Twin Cam Newsletter

NEWSLETTER Colin Manley mgatcgscribe@gmail.com www.mgcc.co.uk/mga-twin-cam-group/ WELCOME TO THE TWIN CAM NEWSLETTER

You will recall that I have been appealing for some time for material from Twin Cam owners. The job of the Scribe is to collate, organise and set out the content of the newsletters; it is not the job of the Scribe to write every word of every article for every newsletter. This newsletter and our other communication, the emailed Twin-CaMGazette, are only as good as the input I get from you, the membership.

The size of this newsletter reflects the lack of material I have had from you, the considerable readership of both media types.

The fate of both these publications now rests with you……….

You can send me material at either mgatcg@outlook.com or mgatcgscribe@gmail.com

MERCHANDISE

One of the items of merchandise available from the Twin Cam Register. Press Day Pack A3 size, contains reprints of four factory photos, two launch day documents and the sales brochure

Committee member Dave Pearce has kindly taken over the handling of Merchandise from me. Please contact Dave on d.pearce@nemco.co.uk for any enquires.

The Twin Cam Group does not sell a lot of merchandise and we get no income or revenue from any MG Car Club membership fees, so every item purchased helps towards the costs that the Group incurs. If you are interested in anything, please email Dave on d.pearce@nemco.co.uk to obtain a final price for your purchase(s) as postage and packing will vary wildly depending on what you buy and the destination address.

SLAVE TO A RECURRING PROBLEM

The problem of suppliers offering incorrect length clutch slave cylinders arose again last year. The cylinders offered by the regular sources had the distance between the mounting holes and the cylinder base too great a length i.e., they were too long.

The offending item is usually originally for an Austin Healey and material must be removed from the bell housing flange or the rear end of the cylinder, or both, to enable the cylinder to sit correctly. Why on earth the two items were not originally rationalised in the 60s beggars belief because the bore and mounting centres are identical between the original Twin Cam and the Austin Healey item; nowadays this would have been subject to a value engineering exercise.

We contacted a variety of suppliers and had mixed results. Some were very helpful, others not so. The net result is that, as far as we are aware, the only product offered for sale for a Twin Cam clutch slave cylinder that fits is that available from Bastuk, in Germany, under P/No. C31 AH. (At present they are reluctant to ship outside Europe, but this may be overcome.)

The Bastuk cylinder has a dimension of circa 52mm from the mounting holes to the rear of the cylinder, whilst incorrect units usually have a dimension of circa 62mm.

This dimension for the original 313280 cylinders was 52.5mm.

The Bastuk slave cylinder

I have written to a few suppliers asking them to either delist the incorrect item for Twin Cam application or advise that fettling will be required. I am pleased to advise that Moss UK have updated their listing to explain that fettling is required.

More detail, of both the problem and the solution, has been uploaded on Barney Gaylord’s website. http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/twincam/tc220.htm

HOOD BRACKETS

A topic that was interesting on the Twin Cam io mail group was asking if anyone had seen the use of brackets to hold the stowed hood frame back so that it didn’t chafe against the back of the seats. The photos show such a bracket (but we do not have dimensional detail).

It was also pointed out that if the spare tyre is pushed far enough into the bulkhead and the spare tyre clamp used, the tyre holds the frame higher up to aid in preventing the frame chafing the seat. If anyone does make up some brackets after seeing this, please be good enough to send me a drawing with suitable dimensions etc. that I can publicise it.

Face on view of bracket Side view of bracket

THAT’S ALL FOLKS.

If you want to see some content in the December 2021 Twin-Cam Newsletter, you need to send me some material.