November 09 Newsletter

British Briefs British Car Club Midlands Centre November 2009

www.bccmc.com Editor (Briefs/Marque) Sonya S Stewart [email protected] Web Master Steve Ratcliffe [email protected] OFFICERS 2009 President – Fred DeShong 755-0368 [email protected] Vice President - Todd Smith 397-5556 [email protected] Secretary – Betty DeShong 755-0368 [email protected] Treasurer – Edith Hylton 796-0199 [email protected] Social Secretary – Mike Speer 419-4599 [email protected] Marquis Secretaries: Austin Healey – Tony Stakis 790-0393 [email protected] Jaguar – Brad Wik 345-7071 [email protected] MG – Ron Jarosz 408-0870 [email protected] Triumph – Bob Blundy 957-8566 [email protected] Sunbeam – Todd Smith (above) Other – Jocelyn Davis 699-8968 [email protected] BREAKFAST 10/03/09 We had almost 50 members and guests attending: Dave and Jeni Behning, Walt and Iris Brown, Ray Burns and Susan Kaiser, Lonnie Caughman, Dave and Jo Davis, Steve and Margaret De Groat and granddaughter Derrick Le Master, Fred and Betty DeShong, Brad Fowler, Eric and Bonnie Gibeaut and Kristen Frosch and Gavin Rondeau, Rick and Cookie Hallman, Forest and Cheryl Haynes, Heath Honeycutt, Ron and Jerri Jarosz, Jeff and Pam Jones, Hal Kievlan and Gail Bragg, Ron Kuebler, George McKown, Cecil and Connie Myers and son-in-law Tony Cox, Steve and Glenda Noble, Chris and Brenda Powell, Lewis and Lois Rodgers, Pat Stakis, Sonya Stewart, Eric and Ross Szendrei, Vance and Robin Young. There were three other guests: Rick Gunter with a 1974 Austin Mini and his grandson Joshua Gantt and Clyde Frasier with an Austin Healey Sprite. Regular members that were missing and accounted for were Tony Stakis (in Greece), Wally Stewart (in Chattanooga), Mike and Marcie Speer (on a cruise) and Charley and Edith Hylton (on a bus in Colorado). Steve Ratcliffe (in Washington DC) and Madell Dobrushin (in Pittsburgh, Pa.). 1

Parade of Cars IGNITION TIMING IN OUR CARS After a piston in the TR7 Spider disintegrated, an event that was likely the result of detonation, I decided that it might be prudent to do some homework on the issue of ignition timing before the engine ran again. After some initial reading and talking around the subject of ignition timing, the best advice came from Jim Honeycutt of Honeycutt Machine, who repaired the head and the block - “There’s a lot of b.s. out there about timing.” And was he right. So I decided to dig deeper, and here is a synopsis of what I found out. Most of us already know this stuff, but anyway first with some basics. The combustion process in the cylinders of an internal combustion engine takes place at a fairly constant rate. However as engine rpms increase, the ignition spark has to occur earlier and earlier in the combustion stroke so that the pressure wave generated by the combustion process can keep up with the piston as it travels down the bore. This is known as ignition advance and is controlled by the distributor. If the spark doesn’t occur at the optimum time, the result can be loss of power along with poor idling, misfiring at higher rpms and other maladies. If the spark occurs seriously too early, then the result is detonation or ‘pinking’ which destroyed my piston rings. The basic problem in older cars is that the formulation of gasoline has changed drastically since many of our cars were built. The tetra ethyl lead in the old leaded gasoline did a number of things, but also acted as a flame retardant, which slowed the rate of combustion. Modern unleaded gas contains additives that increase flame speed to improve emissions. The net result is that less ignition advance is required with modern gas than with the original leaded gas. In our engines, the spark is initiated by the distributor which also controls the rate of spark advance over the rpm range. Ignition advance is controlled by the distributor in two ways. There is a certain amount of initial, or static, ignition advance which is set at an idle speed typically around 800 rpm and is usually around 10o before top dead center (BTDC) on the combustion stroke of a four cycle engine. This is easily adjustable by manually rotating the distributor. Then there is the centrifugal advance mechanism inside the distributor 2

which gradually advances the spark advance by an additional 20o or 30o BTDC as the rpms increase by a mechanical mechanism that consists of springs and weights. The amount of mechanical advance was originally determined by the manufacturer by trial-and-error to give the optimum performance for the gasoline that was available at the time, and is not easily adjustable. In addition, there is usually a vacuum canister on most distributors which advances the spark an additional 10o or so, and is purely an economy device for highway cruising conditions. The distributors in our cars can therefore have too much mechanical ignition advance for modern gasoline which can cause pinking. There is also the age factor, where after 30 or 40 years of abuse, the springs have become tired and stretch out prematurely as the engine revs up and compound the excessive ignition advance problem. Now for reality. The problem is not as bad as it sounds and only certain engines may be susceptible. The distributor manufacturers typically set a very conservative advance rate to avoid possible damage under any possible operating conditions. Also in the 1970's, the car manufacturers battled emission regulations by a multitude of techniques including lowering compression ratios and reducing timing advance curves which alleviates the situation. To summarize then, if you have a standard 1970s medium performance car that was designed for unleaded gas, such as an MGB or a TR6, it’s almost certainly OK, unless you are experiencing pinking problems in the middle rpm range. However if you have a 1960s or earlier high performance engine e.g. MGA twin cam or Lotus twin cam, that was intended for unleaded gas, or a tweaked later engine with a high lift cam, raised compression ratio, exhaust headers etc, then you might want to look into having the distributor re-curved to suit modern gas. There are a number of shops out there that will do this. To get back to the TR7 Spider timing, the Sprint engine was an early 1970s engine designed for leaded gas, then in use in Europe, so clearly some distributor mods were in order. At the same time Brad Wik was experiencing some intransigent issues with his MGC (poor idle, high speed misfires and mid range pinking, even on 93 octane gas). Some research indicated that the MGC had been sold by the factory with an incorrect distributor which had been the subject of a recall in England, but the notice had probably not made it out to the Colonies. Both distributors were modified to reduce the total mechanical ignition advance and the advance rate curve. The Spider’s total mechanical advance was reduced by about 20% and the MGCs by a staggering 35%. The result has made a large contribution to improving the drivability both cars. Bob Blundy SONIC October 8th was a beautiful evening for British Cars and friends: Hal & Barb Ewing and grandson Layton, Chris & Brenda Powell, Steve & Margaret DeGroat, Charley & Edith Hylton, Walt & Iris Brown, Tom & Diane Caine, Tony & Pat Stakis, Ray Burns & Susan Kaiser, Sonya Stewart and Fred & Betty DeShong

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Sonic October 8, 2009 MEMBER UPDATES Jim Smith has suffered a heart attack and is in CCU at Baptist hospital. Let's keep Jim and his family in our thoughts and prayers. Also, Charley Hylton has experienced some vision problems. Let's add him to our list and hope it is nothing serious. 10/19 – Jim is doing better. WELCOME AND CHEERIO Welcome to Gary and Tecey Johnson and their new 1970 MGB. They live in West Columbia. AUTUMN IN THE MOUNTAINS Yes, we knew it was going to be a real rainy day, but we had already preregistered. It started drizzling when we got close to Spartanburg. Then, when we got to Jackson Park, it was raining pretty hard, ours was the only rubber bumper MG and altogether there were only 33 cars, one of them being a Sunbeam Tiger, British Racing Green. There was also a great looking silver Jensen. 44 cars had preregistered. Just as the show came to an early finish, it poured cats and dogs before they could give the awards out, so they will send them in the mail. Yes, we got a little wet but it's all in the day of being a diehard car enthusiast. Then to finish off the day we met up with Eric and Bonnie and kids for a nice meal at a German and Italian restaurant. Jocelyn and Dave Davis. (Eric and Bonnie were there too.) THE SAME WEEKEND The Hiawassee Car Show in northern Georgia was the same weekend as Hendersonville. Chris and Brenda and Steve and Margaret attended. They reported that the rain stopped just before show time and it was a beautiful afternoon.

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OCTOBER CAR SHOWS There were three major shows in October. The first one was EURO 2009, October 17. It’s at the BMW plant in Greer. Most of us do this as a day trip. See the article under “Activities” on the BCCMC web site. The weekend after that was British Car Day in Charleston, October 24. This is one of our favorite shows. We usually win the best club representation award. Wish you were here! Had a beautiful day for a car show and lots of "lookers", but the show wasn't well attended and had about 107 cars. A lot of folks stayed home -- 7 cars from our club alone.

But, BCCMC won best turnout anyway. We had Tom Crane win 1st in the GTs, Walter & Iris Brown won 4th in Chrome bumpers and that's it! Steve Ratcliffe

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BCCMC Cars at the Charleston Show 2009 The last October show was Halloween at the Battleship North Carolina in Wilmington. This is another good show and weekend away. This one isn’t a day trip. A FEW OTHER CBC III SHOW THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS The responses were positive. It only cost us $60 ($30 for each shelter) to use the park area. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING We will meet at the Flight Deck in Lexington (where US 378 and US 1 meet) on November 21 for the Annual General Meeting (AGM). The time is 7:00. Be there! New officers will be elected. Fred needs to know if you want to become an officer or nominate someone else (with that person’s permission). Ballots will be ready before the meeting. SLATE OF CANDIDATES Vice President is open. Fred, Betty and Edith will serve another term. Nominations from the floor are accepted for all offices. Marque Secretaries are appointed. Mike Speer is 6

retiring as Social Secretary. This position is also appointed. CHRISTMAS PARTY Mark your calendar for December 5. The location is Rawls Creek Country Club (formerly Coldstream) in Irmo. All catering will be done by folks at the Club. There will be a cash bar, with happy hour prices. Fred wasn’t sure about desserts. There may be a minimum charge to attend. MGB REMINDER Ron Jarosz, current MG Marque Secretary, reminded us to join the NAMGBR registry to ensure that we have our $1,000,000 insurance policy. This insurance enables us to have car shows. FOR SALE Hal Kievlan has shelving for sale. It is 2’ x 3’ x 70” high. It’s great for garage or storage room. 2009 CAR SHOWS AND EVENTS November 7 – Gather at about 8:30 - 9:00 breakfast at Ryan’s on Two Notch November 10 – 6:30 Board Meeting November21 – 7:00 AGM (new officers elected), Flight Deck in Lexington December 5 – Christmas Party - Rawls Creek Country Club in Irmo December 8 – 6:30 Board Meeting 2010 January 2 – 9:00 Breakfast Bower Pkwy January 12 – 6:30 Board meeting January – Quarterly dinner February 6 – 9:00 Breakfast Bower Pkwy February 9 - 6:30 Board meeting March 6 – 9:00 Breakfast Bower Pkwy March 9 - 6:30 Board meeting

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