AOMC National Motoring Heritage Day – Cavalcade of Transport – Yarra Glen

On Sunday 20 May 2012, the RACV and the Association of Motoring Clubs (Victoria) hosted the Cavalcade of Transport at Yarra Glen, about an hour north-east of central Melbourne.

The event was smaller and more relaxed than the Classic Showcase at Flemington a month earlier. The cars were not carefully sorted, but most owners did tend to park in informal marque-based groups. There was a huge variety of vehicles, ranging from a large collection of vintage cars through to a modern Elfin. There was even an extraordinary eight cylinder rear-engined Tatra. Less unusually, there was a fine collection of Jaguars and a nice collection of Porsche 356s including a charming unrestored car in faded red.

Favourites included a spectacular, indeed perfect, silver Gullwing Mercedes Benz 300SL owned by a nice man called Patrick. Other rarities include a Daimler Limousine formerly owned by the Governor of Tasmania. This large car managed to transport a fair sized picnic party to the event. Meanwhile, a very nice pre-war Alvis with cycle guards looked just the part in green. There was a splendid pale blue XK120 Jaguar that took its owners 20 years to restore. Other gems included a pre-war Bentley, some very nice pre-war Lancias and even a Borgward Isabella.

The MG Club had an event at Rob Roy on the same day, so my 1961 MGA 1600 roadster was the only “A” at Yarra Glen. It was joined by a handful of MGBs and an MGTC “cream cracker” replica racer.

At the end of a long and enjoyable day looking at the cars and talking to owners, we headed towards Melbourne in the MGA. The car was running nicely enough and a quick trip was anticipated. The roof was down and the extractor-led exhaust pipe was emitting a healthy burble. Then, on a straight and level section of road, the car suddenly coughed and stalled. I coasted to the verge and popped the bonnet. Such a dramatic failure to proceed would have to be something simple, probably the coil lead having fallen off – or so I thought. At this moment, the magnificent Gullwing Mercedes Benz I had seen at the event in Yarra Glen pulled up on the verge behind me. Its kindly owner, Patrick was generously offering a hand. Acutely aware that his very precious car was barely off the road with traffic whizzing by, I assured him that the problem with the MG had to be simple and that he should continue on his way.

Needless to say, after Patrick left, I could not find the problem. The MGA would barely start and when it would splutter to life, it would run only if revved very hard. It was firing on three cylinders at best. It had enough zap in the ignition leads to give me a shock when I touched them and the amount of unburnt petrol coming out the exhaust strongly indicated that the engine was getting fuel. However, the car was still undriveable. Getting desperate, I decided to remove the electronic ignition distributor that I had recently installed and replace it with the old points distributor that I had thrown into the boot before setting off. Even with the return to old-fashioned points, there was no improvement.

Then a pair of very nicely presented early Minis pulled up and the MGA was promptly surrounded by a team of helpful people who knew all about these simple English engines. I think the group came from the All British Classics Car Club and I am very grateful for their help. However, even these experts could not get the MG going. By now, the spark plugs were certainly dripping with fuel and, stupidly, I had no plug spanner to remove them.

Defeated, I organised a tow through RACV Total Care. Consequently, as darkness arrived, so did Ben Wohlgehagen from Yarra Junction Towing. With good humour and all possible care for the MG and its tired passengers, Ben winched the little car on to his flatbed and we set out for home, 100 km away. Ben was terrific; when we arrived home, he took the time to position his tow truck carefully so that I could roll the stricken MGA straight off the truck and into the shed without so much as pushing it. Little things like that make a big difference when you are tired and cold.

When I got time to work on the car a few days later, it became clear that it was running enormously rich, but that the electricals were fine. The rear two plugs were black and soaked in fuel. As I began to remove the carburettors, the source of the problem finally became clear. One of the bolts holding the rear “pancake” air filter (the MGA runs a pair of SU carbies) had dropped out. Consequently, the filter had pivoted slightly on the remaining bolt and blocked the small air intake holes next to the carby throat. Unrestricted airflow through these holes is required if an SU carby is to operate. The rear cylinders were getting fuel, but almost no air. The carbies are a bit hard to get to on an MGA, the car’s tightly packed aerodynamic body pretty much hides the air cleaners. However, had I been more careful and spotted the problem when broken down on the roadside, the car would have happily driven home without a filter. The MGA can not be fairly blamed for the break down. I had fitted the offending air cleaner myself a few months earlier and I should have spotted the problem when the car stopped on the side of the road, gasping for air.

With the filter in the right place and the bolts tightened, the car ran pretty well. Nonetheless, I decided that the MG needed a proper tune using a dwell meter (the MGA is back to points for now) to get the points gap right. I also used a Gunson Carbalancer (cheaper and easier to use than my much better made Uni-Syn) to balance the twin carbs. (The Uni-Syn is harder to read when used on partly obscured carbies, but is fine for cars such as the MGTD, where carbies are perfectly accessible.) Finally, I adjusted the mixture on the MGA using a pair of colortune plugs (which I reckon is the best tuning device ever invented). I set the timing on my cars by ear and with the help of nearby hills to check for pinging. The MGA flies up the hills now.

Overall, the AOMC event at Yarra Glen was a very good event with a wide variety of interesting cars. I would certainly go again. There really is something for everyone, whether they be into heavy American cars, veterans, vintage or stylish Europeans. In addition, it was terrific that people stopped to help when we broke down. Finally our tow truck driver, Ben Wohlgehagen was a very good natured rescuer.

Another MG adventure ends well.