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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - MG 2004 - The Road to Parsippany

Greetings!

After prepping the MGC (replacing a differential gasket and refilling it with Lucas 85-140 Hypoid..which I can now vouch for as a FANTASTIC product!..and of course a general cleaning) on Tuesday, Jean and I were ready for the "Road to Parsippany" on Wednesday morning!

My buddy and fellow Spuriite, Pete Mantell of Sidney, IL, arrived at the Chateau Ingram at 6:45am in his 1969 MGB V8 conversion (Ford 302)....and we were left for points east at about 7:10am...Both cars ran splendidly as we drove east towards Indianapolis on I-74, transferred over to I-70, and headed toward Columbus.

The weather was GREAT today with temps in the mid-70's (F)...which both Pete and I were thankful for as neither of our MGs like hot weather.

Typical "NASCAR fuel and goes" were the order of the day for "pit stops"...we stopped east of Indy for our first re-fuelling; our second re-fuelling was made on I-71 just north of Columbus.

Lady Luck was with us most of the way as we encountered virtually NO construction! through Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio on I-74, I-70, I-71, I-76, and I-80! Our luck left us temporarily as soon as we entered Pennsylvania on I-80 and we slowed to a 5mph crawl and watched the temperature gauges creep towards HOT.....but we both lucked out and neither of us experienced overheating (a HUGE difference from my past experiences while driving the MGC to Vancouver, and to Dallas!)

We made a third fuel stop just inside the Pennsylvania border (and after the construction) and then made our way to our first "official" stop of the day....Danville, PA and the Days Inn. We checked into the hotel and immediately inquired about the whereabouts of some good "pub food"....and were sent to BJ's Steakhouse....a GREAT choice!

While at BJ's we recapped the days events....a 1969 MGB V8 and a 1969 MGC both ran flawlessly during 10 hours and speeds that generally hit 75mph. Both Pete and I got ran off of the road (once each)...we passed a distributor dear to our hearts (Summit Racing in Ohio)...for the first time on a road trip we were UNABLE to find a Hooters Restaurant....I have not seen so many "left lane bandits" on the road for a long time!

We head out on Thursday morning about 7am to continue our "Road to Parsippany" adventure...the second leg should only be about 120 miles! (Kind of reminds me of the trek Jean and I took toMG '95 at Lake Tahoe with Rob Weatherall, Mike Satur, Ian Pender, and Scott Williams....at which we had two very long days of driving and a third day from Reno to Tahoe in about an hour or so!)

I'll keep you posted on the activities on MG 2004....and our adventures throughout!

Cheers!

rick ingram
St.Joseph, IL USA
1969 MGC #6165
rick ingram

Hey Rick,

Thanks for the road report. Hope you & Pete have a great time!

See ya in Michigan.
Carl

We have a good showing of V8 conversions here at MG 2004...

Mike Cook brought Silver Lady up from Atlanta, there are at least 6 other conversions in the parking lot tonight, with a couple more expected tomorrow!

Those of you who are "sitting on the fence" about coming to Parsippany should stop stewing and drive over! You will have a GREAT time!

Cheers!

rick
rick ingram

Greetings!

Day two of our adventure began with the short drive from Danville, PA to Parsippany, NJ via
I-80. Although we got started later than our planned departure time of 7am, the trek went fairly smooth...for about 15 miles. We then hit construction that reduced traffic to one lane, with cars jockeying for position...not at all fun. Pete and I got into the open lane and managed to coast along at speeds between 10mph and 45mph, which allowed the MGs to run at normal temperatures (thanks again, Gods of Construction!).

We rolled into the Hilton parking lot about 10:30am and found many MGs sans owners...as the day trip to New York City had already left the property. We found the registration room and picked up our packets; visited with some of the numerous vendors set up inside the hotel; and got checked into our room. (Why hotel cannot honour their original obligations of room requests is beyond me...we were told first that our room was not ready...then that our room was ready, but not the type we had requested over a year ago...then, by golly there is a room available that met our requirements! GEEZ!)

I worked the NAMGBR table from noon until 3pm, then headed out to the parking lot to mingle with those enthusiasts that were arriving from various parts of the country. Georgia, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Ontario, Indiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and Illininois to name a few states that were represented. Most of the MGs were Bs..a few Midgets, one TD, a new Jaguar and a new Mini...

Supper involved a short road trip to "Arthur's", where we found the home of the 24 ounce, $19 steak....GREAT and FILLING! A trip to the "Bottle King" for some potables (Boddingtons and Bass were the ales of choice) and it was back to the Hilton parking lot to swap tales. We called it a nite about midnight in order to catch some shut-eye and get prepared for Friday's activities. Tech sessions, gimmick rallyes, a funkana, a picnic, and a parking lot party with DJ is on the docket for today.

I anticipate the arrival of more "local" enthusiasts today before the car display on Saturday.

Off to the tech sessions....more later!

rick ingram
1969 MGC
rick ingram

Rick, I envy you. I think I would like to do a cross country trip in a B From Ca. to the East.

Treat my friend Kelvin Dodd good, I think he will be departing tomorrow. (flying)
Bill Guzman

Rick,
The saga of the "Road to Parsippany" was told with excitement and enthusiasm and captivated the audience but the "Return from Parsippany" was noticeably quiet - could it be that the writer overextended his welcome at the "Bottle King"?
Graham
Graham Creswick

Amy Sue and I arrived at the Hotel at 12:30 PM Friday and enjoyed several hours of bench racing in the lot with several other V8 owners. We decided to leave for the picnic at about 2:00 PM. After trying (without success) to find Morris Park and getting stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic for about 45 minutes I decided to pull over and let the MGB V8 cool down.

She wouldn't start again when I tried later and after awhile it was diagnosed that I fried the ignition relay and wasn't getting any juice.

Thanks to all that stopped to lend assistance but a flat bed was needed to get The MGB V8, Amy Sue and myself home Friday night. Couldn't get another relay locally so had to order it (ordered two) through Moss on the net that is why I never made it to the car show on Saturday.

It was a great turn out with many many many beautiful MG's. We were #303. I was glad to be a part of it if only for Friday in the hotel parking lot.
PS the car ran great on the way there.
Michael S. Domanowski

Well, my last post was late Thursday nite...and many things have happened! I had computer ills at MG 2003 when my laptop crashed....this year, the Hilton at Parsippany decided to "upgrade" the internet connection in my room, and I could no longer connect! So, I've waited until my return to St.Joseph to complete my diatribe....

FRIDAY - A day scheduled for tech sessions, a rallye, a picnic, and a parking lot party with disc jockey...alas, Mother Nature chose to provide a natural car wash and sent buckets of rain to the Parsippany area. This did not effect to tech sessions, as they were held indoors, but the picnic and parking lot party were held in the company of umbrellas and rain gear! This did NOT dampen the spirits of participants, though! (My group chose to "appropriate" one of the large patio umbrellas near the swimming pool and used it to extend our little awning that extended into the courtyard so that we could enjoy some Bass in relatively dry comfort....I learned that much the same concept was being used out in the parking lot by enthusiasts who had brought small canopys with them! We MGers are a hardy bunch!

SATURDAY - Show day! The skies had cleared and show day was perfect (in my opinion). The show site was held at a park only a few miles from the Hilton (however I doubt if I will EVER master the now infamous New Jersey "jug handles" in their road system!) Jean ad I parked the MGC in its appropriate area ("other MGs and variants") and I took my Concours gear to the front of the field where these fine examples of the mark would be located. I was pleased to find ten MGs entered into competition! (all MGB tourers or GTs...no Midgets, 1100's or 1300's). My team of six judges (David Collier, George Carasquillo, Pete Mantel, Butch O'Connor, Nick Pappas, and Carl French) scrutinized each MG on originality and condition. The popular vote car display, as well as a good choice of vendors, was available for all to enjoy just behind the Concours field. The show was open from about 9am to 3pm and about 240 MGs (and a few other British cars such as Morgan and Morris Minor) were on display. I met up with at least a half dozen other MGC owners; there were nearly a dozen V8 MGBs on the field (including two factory V8s).

Saturday evening was the awards banquet, held at a very fine facility that offered good food (especially for banquet food!) and good service! (Kudos on this choice of venue, in my opinion). The awards presentation for popular vote was conducted (the MGC took a third place in its class), a Powerpoint presentation for MG 2005 in Olympia, Washington was given to the audience (this is a definite MUST for a road trip!), I announced the Concours winners .... Top Point MG went to the 1964 Iris Blue MGB Tourer of Paul Hanley. The NAMGBR Executive then announced the recipient of the " John Thornley 'Spirit of MG' Award".....I was literally speechless when my name was announced. (This is a travelling award of a Dennis Wharf print that presented to NAMGBR by the MG Car Club UK during the first all-Register meet (MG International - Indy '96) at the IMS track). I am still rather dazed as I write this post! The "Best of Show" award went to Paul Hanley for his 1964 MGB; the President's Award went to Larry Henle of Minnesota. After the awards program, we returned to the Hilton (via circuitous jug-handle routes that actually took us a couple of miles out of our way!) to the Hilton for more beverage and tales in the parking lot. We called it an evening about midnight as the return home to Illinois was planned to begin about 7am local time.

SUNDAY....We were on the road at 7:05am after packing the MGC (everything fit except the cardboard box that the Thornley Award came packed in!) and were pleased to find very little traffic on I-80, as well as literally no slow-downs in the dreaded construction zones! This continued as Pete and I cruised at speeds between 73mph and 77mph along I-80, I-76, I-71, I-70, and finally I-74. The MGC performed better than she ever had with absolutely NO overheating (I even left the grille intact this trip...but I think the fact that the ambient temperature stayed in the mid-70s helped here as well!) and the gas mileage improved over previous road trips. Jean and I arrived home (after a short stop at the Pink House in Ogden, IL for a burger and a couple of beers) in about 13-1/2 hours total drive time.

MG 2004 was a fun time; the road trip was great; I look forward to next year in Olympia, Washington!

Signing of with regards...

rick ingram
1969 MGC #6165
rick ingram

This thread was discussed between 24/06/2004 and 28/06/2004

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