With our President and Vice President away on interstate trips, it was left to Ian Maud to run the show this month and as expected, the agenda was dealt with as efficiently as ever. With an attendance of about 50 members and friends seated at tables of ten, the Golf Club caterers tried a new approach to dinner – bringing plates of food to the tables from which the guests served themselves. This seemed to work well and there didn?t seem to be any shortage of food.
The display car on the green carpet was Rod Smith?s 1951 MG TD which prior to his purchase of it about four years ago from Massaro Motors in Morwell, it had been completely restored by the previous owner, Brian Patton from Traralgon. Rod?s presentation about the car included an interesting series of slides showing the MG at various stages throughout this restoration. Repairs were made to many of the panels and the dash and fuel tank were made by hand from scratch. A new steering wheel rim was made from an epoxy mix and fitted to the original hub and spokes assembly, whilst the cast exhaust manifold was painted and then baked in the kitchen oven to achieve the correct finish. There is an extra fuel gauge under the dash, but it always shows full !?
Other than the chassis, there?s nothing much of the original car left untouched. The 1250cc engine is the correct unit, but it was originally fitted to a Wolseley and the source of many other parts are unknown. The MG came with a heap of spare parts including another engine block, starter motors, generators etc.
Rod is a regular Breakfast Club participant in the MG TD which has now covered about 3000 miles since its restoration. ?It?s a fun car to drive and cruises at about 55 mph? says Rod, whose longest journey in the car so far, has been to Bairnsdale and back. The car is in immaculate condition and worthy of an inspection if you missed this opportunity at the Golf Club.
Thank you to Rod for his interesting presentation and for making his car available for our meeting.
