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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGA - MGA Twin Cam section?

I have wondered for sometime why there isn't a separate section on this site for Twin Cam enthusiasts?

I subscribe to the mga twin cam bulletin board service on Yahoo mgatwincam@yahoogroups.com that runs by sending emails to registered subscribers about member's queries. This Yahoo site certainly has plenty of users with about 4 queries a day listed. To me the downside of the Yahoo site is that it is does not have an Archive function like this site nor the ability to add photos and it is messy to keep track of each query as they are not listed in an orderly manner like on this site using the thread system.

What do Twin Cam owners think? Would you like to have a similar site to this for twinnie threads? Are there some advantages of the Yahoo site that I am missing?
Regards
Mike
(I would love to own a Twin Cam but not sure if I could stand the frustration of working in the cramped engine bay at my age!)


Mike Ellsmore (1)

I don't think that there are enough Twin Cam items on this website to require a separate heading. Besides, most queries are not engine related.
The Yahoo Twin Cam site does not allow attached images, but there is a much better sytem of having the photos and files in their own "Photos" and "Files" area.
The Yahoo site does not have an archive as such, but the message area has a "Search" function which is even better because it can find words, or groups of words, in all the earlier messages. Also, if people use the "Reply" function correctly they can easily find all the earlier messages with the same subject heading (the problem is that some people use the reply function when they want to actually start a new message).

The Twin Cam engine work is more simple than it seems, provided that you have the factory inner wheel arch cutaways and the five holes in the front crossmember. You should also add extra cutaways in the wheel arch, one for better access to the distributor and one to allow adjusting of the dynamo.

Maybe an idea for a MG Club Meeting. A competition between a pushrod car owner and a Twin Cam owner to change a head gasket. The Twin cam owner would be in the bar on his third third beer before the pushrod man had set his valve clearances.


Mick


MIck
M F Anderson

Yahoo sites are horrible! They are very limited, unreliable and clumsy. As for a separate section, I agree with Mick. 90% of the car is the same and there aren't that many Twin Cams out there, so I don't see the need to keep Twin Cam-specific questions separate from the rest.
Steve S

My point is we don't get many Twin Cam queries on this site but the Yahoo site gets a lot - maybe the Twin Cam guys like the exclusivity of their own site - maybe if they had a separate section here they would use it and we could get to see what they are up to!

All the best for Christmas and the New Year to our regular readers and contributors.

Mike
Mike Ellsmore (1)

You can always ask Mike Plumstead (webmaster) to set one up and see how it goes. He reads the threads, so may be he will set one up based on the comments so far.

As an aside, I see that the MGF and MGB have both technical and general sections but we have not done so. Is this a decision from a long time ago to have all our mga topics under one roof?

Steve
Steve Gyles

Please don't do it guys - separate twin cam section, that is!
I have a twin cam and use both the Yahoo email site and this one. They are different, as already said, but good in their own ways. I think many twin cam owners welcome the ability to read more general MGA stuff here, much of which is relevant, or at least, always interesting.
Yet another separate site and the need to browse it also, would turn me off I think. Let's leave all MGA'ers together on this nice site and share whatever is relevant to each of us. I always learn something on this site and can always browse the specific Yahoo twin cam subject files when I have a deeper problem.
Merry Christmas to all - we don't do the politically correct Happy Holidays down here in darkest Sussex!!
B Mayo

Gents,

As a member of both, I'd have to say there's no need for another place to look for info.

NAMGAR.com have/had their own BBS, but I seldom look there.

Merry Christmas
Mark.

Mark Hester

The NAMGAR bbs was closed more than a year ago, although the archives have been retained. Problem there was no registration requirement, no moderator, loads of SPAM messages, and resulting lack of use (being abandoned by the members). The managers ultimately found it most reasonable to refer NAMGAR members to this bbs rather than attempting to "fix" their bbs and then compete with this one (from a disadvantaged starting point).

I am a member of the MGA Twin Cam Enthusiasts Group on the Yahoo server as well as this bbs. The Twin Cam Group processes about 150 messages per month specific to Twin Cam issues, maintains a searchable archives from inception of the group, and has substantial Photo archives and Files section. For members of that forum there is some advantage to discussing Twin Cam specific issues without having to "wade through" hundreds of messages monthly that are not Twin Cam specific. This is not to say the Twin Cam Group is snobbish or exclusive, just a matter of convenience. Similarly there may be a substantial number of members on this BBS who would consider an additional 150 messages monthly not related to standard MGA (non-Twin Cam cars) to be of little interest and an inconvenience.

Anyone who wants to be involved in the Twin Cam specific discussions can join the Twin Cam Group, where you can either visit the bbs regularly or participate via their e-mail list mode. I don't own a Twin Cam, but they have no problem with me "eavesdropping" or even responding occasionally. I think they would welcome anyone who has a true interest in Twin Cam discussions.

On the flip side, by far the majority (almost the lion's share) of MGA Twin Cam specific discussion on the internet is done within the well established MGA Twin Cam Enthusiasts Group. It is a real cooker for the subject matter. I seriously doubt that those people would suddenly migrate en mass to use a new bbs forum, and would likely find it inconvenient to have to monitor another venue for additional messages on the same subject matter.

In other words, a Twin Cam bbs on this server would likely have very little traffic and would not provide the best coverage of the subject matter. I would think it would be a bust, ultimately destined to be closed or merged back into this bbs. Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd. NAMGAR understands that, and has taken to referring its members to this bbs for internet discussion of MGA. Under current circumstances we should also understand where the Twin Cam internet traffic goes, and why.
Barney Gaylord

This thread was discussed between 22/12/2008 and 23/12/2008

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