Geoffrey Gallaway wrote:
>I've heard that my 70 MGB GT will not be fun to drive in the rain. Can
>someone expound/explain?
When I purchased my '72 B-GT, it was located in Rochester, NY; I was
living in England, and I needed the car to be in Cleveland, OH for the
short time that I would have to get it titled and registered before
starting my summer work in Massachusetts. I found a student couple who
were split between Rochester and Cleveland, and who needed one-way
transport towards Cleveland.
They did not have fun driving an MGB-GT in the rain.
First off, the car would not start when they went to pick it up. It is no
fun to jump start a car in a downpour, and they had to find someone to
help re-start it every time they stopped to switch drivers. (don't ask me
why they didn't leave it running with the brake on, I don't know.)
Secondly, there was a leak that made the passenger very wet. It turns out
that the drain tube from the heater air-intake well was clogged, so all
of that water was finding the path of least resistance, down onto the
passenger's legs.
Thirdly, all of that water had to go somewhere, so it collected on the
floor behind the passenger seat. Just where my couple had chosen to place
their sweaters and other miscellaneous soft absorbent stuff....
Fourthly, when a leaf got stuck under the left windscreen wiper, the
driver reached out to try to clear it (while at speed on the New York
Thruway) and managed to clear both the leaf and the wiper blade. Thus
they were"forced" to complete the journey with BOTH the need to lean way
to the right so see out of the passenger side window AND put up with the
"scree scree scree" sound of the arm on the glass. (Again, I don't know
why they didn't (a) lift the arm so that it didn't scrape (b) stop and
buy a new blade -- GT size blades aren't that hard to find, or (c) use
one of the two new chrome wiper blades that were in the car already --
sitting in the hatch area.
Anyway, while this particular couple had an awful time, most of the
problems were related to the state of the car and exacerbated by their
lack of rapport with mechanical objects. (yes, Virginia, water will pool
at the lowest point...) My own experience much different.
Handling: No problem whatsoever, assuming that the tires have decent
tread.
Visibility: Great, except modern cars have a faster wiper speed, and
defogging on modern air-conditioned cars is far superior to the MG's.
I find that the vent windows are important for defogging, but then I also
get a bit of spray...
Comfort: Hmmm... The transmission tunnel gets rather warm, but one really
starts to notice it on a hot day with the windows all closed. The rear
vent windows can be left open and will not let water into the car, as
long as you don't stop. The foot level air vent tends to splash water
onto your feet.
Douglas McKinnie
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