Time for another meeting, being the first Saturday of the month. Glorious weather brought out a bunch of cars–”European” in the “club” name is a suggestion only!
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Seeing as tomorrow is the monthly Whidbey get-together, and it’s going to be a nice day, I went and got the MGB out of storage and stuck the Miata in for a day or so. The fuel pump on the MGB is sticky, so it took awhile to get it going. I’ll put a new pump on later this year. (Famous last words!)

In one of those fortunate coincidences, a gentleman up in Anacortes was offering a set of good wire wheels with nearly new tires to fit an MGB on craigslist for $200, and since I desperately needed tires, I emailed as soon as I saw the ad. Fortunately, I was the first to be able to get to his house–the GT now has new boots.
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Time to put the stuff that corrodes easily away for the winter. A shot of the 1963 MGB last month, before I finally got around to mowing the field!

My friend Jeff was kind enough to donate a period license plate frame from Seattle BMC, the local MG dealer when this car was new. It is now mounted on Reg the 1963 MGB, as you can see. It adds a nice period touch–even if my car was sold new in San Diego.

I removed the license plate mount assembly to make the job easier, and it seems that when this car was last painted (cheaply in Tijuana, Mexico, in 1973–no kidding) they didn’t remove the plate; it’s still the factory color back there! This is two philips-head screws, mind. When I finally get around to the bodywork, I’ll be repainting the car its original Old English White, which is much mellower and “of the time” than the appliance white that’s on there now.

Note the lichen collection. We have a pair of robins who have been trying to build a nest on the pillar for the carport–it falls down every day, and every day they try again. It’s been more than a month now…the insult “bird brain” has its genesis with creatures like this!

Took the ‘63 MGB out today for a spin. Not much more to say other than a good early MGB is a great car to drive, and a great way to get into ye olde British cars if you haven’t already.

The ‘63 MGB has yet another dead 6-volt battery, the third in six years. I think for drivability’s sake I’m going to put in a single twelve volt. I’ll considering going back to twin sixes when I get around to restoring the car. In the meantime, I have no desire to spend $100 for another sixer that will only last two or three years.

This is what a carport should look like. Reggie, Fireball, and Fergie. Old Yeller sits outside, knowing that come winter he will take the place of the two fair-weather machines. Or something like that, anyway. Bike is running OK, though the blasted carb is really a piece of junk. Time to try a different one, me thinks.

Just a photo of reggie taken today. Slightly overcast and temperature a bit cool for summer–summer 2005 summed up right there!

I drove the MGB down to Bellevue today to take a gander at the All British Field Meet. I think this year is the 16th (!) which I’m astonished at as I helped put together the first one in 1989. I saw a number of neat cars and got a halfway decent sunburn. However, this show is the least interesting, somehow, of the “big three” here in the northwest, especially as it’s on tarmac and it can get quite hot out…not to mention it’s awfully darn crowded anywhere in the greater Seattle area these days, which makes getting there not all that much fun.

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