper and lower wishbones, longitudinal torsion bars and telescopic dampers were all dictated by the bulk of that six-cylinder lump.  However, the only real panel work difference was the bonnet, which incorporated a power bulge and a carbuettor blister, the former neccessitated by the large, forward mounted radiator, the latter by the sheer length of the engine.

There was a new gearbox, with the option of Laycock overdrive, and this meant a modified 'box tunnel – a three speed auto option was available, too.  The other main differences from the B concerned the brakes – Girling instead of Lockhead, with wider but smaller rear drums, and larger (11.06 ins) diameter discs – and bigger, 165 section 15 ins wheels. The larger wheels were partially responsible for the car's handling, as they increased the steering effort required, already made worse by lower gearing and a reduction in the front suspension castor angle.

Otherwise it was a B.  You could have your C in open tourer or closed GT form, and there was the same cockpit layout as the B – why, the tourer even came with that wonderfully old fashioned hood frame.

As with the car's gestation, the launch was a muddled affair.  By now, Healey had wanted nothing to do with the car, so it was released purely as an MG, although one feels that the MG design staff really would have preferred it to have been badged differently.  The press reception of the car, which has been mentioned before, can't have helped sales, but the marketing of the car was a disaster.  Only 230 cars were produced between the model's introduction in October 1967 and January 1968, and a mere 8999 cars were built before production ceased in September 1969.  Typical of the apathy surrounding the machine was the fact that no-one made anything out of Prince Charles taking delivery of a roadster in 1969.

It could be, of course, that no-one was quite sure how to market Abingdon's fastest car yet – the C looks so much like the B at first glance that any prestige in having the larger engine (and paying more money for it) was lost on the public.  Also, perhaps, the sports car buying public couldn't compare a car so similar to the Big Healey, but with new mistakes built into the design.”

Blimey, an idiot in Abingdon?  He must have come from Leyland – They design trucks and busses don't they?

Automnal Run

Now MGCers et al, it's about time to go on another MGC run, put Saturday 9th April in your diary and we'll meet at 1.30pm at Beaumont Road, Adelaide, just off of Greenhill Road.  We'll head down south and visit a shed full of old tractors.  It will cost you a gold coin and there's one kilometer of unsealed road to get there.

Remember ladies and gentlemen keep ‘em tuned,

Rich

 

Here it is, the long, heavy, “botched job” with seven main bearings, six pistons pumping, five spark plugs sparking, four bolts a holding, three pullys rotating, two carbies sucking and a bird in the old fruit tree...

 

Sold! - Pre-production MGC

Hello again, it's Richard here again. 

That noisy young rascal next door yelled out to me the other day and asked me to come over and have a look at some thing in his room.  I ventured over there in trepidation - a teenager's room is not a place that a grown male like me should go anywhere near!  He sat me down in front of that American invention, the inner-net, and showed me an MGC that was auctioned in December at Brightwells.  It was an interesting story about a 1966 pre-production MGC that sold for what I thought was quite a reasonable price.  The vendor wrote the following;

“The earliest MGCs were the prototype cars based on modified MGB MKI positive earth chassis, these being chassis no 100, registered in December 1965 as FRX 692C, and a GT, chassis number 99, which was registered in July 1968 as RMO 724F. Following these two cars and some 11 months prior to the official launch of the MGC in November 1967, a batch of pre-production cars was built starting at chassis 101, with the earliest cars laid down on the 3rd November 1966.
The original MGC production records show the build details of these pre-production cars. Chassis numbers 101 to 109 are all listed as roadsters. Chassis number 110 is the lowest chassis number issued to a GT, which is shown listed as a North American specification car that commenced production on 10th November 1966.
This particular car, chassis number 111, is shown as the earliest MGC GT pre-production development car and the first line-built home market MGC GT, the build commencing on 3rd November 1966 (the earliest date any line built development cars were commenced and the only GT commenced on this date together with the roadsters 101,102,104,108 and 109. There is a note of the registration LBL 412D against chassis number 111 in the production records.”
“Berkshire registration records show that LBL 412D was part of a batch of registration numbers reserved by the MG car company on 28th November 1966 and that LBL 412D was allocated on 1st December 1966. The final car in this pre-production batch, chassis number 113, is listed as a GT used in crash testing and written off in July 1967 then cut up and scrapped  “
These records also list chassis 111 as being completed to the following specification.
Metal SLV BU/BLK (Riviera silver blue metallic with black trim) – the only development car in this colour; automatic transmission – the first and only automatic GT development car; home market spec; wire wheels; SP radials and MPH speedometer.”
“It is believed that this batch of cars were used for extended development work both around Berkshire and at Silverstone. In an article by Mike Allison (‘Safety Fast’, July 1992) he details that as a result of testing at Silverstone the front brake pad material was upgraded and a transmission oil cooler added for cars with automatic transmission.”
“Interestingly, a copy of the 1970s continuation log book shows that the engine size was amended to 3,528cc which indicates that a Rover V8 engine was fitted, an extremely rare thing for a C in the 1970s. The car was later restored and re-united with a 2,912 cc engine and with a manual/overdrive transmission that remains fitted. It was featured on the cover of a US Healey club magazine from 1990 as having been restored by JD Classics and available for around $65,000! There was some contention that it was also the Healey MGC prototype (codenamed ADO52). However, as chassis 111 was built as an automatic transmission car and contemporary pictures of ADO52 show a manual transmission gearlever and overdrive switch, I think it is unlikely.
From 1997 the car was registered to well known classic Jaguar racing driver Justin Law ...  In 1999 LBL 412D was entered into a Christies auction where it sold for the sum of £15,291.25 (that's AUD $24,430 at today's rate) including commission.
Finished in silver blue metallic with black leather piped in blue with matching door cards and trim, it has the correct leather rimmed MGC steering wheel, painted wire wheels, Spax suspension including rear telescopic conversion and a stainless steel exhaust system. Internally it has early MKI MGB spec door pulls and a Jaeger fuel gauge not found on series production MGCs. It is believed to be the only remaining MGC GT originally registered in 1966.
The MOT history indicates that the car has travelled a mere 2,000 miles since 1999. Purchased by the current vendor in 2007 and now only for sale due to emigration ...”
For all those ADO spotters out there ADO52 was an MG and ADO51 was the Healey.  Oh! what did it sell for in December 2011?  It was knocked down for ₤11,000!  That's  AUD$17,584!

Automnal Run
Now MGCers et al, it's about time to go on another MGC run, put Saturday 9th April in your diary and we'll meet at 1.30pm at Beaumont Road, Adelaide, just off of Greenhill Road.  We'll head down south and visit a shed full of old tractors.  It will cost you a gold coin and there's one kilometer of unsealed road to get there.

Remember ladies and gentlemen keep ‘em tuned,

Rich

This 1966 MGC pre-poduction automatic was probably tested at Silverstone

The Spring MGC Run
February 2011

Irrepressible Retrospective

Why aren't MG owners happy with what they buy?
Hello again, it's Richard Mixture here.  You know that nice old Queenslander, Bruce, whose had his C since new, well he's gone and put IRS on the old thing.  That's independent rear suspension not internal revenue service!  So why does he want his 41 year old car to perform like a modern car?  When he had a B he upgraded to a C so why didn't he just ungrade the C to an RV8 and then upgrade that for an MGF and then upgrade to an MGTF?  Isn't this what normal people do?

He says it's wonderful, “it handles just like our BMW”!  So why doesn't he just drive the Bimmer?  Now when you drive a modern car like a Bimmer or MG ZS it's quiet, it has a good ride and handling, it performs well and brakes work well with ABS and it's actually very comfortable!  In fact the overall performace of one of these modern things is so good that it's very tempting to go for a spin through the Adelaide Hills at twice the speed limit and enjoy youself.  But it's far too dangerous to do that because the likelihood of bumping into some old codger doing parking station speeds in a Hyundai Getz is far too high!

I hopped into my C the other day and drove through the hills and thought compared to a modern car this old thing is noisy, the ride is a bit on the bumpy side and when you haul it round corners the enormously large steering wheel is like a grab handle to stop you sliding around in the seat. It performs OK I guess but it's pretty easy to lock up the brakes and it's definitely not as comfortable as one of those modern things.  What I like about the old C is that it's great fun and it gives you a bit of a work out.  I guess a TC is a bit the same but it's what the older members get when they have to get stronger glasses and hearing aids but they wouldn't be seen dead in a Getz.

Well all I can say Bruce is you don't know what you're missing out on.

One of the gentlemen in the Club who owns a C got me thinking about this sort of thing.  He recently sold an MGF and bought a TD!  He said it was a bit of a fright.  I imagine it's a bit like trying to connect to the internet using two bake bean tins and a piece of string!  The TD took some time to get use to.  He now goes round corners at parking speeds thinking he might fall off at any time.  He also added "it's great fun though".

I followed an old codger the other day in a modern Mazda 6 going from Mylor to Aldgate doing all of 40km/h around the corners in an 80km zone, I could've done at least 120 in a ZS or Bimmer.  He obviously found it a bit of a challenge as he tried to work out which side of the white line to stay on.  As the road straightened up a bit he found the accellarater pedal and flew up to 60 and even reach 65 at one point!  It's times like this that I wish I had James' Aston with those rocket thingies behind the parking lights!
You know you still have to be impressed with the wonderful job that that nice old Queenslander does on his C.  The IRS was not a simple nut and bolt job as it required some fitting and quite a bit a setting up, so Bruce must be a clever bloke.  Fitting air-conditioning to his car required some clever thinking and design and the insulation to reduce the heat and noise was a very neat job.  The Mazda seats fitted to the C was a little bit fiddly but Bruce did a very professional installation.  A year or so after Bruce bought the C he fitted a Downton head, manifolds, tripple SUs and twin exhaust and the more recently fitted electronic ignition that improved fuel economy and starting.

Bruce says it's his hobby, he dosen't smoke or spend time in the pub, it's just what he has fun doing.  Can't argue with that!

I had to ask Bruce what will his next improvement be?  Will it be electric windows or replace the SUs with fuel injection and he replied that he wouldn't want to ruin the character of the MGC with such modifications!  “No” he said “I've done enough”.  You know, I can't help thinking that if he lives for another couple of decades he might be tempted to go all green and get rid of that cast iron engine and gearbox and fit an electric motor and a bunch of batteries in the boot!  He'd have to get an IPod to make the right noises though wouldn't he?

Thinking a bit more about such things, you know that Schapelli bloke, that's the younger one, although the older one's not much better, well he wasn't happy with a standard TC so went out a bought another one with a shorten chassis, he fitted one of whose aluminium heads and a supercharger to it, he's pressurised the cooling system and improved the water galleries and god knows what else.  All in the name of fun and he hasn't got a hearing aid yet!

Now if you remember when Curly was a lad Cecil Kimber was never happy driving a standard Morris was he?

Now MGCers, remember the MGC run, on the 13th November.  Put it in your diary and we'll meet at 1.30pm at Beaumont Road, Adelaide, just off of Greenhill Road.

Remember ladies and gentlemen keep ‘em tuned,
Rich

A “C”  With a Degree?

Hello it’s Richard here again and this month's little story is about what the MGC could have been or in fact how that nice old Queenslander, Bruce, modified his car in the early '70s using a Downton modified head and manifolds.

Now lets step back a decade or two or maybe eight when University Motors sold MGs.  In 1929 they were selling 18/80s (do you remember that Mr ICW) and M Types and in 1932 had four showrooms in central London and continued selling MGs well after WWII.  After a long associations with the MG Car Company University Motors purchased the last hundred or so MGCs in 1969 and made a number of improvements.  A road test of one of these MGC Specials was carried out by Autocar in 1970/1.  Their story follows.

“It is hard to say exactly what killed the MGC, but the most likely cause was the bad press the car received, together with its failure to sell in the USA.  Our own road test, published on 16 November 1967, was far from enthusiastic about the engine, gearbox, handling and fuel consumption.  Exactly when production ceased is hard to determine, but it was sometime last year.  University Motors bought the last batch of cars and have been selling them successfully since.  Their theory was that, with only a little attention, the model could be improved significantly and as they still have some 20 or so cars in stock, we decided to test one to find out for ourselves.

Basically they are offering an MGC GT in standard paint, with wire wheels, delivered with number plates, seat belts and four months tax for £1,370.  At the Motor Show in 1968, the listed price was £1,337 without any of those extras, or even a heater.  By today's standards this is about £130 less than a Triumph TR6 coupe and not very much more than a GT6 delivered to the same specification.

To improve the appeal though, they are also offering a long list of extras, most of these being fitted to the test car.  Added together these came to another £460, making the test car £1,830, or about as much as an Alfa Romeo 1300 GT or a little more than a BMW 2002.  Some of these make so much difference as to be near essentials, while others like the stereo tape player and radio (£92) are pretty obvious luxuries.

Items like the Downton engine conversion make such a difference as to qualify as essential extras and the overall effect on the car leaves one wondering why it could not have been made like this in the first place, and if it had, would the fate of the model been more successful?  It would certainly have been much more enthusiastically received by our staff.

As a simple item the Downton kit costs £175 fitted.  It comprises the usual kind of head improvement, coupled with special manifolds and a complete transformation of the induction system.  In standard form the MGC is a real pig when cold, developing hardly any power until warm and never idling reliably.  The Downton converted car suffers from none of these troubles, pulling eagerly straight after a cold start.  More than just this, the conversion give the engine the “right” kind of sporty response, which it never displayed in standard form, climbing “on the cam” at about 3,000 rpm with a real bark to its straight-through exhaust.  In many ways it reminds one of the works rally Healey 3000...

As well as improving the performance, the conversion works wonders for the overall fuel consumption.  Driving the car hard we got very nearly 20 mpg, which compares with only 17.8 mpg for the standard product.

Another worthwhile improvement come from the substitution of Koni dampers (£16 the pair, fitted) at the front and a 15in. dia. Motolita leather-trimmed steering wheel (£12.12s).  Standard wheel size was 16 ½ in., so the steering becomes much more responsive and the view out ahead that much better.  Wooden packing strips under the seat runners also improved the driving position, which on the standard car was far too low for anyone much under 6ft tall.

It would be wrong for a true sports car enthusiast to look at the MGC and expect it to be one better than the MGB.  In the vital qualities of handling and engine response, it is no match for the four-cylinder car.  But as a long-distance touring car, where a lot of the distance covered will be on motorways, it definitely has a place and in University Motors' guise begins to look much more attractive.  At £1,545 (£1,370 plus the essential Downton converstion) it has few direct competitors, and anyone worried about spending this much on an obsolete model can take comfort in the fact that its rarity alone may one day make it a sought-after classic.”

I wonder if those special MGCs are still available at that price?  Probably not!

Now MGCers et al, it's about time to go on another MGC run, put 13th November in your diary and we'll meet at 1.30pm at Beaumont Road, Adelaide, just off of Greenhill Road

Remember ladies and gentlemen keep ‘em tuned,

Rich

V6 for MGC?

Hello it’s Richard here and I have to tell you that we have a defector in our ranks.  That nice young man, you know our C Register Co-ordinator, Ian Hobbs, has defected and bought one of those modern things with plastic bumpers and engine management gizmos and doors that lock without using keys just like using a “sonic screwdriver”.  At least it has the right number of cylinders even if it does have a V in the middle of it!  Fortunately it's got the right initials on the plastic grill, you know, MG.

I got to say though the MG ZS is a very nice car.  The 2.5 litre, V6 performs strongly particularly when the engine revs climb passed 3,000 and you get a nice kick in the back as the thing takes off.  The real joy is the handling which is controlled by light precise steering and supported by a firm ride.  Ian told me “it's reputed to be the best handling front wheel drive car”, “what!” I said, “then how on earth do you spin the back wheels?” 

The interior is comfortable and the controls are easy to reach.  The seats are firm but supports you well and the support under the thighs for someone with longer legs is good.  The climate control makes the whole experience very cosy.

It also looks very sporting with its flared guards, long, side thingies under the doors and the bib under the front bumper.  The gills behind the front wheels are very MG SV ish.

Now, back in 1952 when Leonard Lord became Chairman of BMC he made it very clear that the Company would only have three engines to span the BMC range, they were the 'A' Series (800 to 1,275 cc), the 'B' Series (1,200 to 1,800 cc) and the 'C' Series (2,600 to 3,000 cc).  Well, back in the early '60s when the  concept was being developed for the replacement of Austin Healey 3000, several engines were considered.  The replacement cars, one of which turned out to be the MGC, were to have a new 'C' Series engine.  The Australian “Blue Streak” engine was considered which was a six cylinder development of the 'B' Series with a capacity of 2,433cc.  BMC enjoyed a technical relationship with Rolls Royce so the Vanden Plas Princess  4-litre R engine was considered.  A V6 engine was also considered but there wasn't any suitable engines available.

The first V6 in the good ol' US of A was released in 1962 in the Buick Special while in 1964 Ford in Germany put a 2 litre V6 in their Taunus 20M.  Ferrari's two litre V6 powered the Fiat Dino from 1966 to 1969 and the Ferrari Dino from 1968.  In the UK Ford had a 2.6 and a 3 litre V6 option in their 1969 Capri.  As the 1970s progressed V6 engines became more common place.  It was not until 1988 when Australia's Commodore changed to a 3.8 Buick V6 engine from the Nissan straight 6.

Now can you imagine BMC having a technical relationship with Ford in the UK as they did with Rolls Royce?  No?  Well neither can I.  But it's interesting to compare the Capri V6 with the MGC straight 6.  The 'C' produces more power but less torque.  The 'C'  weighs 11 kgs more but has a faster top speed but not by much.  Jump forward nearly 30 years when the KV6 engine (as used in the ZS 180) was designed, it had Quad OHC, variable timing – both cam and ignition, variable induction lengths, more power, more torque and is a lot faster.  It was typical of BMC management to use an engine design for the MGC that conceptually came from the Ark and practically belonged in a Leyland lorry.

The other night that nice genteel, gentleman Garry Smith rang Ian to let him know all about the condensation problem he was having in his new garage.  He had trouble starting his Commodore so he consulted the local experts.  Now Garry lives on a sheep station at Gumeracha and the car was so wet the dealer asked “Garry have you recently driven it into a nearby dam?  That would make it hard to start”

I thought he could stick a couple of sheep in the engine bay to soak up the moisture, you know, one each side of the engine!  I guess this option could be a bit messy as what goes in one end of a sheep always seems to come out the other.  Not a nice look for Garry's lovely MGC in the garage for instance, let along the Commodore and then there's the smell when the engine heats up.

Remember ladies and gentlemen keep ‘em tuned,

Rich

Hello there it’s Richard here again.  Well, when the MGC was released to the public in Novemeber 1967 the progression from a racing MGB's engine of 1,800cc to the C's 3 litres seemed like a logical progression if you want to go faster on the race track.  This logic though was a little narrow minded considering the C's production constraints and the inherent handling restrictions when compared with a B.   The reins on the car's performance were well and truly held back with a muffled intake and restricted exhaust designs and the long legs of the C were firmly hobbled.

That master of pink gins Daniel Richmond and his engineering business in Salisbury, UK, easily released these restrictions as Malcolm Trewhitt experienced.  I'll let Kevin Wise tell Malcolm's story which was printed in a 1994 MG Enthusiast magazine.

The “Most raced MGC must be YWT 666G which recorded 49 wins from 100 races – surely earning it an entry in the MG book of records.

In partnership with first and long-time owner Malcolm Trewhitt, this racing roadster has a competition career that beats the Works lightweight GTS coupes combined.  A club racer that challengers the Nicholson MGB:  that's the ex-Trewitt MGC.

Bought by Trewhitt of Bedale from Kennings of Harrogate, the MGC was first registered in March 1969.  By the 26th of April its dashing owner had it entered in the Croft Sprint where they came second in class – a result repeated at Topcliffe in June.  The following year ten sprints had yeilded three firsts and three seconds, but car and driver failed to score at the Silverstone Internationals.

Time to tune the 'C' to a finer edge with a trip down south to Downton Engineering in Salisbury.  Here, with almost 20,000 racing miles on the clock, the 'C's six was stripped, lightened, balanced and flowed.  Close-ratio gears were exchanged in the gearbox and a “Sebring” competition overdrive fitted.  Joining the big-valved 649 cam triple 45 DCOE Weber-fed motor to the new gears was a lightened flywheel and competition clutch.

Finally, a 4.55 ZF Limited Slip differential took Downton's 210 bhp to the circuits, sprints and hill-climbs that during 1971 brought Malcolm seven firsts, including five in the Silverstone sprints.  Three second places and a couple of “Best MG” awards were also achieved in the year's fourteen outings.

They raced on wires in those days and biggest change to the MGC, shape wise, came for the 1972 season when wheel arches were not so much flared Sebring-style but extended outwards to accommodate fat slicks as club racing mirrored more and more the blatant specialisation that had changed the definition of the term sports car.

On its return from Downton for a pre-season checking and overhaul, three firsts and three seconds were gained that year from 11 races.  Further campaigns through out the years 1973-1978 notched up 36 wins from 57 races – the car being captured in this climax configuration (appropriately at the head of the grid at Silverstone) on the cover of the 1982 MGCC Silverstone International programme.

By this time the fighting MGC was well into an 11-year retirement in Malcolm's barn.  But its rest days were numbered for in 1989 a man was hunting a suitable MG to compete the Pirelli Classic Marathon.  He heard about the Trewhitt 'C' and persuaded Malcolm to part with the car he'd owned from new and so prolifically and successfully raced through a hectic decade.

Shaking the 'C' down to the strict FIA Historic Code meant losing the triple Webers, big valve head and the “Sebring” inlet and exhaust systems and running a tamer rally 731 camshaft with standard valves and 10.5 compression with just two SUs and a big-bore exhaust.  But with a Moto-Built handling pack, Mintex brakes and minilite wheels with 185/70 VR 15 BF Goodrich tyres, this Marathon vehicle finished nevertheless.

Says third owner, Gordon Ogilve: “Crewed by Chris Green and John Hampshire it had completed an arduous rally without mishap but was beaten by more nimble MGBs in the hands of some notable and famous drivers.”

A longtime MG enthusiast, Gordon first owned a four-seat P-Type Midget … “Goodbye to my last MG I said sadly, having just parted with the famous MGA 151 ABL … 'I've heard that one before', observed my wife who went on to forecast there would be another to continue my long life obsession with MG.”

Back to the ex-Trewhitt MGC, Gordon says: “The car and I seemed compatible; and soon my wife's prediction was confirmed.”

Times change and now Gordon is himself the vendor of this unique MGC. … Full historic documentation and photographs accompany this most-raced 'C' that still has only 25,965 miles on the clock after all these years and all those races.”

Well that was back in 1994 but now the Cs mileage is a little more as I know the car ventured to Peru in South America in about 2002 and drove along the Inca Trail.  This car is not only well raced but well travelled.

Remember ladies and gentlemen keep ‘em tuned,

Rich                      

 Malcolm Trewhitt's C might have been the first club racing C but many have followed and once sorted are a lot faster than a "b"

STUNNING LINKS!

From two MGC Owners

1001 easy steps to removing
an MG Cump
That nice young 'C' Register co-ordinator Ian, has had some interesting correspondance from that nice old Queenslander, Bruce, about removing the sump on a 'C'.  

RICHARD MIXTURE'S MGC REPORT FOR MAY 2010

Cool Option Update

Hello there it’s Richard here.  Well did you all enjoy the NatMeet.  I enjoyed the bit that I was able to get to.  I bumped into an old mate, someone I hadn't seen for for years.  We were reminiscing about the good old days, you know, some of them happened in the seventies, things like marriage, kids and divorce, when I overheard someone say “I can't believe my eyes, Richard Mixture meets Jake Harper!”.  Well who should it be but GoodOne (is that one word or two, I never did know).  A sort time later that rotund racer Captain Gostello join us and we had a right old natter, Jake told us about his boots and the Captain told us about brown rings around a gentleman's mem... oh I think that story is better left between us gentlemen.

Now last month I let that nice old Queenslander, Bruce, tell the first half of his air conditioning story, well now I'll let him tell you the second half.

“For cars without a centre console as fitted to post 72 cars you need to get the centre console [2 components], 2 dash fresh air vents, which are all now available. The vents fit into the place where the Radio normally mounts. The Radio now lives in the centre console.

In the “C” and “V8” there is either no space and/or too much heat to mount a single condenser in the engine bay. These cars do not need any more heat or obstruction to the radiator air flow. With an MGB-GT a single condenser can be fitted in front of the radiator ...

For the “C” and “V8” two condensers are used, these mount in the wings below the headlight bowl ... Slots are cut in the valence to give plenty of air to the fans and unload the fan motors at cruise.”

“Inside the cabin the Map Pocket has to be removed to allow the Evaporator to mount as it is a very nice fit between the centre trim and outside trim.” “To operate the fresh air door (behind the centre metalwork) I added a push-pull rod and a bracket next to the console so the driver can operate the fresh air door while driving the car. You have to do this otherwise you cannot operate the fresh air door as the feed tubes to the centre and right hand side block access to the operating lever.

In our “C” the compressor mounts onto the timing cover and block and takes the space where the overflow tank was, the threaded mounting holes are already in the block as are the holes in the timing cover. A Japanese pulley is mounted onto the harmonic balancer, to suit the compressor pulley, on our car the drive pulley to compressor pulley is 1.23:1 step up as the “C” idles @ about 800 RPM. “

“The compressor has a double pulley so it could be used as an idler/transfer pulley to drive the alternator from the compressor. I would look to see how to drive the compressor from the crankshaft rather than use the transfer idea. The commercially air-conditioned MGB-GT’s mounted the compressor where the alternator was and then drove the alternator, mounted above the compressor, with a separate belt from the compressor pulley.

The “C” and “V8” run at such low revs in traffic that a 43 Amps alternator was on the low side. The 65Amp unit will handle everything from idle. I changed the alternator pulley ratio from 1.875:1 to 2.1:1 at the same time, as our car will run happily @ 1,000 RPM in top and 1,100 RPM in O/D, the “V8” will be similar.  

Mounting of the Receiver/Dryer can be almost anywhere in the line from the condensers to the Evaporator, in our car it goes behind the radiator mounting panel on the left side, just in front of the compressor drive pulley. There is not much spare space in the engine bay now.“

“I insulated the firewall on the engine side as well as the inside of the tunnel (this is where most of the heat in the cabin comes from).” “Our car is now cool everywhere even the chrome ring around the gearlever stays only warm and not very hot as from the factory, the tunnel, foot-wells and floor are all comfortable even after a 300 mile day run in summer. In winter we leave the A/C on the least cool setting and add fresh air via the heater (off) door in the left foot well. The fresh air door can be opened to the 1st and 2nd positions as required. Position 3, is not possible as the A/C feed tubes will not allow this.”

“If you intend to keep your car for some years this is a most worthwhile thing to do, the difference is amazing, cool and quiet. I think that we have added about 30 to 35 kilos to the car, all down low and in the centre which in the “C’s” case is more of a benefit than a disadvantage. A/C reduces consumption by only 1 or 2 MPG overall.”

Now that was easy wasn't it – just like Lego really!

Remember ladies and gentlemen (oh! and Jake) keep ‘em tuned,

Rich

Does your GT get HOT?

Hello it’s Richard here again.  Firstly, err … initially I'd like to welcome a couple of fair ladies to our masculine ranks (err, Geraldine excepted 'cos she's pretty) – There's young Mary Thomas who has a lovely white C GT and there's younger Anne Bahnisch who's returning the gorgeous Blue C GT that here father restored.  Welcome to the fold and I hope you find us blokes highly stimulating over a cup of coffee on one of our runs.

Now back in the February issue of MG Motoring I told you a few pearls of wisdom about air conditioning history.  Well, during the summer that nice old Queenslander wrote a wonderful piece commenting on his approach to “Air Conditioning your B-GT, C-GT or B-GT V8”.  He is much more articulate than me so I'll let him explain;

“As we are all getting older and drive our normal cars with very efficient air-conditioning it becomes ever less pleasant, particularly during summer, to drive an English Hot Box where even fresh air inlets used to be optional in early cars, (The under dash fresh air door). In the 1972 year model the centre console and centre dash fresh air vents were standard.

Two years ago I completed the A/C of my C-GT [June 06] this totally transformed an excessively hot and noisy car into a proper GT car. We can use the audio system and go anywhere in great comfort any time of year, whatever the outside temperature is, hot or cold, and indeed use the A/C all year round as with the low sun angle during winter the car still gets warm to hot. Window tinting is essential because of the low Winter Sun angle ...

There are several items to be installed, Evaporator [the unit in the cabin], Condensers 2 for the “C” & “V8”, 1 for the “B”, Compressor, Receiver/Dryer, Relays, Fuses, Much Bigger Alternator, and for completeness throttle compensation and a way to not allow the system to run until the engine is running …

Now the nasty part: COST, with insulation which is essential in both the “B” & “C” if the A/C is not to fight the engine and exhaust heat ... With all components, brackets and fittings the whole bloody shooting match will cost about $4,000 ...

The actual A/C is the easy part, what is tedious and very time consuming is installing the insulation and this will depend to what extent you want to go to achieve quietness & coolness, as in a current A/C car. I took about 7 months total, a mixture of full time and part time work, with days of up to 6 hours with the insulation.”   “A different type of insulation could cut the time by months if only heat insulation is required. I went for a Thermal and Acoustic approach.

All the components are from the “JAY AIR Automotive Air Conditioning Catalogue”. Don’t bother to even think of parts from the wreckers as it is a total false economy. A/C parts have to be new and clean with no corrosion, moisture or wear to get long term reliable service.

Now that you have the list of parts go out and buy them so that next issue I'll, I mean Bruce, can tell you how all the parts fit together. 

Now remember our Autumn Run ladies and gentlemen  It's the 25th April 2010 so meet at Beaumont Road, Adelaide, at 1.30pm and we'll go and see Ron, err, see ya 'ron.

Remember gentlemen and Geraldine and Anne and Mary keep ‘em tuned,

Rich

The very first MGC

Hello again, it's Richard here.  Now, first things first … mmm … come to think of it first things are always first otherwise they would be second things or third things and first things always precede second things because second things always follow the first things … mmm … may be I should just stick with MGs.  Well the first MG... no, no, no lets just call it the prototype MGC.  Look, just read on and you'll find out all about the firs... I mean the prototype.

Nearly thirteen years ago Andrew Roberts visited the Abingdon works at the same time as the prototype MGC.  He wrote a nice little story about the car in MG Enthusiast magazine, he starts the story as follows (I guess that means it's the second thing ...):

“Sometimes in the MG World, it is possible to turn the clock back and inevitably any such exercise centres on Abingdon.  For, despite the famous factory having closed way back in 1981, much of it still exists.

While some of the old premises remain empty and virtually derelict, at least one portion remains in the best of condition and has returned to its original function of engineering manufacture.

The premises of Abingdon Engineering now occupy what was formally the MG Development Shop and it was here some 32 years ago that the first prototype MGC to be built off-tools, Chassis Number GCN/100, first saw the light of day.

Fast forward to 1997 and that same MGC is back outside the very same building, thanks to the enthusiastic co-operation of Abingdon Engineering.  A photograph that would have seemed impossible in the dark days of the early 1980s is set up and another MG circle is completed.

The fact that MGC prototypes were built as early as 1965 may seem surprising, but thoughts were already being given to a successor to the Austin Healey 3000, or big Healey as it was generally known, as early as 1964.

This project carried the number ADO 51 for an Austin Healey and ADO 52 for an MG, the car being based around the MGB.  Significantly, neither John Thornley at MG or Donald Healey considered this was the correct approach, but neither was able to influence BMC planning.

Originally, the thinking about the power unit for the cars was that it would be an Australian built Light Six, with a capacity of 2433cc.  Essentially this was the B Series engine, of 1622cc capacity with two cylinders added.  To fit the engine into an MGB body shell, the starting point of the design study, a tubular cross member had to be fabricated to make the engine fit, although its height did not prove to be a problem with the existing MGB bonnet line.

Another necessary change was torsion bar suspension.  A prototype was built with an Austin Healey front end treatment, but this was not sanctioned by Donald Healey and so the ADO 51 project was laid to rest in 1966.  ADO 52 would proceed however and this would become the MGC.

It would not be unfair to describe the engine choice forced upon the MGC as its achilles heel, not for its performance, but for its weight.  Whereas the Light Six might have proved to be the right choice – the fact that it was not built in the UK effectively ended its chances – the compromise of a six cylinder three-litre engine designed for a new big Austin Saloon being built at Longbridge, was assuredly not.

Its weight of 567 lbs was some 209 lbs heavier than the B Series engine used in the MGB and no successful weight reduction was ever achieved.  Clearly there was to be a tough development programme ahead for Abingdon to turn ADO 52 into a marketable project.”
Tough indeed – with the many changes occurring within the BMC management at the time and the mixed messages being sent to the media who were already some what off side.  To convince them that an MGB with a bulge in the bonnet was a good thing was probably as hard as convincing a Laplander that a fire hose by the front door of his igloo was a good thing!  But of course we know better – owning a C and driving a C, we are the lucky ones.

Now autumn is approaching so we should go for a nice little run.  Last year that nice young man Ron said we could visit his garage so I'll ask our nice young register co-ordinator to organise it.  So put 25th April 2010 in you diary and we can meet at Beaumont Road, Adelaide, at 1.30pm.

Remember gentlemen and Geraldine and now Anne as well

Keep 'em tuned

Rich

January / February 2010

MGC NEWS
MGC mutterings from Richard Mixture

Cool Options & Hot Options

Hello it’s Richard here again muttering into another year.  Hasn’t the summer weather been wonderful lately 40˚ outside of the old GT and 50˚ inside!  I guess most sensible people leave their MGs in the shed in such weather and only drive those 1.8 litre mobile air-conditioners that are made in Japan or Korea.  Yes, I know that nice old Queenslander, Bruce, would be driving his air-conditioned C but does it ever get to 40˚ in Brisbane?

When John Thornley read the thermometer at the factory and considers that the maximum temperatures around Abingdon doesn’t get much over 22˚ in summer and in winter it might sit around 7˚ for a while, no wonder air-conditioning was not standard on a C - but how many cars did have air-conditioning as standard in 1967?  Well, I can tell you that it wasn’t even an option on early Roman chariots but according to some sources the first car to have a refrigeration system was a 1939 Packard.  The system took up the whole of the boot space, had no thermostat, cost about $4,500 in today’s money and was discontinued in 1941!  By the mid sixties air-conditioning was becoming more common place in luxury vehicles and you could even buy a system in one of those after market speed shops.  But it wasn’t until around 1980 that they were considered as a more serious inclusion in everyday cars.  Thank goodness for that!

I remember walking to my car on a hot day in the early eighties when an acquaintance pulled over and offered me a lift in his newly acquired company car.  He had the fan on high and pointing to the AC button on the dash said ‘it was great having air-conditioning’.  I asked him ‘if you have air-conditioning then why is the air coming out of the vents so hot?’  He muttered something about it taking a while for the air-conditioning to warm up …  Some say ignorance is bliss but I’m not sure.

Anyway back at Abingdon in 1967 when Gregg Howard’s MGC roadster came of the line air-conditioning wasn’t an option.  What was an option was a Downton Conversion and that was added to his car in 1974.

So, 19 years ago MG Enthusiast magazine printed a short “Owner’s View”.  It went like this …

“Fish and chip shop owner Gregg Howard certainly cuts a dash when he turns up at the ‘chippy’ in his company car.  For his Downton MGC is used everyday, often with the top down and the car’s rewarded him with four years trouble-free motoring – well almost.

The petrol pump was playing up on our photo session held at Chatsworth House and there was that time when he rang around MGC friends because he was stuck for an oil pump but such occasions merely blurr into the memory compared to enjoying an open top MGC all year round.

‘That’s beauty of the MGC’ he says, ‘they’re such charismatic cars.  So many nice people own them.  I can phone from Cornwall to Scotland and call in for a cuppa if I’m passing because we all stick together. That’s how I found an oil pump when I needed one.  A fellow owner rang me from Sheffield to say he knew of one in a Workshop, went to pick it up and posted it on down to me.’

Gregg has owned his car for four years having bought it for £3,000.  Before the Downton ‘C he previously ran a Midget and then an MGB but both pale in comparison to the pleasure he derives from driving his MGC.  ‘The car has a marvellous character.  People often ask me whether it’s a V8, a straight six or an 1800, or want to know what the funny bulges on the bonnet are all about.  Even some new to running a ‘C are perplexed by the twin tail pipes and the Downton badges.  The car is a real wolf in sheep’s clothing.  It’s nice to have something tastefully different and I never want to envisage the day when I may have to part with it.’”

Well, “so many nice people own them” I can vouch for that – not only in Adelaide but interstate as well.  But if you look at it the other way around why would a horrible person want to own any MG?  I guess it’s all a matter of an individual’s perception.

Remember gentlemen and Geraldine keep ‘em tuned,

Rich

Bruce’s compressor viewed from the front through the radiator and grill space