Saturday December 2nd, 2006 was the Claymont DE Christmas Parade. This was Nemo's first parade and last event for the year.

Saturday's weather was near perfect. The sun was shining and the temp was brisk. There were about 16 cars at the start. Since the event was hosted by the British Car Club of Delaware, most were brits (MG's Triumph's 1 Austin Healey and 1 Jag). BCCD had also invited BRAACA (Brandywine Region Antique Automobile Club of America) and a local sports car club so the field ranged from a 1931 Ford Model 'A' Roadster to 3 day old Saturn Sky. The morning started with coffee and doughnuts in the shopping center parking lot and then we were split into two groups. The two groups met up again at the 4th bridge and went together to The Post restaurant in Nottingham, PA for a nice lunch in a private room. There were only 9 cars continuing after lunch so we went as one group to the remaining 4 bridges. After that is was off to a local ice cream shop for desert. What a great day. Thanks to the British Car Club for hosting the event. Hope to see more of us there next year.

Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention that during this outing, Nemo passed the 3000 mile mark since I put him back on the road Sept 13, 2006.

After reading the article in the library on painting rostyle wheels I decided it was time to give it a shot. I already had some semi-gloss black that I had been using to paint engine parts so I figured that would be OK for the wheels too. I went to the auto parts store to find the recommended GM7184 silver paint. Since they didn't have particular color, I opted for a GM7188. I also decided to paint mine backwards from the recommended method. Since it looked like it would be easier to mask the black recessed section then to mask the silver parts, I painted the black first. After allowing them to dry IAW the can's directions, I masked off the black parts and applied the sliver. After removing the masking, I then installed the new hubcaps from Moss, re-attached the chrome trim rings and mounted on the car with new lug nuts. WOW!

I decided I was tired of looking at the rust spots that had accumulated on the steering wheel while Nemo was sitting in storage. I removed the wheel and within half an hour, looks like new. Ok, almost like new. OK much better.

There was reportedly a field of 600 cars and I could only find 4 other MG's. Maybe next year I'll get it posted so more of our fine autos can attend...

So on Wednesday I finally got the correct paperwork from RI. Thursday morning I went to NJ MVC and got Nemo his tags. I really didn't want to drive him in the rain but I also didn't want to drive to DE this week-end without a few local miles under his tires. Especially since the last time he was on the road, Ronald Regan was president! So Thursday and Friday I drove him to and from work (~70 mile round trip) and the only problem I had was clunking when I shifted and some vibration while driving. Thursday afternoon I ordered U-Joints from Moss. I got them on Friday and installed them Friday after work. No more clunking and very little vibration while driving. When I filled the tank on Friday evening I calculated about 24 - 25 mpg... I can live with that. I also got to pass a radar sign, you know those ones on the side of the road to show you how fast you're going, and it was right on the money. So a little cleaning today and tomorrow is Hagley's 11th Annual Antique Auto Show. I'll bet he'll be one the only "original condition" MGB GT's on the field. I'll post pictures of the event later.