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MG MGA - Towing Insurance

I'm hoping to take my MKII to Mackinaw, a 2000 mile round trip. First real trip since 1972, as we are just finishing up a complete body-off restoration. Did as much as possible of the work myself, but as many of you may have seen from my other "Stuck Valve" thread, I have some worries about the engine rebuild done by a local shop.

I checked with AAA and they offer a 100 mile towing option for $80 above my normal 3 mile towing coverage. I'm hoping there are other options. Can anyone suggest a better plan?

Thanks,

- Ken
Ken Doris

Check with your insurace carrier--mine, Geico--offers a tow coverage for about $12 extra on my policy.
R. L Carleen

Ken, do you mean Mackinaw City, Michigan?

There is a big car show in St. Ignace (just over the Mackinac Bridge from Mackinaw City) toward the end of June. That show is going on its 30th year and has grown exponentially from about 30 cars in 1975 to over a thousand last year. My wife and I (less our MGA 1600) will be up there for the summer.

Don Carlberg
D. R. Carlberg

Don - yes Mackinaw City is where we are headed, for GT-30 in mid-July. They (NAMGAR) expect around 300 MGA's to be there. If you will be in the area you should definitely stop by. Here's the link to the GT: http://www.gt30.blackmga.com/
- Ken
Ken Doris

Ken, we will be about 50 miles northeast of Mackinaw City for the summer. Looks like we will have to break down and spend the bridge toll to get to the event. There are a lot of winding two lane roads in that neck of the woods. You will have a great time and should expect to see mid 70 degree weather during the day and really cool nights.

Don Carlberg
D. R. Carlberg

Ken. Insurance company towing (but, you need to check with your agent) will, normally, beat the AAA available towing.

If your car is in good condition, a trip of 2K miles in nothing. My older daughter recently completed a similar trip in her MGB (she and I had rebuilt most of it, starting as her "learn to drive on" car). She made a 2K mile trip with only one minor problem. The air pump bracket (thermostat housing) broke. Did not damage the integrity of the housing itself. Thus, she removed the air pump and continued the trip.

I have made several, similar trips in an A-H Sprite, an MGA and an MGB. All were, fully, as reliable as any American car. If the rebuild/restoration work is done reliably, you should have no problems in making such a trip.

Les
Les Bengtson

Les - thanks for the encouraging words. My worries stem from the recent "stuck valve" episode I've posted as another thread here. The engine rebuilder apparently did a poor job with the valves and I'm hoping that the sloppy workmanship was limited to just the head.

I know these things can be reliable transportation as we originally took this particular "A" all over the northeast on our vacations in the late '60's and early 70's. At that time the fuel pump was my only problem (see http://home.mindspring.com/~kdoris/mga/id4.html). Eventually I replaced the SU unit with a Bosch one and that cured it. I used it as a daily driver for about 5 years, then in the winter of '73 parked it in the garage and bought a "real" car, with the intention of slowly restoring it, but didn't get to it until 2004!

Don - you defintely will have to spend that toll. Come find me at the bar and I'll offer a refund in the form of a cold one!

- Ken
Ken Doris

This thread was discussed between 11/06/2005 and 12/06/2005

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