Safety Fast February 2002

V8 Column for February 2002 published in Safety Fast!

This month we have more registrations from new members, spares news on replacement RV8 road wheels and news of two forthcoming events - an invitation to join Don Hayter talking on the development of the BGTV8 near Abingdon in February and the traditional annual V8 Curry Evening in March.

New registrations this month include details of Abingdon built GTV8s have come in from Pete Holden (Glacier White 1183) from County and Mark Bushby (Blaze 2207) from Devon. Kenneth Jones (Black Tulip 4208) from Northamptonshire and James Roberts (Green 4212) from Yorkshire have registered MGBV8 Roadster conversions and Brian Nicholas (Tartan Red 3095) from Lancashire has registered an BGTV8 conversion. Details of RV8 registrations have come from Franck Debuire (Woodcote Green 0017) from France and Stephen Oyston (Flame Red 0875) from Warwickshire. The RV8 registered by Franck Debuire is an early press car which was exported to France by a manager at Rover.
Don Hayter speaking on the development of the BGTV8 at the Factory during the early seventies is an event few V8 enthusiasts will want to miss.

Many of us have wondered over the years "how did they get they get the package so right?" and recall on first driving a V8 how we found it such an extraordinary car in terms of driving pleasure and response with the V8 power. Well Don has accepted an invitation from Peter Buckles, the V8 Chairman, to join him and V8 Register members for an afternoon when the format will be a presentation by Don followed by an open forum for discussion. That will run from 1500 to 1800 hours followed by a short break of an hour for everybody to prepare themselves for an early supper. The event will be held at Milton House Training Centre near Abingdon on Saturday 23rd February 2002. The cost will be £10 for the afternoon session (presentation and discussion forum) and a further charge for a three course supper. Overnight accommodation will be available for those who need it at Milton Hall at reasonable rates to be advised nearer the time. For further information and bookings, contact David Biddle at dwbiddle@cs.com or on 01753 892714. All cheques payable to "V8 Register - MG Car Club" please.

The annual V8 Curry Evening will be on Saturday 16th March at 7pm in Beaconsfield, just off the M40 near Junction 2 so will be easy to find and convenient for members from the Midlands, the west of England and the Home Counties. It is always a popular event at the start the year and of course all Club members are very welcome. For further details of the restaurant location and bookings, contact the organiser who lives nearby, David Biddle.

The RV8 road wheel (ZKC5700 and ZKC 6749) is no longer available and our V8 Spares Member, Clive Wheatley, reports he has been told it will not be made again, but he has resurrected the three piece spilt rim wheel which was fitted to the prototype RV8s. It is available as the original 15 inch diameter wheel or as a 17 inch wheel suitable for a low profile 205x50x17 tyre. The cost of the 15 inch split rim wheel is £215.00 and the 17 inch, £290.00 each plus VAT. The 17 inch wheel and tyre can be seen in the December/January issue of MG World magazine and the January issue of Safety Fast! The 15 inch prototype split rim wheel can be seen in the "MGV8 Twenty One Years On" book on page 74 fitted to the third development car (White ADDDEV03) registration JGT 808 N owned by our member Alan Torbett in Worcestershire. Contact Clive Wheatley at V8 Genuine & Conversion Parts on 01902 330489 for further information on these wheels and their availability.

Volume 6 of the original V8 Workshop Notes series has been completed taking the series to Note 240 and is available to members of the V8 Register. The principal method of distribution is by e-mail attachment as this has proved so successful with the RV8 series and particularly convenient for overseas members. Internet copies are available at £5.00 (cheques payable to V8 Register MG Car Club please). Printed and bound copies are available to UK members at £11.00 including postage. Orders to victorsmith@v8register.net or by telephone on 0208 392 9434. We are working on putting the whole of the V8 Workshop Notes series in an electronic format for distribution by the internet and on CD by 2002.

The V8 Calendar of events is now maintained on a rolling basis covering 24 months and is available by e-mail with regular updates. If you want this service, just send your e-mail address to Victor Smith and he will put you on the e-mailing list. The present V8 Calendar extends to 2003, the V8 Register 25th Anniversary for which a number of events are being planned as part of the celebrations.