DURNOVARIA 1008 NEWSLETTER JULY 2016 The Essential Newsletter for the MG Owners Club Dorchester Area 1008 £5 p.a. INSIDE THIS MONTH’S NEWSLETTER * Pre-War J-Type Midgets * MG Midget - a Wolseley, Austin or Triumph? * Jay Leno’s MG TD Hot Rod - 340 Horsepower! * Diary of Events - Gartell Railway * Minterne House Evening Run * Fish & Chip Run - Durlston Castle 1933 MG J1 Salonette at Amberley Museum W. Sussex MGOC Durnovaria 1008 - July 2016 FRONT COVER - The J-type was produced by MG from externally mounted 12 gallon slab tank and carrier mounted 1932 to 1934. It used an updated version of the overhead spare wheel. The J1 had a bulbous rear end with only a 6 gallon camshaft, crossflow engine, used in the 1928 Morris Minor tank concealed behind the rear seat. A neat lockable hinged and Wolseley 10 and previously fitted in the MG M-type fuel flap was incorporated on the nearside rear corner of the car. Midget of 1929 to 1932. Other differences on the J1 were the side shields faired into the cycle type front wings, giving greater protection from road dirt The chassis was from the D-Type with suspension by half-elliptic and water. springs and Hartford friction shock absorbers all round with rigid front and rear axles. Most cars were open two-seaters, but a Later on in 1932 the J3 and J4 became available. The J3 was closed salonette version of the J1 was also made, and some a racing version with the engine capacity reduced to 746 cc chassis were supplied to external coachbuilders. The open by shortening the stroke from 83 to 73 mm and fitted with a cars can be distinguished from the M type by having cut-away Powerplus supercharger. The smaller engine capacity was to tops to the doors. The MG J1 cost £220 in open and £225 in allow the car to compete in 750 cc class racing events. Larger Salonette form. It was a pretty looking car and was a practical brakes from the L-type were fitted. The J4 was a pure racing 4 seater sports returning reasonable performance from its race version with lightweight body work and the J3 engine, but using developed 847cc engine, about 380 J1s were built. more boost from the supercharger to obtain 72 bhp. Motor magazine gave extensive editorial to the new range of Only nine J4s were produced, the £495 price tag was probably Midgets leading with a banner headline ‘80mph MG Midget for the limiting factor. The J4 was a very fast car with several runs under £200’. This statement, although true, caused considerable of over 100 mph being recorded at Brooklands. If you fancy a embarrassment later on for Cecil Kimber. He had instructed Reg replica J4, the last one sold by Barry Walker, the pre-war MG Jackson, one of his top development engineers to ensure that specialist, went for almost £70,000 - start saving! MB all the press cars were capable of at least 80mph. This he duly did and reports in the press gave great prominence to this with S C H Davis of Autocar reporting that he had achieved 82mph on road test. Several days later the two main bearing crankshaft broke on this particular car and the factory had to lower the compression ratio for the start of the production run. The J2 was then dogged with complaints from owners bemoaning the fact that their cars would not perform as Autocar said they would! The J1 and J2 set the fashion in MG cars for many years to come with the J2 displaying a classic humped scuttle and low cut away This J4 Midget was spotted at Beaulieu ‘Simply Classics’ event in June. doors. The J1 was This is a much-raced replica looking very original to the untrained eye. a little more sedate with a flatter topped Technical data J1 - J2: scuttle incorporating • Engine: In line, water cooled 4 cylinder; 847cc a less sporting but • Overhead Camshaft - Twin semi-downdraught SUs nonetheless highly functional dashboard. This had an enclosed • Compression Ratio: 6.2:1 - Power: 36 bhp @ 5500 rpm glovebox on the near side with a dummy one for symmetry on • Manual ‘crash’ 4 forward speeds and reverse. the off side on which was mounted the horn push and dip switch. • Wheelbase: 7’ 2” Track: 3’ 6” front and rear. The long bonnet seemed out of proportion with the rest of the • Suspension: Front: half elliptic springs beam axle. car, but this concealed not only the engine and gearbox, but the • Rear: half elliptic springs, live axle. foot controls and the legs of the driver and passenger as well! • Brakes: 8” drum cable operated - Tyres: 27x4 • Maximum speed 75 mph. Fuel; approx 35 mpg On lifting the bonnet is seemed odd to peer into the footwell • Acceleration: 0-60 mph 15 secs. and cockpit from the engine compartment, but this design had its advantages for ease of maintenance and it also kept the passenger compartment reasonably warm from the heat generated by the engine. The tail of both the J1 and J2 was relatively short and stubby with the J2 only extended by the Your Editor (with hairy face) and ‘modified’ MG J2 - drinking, not driving! 2 MGOC Durnovaria 1008 - July 2016 Is your MG Midget a Wolseley - or an Austin - or even a Triumph? ‘noun: midget - a very small thing or person - diminutive of midge (from Old English mygg, mycg (“gnat”) pushrod, overhead valve, four-cylinder A-series unit. In the Sprite however, it had been given twin SU carburettors and developed around 42bhp, which was sufficient to propel the little car to around 80mph. The new Austin-Healey Sprite became known as the “Frogeye” Sprite due to its headlamps being set into the In 1922 the tiny 748cc Austin 7 had brought motoring to a new public. Four Years later William Morris’s answer was the Morris Minor, a small 4-seater car with an 850 cc engine, produced from 1928 to 1934. A more complex design than Austin’s Seven, the all- new car was on the market by the middle of 1928. The new Morris engine was designed by Wolseley which front of the one-piece front end, with a mouth-like grille by this time was personally owned by William Morris. being mounted on the front edge. However, in 1961, the It was largely a new design but much smaller than any bodywork of the Sprite came in for a major restyling. The existing Wolseley unit. The overhead camshaft engine central cockpit portion remained essentially the same, but produced 20 bhp allowing a top speed of 55 mph. the front and rear bodywork was completely restyled and redesigned to give the car a more conventional squared-off The MG M-Type Midget had been developed from the baby Morris Minor, The result was a basic, cheap, fun two- appearance. The engine and running gear was essentially the same as the earlier Sprite, but output was up to around 47bhp, which lead to increases in performance. In this form, the car was known as the Austin-Healey Sprite Mark II, but shortly after a De Luxe version was announced. In 1961 the Sprite MkII was re-badged to become known as the MG Midget. The Austin’s steering was replaced by a rack and pinion set-up as used in the then current Morris Minor. The Alec Issigonis designed Minor was also the source for the hydraulically-operated rear brakes, although the rear axle was from the baby Austin. As with the MGB, later models were fitted with oversized ‘rubber’ bumper’s, nicknamed “Sabrinas” (after the well- seater, with sporting pretensions which triggered a whole endowed British actress). These replaced the chrome dynasty of Midgets. It was the Midget series which had bumpers, in order to meet US impact regulations. The ride established MG as a manufacturer of sports cars with an height needed to be increased which affected the handling excellent reputation in motor sport. and an anti-roll bar was added to help. With the arrival of The Midget range had culminated with the TF face-lift the 1500 model, the A-Series engine was replaced by the model and was laid to rest in 1955, when it was replaced 1493 cc unit from the Triumph Spitfire and a modified by the more modern Morris Marina gearbox with synchromesh on all four design of the MGA. gears. The New more powerful engine was better able to It seemed doubtful cope with increasing emission regulations. In 1980 after that we would ever 19 years, Midget production ceased along with the last of see a Midget again. the MGB models. MB However, in the late 1950’s, yet another basic, cheap, fun two-seater was developed from a “baby” car. This time, the more modern equivalent of the old Austin Seven was used, the Austin A30/35. This new two-seater car was the Austin-Healey Sprite, which appeared in 1959 and was built at Abingdon. The Sprite was powered by an engine and transmission which had come straight from the Austin, and was a 948cc 3 MGOC Durnovaria 1008 - July 2016 Jay Leno’s MG TD V8 Hot Rod - from 48 to 340 horsepower! Jay Leno is never one to surprise us with anything - we’ve come to expect his crazy vehicular shenanigans. A recent episode of ‘Jay Leno’s Garage’ featured a 1952 MG TD body mated with a ‘stroked’, fuel-injected V8. As he describes it, “this drop-top makes in the neighborhood of 48 horsepower when stock, but the new mill takes that to around 340 horsepower at the rear wheels, according to the dyno sheets – that’s a healthy upgrade by any It is currently fitted with a mild cam and electronic measure.