Someone left a small spatula at my place on St Georges night.
Let me know if it's yours.
- Kelvin

Update on the "Wheels to Meals" Car Boot Sale

The organizers are hoping to get some actual numbers of how many cars from FABAC might be attending this June 4th event. There is lots of information about the even on an earlier post here.
Let me know if you are planning to attend with car only, or car and selling.  Email
- David

FABAC poker run pics

As no one was able to do the run last night, Ben, the girls and I did it this morning! It was lots of fun and I thought you might like to have the pics to share on the blog.

It sounds like it was a good night. We were sorry we couldn’t make it.
All the best,
Anita

Click on photo for full size.

St. Georges Day Reports

Just wanted to say how much of a good time we had at Kelvins. It too was especially nice to be back to see everyone again. Kelvin had his garage all set up for the evenings entertainment. Those who were not envious of his large and well equipped garage were certainly impressed with the array of food and drink that were available. Everything was delicious. I can say that with some authority as I'm sure I tried everything and my taste buds are rarely wrong.

  So all in all we had great company, delicious food and a great time at Kelvin's.

 Thanks again, Kelvin, from all of us.
-  Gary

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Meeting Report  by Bob E.

     I was a little disappointed that the St Georges Day 2016 outing saw so few attending, but those of us who made it were pretty boisterous.  The rally had only one person show up so it was cancelled and everyone rendezvoused at Kelvin's garage/party barn. 
     There was some quick business stuff to dispense with and the team of Gary and Jim brought everyone up to date.

• John Bowles is now home and doing well.  I know you're reading this, John, and we all hope to see you back soon as we miss you two. 
• Alex Hoffman broke his shoulder in January but is also on the mend.  Similarly, we miss you two and are looking forward to seeing you folks as the summer arrives.
•  Jim attempted to relate the story of St George but was booed down.
•  Kelvin was thanked (at great length) for hosting the party and we demonstrated our appreciation by eating all his food.
•  There was a report on the recent Moncton car show  with Dwight giving us some details of the truck that was shown there and it's build process.
•  Rita and Bob, recently back from Mexico, asked that folks reserve August the 17th for a pot luck outing to their cottage on the lake.  This year they've purchased reinforced picnic tables.
•  Folks with tools are warned that there will be a FABAC-TRS&PC outing soon. Kelvin's Smart car needs the front shocks replaced and it's been sitting far too long.
•  Gary closed the meeting by urging folks to keep the Windsor car show in mind. Many will be staying at Ralph's place on Thursday, then taking the Friday morning ferry. Thursday evening includes dinner at a spectacular local Thai restaurant.  Even without an LBC, this is a terrific club event.  There is already one non-LBC car in the mix and it would be nice if others joined in.
• The next meeting will be at Porter's Diner (Hanwell) on the 18th of May.

-  Bob E.

St. Georges Day at Kelvin' place

Click on any photo for larger view.

Thanks to Jim 'n' Ellie for the photos.

A spring outing by FABACTRS&PC

      It's easy to be brave when it's someone else's car.   
      Joe made the mistake of thinking that I knew what I was doing as he handed me tools to disassemble, then reassemble his distributor.  Hoping I did actually know what I was doing, I stuck gizmos and thing-a-ma-bobs back where I thought—hoped they went. 
      The previous day I'd gotten a call from Joe asking for a visit from the FABAC-TRS&PC. It seems that the Jag was misbehaving again and needed some lovin.  Sitting back over tea, and a distributor spread all over the workbench, we pieced together the history of the ignition problems.

1.  thousands of parts in boxes needing to be stuck back together. 
2.  one part going back in 180º backwards (easy to do, I've done it twice) 
3.  rewiring the spark plug wires to compensate for the reversed gizmo. 
4.  clampy-thing on the base of the distributor coming loose allowing distributor to shift and screw up timing.

(Click on photo for several more.)

      We decided to go back to zero and even made crib notes to ensure stuff went where it was supposed to go.  We swapped wires, installed new-ish ones, fiddled with the distributor clamp and tried to suck my finger into a cylinder.  Double checking two manuals to verify that yes, Jaguar does label it's cylinders backwards to everyone else, and labeling the darned things so that we didn't screw it up all over again—the re-installation started anew. Parts, pieces, and wires fell into place and in a surprisingly short time Joe's Jag fired right up, much to his (and my) relief.
       Triumphantly, we celebrated by going for a drive up the river for lunch.  I got to drive his Jag and noted how smooth and responsive his engine was.  It was also quiet and comfortable; sporty but civilized.  It's too bad that the prices for E-Types has gone ballistic the last few years since more folks should get to experience them.
       MkII Jags are still a great bargain however, anyone game?
- Bob E.

Better safe than sorry!

     Yesterday, Carolyn told me that she was smelling gas in her TR6—even before she re-fueled. I said I would check it out. As you may know, most British cars, and probably most others as well, have the intake and exhaust manifolds on the same side. Nothing like having the most combustible material (gasoline) as close as you can to the hottest part on the engine (exhaust manifold) !
     On inspecting the fuel hoses and lines, I found one piece of fuel hose cracked and rotting. Stopped at NAPA in Fredericton (driving a different car!) and was given (FREE!) a one foot piece of fuel hose. So, now fixed and all is well. Probably prevented an otherwise inevitable fire. (What do YOU do if your car bursts into flames on the Westmorland Street bridge?—just wondering.)
     So, owners of little British cars, go out and check your hoses—all of them—right now. Better safe than sorry. Too many of us do little preventive maintenance and inspections, and instead use the fix-it-when-it-fails philosophy. Never a good plan.
Always learning.
- David

St. Georges Day Details

   There are 2 options to attend this event.

1. You can meet up at Tims on the Exhibition grounds for a small navigation rally plus  Poker Run with the first car leaving at 5 PM. Its a pleasant ride out lasting about 60 to 70 minutes and covering 65kms. There will be a prize for the best poker hand as well as the worst.  
   OR
2. You can go straight to my house meeting at 6 PM  onwards for an evening of FABAC fun and friendship.

If you decide to include the Poker Run, all you need is a pen/pencil but a device to take a digital picture "may" come in handy !!?

UPDATE: Here's Kelvin's address: 1335 Route 10, NOONAN, NB
(On Google Map)

Hope to see you there,
Kelvin

Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! FABACians!

This is a reminder of Kelvin Perry’s St. George Day garage party on April 23rd. Our regular April FABAC meeting will be held there also.
Kelvin will post his party itinerary shortly and remember this will be a pot luck –Yum---Yum!
- Jim B.

Flying Scotsman Rally

Here's a link to a wonderful endurance rally, the 2016 Flying Scotsman Rally, where 100 old cars (the oldest from 1911) travel back roads for three days.
http://www.endurorally.com/pages/flying-scotsman-rally-2016

The 8th Flying Scotsman Rally - Belvoir Castle to Gleneagles Marshals Wanted. If you are not lucky enough to be a Flying Scotsman participant perhaps you could join ...
This link is for photos taken at a stop/go control for the Rally.
http://smg.photobucket.com/user/1937mgta/slideshow/Flying%20Scotsman%20Rally%202016

- Phil

Moncton car show report

Click on any photo for larger view.

      If you're a fan of hotrods, customs or North American muscle, the Moncton show would be your kind of show.  As we weren't serious fans of any of those genres, it wasn't.  Nonetheless, it was a pleasant day out for we three FABACians.   It was also an opportunity to mess up Joe's brand spanking new car.  With Joe distracted by deer all over the highway, his electronic display was switched to Mandarin and to only respond to sign language.  Distances are displayed in leagues and temperature is on the Kelvin scale.     You're welcome Joe.
      Bob guided us straight and true to the Moncton Colosseum where we were fleeced for the not small sum of fifteen bucks for entry.  This had better be good we mused.
     As expected, the halls where filled with outrageously speckled paint jobs, flashy chrome and a whole lot of wasted horsepower.  We lamented how so many of the cars are only driven on and off their trailers and never turn a wheel in anger on the roads.  The ratrod corner was fun, with trucks that would look right at home in the latest Mad Max film.  
        It looked like Joe was going to get sucked in by the quick talking gent with the stand full of drones. Bob and I tried to be persuasive but he slowly backed away and kept sauntering.  From my long association with Joe I knew that like a striped Bass, if he didn't bite right off the bat, he wouldn't bite at all—no matter how much he talked about it.  I proved to be not so strong willed as I was tricked into buying some magic aluminium welding rods a little further down the row.
      A cleanly restored Datsun 240Z with an Electronic Fuel Injection system caught our attention for a few minutes before we wandered upstairs in search of the Moncton Foreign Car Club.  Ovide was there and greeted us warmly.  We had a nice chat and found a collection of truly great cars.  It's too bad that they were stuck out of the way.
      We did meet up with Richard Drummond and admired his and Dwight's handiwork in the form of a customized truck.  About then we ran into a lady who graciously consented to posing for some shots as Miss FABAC. We have to get into costumes for one of our events this year (Windsor?).
      Ovide mentioned that cars are charged fifty bucks ($50!) for the privilege of being used to make money for the show organizers and felt that they won't bother attending next year.
      Despite the tacky glitz and horrible and overpriced food, we all enjoyed ourselves and felt that it had been a worthwhile outing.
       And Joe didn't buy the little drone.
-  Bob E.

Moncton Car Show

I'm thinking of going to Moncton on Saturday to have a look at this show. Anyone else interested?
- Joe H.

Now there's a thought!

Dave:
Ever thought of getting the Morgan repainted to match your wardrobe?
-Phil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeGPt6RgjZI

A note from Kelvin re Windsor breakfast

Just to let you know that I have been in contact with the powers that be for the Windsor Show and have heard back that the firm that does the afternoon teas on Saturday are going to put on breakfast on Saturday morning so no need for me to bother cooking and carrying the barby all that way.
Will have registration forms available on St Georges Day for Windsor in case anyone hasn't signed on by then.
- Kelvin

Ralph's Rooms in Saint John

  Folks should know that Ralph has only three rooms left for the Thursday evening before the Windsor car show. Folks should also contact Larry-n-Sandy to include them in the Thursday evening
Thai dinner.
    Bob E.