MISC. & BROOKLANDS SCREENS

[mrbadger]

Greetings group.
Badger et Fam. have returned from Continental holiday. Himself is
feeling very relaxed, culturally enhanced, lightly tanned, somewhat
lighter in the wallet, and somewhat heavier in the gut, the result of
very many exquisite meals and even more exquisite bottles of wine.
Never mind, dieting is the price we pay for a little taste of the good
life.
One of the first things I did on my return was to drop top and take the
ol' TC out for a short ride. The weather is still slightly chilly here
in Ye Olde New England but very fine none the less so I headed down busy
Lower Thames Street, acknowledging the usual waves and thumbs up signals
then headed out towards Ocean Drive, a four or five mile two lane which
hugs our rocky coastline with lots of delicious twisty bits. On a short
straight, I found my forward view being insulted by a slow moving
amorphous tin box. With a split second double de-clutch, a touch to the
gear knob, the slightest twitch of the steering wheel, and full
throttle, I blew off the offending lump and pushed hard through Dead
Man's Curve while the surf crashed on the rocks below. (Inspirin' ain't
it?).
The far end of Ocean Drive has one final 90 degree left hander and then
becomes Bellevue Avenue, a broad and handsome Boulevard lined with
ancient trees, old fashioned gas lamps, and the grand summer mansions of
the Vanderbilts and their ilk from days long past. I motored slowly and
respectfully past the "cottages", then turned North, up past the bathing
beaches and had a pleasant ride up East Main Road to the North end of
the island. In Portsmouth, I crossed over to West Main Road South back
down into Newport again via Broadway, zig-zagged up Historic Hill on
narrow 17th and 18th Century streets and finally, replaced my old friend
back into his spot in the garage.
After two weeks of being sealed into a Euro rental box, it was truly
wonderful being reminded once again that while vintage style motoring
requires, perhaps, a higher skill level and a higher attention level due
to the many quirks and shortcomings inherent in archaic motorcars such
as twitchy steering and such, if one is willing (and able) to acquire
the necessary skills, it is precisely the exercising of those skills in
mastering the quirks that brings the real, the true, the genuine
satisfaction.
Long Live the T-Type.
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FITMENT OF BROOKLANDS WINDSCREENS
I notice that, in my absence, there has been some discussion regarding
the fitting of Brooklands screens in that no method seems to be totally
satisfactory. I will tell you how I approached the problem 35 years ago
although I don't know if I would do the same thing today because it
requires irreparably damaging a part of the original windscreen.
I started off with a new pair of rounded top Brooklands screens, each
screen coming with a pair of those awkward little brackets having a hole
and a set screw on the one end and those two little feet with screw
holes on the other end. Just like many of you, I didn't like the way
they fit the scuttle and I didn't like that they interfered with the
wiper motor. Here is what I did, I cut the little feet right off(!) and
I made a jig which would allow me to securely hold the remainder of each
bracket, one at a time, in my lathe chuck in such a way that I could
turn down the shaft of the bracket to a uniform 1/4 inch diameter up to
about 3/8 inch from the top hole. I then threaded each of the four
shafts to 1/4-20 or 1/4-28 (can't remember which) right up to the
shoulder. After that, I removed the bottom longitudinal of the MG
windscreen frame and carefully marked, punched, drilled (on a drill
press), and threaded four holes in such a way that when the four
modified brackets were threaded into place and the two Brooklands
screens fitted to the brackets, the screens would be centered to the
driver and the passenger. If properly done, after assembly, it will be
seen that the L/H screen will just clear the windscreen motor and both
screens will just clear the center mirror. I found it necessary to
remove the windscreen glass and relieve the bottom edge in four places
where the bracket shafts passed under the glass, I did this by careful
scoring with a glass cutter and then nibbling away at the glass with a
small pair of pliers. After being certain that everything fit to my
satisfaction, I soldered the four brackets to the MG screen bottom, the
bond was good because all parts are brass. At this point, the threaded
ends of the four brackets were protruding forward from the frame member
but it was a simple task to file them down flush to the front surface of
the frame. The final step would have been to have the whole piece
replated but I haven't got around to it yet.
The final result is that the two Brooklands screens now fold forward
along with the main screen but once the main screen is folded down, one
or both of the Brooklands screens can then pivot up and be locked in
place with their own wing nuts, when the main screen is in the up
position, they are very close to it and out of the way but as the main
screen is folded down, they tend to rotate back, closer to the cockpit,
and up. The passenger side one does not interfere with the wiper motor.
I have used this system for 35 years, it is neat, clean, effective, and
without problems (except the aforementioned permanent modification to
the bottom member of the original windscreen).
"Chocks away" lads. Get it OUT of the garage and DRIVE it!
Badger