Optimum Opti-Coat Review - Water Beading after 5 months.

Just uploaded a video showing the water beading of Opti-Coat after 5 months. No special maintenance carried out other than washing with ONR on a regular basis.

The original post on the Opti-Coat can be found here:

http://prodetailing.blogspot.com/2010/05/optimum-opti-coat-review.html

The results are quite impressive considering it has been 5 months without anything being applied to it.

Soot - I Probably Should Have Called a Chimney Sweep

My ailing MGB has been given a fall tonic and seems to be in rude health once again.

The old girl refused to run when I planned to load grandson #2 into the passenger seat for his maiden trip in an MG. The car began to run on two cylinders and then died, never to to restart.

I've had spark plug issues and installed a PerTronix ignition system, but I can't seem to keep it running reliably. Pulling the spark plugs showed that the back two were sooted up. The front two looked fine. I cleaned and re-installed them and it wanted to run and it did- badly.

Richard Cunningham offered to give me a hand on Saturday and as an extra bonus, Don Pritchett came by on a secret mission for the upcoming British Car Festival. Both of them suggested that the back carb might be running rich and Richard made the adjustment. The car started and seemed to be happy. I then took it on a high speed blast on the Causeway to blow it out, as it were.

With thumbs up from the assembled experts, I met my brother Alan and his wife Debbie who were out in their '76 MGB and we went for a drive on some of the twisty roads of Baldwin County. The car ran flawlessly and I came back home feeling confident that the running problem has been solved.

If you see a yellow MGB on the road with a windshield full of smile - that's probably me.

E15 Fuels Are on the Way

By now you've probably read the stories about the effects of running 10% ethanol in our classic cars. There have been several studies that indicate that E10 will affect the rubber fuel lines, gaskets and other components that contain fuel. A leak in a fuel-containing component is not a happy thought. Neither is the idea of water dropping out of solution and creating a puddle in the bottom of the fuel tank.

The EPA has announced that gasoline with 15% ethanol will be in pumps in a matter months. This move is bound to make large farming companies (Archer Daniels Midland, for one) even larger. Political payback or farsighted energy policy - that's for you to decide.

Bet this will make your morning bowl of corn flakes more pricey, too.

Update - The nice folks over at the Hemmings blog put up a link to Pure-Gas.org - -a web site listing gas stations dispensing uncut, pure gasoline. Check out this post at Hemmings for more details.

Williams & Pritchard Body Kits

Mention 'body kits' and you likely think of the bolt-on extravagances that are seen on Asian vehicles not too far away from the scrap heap. Actually, the early days of fiberglass kits brought forth some rather interesting products from England.

Williams & Pritchard was a coachbuilding firm located in London. As with most body constructors of the day, they had extensive experience and skill in forming steel and aluminum into objects of beauty. After the second World War Len Pritchard and Charlie Williams took the expertise gained in building bodies for Bentleys, Rolls-Royces and other fine chassis and formed a partnership with an aim to build racing bodies.

The firm's early client list reads like a 'Who's Who' of car builders: Lotus, Lola, Elva, Cooper, Lister, Gordon-Keeble, to name but a few. They constructed aerodynamic cowlings for racing motorcycles and did repairs on shunted Jaguar D-Types.

W & P expanded their business by offering fiberglass body parts when that technology was still new. They discovered that fiberglass could be comparatively 'mass' produced (build one mold - make many parts) whereas aluminum required a very high degree of skill and considerable time to build. One of their earliest fiberglass kits was the Speedwell Sprite Monza bonnet, where the Bugeye bonnet was replaced with a more wind-cheating design.

During the '60s and early '70s there was a large demand for 'bolt-on' body mods in the UK. Most were hardtops for roadsters, but many were much more elaborate with entire replacement bodies on offer. It was possible to turn a dowdy Mini into something that looked like it was from another planet.

The W & P firm found a receptive audience for GT-style hardtops that covered the car from the top of the windshield back to the boot lid. These modifications were reversible but it took some time to accomplish. One of the kits on offer was for the Jaguar E-Type roadster. Your friends might have a removable hardtop, but your car could like something between a roadster and coupe. As hard as it would be to improve on the looks of the E-Type, Williams & Pritchard tried and sold many of their kits.

Does anyone besides me see a little inspiration for the Jaguar XJ-S roofline here?

There is a very complete and intriguing web site dedicated to preserving the work of this company.

Malvern Link

Everyone knows that Morgans are built by gnomes in the forests around Malvern Link. What I didn't know that the village had really outdone themselves with their signage.

I'm a sucker for Morgans - three wheels, four wheels it doesn't matter. The modern stuff coming out of the factory is pretty stunning, especially the Super Sports now that they've got that whole cross-eyed thing worked out.

It gives a new meaning to "motor city", doesn't it?

British Car Festival Charity

It's been mentioned several times here on this humble blog (and elsewhere in the official event documents) that the Ozanam Charitable Pharmacy was selected by SABCC members as the charity to receive a donation from the proceeds of British Car Festival.

The club has traditionally set a base donation amount of $5.00 per car entered. Additionally, the proceeds from the bar be que dinners and the raffle items are donated as well.

Check out the Ozanam web site and maybe send them a little something on your own.

Countdown to British Car Festival 2010

The members of South Alabama British Car Club are anxiously awaiting October 23 - the date for the 20th annual British Car Festival. If you haven't already downloaded your registration form, you can do that here.

The official lodging partner for British Car Festival is the Holiday Inn Express on Greeno Road (US Highway 98) in Fairhope. They will have easy access to a water hose so you can wash your pride and joy after enjoying the free breakfast that comes with the room.

You can make your reservations here. Be sure to mention British Car Festival.

See you at BCF2010!