Where is Keith1?

Terry Oxandale

Skinny Man
I'm afraid to ask, but I have not noticed Keith in any posts for a while. I don't know if it's because of the new format, or that he isn't posting. How is he doing?
 

Ian Anderson

Lifetime Supporter
He is doing OK
Had an e mail from him yesterday and sounded as good as he could having just been to a funeral of a close friend.

I am planning on dragging him to the local pub in about a months time
But 500 mile trip each way means I see him less often.


David on the other hand is fighting an infection and not too good but on strong meds so hopefully on the improve

Ian
 

David Morton

Lifetime Supporter
Gentlemen,
Thank you all for your thoughts. Like Ian, I am in touch with Keith and we regularly swap all sorts of rubbish on email.
Ian has set a date for a pub lunch in Keiths home town Lymington. I doubt very much if I can be fit enough.
My car has been the subject of lengthy discussions with Hugh Absolem who is hoping to get temptingly close to
endex by Christmas and I hope to have space for it here at home.
Before I became quite unwell with this diabetes thing ,my plan was to erect a three car 'carport' and it would have kept the ravages of winter off the family cars. In addition I am hoping to pay for the drive and turning area to be paved with buff coloured bricks of different sizes. Once that is done and my wife has to deice her car every day during the winter, then the car port could become a reality. We have a saying - 'you cannot take it with you' and we cannot really give as much as we would like without paying a lot to the government as well.
One thing I am doing is getting rid of some of the things that went with a GTD build and I hope to do a list of things once Hughie tells me. I know that I will probably never drive the car even when Hughie finishes it. I now have a problem called Neuropathy which is affecting the nerve endings in both of my feet and finger tips as well. My automatic Jag is nice to drive and has everything I need with lots of power to spare.
Anyway, enough of my garbage. I wish you all the best for the upcoming holidays and hopefully we might have a more peaceful world next year. For anyone in harms way this holiday , I salute everything you do and I would happily do it with you if I could.
best,
David Morton.
Still racemet and still at btinternetdotcom
 
Keep on fighting David. I too, try to keep in touch with Keith.
Thanks for the input Ian, wish I could be in Lymington for that pub event.
Lymington used to be my go to place prior to the Goodwood Revival with friends.
 

Randy V

Moderator-Admin
Staff member
Admin
Lifetime Supporter
So good to read your note - Thanks for checking in David... Please relay our best to Keith!
 

Doug S.

The protoplasm may be 72, but the spirit is 32!
Lifetime Supporter
SO glad to hear from you, David! Like the others, I've been worried about Keith, so it's great to find out that he's still kicking, just as you are!
I wish you the best with your health issues...as we grow older (I'll be 70 this year) they become more prevalent, but as long as we can keep on keeping on, it's going to be a great day! I hope yours is!
Cheers to you!
Doug
 

Keith

Moderator
Well my goodness, what a nice thing it is to be missed? I am still alive although kicking is rationed and kept aside for my weekly carers. It can be a bit of a battle here when the scrubbing brush comes out. Like all progressive diseases, COPD and Heart Failure take their toll and some days that which you always considered an everyday activity, suddenly becomes out of reach. I'll tell you the plain truth though. I took my duties as Moderator here quite seriously and considered it to be an honour to be asked (yes, I know, I had a sheltered upbringing) but it was the constant political wrangling I couldn't take. With all life changing illnesses comes stress and anxiety by the bucket loads. For this reason I never ever watch TV nowadays. Put simply, I felt ill every time I logged into GT40's for fear of the political wrangling which I didn't comprehend & felt powerless to resolve. I did my best when Randy was incapacitated through his tragic family circumstances, but I was very relieved when he returned. Thank you all so much for your kind messages. I see that things have calmed down a lot now and so you may see me now & again regaling stories of my very own mid engined adventure. Yes! In a mad moment this year, I bought a mid engined MG F. It went like this: A fellow Hospice Outpatient with serious cancer, could no longer get in and out of his car, a Very Red MG F. It was cheap, very cheap and so I said "Bring it around and if I can get in and out of it, I'll buy it". And so it was. I measured it and it was 46" high with the roof up. Now that's pretty low for someone with very limited movement. I fell in it OK (literally), drove it around the parking lot and immediately felt comfortable in it. Now for the hard part. I just imagined my ex-wife was sitting in the passenger seat so I shot out of it like grape shot from a cannon, and the rest, as they say, is history. Well, not yet but I've already driven it more miles in 3 months than I did in 3 years with the Nissan (500 miles per year), and that's no mean feat considering I can only really get in and out of it once every 2 weeks or so. That's it for now, please see attached pics for my "GT46". You can see I fitted a traditional style 'boot rack' and I was planning to place a proper wicker hamper on it for next year's cruising (ever the optimist me) Haha Best to all, Keith

Edit: That's a bit of a lie about the hamper, It's actually for my wheelchair, but we can dream can't we?
 

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Randy V

Moderator-Admin
Staff member
Admin
Lifetime Supporter
Keith!!!!
Welcome back old friend!
Don’t you worry about the Political banter, it is put on hold until I can get Permissions sorted out in The Pub. And when that happens, The Pub will be the only place where Polarizing “non Automotive” related banter will take place....
It will be a while though as we are in the process of getting ready for our move south. We leave Monday morning, so I won’t be quite so active here as my phone has a very small screen that my eyes struggle with...
The car looks wonderful! Quite honestly, l was not even sure that MG was still a going concern as I have not seen them in either advertising or on the highways...
Enjoy your trips out and about!
 

Keith

Moderator
Hey Randy & Terry! Glad you guys are still around. Good luck with your move Randy. South? None better place in the world. South is where it's at. More South less North is my motto which puts Ian in a quandry because you can't get more North than he is. Ian & Randy will be Poles apart haha. OK. The MG car company is now owned by a Chinese consortium (so what's new?) They make an MG3 hatchback and an MG6 big hatchback. They sell quite well. Mine is a year 2000 MG F which was mid way through the entire production run of MG Rover's version of the car. During this time, the company was taken over by BMW so. I think my car clicks it's heels whenever the German National Anthem is played. However, it is purely British and built by British workers who have a long way to go to eradicate the shame of the 1970's, Red Robbo and all the destructive shenanigans that effectively put paid to the British car industry. The MGF was revived for a short time by Nanjing Automobile Group (MG Rover's new owners) both in China and from knock down kits in Longbridge Birmingham. However, due to the recession of 2009 and public perception of Chinese made cars, production ceased in 2011 and never restarted. It was a popular vehicle and for several years was Europe's top selling convertible car. They sold 80,000 units. Jack tells me none made it to America which you can all be thankful for because the engine, although it is a jewel of a motor, is rather fragile. It was designed and built from the ground up originally for the Metro but the method of construction is rather unique in that it bolts together in 3 pieces with the block sandwiched between a bottom plate and the cylinder head (where the inherent weakness lie). It is not a matter of if, but when, your head gasket will fail. This free revving all alloy engine is also fitted to the Caterham 7 and the Lotus Elise before they went all Ford on us. The engine was never fully developed as MG Rover went under and the new owners turned their back on what was (is) a wonderfully eccentric piece of British Engineering, and I have to say, I have never driven a 4 cylinder engine as smooth as this. Mine is an 1,800 c.c. VVC (Variable Valve Control) which is the top of the range for the model year, and produces over 150 bhp. It's not lightning fast but it handles well (did I mention it also has haha Hydrolastic suspension?) Which is a comedy suspension system invented my some guy called Moulton who also invented a folding bike. That says it all really. No, I won't hear a thing against it, it is brilliant. Only problem is, you've guessed it, they don't make them any more & spares are impossible to find. Now you know why this low mileage unmarked example went to me for only $900. You would be mad to walk away from it. Drive it for a year and throw it away. Except I won't. For me, it's a keeper.
 
Hi Keith, lovely car always liked them, very underrated and undervalued, few specialists around on the tinternet now supplying parts.
 

Keith

Moderator
Hi Keith, lovely car always liked them, very underrated and undervalued, few specialists around on the tinternet now supplying parts.

Hey Nick, how are you? The MGF handles like a dream to be honest. It corners flat and is very stable at all attitudes. Due to the mid engine location and 50/50 weight distribution, if it breaks away, you are going to have to be Superman to catch it and it will want to keep on spinning. I do not understand why Hydrolastic suspension was not utilised by other manufacturers because it is, in effect, 'active' suspension (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrolastic). You can still get all parts for the Rover 'K' motors and general mechanical parts but what is almost imporssible to find are Hydrolastic parts. You can easily get Hyrolastic fluid because in essence it is just antifreeze and there are many garages with the necessary pump, but if the rubber diaphragm fails and the nitrogen leaks then it's goodnight suspension. You cannot safely regas them because a welded valve would be like a loaded gun and if it failed under load, the valve would in essence become as dangerous as a bullet. You can either acquire the later MG TF subframes and fit conventional suspension, source very hard to find Hydrolastic units from a scrapper or fit an aftermarket system made by Suplex for just under a grand and which people say "doesn't work". I'm not going to worry about it as my mileage will be <1K per year, but, I WILL worry about it. It's what I do.
 
I'm fine thanks Keith can't complain at all. but do incessantly, you have got me thinking :eek: When I eventually retire myself and the current Mrs Brough are hoping to relive our youth by driving around Europe on holidays. heart says my current Elan M100 or TVR, head says MGF / TF and 40mpg :)

P.S. the internet are onto us this advertisement popped up on my facebook page today, well blow me down what a coincidence, ..... I should coco!

https://rimmerbros.com/content--nam...book&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mgfsale18
 

David Morton

Lifetime Supporter
Much apreciated Graeme.. I certainly need something. Jus had a pacemeaker and defibillator installed but mypulse dropped to 9 beats per minute and I felt very much on my own for about 30 seconds; I'll get some b12 tomorrow.
Dave
 
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