As we approach cold weather and the year's end the MG-Roadmaster has come home to roost, that is to say it is once more sitting in my shop. Matthew and I went to Rick's and brought it here just before the last warm days and we had it out to the local watering hole for the Sunday get together, where it drew the usual attention.

Aside from a few pretty minor issues the car is as good as it's ever been. It acquired a mouse for awhile but is airing out nicely and I don't expect that to be any sort of an issue. Ran and drove great.

We do have a few maintenance issues. The front lugs and nuts need to be swapped out from 7/16 to 1/2" which I think we may be able to do on the car one at a time. It's been suggested we go over it and check the tightness of all fasteners and I think that is a good idea. Also my last trip to the pick-n-pull I picked up a Ford cruise control and control module for almost no money and think that should go in.

We've talked about having another Roadmaster Weekend. I'm just guessing it'll be sometime in the dead of winter before that can happen but it's definitely a possibility. For those who have never participated these are generally small groups of dedicated friends who gather here to socialize and work on the car, bunking in our downstairs suite which depending on the number may mean a real bed or may mean an inflatabed brought from home, but we've never had to kick anybody out yet. If there's enough interest we'll do it again.

At present we do not know who will get to take custody of the car going into the new year so if you are a past participant in the project and are interested let us know. Your responsibilities are to attract as much good publicity as you can, particularly among the younger folks, keep it in a locked space, and pass it on in as good of condition as you found it. Needless to say this means you don't just turn over the keys to the local demented teenager but accompanied drives are something we've all done so use your best judgement there. Above all else enjoy it. It is a unique experience that will make you a believer in the concept.

Jim

I'm now guessing that the reason the spare needed to be used on the front rather than the rear is due to the wheel studs?

I think it's a Chevy wheel on the spare.

If this is the problem, can we adapt the Chevy wheel to the larger diameter studs on front....if not, remember that we do have a spare Jaguar rim that I accepted as a donation a couple of years ago.

I'm not sold on adding cruise control until all of the "growing pains' have been sorted out, especially the vibration. I've driven the car hundreds of miles at a time (longest run was from St.Joseph, IL up to Traverse City, MI) and did not miss cruise control one iota.

The addition of EPS was a good idea....

Thanks Rick.
I just got back from a trip to Milton WV, round trip about 375-400 miles. No big deal on the cruise but I did grab one from the pick-n-pull. I had a store credit and got the Halloween discount. About $20, no charge to BADASS. The car's got serious legs. It smooths out  at about 75 and starts to hit it's stride around 80. By 90 it's doing almost 2000rpm and beginning to wake up. I'm usually more comfortable around the mid 70's because of cops but once we fix that wobble it'll be lots better on secondary roads. One of the best things about cruise is that it helps you avoid tickets by setting a safe speed. Running without it can be more exciting, but mainly because it's also more risky. Just a choice really but having the choice could be a good thing.

Anyway I think the wobble is priority one. Sounds like the spare is second. Then speedo cable, oil change, and regular maintenance, things like that. Should be sometime early next year. There is a pretty good chance I'll be taking it to the WVBCC Christmas party in a couple of weeks.

Jim

Tomorrow I'll head back to WV, pick up Dan and Monday we head to Logoff, SC to Steve's place where we will spend a few days doing some annual maintenance. I've done a couple items in preparation for the trip. Installed the new oil dipstick that Rick purchased, turned out to be fairly simple once I bent the tube enough to get a straight shot at the hole in the block. Then I just drove it in with a wooden mallet until the brazed washer seated against the block. Admittedly that was a long way but when I shoved in the dipstick it read 1-1/2q low. At least now we have the right dipstick. We'll verify the level when we do an oil change. I added oil of course.

The larger task, one that started out fairly simple, was the stud change on the front hubs. That led to pulling the brakes and hubs, then because the studs were just enough oversized to crack the hub, I had to order new hub/rotors, then the outer bearing bores had to be deepened and the inner spacers cut down (.100 on each), then the outer bearings didn't fit (larger diameter) and one of the inners showed pitting, so new bearings and seals and then the dust caps were too large. So back in the lathe for another counterbore to match the MGB dust caps. I also bought a set of lug seat inserts to convert the wheels to tapered seats. Half of those went great, the other  half needed locktite. And then after going through my lug nut bin I had to go get two packages to match what I had. Finally got that done and torqued, 1/2" lugs all the way around now. Went for a test drive. Still a little shimmy but it is better than it was. I think if we can find a lug-centric balancer where the wheels are bolted to the machine that may finish the job.

Time to pack.

Jim

Tire time again, we have cords showing on the RR tire. We need to get a new pair to put on the rear. The fronts are pretty fresh.

I'd like to present a suggestion: Since we've gone to cheap tires is there really any valid excuse to continue using staggered tire sizes? We have 215/45-17 on the front and 245s on the rear. I'd like to suggest that we put 215's all around by replacing the 245s with the same thing that is on the front. The effect on the speedometer will be about 3% so negligible and I have the set of gears for correction if needed. This would also let us rotate the tires when and if it could help, and save us some money by only replacing them when they are worn out. For instance the LR tire still has acceptable tread. We could replace only one tire of course, with the existing size and brand.

The rubber compound of the Falken tires isn't great. To be blunt, wet performance sucks.We could consider a comparably priced tire with better rubber since they are going on the rear. Last time we changed brands we had the better tires on the front which really wasn't safe as it made the car tail happy. I'd like to get some input here on possible candidates for replacements, I really feel we can improve on the Falkens.

In other news, I put the car on the lift and repaired the exhaust leak which was at the slip joint on the right side. I'm pretty sure it'll stay put this time, and I got the pipe tucked up a little higher. Overall it is running just fine and doesn't really need anything. I did check if the AC was working and it is not. Someone who is good at finding leaks needs to go over it sometime. I don't see much point in putting more freon in until late spring.
I also have a complete Ford cruise control unit we could install at some point when we do another Roadmaster Weekend. Post Covid.

Jim

Other than staggered looks way cool?  

Is the posi not working?

I'm not sure it's really enough to notice.

Far as I know the posi is working fine but I haven't spun a wheel on that car in years so I'm not in a position to say for sure. I know it isn't set up as tight as mine is and they do wear a bit over time but I would expect it to still do the job. And the fact that it doesn't spin easily says it's probably working.

There are two things that can contribute to right side wear. Even with the posi more power will be applied to the right side, which is another reason to rotate the tires. Secondly the alignment may be a slight bit off, causing more inside wear.

Jim

I f we use non-directional tires, we can flip 'em side to side.

OK, how about this question, if it was your car and hadn't had staggered tires on it before would you stagger the tires?

But my question really had to do with the brand chosen. Is there a better choice than Falken for the same money?

Jim

I am on my 3rd set of Falkens.  

I would think the parameters for tire choice would be different for my crt, though.  The Roadmaster really should wear Grand Touring tires.  Not necessarily an All-Season.  A Grand Touring Summer would be fine.  Just stay out of the snow & ice.

Oops.  In the 215/45-17, Tire rack shows only one Grand Touring Summer & 27 Grand Touring All-Season.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?zip-code=37660&width=215/&ratio=45&diameter=17&rearWidth=215/&rearRatio=55&rearDiameter=17

How wide are those Jag wheels?

Hey guys, I'm running Mickey Thompson Street Comps. On the way home from Wytheville I ran through the worst rainstorm I can ever remember, and these tires were awesome. My car has never been this stable in the rain. Don't know how the price compares to Falken.

Glad you made it thru that, Phil.  Wide tires can be very scary in standing water.

OK I made a mistake there, they aren't Falcon they are Fuzion. Totally different tire.

Jim

What size are the back tires 245/40-17 or 245/45-17? And the wheels are 17x?

245/45-17
I think the wheels are about 8" wide.

Apparently we used to have 225 on the front.

QuoteJaguar XK-8 (1997-1999) 17" x 8" aluminum wheels. Continental "Extreme Contact DWS Tuned" tires (225/45 ZR17 front, 245/45 ZR17 rear)."

How about these?

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=g-Force+COMP-2+A%2FS+PLUS&partnum=145WR7GFC2ASPXL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

You are right about the 225s but the fuzions were not available in that size and they rubbed a little. I think it was the headlight buckets they hit. Those were enlarged for the aftermarket headlights.

Those look like really good tires at a pretty reasonable price.

Jim

The Conti DWS tires are good tries  and perform well.  I have them on my XK8.  Front tires have 35K on them now.  Probably still 40% left.  The DSW.( Dry,Wet, Snow) still shows on the tread.  When one disappears, that particular condition is diminished.  They are reasonably priced, I use a particular sales guy at Discount Tire
Direct.  They match E-Bays best price for me.  Free S&H also.

I think that was what was on it to start with, but I'm not certain.

A not-directional tread would probably be best, that way we could rotate the tires. Don't know how good the goodrich tires would be if run backwards, probably still better than the fuzions.

Jim

Pretty sure that the BFGoodrich G-Force Comp-2 A/S is what I picked for my dad's Miata.  He wanted to be able to drive it year round & it do well in the rain.  He likes them.  His last set of whatevers were scary in the rain.

I have run directionals backwards once they were worn down about half way.

Running them backwards in the dry, of course, or in a light rain at moderate speeds will not be an issue.  Higher speeds with more water on the road can/will cause hydroplaning.

I have Goodrich G-Force on one end of my car but haven't driven it in the rain yet and haven't really driven it hard either yet. Think I might have Falkens on the other end. I'm not sure they are designed for mileage but as much use as the Roadmaster has been getting lately they may age out first.

Jim

The Continental DWS costs $127.99
The Goodyear G-Force 2A is $113.99
So, a difference of $24. (Tire Rack prices)

The DWS does not appear to be directional but is not perfectly symetrical either.
According to the spider charts the 2A outperforms the DWS in every category. However they are very close in the test results charts, the edge is so slight it could easily be attributed to the tests being run on different days, This is test track data and does not include wear and gas mileage.

The UTQG on the DWS is 560 AA A
on the G-Force it is 400 A A

Kind of a toss up. I think I'd go with the DWS just because of the non-directional tread and being able to rotate the tires. That and the treadwear numbers. But what do you guys think?

JIm

What do you guys think? The Continentals or the G-Force?

Jim

I like the Conti, but it looks directional to me.