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MG Car Club of South Australia
CLUB REGISTRATION NEWS From.. Geoff Goode
CLUB REGISTRATION FOR HISTORIC VEHICLES – JUST 3 DOCUMENTS
rom now onwards, Historic Vehicle owners have only three documents to worry about when log book updates or renewals are required( at the end of the Club’ s current financial year) in January and February next year. No need to present your car for reinspection or bring in a stat dec. We, the inspectors, need to see just three things: your new membership card to show you are continuing as a financial member, your blue rego papers for us to stamp to prove you are the owner of the vehicle( and that only this club issues the log book) and finally, your log book, for updating or replacement. The red printed date on the front cover shows when replacement is due, still at a cost of only $ 5. It’ s now that simple. So, in the new year, we will be available for receiving subscription fees and updating or replacing log books on Saturdays from 10am to 12 noon on the following dates: January 6, 13 and 20, and February 3, 10, 17 and 24. Please note, nobody will be at home on January 27. Normal operations resume for the remainder of the year from March to November 2018 on the 2 nd and 4 th Saturdays of each month, finishing for the year on December 1 and 8. Alternatively, you can post in a stamped self addressed envelope, log book and blue rego papers with your subscription payment and the renewal notice. Don’ t forget to include $ 5 in your payment for a new log book if your old one is about to expire.
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On MGA matters, last time I mentioned what I consider to be the optimum wheel rim and tyre selection for the MGA. Part of the reasoning behind the rim choice is due to the advantages offered by radial ply tyres, not envisaged when the MGA was conceived in 1952. This tyre design has the capacity to give significantly more grip, especially on wet roads. Soft, pliable side walls and firmer base result in a more stable tread pattern under load. This allows greater slip angles to develop before a more abrupt breakaway takes place under higher cornering loads, albeit at higher speeds than was possible with the old cross ply tyres. So some changes are advisable. Now I know many of you, but not all, are thinking I would only drive my precious MGA at moderate speeds. Well, unforeseeable circumstances leading to emergency braking or obstacle avoidance may exert forces that exceed the load carrying capacity of the original 48 spoke wire wheels. A spoke or two may break, which means a rebuild of the wheel itself to avoid it breaking apart. I have experienced broken spokes and seen fatigue cracks in these wheels, so for safety sake, I would suggest you either get rid of them or stick with cross ply tyres. Since most of us would not contemplate reverting to an inferior tyre design, might I suggest you save up for wheel replacement as an important safety measure for you and you passenger. The 72 spoke 5 inch by 15 inch wire wheels could come from the MGC and we know they should have wider rims and tyres to compensate for that heavy engine, so perhaps you may find an owner willing to update his or her car and trade the old wheels and tyres.