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MG MGA - Murphy's Law
| There are many definitions of Muphry's Law. This is just one of them: "It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious." I had the speedometer apart earlier in the year following a cable break. Now that winter has set in and I am driving home in the dark I have discovered the following: 1. The high beam light is on all the time. 2. The speedometer background light only comes on when I go to full beam. Just thought I would share this one with you. Anyone got any others? Steve |
| Steve Gyles |
| Yeah, if you replaced the speedo cable there's a good chance that the end that goes into the speedo is 1/8" too long and you will soon destroy your speedo. |
| Fred H |
| Here's anoher one: Any tool/part/fastener when dropped to the floor will roll the the exact center of the car or bench. It nver rolls out toward you John |
| John |
| How about "If it can it will!" Every time you move in the garage, you trip over the your lead light's wire. When you move the lead light the wire snags on something every time. If there is loop in the wire it will always catch on something and anything can come crashing down. Peter |
| Pete Tipping |
| what's up must come down. Now for the question of the year. IF A GIRL STANDS ON HER HEAD ARE HER SKIRTS UP OR DOWN? SANDY |
| conrad sanders |
| Interchangeable parts don't. If a part can be installed backwards, that will be the way it goes on the easiest. The correct tool is always in the "other" tool box. There's never enough time to do it correctly the first time. |
| R. L Carleen |
| The fast acting fuse will be protected by the delicate piece of equipment burning out that it was supposed to portect. |
| mike parker |
| And Murphy was an optimist! |
| vem myers |
| Well ol' Muph' got me yesterday afternoon. I had a ton of errands to run, mostly on rural 2 lane roads, so it being an absolutely gorgeous day, thought I'd stretch the A's legs a bit. Ran about thirty miles through low traffic areas--no problems. Last stop: Lowes--in a heavily traveled commercial area, six lanes across right at the beginning of our "rush" hour. That's when the throttle cable decided to part. I managed to get from the center lane into the parking lot of a defunct RV dealership (lots of arm waving and gesturing here) where I affected emergency repairs utilizing my shoelaces and some fancy knotwork. (tool bag was in the B). If something is going to fail--it will happen at the least opportune time. As long as you have your tool kit at hand--you will not need it. |
| R. L Carleen |
| I didn't create this law but can vouch for it's credibility. |
| Jerry Murphy |
| Steve, check your wiring on the dip switch next to the clutch pedal. That could be your problem with the main/dipped beam. |
| Ian Pearl |
| Ian Many thanks, but I think you miss the point of Murphy's Law founder Capt Edward A Murphy, a USAF engineer, who on finding a transducer was wired wrong, cursed the technician responsible and said, "If there is any way to do it wrong, he'll find it." I have merely put the 2 bulb holders into the wrong slots in the Speedo. Logic says that if they did not want you to get them mixed up they should have made the holders a different size or shape. If I remember when I get home tonight I will swap them over. I keep forgetting. Must be something to do with age. Probably a law somewhere on forgetfulness being inversely proportional to the importance of the job. Steve |
| Steve Gyles |
| Steve, It sounds as if Murphy's technician was very smart. He never forgot a mistake that he made, and went through life proving it by making them over and over. (got that out of a book and been dying to put it to use.) |
| mike parker |
| It all boils down to this: Everything's F***ed. |
| David Breneman |
| I have thwarted many a breakdown by religeously packing trunk and all available orifices with tools, replace parts, manuals, etc. However, Murph got me early this year on a 900 mile drive to Las vegas. I had just installed the new ( not rebuilt) 1&3/4 HS on the cross flow for the trip. Upon arrival at valet parking a puddle appeared under car: the new float bowl front carb had broken off its pivot. No prob the doorman told me....there was a Kragen right down the street. OOOO La La. VicPS Dave you might wanna consider the glass-half-full approach then. |
| vem myers |
| What is a Kragen ? |
| Art |
| A "Kragen" is like the K-Mart of autoparts, with less than 0 chance of having anything for an MGB, no less an integral part of the carb. FWIW, I isolated the broken SU, plugged gas feed and venturi and made it back home with a really rich mix ( for the 1 & 2 cylinders) with no further problems. Yes Murph was really POed at that I'm sure. |
| vem myers |
| Vem - Philosophically, I always try to do as you suggest. But years of experience keep bringing back back to a realistic, objective analysis of the situation. ;-) |
| David Breneman |
| ...Excpt when you're behind the wheel of an MG. Then, the world takes on a glorious, luminous, wonderous, almost non-f***ed glow. :-) |
| David Breneman |
| Well, it looks like it's time to reprint,"The Laws for British Sports Cars." 1. Law of Peculiar Random Nomenclature The name of a British Sports Car shall consist primarily of letters and numbers, with said letters and numbers chosen in random fashion so that the resultant vehicle name is wholly devoid of meaning. This law explains why British cars always have spectacularly bad names like 'XKE' or worse yet, 'MGBGT'. 2. Law of Cryptic Instruction Any book, manual, pamphlet, or text dealing with the maintenance, repair, or restoration of a British Sports Car shall be written so that at least every fourth word will be unknown to the average reader. In the event that any portion of the text is understandable, the information contained therein shall be incorrect. Most people are familiar with this law. Here is an excerpt from page 132 of the MGA shop manual: "Before rebushing the lower grunnion banjos, you must remove the bonnet facia and undo the A-arm nut with a #3 spanner." All attempts to publish an English language version of this manual have failed. 3. Love of Hardship Law The more a British Sports Car malfunctions, breaks, and/or falls apart, the more endearing it becomes to the owner. You buy a British Sports Car. You have had it a year and a half, and have replaced every item on the car at least twice. When the engine is started it sounds as if someone has thrown a handful of ball bearings into a blender. But when someone offers to buy it, you are offended because "It's like part of the family, and besides, it's so much fun to drive." British Sports Car owners often stare into space and smile a lot. This is referred to as the "Foolish Person Syndrome." 4. Law of Non-Functional Attributes All British Sports Cars, regardless of condition or age, shall always have at least one system or sub-system of components which is entirely non-functional, and cannot be repaired except on a semi-permanent or semi-functional basis. This is also known as the famous Lucas Electrics Law. 5. Recently Discovered Component Failure Law Any component of a British Sports Car which is entirely unknown to the owner shall function perfectly, until such time that the owner becomes aware of the component's existence, when it shall instantly fail. |
| Fred H |
| And now for one of my favorite stories: 1. years ago my clutch throw-out bearing went out on a cold winter night. I drove home 20 miles on a road with a traffic signal every couple of blocks. I timed the lights and shifted with the clutch engaged by using the throttle to vary the rpms. When I HAD to stop...I slipped her in neurtal and shut off the engine, put her in 1st gear and started the car in gear when the light changed. |
| Fred H |
| Fred I was actually taught this technique of clutchless driving by my driving instructor back in the mid 60s, backing up your comments about all British cars of the period, not just sports cars!! The real art is to be able to change up and down through the gears without the clutch. Great fun. Easy enough to slip into neutral, but getting the engine revs just right to crash through into a lower gear with minimal crunching is an art. I often keep in practice in someone else's car (company, hire, etc)! Steve |
| Steve Gyles |
| Recently Discovered Component Failure Law Any component of a British Sports Car which is entirely unknown to the owner shall function perfectly, until such time that the owner becomes aware of the component's existence, when it shall instantly fail. this law is SOOO true, i always close my eyes when crawlign under the car to get to something, in case i see a new "thing" en-route! 6. any part that is absolutely essential to operation will be lost and shipped to random parts of the country (or another country) on its way to you. refering of course to the clutch that came to texas from moss via illinois and wisconsin. "they put the box on the wrong truck..." |
| Chris Edwards |
| If I am looking for a Phillips head screw driver, then the first 5 screwdrivers I pick up will be a flat head. The reverse is always true, I have tested this for 30 plus years and found everytime to be same. Chisel this in stone, Ray |
| Ray Ammeter |
| Can't find the damn chisel! |
| Fred H |
| can't find the chisel.... but all of a sudden i have 87 hammers on my workbench |
| Chris Edwards |
| Just broke a tooth--it's Sat morning. Dentist's office closed until Monday. Always seems to hit that way with such emergencies. I'd bet that nine out of ten medical/veterinarian emergencies happen outside normal office hours--at least in our family, they do. |
| R. L Carleen |
| Fred, A similar experiece to yours when I was in college and owned a several year old 1970 MGB that was manufactured during one of the many periods of labor disputes and socialist unrest in the U.K. While driving home late at night (75 miles), I encountered a snow blizzard in N. Indiana coming off Lake Michigan dumping large amounts of snow in a short period of time. This MGB never liked the combination of cold temperature and high humidity and under conditions such as these, would stall out (carb icing?) after every ten minutes of driving. The solution was to wait ten or fifteen minutes as the heat generated under the hood of the stalled car seemed to correct this icing condition and the car would run for another 10-15 minutes. Not time well spent, when sitting on the side of the roadway in a heavy blizzard meant freeezing chill and becoming a part of the white snowscape. After several of these stall sessions, and while navigating the direction of the road by the position of the telephone poles, the hydralic clutch master cylinder failed. The gearbox was now a crash box under driving conditions of snow drifts and sheets of glazed ice covering the road surface. These are conditions where an uncontrolled downshift or upshift would send your car spinning into the ditch and and lost from sight until the snowplow arrived the next day. The rest of the drive home (I did arrive home) was a combination of stalling, grinding gears, sliding and trying to nail snowdrifts fast enough to plow through them in the direction of where the road should be. Next morning in my garage was the 'icing' on the cake - I tried starting the car and the starter bendix wouldn't engage the flywheel. -M.S. |
| Martin Straka |
| Martin, I don't believe that qualifies for Murphy, though. There is some benevolent God that allows us to get home when, against all odds, we should not make it. I had a similar occurrence with a 5 liter Mustang years ago, also in the snow. The timing chain had jumped time, but I got it started and drove it home. When I pulled in the driveway, it stalled and would not start again, period. By rights I should not have been able to drive home in the first place. I had to replace the timing chain before it would start again. |
| mike parker |
This thread was discussed between 09/11/2004 and 21/11/2004
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