May 2008 Dedicated To Preserving The Marque Since 1973

Dipstick The

“The Newsletter of the Tidewater MG Classics Car Club” www.mg.org

Volume XXXV, Issue 5

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES

Check www.mg.org for the latest info! Apr 27 Brits on the Green, Alexandria, VA www.CapitalTriumphRegister.com May 7 Wednesday meeting at Jim & Betty Villers’ May 13 35th Anniversary Celebration May 15 Dipstick Deadline May 16-18 Carlisle Import and Kit Car show www.carsatcarlisle.com May 17 North American Cecil Kimber Run, Pittstown, NJ., www.mgdriversclub.com May 17 Triangle British Classic Car Show Wake Forest, NC www.ncmgcarclub.org May 24 T-5, SCCA Roadrally, www.odr-scca.org May 31-Jun 8 Drive Your British Car Week www.britishcarweek.org

MARQUE TIME

Hats off to Paul and Carmen Thiergardt for hosting our April meeting. Despite a passing shower at the beginning (which saw some soft tops go up in record time), we had a huge turnout to celebrate the arrival of the Spring MG driving sea-son. The promise of Carmen’s sumptuous buffet also boosted attendance! The business meeting included some lively ex-changes, including everything you ever wanted to know about motor oil options (and then some). But the best was the buildup to the Spring Tech Session at the Linse’s place. By the time you read this, I’m betting the actual event will have sur-passed everyone’s expectations – even Vince Groover’s!

The other day I was commuting along US13 when I had a moment that gets at the meaning of life. Not human life, but the life of a car. I found myself stopped at a traffic light, right beside a grungy flatbed semi-trailer rig. It was hauling crushed and mangled cars from the Eastern Shore. There were about fifteen or so, neatly arranged in three piles that were care-fully wrapped in flexible netting. I guess that was to ensure that the road wasn’t littered with any automotive detritus as the rig made its way to the recycling yard. Thankfully, there were-n't any LBCs aboard. These looked like full size sedans and light trucks, and by the distinctive shape of heavy chrome grilles and an occasional surviving logo, it became obvious that these erstwhile beauties had been gathered from long term rest-ing places. No plastic trim here – just heavy American iron, compressed to about a fifth of their original height. Too far gone to attract a restoration, they’d finally been surrendered to the crusher for further use in the scrap metal trade.

What does this have to do with MGs and British cars in general? Not much. That’s because we are fortunate to associ-ate with TMGC and a crowd of LBC fans who do all they can to keep their cars from sharing the same fate as those aging chunks of scrap. We have something like 150 operational MGs in our collective inventory. Who knows how many restoration projects are stashed away in members’ garages, side yards, and other storage venues. Here’s hoping we can get them all on the road one day. There are plenty of other marques out there to

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feed the recyclers of the world. Save an Octa-gon! Cheers, Mark Davidoski

APRIL MINUTES Michele Peters

We began our April meeting at 8:09pm at Paul

and Carmen Thiergardt’s home. The food and drinks were great, as always. I know everyone “saved up” to have extra room for Carmen’s delectables. I know this because, as your Secretary, I am also an on-the-scene reporter of sorts. And believe me, I noticed all the glazed looks and restless movements of people who are starving and who can hardly hold themselves back from immediately partaking of a sumptuous feast. Actually, come to think of it, I don’t know this from any dinner party that I ever gave; I must recognize the look from my varied and eclectic studies of the anthropology of various tribal people around the globe…I’ve seen that look before…now where did I see it before? Oh, wait a minute…that wasn’t the look of any tribal people…that’s what someone, who shall remain nameless, looks like, just before dinner, after having missed lunch that day. Hmmm, I’ve never really recognized how similar human nature seems to be, no matter what part of the globe or what kind of people you are comparing.

New Members and Guests: James (Lenny)

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June 1 Original British Car Day 30th Anniversary Meet, Adamstown, MD www.chesapeakechaptermgtclub.com June 3 Tuesday meeting at Bill & Renee Olcheski’s June 6-8 Gold Cup Historic Races, VIR at Virginia International Raceway, www.virclub.com June 12 Dipstick Deadline June 15 Brits on the Bay www.tidewatertriumphs.org

June 21 Surry Happiness, SCCA Roadrally,

www.odr-scca.org

June 26-29 MG2008, Valley Forge PA,

www.mg2008.com

Upcoming Activities (continued) and Mary Pearce of Chesapeake joined us. Welcome! They are owned by a red 1979 B.

Vice-President: Bill announced the engage-ment of his and Renee’s daughter, congratulations to all! He also renewed his suggestion that the members donate parts to the Raffle for the benefit of the club.

Treasurer: Jim Villers provided us with the report of our financial situation. Our current balance is $ 2,394.64.

Activities: The Williamsburg Car Show at the Winery will take place April 19 & 20. Darrell Millner, of Williamsburg, will report on this event for us.

The Annual TMGC Wine Tour will happen April 25, 26 & 27 in and around Bedford, VA. We will be staying at a rustic lodge and hit 4-5 wineries and the D-Day Memorial, among other things. The largest con-tingent of MGs ever is slated for this Tour. Further information to follow.

Our May meeting will be held at Jim and Betty Villers’ home in Virginia Beach.

Our 35th Anniversary dinner will take place on May 13 at the Airport Hilton. Look for more informa-tion in this edition.

If you happen to be in California, Woodland, CA is hosting an All British Car Show on May 18th.

There is also a car show, I think, in New Hampshire May 29-June 1. Check with Beckey Wat-son, though, ‘cuz I didn’t really catch it. The Original British Car Day Annual Meet happens June 1st at the Lily Ponds Water Gardens in Adams-town, Maryland. Contact John Tokar at 410-775-0500 or by email at tokarj@erols.com. See their website at www.chesapeakechaptermgclub.com.

Beckey was seeking a replacement Activities Director. And I guess we got our volunteer ‘cuz Deb-bie Linse attended the meeting and sounded like she was volunteering…or else she “got volunteered.” I’m not sure exactly how it transpired, but THANKS, Deb-bie!

Clubs: Mike and Jennifer were absent, so we have no report.

History: Albums are available for viewing. Newsletter: Ron Struewing asked for volun-

teers to write articles for The Dipstick. Alan noted that we are only printing about 20 copies of The Dipstick now, but since we get the printing done for free, some-times the printed copies may be a bit on the later side. Susan reported that all the newsletters will be entirely available in PDF form soon.

Membership: Robin reported that we have two new members, so our total now stands at 97. Robin would like those who are receiving a paper copy of the newsletter to let him know if you would like to discontinue receiving it in this form. Please let him know as soon as possible.

Technical: Mark Childers was at the meeting -

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as he was two meetings ago, when I erroneously re-ported him missing...from the meeting, not life. Sorry, Mark. I guess you just didn’t make a big enough noise for me to notice.…He also suggested that we do our own inspections, to make sure we follow the “Safety Fast” motto…

Old Business: Vince was present. New Business: Stephen Daniel will bring his

headlight leveling device to the Tech Session on April 13 at Frank and Debbie Linse’s house for anyone who might need it.

Marque Time: Robert advised that the oil additive that we have discussed in the past for our LBCs is available from Moss Motors. Jim Villers noted that if you can’t get the additive, motorcycle oil, racing oil, or diesel oil will also work. I will tell you that I thought I heard that the “SM” type was no good; you need to use the “SJ” type, but see Jim if you want actually accurate details.

El Presidente’s speedometer is still broken, but he plans to try to “fix” that situation (aren’t I clever?) at the Tech Session. So anyone with gadgets that will fix a speedometer are encouraged to attend…oh, and bring your tools, too.

Raffle and Regalia: Tad brought an MG cooler for auction and won first in line for Carmen’s goodies (and this is no regular “first in line” prize); Jim Metzger won the special edition of the MGOC magazine containing the article about Blue Boy…no, silly, not the Blue Boy which is the subject of the Tho-mas Gainsborough painting, circa 1770, that currently hangs in the Huntington Gallery in San Marino, CA; Chuck’s car, “Blue Boy,” of course! ; Darrell won the rear view mirror; Jim V won the working radio (donated by El Vice-Prez to “give back” to the club – but, as Beckey pointed out, probably quite correctly, that Renee wanted to “give back” too – to free-up ga-

rage space); the coveted license plate holder went to Stephen Daniel (you lucky dog, you!); Robert won a real Italian driving cap from Italy, from “Marco,” Becky’s Italian “friend”; and the VP won a 16-month MG calen-dar – Terry B. noting that it is probably a Lucas calen-dar…

Beckey W. made a motion to eat and The Prez adjourned us at 8:47, the fastest meeting ever, a mere 38 minutes in length. And I know why. Carmen’s goodies were just laying on the tables, waiting to be feasted upon (I am talking about the food!). And yes, my notes for this meeting may have been a little less informative than usual, and my Minutes a little more sparse, but I was rather distracted by the promise of delights to come.

Membership and New Members Robin Watson

Total Membership 97

We have two new members since last months Dipstick: James & Mary Pearce from Chesapeake with a 1979 MGB Tom & Carol Grigsby from Smithfield with a 1971 MGB-GT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE! Moss Motors, Ltd. Announces East Coast

Expansion/Relocation Goleta, CA, March 10, 2008 - Moss Motors' East Coast distribution facility is moving. Established in 1988, Moss' Dover, NJ warehouse no longer has sufficient space to expand. Taking into account distribution pat-terns, cost of living and lifestyle issues, the decision has been made to move distribution to a new facility in Virginia. The world's oldest and largest supplier of British sports car restoration and accessory products, is also a fast growing supplier of modern accessories for various Ford, Mazda and BMW Mini models. Company Presi-dent, Glen Adams, says "By moving to larger quarters, we can better serve our east coast customers, and ex-pand product lines. Product availability will be dramati-cally improved and overall delivery times reduced. Re-locating to Virginia also helps our staff by placing them in a more affordable environment." The move will take place in the second half of 2008. Notification will be given before New Jersey ceases operations. However, orders will continue to be proc-essed daily from California as usual. This will mean slightly increased delivery times for east coast custom-ers while the move takes place, but availability will improve, and delivery times drop as the new facility comes on line. Every effort will be made to reduce or eliminate the impact on delivery times. Located south of Richmond, VA, on 22 acres, the new building offers 112,000 square feet of combined office and warehouse space. The site is already prepared to allow for approximately 100,000 square feet of ware-house expansion. A park like setting makes the new location ideal for marquee days and other promotional activities. For additional information, contact: Giles Kenyon Moss Motors, Ltd. Ph: 805-679-7100 Fax: 805-692-2525 kenyong@mossmotors.com www.mossmotors.com Other Moss Websites: www.f150store.com www.mossmustang.com www.miatamania.com www.supercharger.com www.mossmini.com www.powercardtuning.com

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MOSS MOTORS MOVING!!!! This is an email received about the relocation of Moss:

Officers and Committees

President Mark Davidoski 499-4647 Vice President Bill Olcheski 467-4046 Secretary Michele Peters 482-1012 Treasurer Jim Villers 481-6398 Editors Peggy Craig 226-7755 Ronald Struewing 479-0084 Membership Robin Watson 721-9277 Activities Beckey Watson 426-2600 Historian Susan Bond 482-5222 Technical Mark Childers 432-9155 Regalia Becky Hassler 874-1477 Clubs Mike Ash 495-0307 Webmaster Mike Haag mikehmg@cox.net

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS? Robin Watson

Answer on page 7

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a r r i v e - - y e s , Robert drove his Spridget. O u r h o s t , Frank, was also involved in diag-nosing a starter problem in a Midget, but he always seemed to

show up at another car when a member had an impor-tant question. Frank has MG ESP, I believe. At about noon Frank and Debbie announced lunch, which was a very fine Mexican style buffet. I, along with several others went back for seconds. Oh, by the way Michele, I was glad to see you did not have to walk home.

A f t e r lunch the tech work contin-ued. I brought my h e a d l i g h t aimers and even though we did not have an ade-quate place to set up for adjustments. I did explain to some of the members how they worked and gave a brief demonstration, but they are a little hard to use on the European style lights since they have no mounting pads. But at least some members got to see how the aimers are set up for use and adjustment. It seemed that tech work was going on all over the street. Every-where one looked there was a hood up or door open on a car with a group of people around it. So now here is a list of all who were there and who knows, maybe you

Spring Tech Session at The Linse MG Hospital and Clinic

By Stephen Daniel Photos by Stephen Daniel and Susan Bond Well this years Spring Tech Session for the TMGC was much nicer and drier than last year’s. I am sure those who attended last year remember it very well. There was a very large turn out for this session--we had 33 members and 3 guests present who descended on the house of our fine hosts Frank and Debbie Linse. I also would like to take this moment to thank Debbie for the fine lunch.

I arrived about 9:50am to already find two of our guests, Tom and Christopher Sawyer, checking over

their MGC in preparation for an upcoming trip t o C a n a d a . Shortly after my arrival, Darrell Millner arrived in his 78 BGT R i g h t Han d Drive. Boy, I know I am

mixed up but not sure if I could get used to the wheel on the wrong side. Then Richard Hall showed up in his BGT, which he re-placed the points in and adjusted the carbs on at this session. Throughout the course of the next 2 hours several MGs of all model types arrived. The street looked like a British inva-sion. MGs Rule!! We even had an MG cousin

Christopher and Tom Sawyer

Craig Cumings, Linnie Pearce, Mark Davidoski

Tad Carter, Russ Ripp, Ron Struewing, Stephen Daniel aiming headlights

‘78 BGT

might recognize a name of someone in the club you have not seen in a while. Following are those who at-tended the Spring Tech session. Our hosts Frank and Debbie Linse, Robin Watson, Bernie Imdahl, Russ Ripp, Chuck Has-sler, Susan and Terry Bond, Donald Ladd, Andy Wal-

lach, Carl Na-gel, Tad Carter, Jack Pavlidis, Richard Hall, Jim Freeh, Jim Villers, Mark D a v i d o s k i , Robert Perrone, Michele Peters, Frank Hurley, Darrell Millner,

Stephen Daniel, Keith Henry, Bill Olcheski, Bill Yo-shida, Ron Struewing, Craig Cummings, Doug Wilson, John Terschak, Mark Childers, Bob and Pam McClaren, Roy Wiley, Roosevelt Mosley, and Linnie Pearce and our guests were Steve LaPaugh, Tom and Christopher Sawyer.

Now, I have to make sure I mention that there were 5 MGB GTs present and one of those was a RHD English Model. I was threatened with bodily harm by Sue Bond if I did not make this fact known, so this one is for you Sue. I am also going to take a quote from our Secretary, Michele Peters, if I missed something or the spelling is wrong "sue me!" Overall this was an out-standing Spring Tech Ses-sion for the TMGC. Those of you who were unable to attend please be assured you

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were missed by all there and we hope to see you at the next meeting, tech session, show, etc. But always re-member this, have fun in and with your MG but above all "Safety Fast.” V a r i o u s m e m b e r s a r o u n d F r a n k ’ s Garage

Andy Wallach

Frank Hurley, Doug Wilson, Carl Nagle

Frank Linse

Mark Childers See more Tech Session photos and others on the web: http://www.mg.org.

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OIL By Geoff Wheatley

February 2008 Over the past two years I seem to read in several of our classic car publications, more and more concern over the use of modern oil in our toys! Much of the content from the experts seems to be based on stories told by other car owners. I have as yet, to read an ac-tual report from an owner who has owned a car that suffered from the use of a modern multi-grade oil. When these warnings first appeared I seriously thought that they were a spoof designed to poke fun at the latest fad, i.e. "Is this oil suitable for my car?" With all due respect to the so-called experts who composed this question may I point out that my collec-tion of classic cars did very well when they were new with a standard 30-grade oil. Sure we had to regularly decoke the engine at about 10,000 miles. A job that some of us got down to a fine art. I recall a side valve unit that I owned at college, which took about 45 min-utes to clean with the help of a fellow student. (With luck, the girl you wanted to know better!) By the 1950s the early multi-grade oils hit the market and did two things. One reduced the need for that 45-minute cleaning operation and also reduced the engine wear. Since then, with the exception of synthetic oil intro-duced some fifteen years ago for high performance en-gines, the reliable Castrol or what ever 10/30 to 20/50 have met the needs of virtually every car I have owned i n c l u d i n g m y v i n t a g e t o y s . As this wide selection of branded multi-grade oils have served me well over the past thirty five years I suggest that this obsession with the oil we put into our t o y s i s , a t b e s t , j u s t s i l l y . My new Jaguar recommends Castrol and I am sure their technical people are up to the mark on what is good for their engines. My wife has a BMW; again the recommended oil is the standard stuff we buy over the counter. So my friends, don't let these reports of oil problems get to you or your engine. Remember back in the 1950s when American and European drivers were setting new records for speed and competition events they were using the same oil that we use today.

74 MGB For Sale (Parts Car)

Built Jan 1974; all parts original. Good top All gauges work All lights work Strong Drive Train Bumpers good Good windshield 5 wheels Drivers side is good Trunk lid is cancer free Bonnet is cancer free Doors are cancer free Frame work is very badly decayed Many cancer spots on body itself Excellent parts car. Would like to get $250 for it, you haul - make an offer. I have already begun taking some lamps and things off the car. Each is in a zip-lock bag, marked and no wires have been cut, every wire has been disconnected at the harness. Ed Kehrig 5340 Peaceful Lakes Drive Exmore, VA 23350 (757) 442-2542 ekehrig@verizon.net

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS? From page 4 Answer: An MG J2 Submitted by Robin Watson

The Tidewater MG Classics Ronald Struewing 5483 Doon St. Virginia Beach, VA 23464-7732

FIRST CLASS

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