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Tees Valley MG Owners Club Nunnington Hall Run

23/6/2013

With the B GT still in bits after its repaint and the TA out of action with gearbox & clutch problems, the ZR was the only MG option for this run, organised by the Tees Valley MG Owners Club. Just as well really as we had our grandchildren with us.

The usual meeting point of Yarm station saw a good turnout of members.

Confusion reigned at the start as we didn't have a route map and were relying on following somebody who did. Unfortunately nobody seemed to know who was leading the run and at least one driver added extra miles to his trip by going round Kirklevington roundabout a few times. We thought we were following the wrong person and decided to turn round. I reversed into a gateway and found everybody else going the way we had been. Our grandson thought this was hilarious.

Eventually things settled down and we had an enjoyable run though Stokesley and Helmesley to Nunnington Hall where we had reserved parking to display the cars outside the hall.

Our first point of call was the tea rooms for lunch. Sadly this turned out to be a bit of a disappointment with a rather pricey limited menu, particularly for children.

We then set off to wander round the gardens and found an outdoor draughts board set up. we played a couple of games whilst dodging the passing showers, had fun trying to catch a frisbee, and enjoyed the gentler pursuit of Pooh Sticks on the river.

Eventually the rain became more persistent and it was time to head for home.

Thanks to Karen for this great shot from above.

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Numbum is out of action for the forseeable future

22/6/2013

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It's been a very frustrating morning.

I decided to investigate the problems that developed on the Beamish Run, starting with what I thought would be the easiest one, the clutch adjustment.

I thought wrong, didn't I? The clutch adjustment was fine, it hadn't slipped at all. What I did find was a cracked bellhousing. Sometime between putting the engine back in last year and now, some of the engine to gearbox bolts had gone AWOL allowing the bellhousing to flex when the clutch was used. This eventually cracked it.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I found some more bolts and resecured the bellhousing, hoping that would solve the problem. Well it fastened the gearbox to the engine OK but did nothing for the clutch.

On the way home from the Beamish I had some semblance of a clutch but now, no matter what I do to the adjustment I cannot get the clutch to release. Something must have come adrift inside the bellhousing or the carbon thrust is damaged. Either way, the engine has to come out.

Looking on the bright side, I will be able to change the cracked bellhousing for the good spare I have on the shelf. I'll also address the engine oil leak which has been present since I did the crank last year. Hopefully this time I'll be able to do it right.

Discussions are ongoing with the chancellor of the exchequer about going for a 5 speed conversion while everything is out of the car. I'm not holding my breath.

For now my spare time will be spent trying to get the 71 GT back on the road again. That in itself is a challenge. I'm checking and servicing parts as I put them back on and running into problems with bits that are past their sell by date.

It's all part of life's rich pattern and we'll get there in the end.

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The Beamish Run

16/6/2013

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This is the must do event for us every year. Other runs are great and very enjoyable but for sheer numbers of really interesting cars, this takes some beating. It's also the only run of the year where we have to take the TA as the entry is limted to pre 1957 cars.

We had an earlyish start which put us amongst some of the slower cars. I had visions of doing the run in third gear so we took an early break for a cuppa & sarnie to allow them to get ahead.

The morning run was uneventful apart from old Numbum starting to slip out of top gear on the overrun occasionally which was a tad annoying but not life threatening. One or two dark clouds appeared but apart from a couple of drops, no rain thankfully.

The lunch stop at Bainbridge was much better in the fine weather and we had a good time wandering around and talking cars. Much better than sitting in the car under a brolly. Our quiz sheet was returned, mostly blank as usual.

After lunch we had a good start, only to catch up with slower cars again. This time it was on one of the worst possible roads. Winding single track roads have no opportunity for overtaking so we were stuck for quite a few miles. At one point we reached the dizzy speed of 20mph. I know not all the cars are capable of great speeds and in previous years we'd managed to catch them in places where we could overtake. This year was not our lucky year.

Thankfully we managed to get away from the Tan Hill checkpoint ahead of the slowest car and we had a good run for the rest of the afternoon. As we neared the end of the day, the clutch linkage repair that I'd done after the Coast to Coast turned out to be not the best repair, but luckily there was enough clutch to get home.

As well as safety related questions at the checkpoints there are hills to climb which are observed. Points are deducted for failing to make the climb or for crossing the white lines. There may be other penalties that I don't know of. Some of them are pretty tough climbs, particularly for the older cars.

Once again this was a great day out. The good weather brings out the watchers and the smiles and waves from them brightens our day.

During the course of the day we met some readers of this blog. Thank you for your kind words. I'm glad you enjoy reading about what we do. Spread the word. The more readers the merrier. Comments are always welcome, just click the 'add a comment' link at the bottom of the post and type away.

Thanks as always to George Jolley and all the volunteer marshalls who give up their Sunday so we can enjoy ourselves.

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MG Car Club Tyne Tees Centre Prince Bishops Run

9/6/2013

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When I dragged myself out of bed it was cloudy but dry. By the time I'd eaten breakfast it was raining so it was with some trepidation that I loaded Numbum, our faithful old MG TA for the short run to the start at Stokeley.

Thankfully the rain stopped before we set off and held off all day. It was cool in the morning but really warm on the Palace Green at the finish. That place is a real sun trap.

We got set up for signing on duties and met all the crews of the 40 cars making the run. What a great fellow Dennis is. He had some over ordered bacon butty tickets that he kindly donated to us. Thanks, Dennis, they were most welcome.

The morning section was a good mix of interesting roads leading us 40 miles to the lunch stop at Hardwick Park.

During the course of convivial conversation one driver mentioned having trouble with the route. It was navigational error, the navigator tried to start the run from page 5 of the route book. I'll spare their blushes by not naming them.

Duly fed & watered we set off for the afternoon section of 35 miles in improving weather.

On the way was a chance to stop at Auckland Castle, once the home of the Bishop of Durham.

The driver of the big Healey with side pipes on the passenger side set off a load of car alarms as he passed by. The superb resonance of those pipes must just have been right.

After a brief stop, it was onwards to Durham and the beautiful setting of the Palace Green. We were very honoured to have this location for our finish point. It was good to see cars spanning 70 years from our 1937 TA to a 2010 MG TF 135.

Over the course of the afternoon we noticed some cars approaching junctions from different directions from us. Obviously some navigator problems. Indeed the driver mentioned above had problems in the afternoon too as the navigator attempted to do the afternoon section from the wrong pages. DOH!!!

Whilst there were a lot of familiar faces there were also some who hadn't done the run before, including one couple from Derbyshire and one from Lincolnshire. Both had decided to make a weekend of it. I hope you all enjoyed our neck of the woods and had a safe journey home.

Once again, thank you to Noel Lindford and his team of willing marshalls for another great day.

Numbum ran well all day, in fact the best it's been this year. Another 150 miles on the clock.

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I like goodies in the post

1/6/2013

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This lovely sticker arrived today and is now firmly attached to the ZR.

The Canadian Modern MG Rover Car Club is an internet based group dedicated to post 1980 MGs and Rovers. As there are great distances between members, the internet is the best way of keeping in touch. As well as the website, which will grow in time, they also communicate through the MG Experience Modern MG forum.

As I type, this is probably the only sticker on a UK car, and certainly the only UK ZR to wear one. I like to be different.

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Tees Valley MG Owners Club Nunnington Hall Run

Numbum is out of action for the forseeable future

The Beamish Run

MG Car Club Tyne Tees Centre Prince Bishops Run

I like goodies in the post

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