Allen Bachelder's Journal

I just came across a color version of the picture shown on my home page. It looks a lot better.

I just negotiated to buy my first T-series car: a 1953 TD. Actually, with the substantial accumulation of snow we've had here in the Michigan Thumb, I'm still waiting to go pick it up in Florida, but that long-awaited day is soon approaching. The snow here has just about melted completely and it looks like I'll be on my way Thursday, March 29th. My friend Dave Honness from Roanoke Virginia will join me en route as he will be inspecting a potential TD purchase of his own in Georgia on our return.

My TD is coming from Ron Tarr in St Johns Florida. Ron restored this car rather substantially. I had Wayne Snook evaluate the car for me. Now all I have to do is see it myself! Here are a couple more pictures of my new "find".

We're leaving for Sonoma California and MG2007 from Harbor Beach MI on July 10th. With some luck, our tentative itinerary will be attached. Check it out and do let us know if you would like to join us. The more folks, the more MG fun for all!

Please let us know!

Florrie and Allen Bachelder
bachldrs@airadv.net

January 1st, 2008

Months have gone by since that wonderful 7319-mile odyssey. We also drove to Virginia and Massachusetts in October for another 2451 miles. Add to that our daily use of the car and we logged in 11,351 miles on our 73 B/GT for the 2007 driving season.

For this and many more New Years, we wish you all the opportunity to use your MGs in the same way. What a thrill!

Gordon Lawson posted the inspiration for this entry on his BBS post today (1/1/2008) inviting us to send him photos of ourselves driving our TDs either last night or today. That wasn't possible for me, but I thought it would be fun to have a historical snapshot of some of my cars as of this milestone day. "Iris", the Farina Mk IV will not remain outside for long. I just moved "TeDdy" from the carport to the workshop, and with a little organization, I hope to get "Cecil" (our C/GT) out there too. That will leave lots of space for "Iris" on the carport.

By the way, I should explain that we named "Iris" for what we perceived to be her color when we got her. ' Turns out her color is actually smoke grey, not iris blue. ' Guess we should have renamed her "Smokey", but "Iris" has stuck - so "Iris" it is.

I had hoped to have "Geraldine" ready for campaigning this coming summer, but as you can see, I may not make it!

Happy New Year, everybody!

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The main problem in converting a Z Magnette (ZA or Z from its original 1500 engine to a five-main 1800 is attachment of the Magnette 1500 oil pick-up brackets. The five-main 1800 not only lacks the attachment holes, it lacks the casting surface in which they were originally drilled in the original engines.

I solved this problem with a conversion plate which sandwiches between the block and the sump. It provides mounting surfaces for the oil pick-up brackets, while adding 1/4" to the depth of the sump, solving clearance problems with the MGB five-main oil pump.