By coincidence, the next gallery picture alphabetically is that of Mike Weisheit's TC. He lives the town north of me. Our houses are not than 10 kilometers apart! I met him at MG 2001 in St Paul, MN, but have had no contact since. He also had an MGB roadster at that time.

MG 2001 was a memorable meet. There were about 700 M.G.'s present, from Peter Thornley's M Type (which broke a crankshaft en-route and was trailered in) to brand new ZT's brought over by M.G. Rover to test the US market.

My TC began to run very hot on the return trip home. The engine temperature went from 80C to 95-100C in a matter of a few miles. It was a hot day (35C), so at first I thought it was due to ambient conditions. It was not. After checking timing, valve clearances, plugs, mixture, etc. on the side of the road, we continued on and made it home without breakdown, but with only 30 psi oil pressure at speed.

I was running an XPEG block, but with the original TC banana hole head. Thinking that the difference in water passages between head and block might be the problem, I located a round hole head from a XPEG. After rebuilding it with new valves, springs, seals, thermostat, etc. I fitted it to the engine. It still ran hot.

I was considering installing a multi-bladed plastic fan from a late MGB which fits the T-type water pump, but was concerned about "original appearance" under the bonnet. I decided to try having the radiator recored instead. I opted for an original tube and fin design, rather than the newest high efficiency honeycomb one. Problem solved! The engine now runs at 70-75C, and will go to 80C only on the hottest days or during long uphill climbs. To help things, I am using a 25% solution of glycol in water and adding a product called "Water Wetter". Freezing is not a concern with the lower glycol mixture as the car stays in a warm garage and doesn't get out in the snow very often.

In addition to the TC, I also have a 1953 M.G. YB. The XPEG engine will eventually go into in to help pull all that extra weight (plus I have put a set of 4.33 gears in the rear end to reduce highway rpm's). The original XPAG will then be rebuilt and put back into the TC. I hope that you have visited the excellent web site for Y Types, mgytypes.org. It is second only to mg-tabc.org in its thoroughness, ease of use and enthusiasm of the webmaster! Similarly, Y owners are fortunate to have the information in David Lawrence's excellent book "Let There Be Y's". It is second only to Mike Sherrell's "TC's Forever".

Octagonally, Rocky