Your story about spokes reminded me of something. Like you, I had a set of crappy, creeking old spokes on my MGA and decided to buy a new set since they were on sale for $38 each. Now they run $125+ each. But that was April 1978. I just looked it up. I have been driving the same spoke wheels ever since. That's 26 years. And, the amazing thing is I have never re-tuned or re-tightened them. Not once. And they are still perfect - every one. The secret is I thought I would try something different. I had never heard of anyone doing it but I thought it might be worth a try. I siliconed the nipples at both ends of the spokes before mounting the tires and putting them on the hub. I didn't know if it would throw the balance off or if it would break up after tens of thousands of miles but it seemed like a good idea at the time. It worked! I have no shimmy at any speed up to 100+.

ok guys...i'm gonna eat my words on this but i just got a early 1500 mga coupe' today.....it runs and i drove it home.....this weekend i will know more just what i have gotten into.....it has original paint and a patina that is unbelivable ....what have i done....:rolleyes:

[QUOTE]Originally posted by dbw
ok guys...i'm gonna eat my words on this but i just got a early 1500 mga coupe' today....

I feel sorry for you and envy you at the same time. Mostly envy. Good luck with it. Enjoy.

:thumbup: Post some pics!

Only British sports car purchased new was a 1968 MG Midget. It was that or the Spitfire. Liked the looks of the MG better.

I think I spent more time trying to sync the twin SNU side draft carbs than driving the car

A Treatise on the Importance of Smoke by Joseph Lucas.

All electrical components and wiring harnesses depend on proper circuit
functioning, which is the transmission of charged ions by retention of the
visible spectral manifestation known as "smoke", sometime known as "magic
smoke". This is a fact.

Smoke is the thing that makes electrical circuits work. Don't be fooled by
scientists and engineers talking about excited electrons and the like. Smoke
is the key to all things electrical We know this to be true because every
time one lets the smoke out of an electrical circuit, it stops working. This
can be verified repeatedly through empirical testing.

For example, if one places a large copper bar across the terminals of a
battery, prodigious quantities of smoke are liberated and the battery
shortly ceases to function. In addition, if one observes smoke escaping from
an electrical component such as a Lucas voltage regulator, it will also be
observed that the component no longer functions.

The logic is elementary and inescapable! The function of the wiring harness
is to conduct the smoke from one device to another. When the wiring harness
springs a leak and lets all the smoke out of the system, nothing works right
afterward.

Starter motors were considered unsuitable for British motorcycles for some
time largely because they regularly released large quantities of smoke from
the electrical system.

It has been reported that Lucas electrical components are possibly more
prone to electrical leakage than their Bosch or Japanese counterparts.

Experts point out that this is because Lucas is British, and all things
British leak. British engines leak oil, British shock absorbers, hydraulic
forks, and disk brake systems leak fluid, British tyres leak air and British
Intelligence leaks national defence secrets. Therefore, it follows that
British electrical systems must leak smoke. Once again, the logic is clear
and inescapable.

Sometimes you may miss the component releasing the smoke that makes your
electrical system function correctly, but if you sniff around you can often
find the faulty component by the undeniable and tell tale smoke smell.
Sometimes this is a better indicator than standard electrical tests
performed with a volt/ohm meter.

In conclusion, the basic concept of transmission of electrical energy in the
form of smoke provides a clear and logical explanation of the mysteries of
electrical components and why they fail.

-----

"A gentleman does not motor about after dark." - Joseph Lucas, 1842-1903

i actually believe that if you unplug something from a wall socket that the electricity will leak out those two slots.....