Have you put your MG away for the winter yet?
Time goes so fast, it seems like only last month that I put fresh antifreeze in my MG for last winter ! Whether you drive your MG thru the winter or not you should always put fresh anti-freeze in ! I drive my MG all year round, but then it is one of those modern ( 89 vintage ) tin top MG Maestro's, all credit to those of you that drive a rag-top thru our British winters.

Here is a list of Pre Winter Checks!
Don't Delay do them today !!

• Check your Battery for condition.
• Check the plugs, points, ignition leads & the distributor cap
• Have you changed the oil & oil filter recently ?
• Make sure your wipers are in good working order, new wiper blades perhaps!
• Check your lights ! See and be seen !
• Yet some fresh anti-freeze in your radiator.
• Are your tyres legal? Uneven wear may suggest that your tracking needs to be checked!

I learned recently of the attemps by The Rover Group to clamp down on the mis'use of the letters MG and the Octagon Logo. Ok it is fair to a pay licence fee for a trademark, but Rover have been very ruthless and have been demanding sums from 300 UK Pounds upwards. It seems that any referece to the letters M&G (appearing in that order) could be taken by a car buyer to mean that you might be selling MGF's.( MG and M.G.are registered trademarks of the Rover Group ) There is a network of bona fide dealers, displaying that distictive new MG logo,where you can buy a new MGF, but Rover have forgotten though that there are two sides to this story
.If you were to drive past Marshalls, the MG dealer for Cambridge, in your 1959 MGA, and saw that bright new MG sign, you might be fooled into thinking that's just the place to get the 'A' serviced ! Fat chance, they would't know where to start!
Perhaps it would be interesting to see what the Trading Standards Office made of it !
Again in Cambridge we have companies called MG Scaffolding & MG Computers, will business's, and others like them, be liable to prosecution for using Rovers trademark MG?

Have a look thru your Enjoying MG Magazine or any other MG club magazine, and see how many Classic 'MG' Specialists have stoped using the Octagon logo, many don't even mention that they deal in MG's. How on earth are they supposed tell us, the consumer that they can offer a service, if they have the way they advertise resticted. I think over the coming months you will see a lot of fuss over Rover demanding money from the small specialist garage, who after all have kept our beloved cars on the road. You have to remember BL soon dropped the MG marque when it suited them, and now to stop MG specialists advertising the fact seems totally unfair !

Editors note:
In the November issue of MG Enthusiast Magazine there is a reply from a Mr. Cooper, Head of Trademarks, The Rover Group, in defense of their policy.
The views expressed in the editorial are my own and mine alone and in no way reflect the policy or views of The Cambridge & District MG Owners Club.
Do you have any views on this topic or any other? Then write to me Editor

In my experiece my MGB ( 1974 MGB GT ) prefers a higer octane rating in the petrol to prevent run on and pinking. I have often had trouble with 'cheap' supermarket petrol causing my 'B' to miss fire and stutter while running, especially on tick over. With the more expensive petrol this problem disappears.
I normally run my 'B' on four star and given the chance I run it on a mixture of 4 star and super unleaded. My reasons for this are:

1......Octane rating for Four star is 97, Super unleaded is 98
This mixture raises the overall octane rating (if only very slightly) of petrol in the tank and it does seem to promote 'smoother' running.

2......The levels of lead present in four star petrol is actually four times greater than it need be. So unleaded petrol can be added to make up 25 percent of the total volume, without any risk of causing damage. The 'B' series engine was originally desinged on 5 Star petrol (101 octane) which you can see had the octane of 'rocket fuel'. So by mixing the fuel I have raised the octane level to nearer the desingners original specifications.

So to summarise, I have found this to:

1. Improve performance
2. Smoother running at low revs
3. Slightly less lead in the environment
4. Helps to prevent run on when engine is switched off
5. Helps to prevent pinking when the engine is under load

There is on the market some 'low lead' four star fuel. I try to stay away from this, as I am not convinced that there is enough available lead content to do the job of lubrication, in the valve seats , where it is needed.
I have been running my 'B' for about 18 months using this mixture, so far I have had no problems.This amounts to a milage of about 24K miles. It does seems to work!

Jonathon Cowper - Cambridge & District MGOC

Editors note:
The above has already provoked some discussion elsewhere, a debate was held on the 'Octane Rating' of petrol, and it was obvious that there is some confusion. The figures quoted in the above text are belived to be correct, but if you know otherwise then let us know.Editor

How quickly the months pass!. It seems only days ago that I wrote to Kelvin.
This is a quieter time of year for activities and thus less for me to comment upon.It was unfortunate that our plans for the ten pin bowling had to be postponed. We will try again in the near future. Thankyou for your efforts Nigel.

Thankyou also to Jacqui and John Deakin for offering us an alternative for the 21 Oct. It was a very pleasant evening. Somthing about "Dead Poets" comes to mind! Contrary to my understanding it seems that the Landlord of the Black Horse was not in favor of a fireworks evening because of the fire risk to the thatched roof.
Lets hope we can do somthing next year.

Please don't forget we have booked a speaker for our mid November meeting.This promises to be very interesting talk. It is to be held at The Cambridge Motel, Shepreth. There is a more suitable room there and we would like to consider it as an alternative venue for our regular meetings.

Matthew will be asking for payment for the Christmas meal at our next two meetings. The Hotel have requested a substantial deposit and we would appreciate this being settled as soon as possible.

If you have any ideas for our meetings in the early months of 1997 please let me know so that your social committee can produce an interesting calendar for you.

Happy Motoring
Peter Paige
Area Secretary
(01223) 873093
Peter Paige - Area Secretary Cambridge & District MGOC


Below I have included forthcoming events from the club diary, so if you are in the area then why not drop in and see us, there will always be warm welcome here in Cambridge !
Click Here for events both National and International..