Roadtrip in Brittany

 'Where the Camions Rumble'

A quick detour from originality into driving experience. 

During a lull at work, the author impulsively took up British Leyland's invitation to, "Go turismo'' and spent a few days touring in France. Hopefully, the following notes will be (slightly) useful to anyone intending to drive a B on that side of the Channel for the first time.

British Leyland advert from c.1968

As I live in the Westcountry, the piece of France within reaching distance is Brittany. Unfortunately (or perhaps not), I didn't have time to share road space with "smoking camions" or drive to Provence, so my expedition would need to be limited to the Breton peninsular. An overnight ferry runs between Plymouth and Roscoff under the flag of the excellent Brittany Ferries. 

Ready to swap daffodils for wild garlic

The Route

The route was a modest 450 miles split into three day trips from a base at Locquirec, on the north coast. 

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Preparation and Spares

Having bought a 12-volt adapter lead for my iPhone, the first task was to work out why the cigar lighter had lost power. Removing the centre console revealed that the feed wire had fallen off, so it was a simple fix. But it took about two hours to get the console out and back in again.

Yellow headlights were compulsory in France in 1973 (and are now optional), so a pair of original Lucas beam-deflectors seemed too good to pass over when they came up on Ebay. They have elasticated clips which attach under the B's headlight rings and slots which locate into the three stubs cast into the lamp glass (I'd always wondered what they were for). 

I also took a pair of modern adhesive deflectors in case they fell off.

The spare wheel well seemed the best place to stow emergency kit. I went for the torrential approach. With a bit of tessellation, you can fit in:

Anti-squeal shims and brake pad pins - Bent coat hanger - Brake fluid - Cable ties - Carb gaskets and floats - Coil - Disposable gloves - Distributor cap - Engine oil - Exhaust bandage - Fuel pump - Fuel filter - Fan belt - Gorilla tape - Hand wipes - Heater control valve - Headtorch - HT leads - Jack - Jump leads - Jumper wire - Manual - Multimeter - Points - Paper towel - Red Hylotyte - Radiator and heater hoses - RainX - Rotor arm - Sealed beam headlight - Spark plugs - Spare bulbs - Thermostat - Thermostat housing gasket - Tow rope - Tyre pump - Wire - Work light - Warning triangle - Water - Wheel chocks - Wood for use with jack.

In addition, a tool box, socket set and first aid kit were stowed in the normal load space. A picnic blanket with one waterproof side also seemed handy for lying on to look under the car.

Obviously, having taken so much, none of it was needed.

Although not fitted specifically for this trip, the door pocket I'd fabricated was useful for holding maps and snacks within easy reach.

Not original, I know! It also hides a patch of tatty door trim. And the trim's original, so that's ok, right?

Maps and GPS

Experiments using the Google Maps app for iPhone as a GPS had mixed results. A suction cup mount for the windscreen, bought from Halfords, worked impressively well. But has to be located in the middle (flattest) part of the screen. And the phone itself needs to be permanently on charge via the lighter socket to avoid killing the battery. As I have a Bluetooth-compatible radio, audio directions can come through the radio speaker which is invaluable in a noisy car. But annoyingly the audio applies a literal English pronunciation to all French place names. (I'm surprised it didn't speak slowly and loudly too in a patronising manner.)

There are limitations to using Google Maps for navigation. Defined routes can only be plotted online in advance using a PC, as you can’t drag waypoints away from the suggested (i.e. fastest) route on the app. You then email the route to yourself and open it on the phone. All quite clunky. I found sat nav most useful in towns or for finding petrol stations and unsigned car parks. For the longer legs, it was just an aid to my old fashioned 'Post-It note stuck to dash' navigation.

Michelin's yellow maps at 1:150,00 scale (2.5 miles to the inch) are perfect for planning local trips. Scenic routes are marked with a green stripe.

Friendly locals.

Driving in France

There are lots of websites explaining the legalities of driving in France, so just a few personal observations here:

• The nationality plate rules are not enforced. So a 'GB' sticker can be used in place of the new 'UK' one if you prefer.
• In practice, the priorité à droite rule seems only to be found in towns. It's helpful to think of it as an unmarked UK mini-roundabout (saving the French taxpayer the expense of road markings or traffic lights).
• Always look both ways at junctions, to overcome the habit of only looking right when turning left.
• French drivers were generally courteous and sensible. But a minority were outrageous tailgaters. Allow the latter to go past.
• There are 20mph (30kph) speed limits in all villages. In contrast to Britain, where observance of 20 limits seems optional, they are supplemented by wide speed bumps to show they mean it.
• Fuel - lots of supermarket petrol stations are self-service. Otherwise, you pay at a booth on the way out. High-RON isn't available, so take a bottle of octane booster.
• Nothing is open on Mondays. Carry water, a baguette and some cheese at all times.
• Lots of other places, like museums, shut for two hours over lunch.

In Kergrist-Moëlou (shut).

Levier de vitesse

The tourist route down the coast from Trémazan to Lanildut has dramatic views of the Atlantic, but they were underappreciated by this driver as 3rd gear became hard to disengage, and he mentally prepared for being cheerful in the face of adversity. But the anticipated breakdown never came, so a quick route back to my hotel in Locquirec was taken.

Happily, the next day things seemed back to normal; except 3rd seemed further to the right than it used to be...

(Back in England, at the end of the trip, investigation revealed that the problem may have been due to insufficiently tightened screws around the gearstick gaiter - owing to my work on the console before going away.)

Roads

Driving the D roads in central Brittany was a joy. They're the main roads between market towns but carried a fraction of the traffic found in England (noting it was October and out of the holiday season). I went for miles without seeing another vehicle. The roads are well-maintained and exactly the sort of thing the BGT was designed for: fast, onward and sweeping. The D54 and D769 south of Roscoff deserve special mention.

The D769 near Plourin-lès-Morlaix.

On the last day of the trip, I took the B from Locquirec to Corseul, near Dinan, to see the Roman remains. A long scenic route took me through the central plateau of Brittany via the D42, D9/D28 to Callac, then the D31 to Kergrist-Moëlou, the twisty D87/D50 up a gorge to St Nicolas, the D790 to Corlay, and the Roman-straight D44 to Moncontour (one of the tourist board's quaint Petites Cités de Caractère). 

En route.

I had lunch on a bench in Montcontour, all cafés naturally being shut, and got some shots of the MG on the quiet old streets, before carrying on to Corseul.

In Moncontour (shut).

Practicality

The MGB coupé was badged and advertised as a 'Grand Tourer.' It is interesting to consider how far it deserved that status. Focusing in on the 1973 model, there are several points to be positive about. 

• Luggage capacity with the back seat folded down is excellent. Access through the huge hatchback couldn't be better. 
• Leg-room is limitless (if you're sitting in the front). 
• The engine and suspension are well suited to mildly-sporty progress on quiet A roads (Ds in France). 
• Kick out the overdrive (optional extra) with the flip switch on the dash and there's useful engine braking or torquey acceleration, as desired. 
• Cockpit cooling is good on the move thanks to the face-level vents, and the heater is warm enough for spring or autumn driving.
• There's a map pocket in the passenger footwell.
• There's a cigar lighter, which is handy for 12 volt accessories.
• There's an arm rest with a built in storage compartment, and a tray in front of the console, for small items such as sunglasses.

But, on the other pole of the metaphorical 12V battery there are negatives.

• A brake servo, hazard lights and a passenger-side wing mirror were only optional extras on the 1973 model (as 'the Safety Pack'). They were all fitted as standard in 1974. (1)
• Fog and driving lights weren't available as standard or an optional extra in 1973, and had to be fitted by your local BL dealer. (2)
• The seats are adjustable but there's no lumbar support, so curvature of the spine is a serious risk. (A folded scarf or jumper helped me.)
• Despite "built-in quietness" [link], driving above 60mph creates excessive wind and exhaust noise. Together with the seats, that promotes driver-fatigue. 
• Range is limited to approx. 225 miles by the petrol tank and fuel consumption.
• Queuing traffic on a hot day is uncomfortable. Heat radiates back from the engine bay into the footwells; and meanwhile the engine may overheat. (The more efficient 7-blade fan wasn't introduced until 1974.) (3) Keeping a bottle of water handy is wise in case you or the radiator need it.

In conclusion, there are issues with the BL advertising department's puffing the '73 model as a "true GT." Underlying them are the GT's origins as an enclosed version of the MGB roadster. Points which were acceptable in a sporty soft-top, such as seat quality, noise, engine heat, and fuel capacity are more problematic for an enclosed tourer. And while steps were taken by the factory to tackle noise and heat in the GT cabin, the seats and fuel tank were simply carried over from the roadster.

But none of that stops the car from being a lot of fun for the 21st century driver. Returning to England on the ferry, I reflected that I'd got near to tasting British Leyland's glamorous "glassbacked, fastbacked, sleek-lined grand touring world of MG."

Monte Carlo? No, Plymouth.

(1) Clausager, p.113

(2) Ibid. p.111

(3) Ibid, p.148

Soundproofing

Built-in Quietness

British Leyland marketing emphasised the "comfort" and "built-in quietness" of the GT, as a true grand tourer. So considerable thought must have gone into the car's sound insulation to achieve a balance between sportiness and refinement (and cost). 

But information on the soundproofing applied by the factory is elusive. Much of it seems to have been attached to carpets or trim panels, and not reproduced well or at all on modern after-market replacements. 

That makes investigating the details quite an interesting exercise...

"Built-in quietness" as standard - from the 1972 GT brochure (click to enlarge)

1) Starting at the front of the car, there were of course two large rubberised felt pads glued to the underside of the bonnet. The B Series engine is notoriously tappety, and they no doubt contain some of that top-end chatter. Clausager notes that rubberised felt replaced "fibroleta and felt" from June 1972 for better sound insulation.

Original under-bonnet pads on a 1975 LE car (dealer's picture).

The bonnet seal may also reduce engine noise a little, and there are four rubber buffers whose role is to stop the bonnet rattling. Two at the side and two on the grille.

2) In the cabin, the footwell floors and kick panels were lined with large sheets of an adhesive bituminous material, incorporating cut-outs for the mat-fixing poppers.

Footwells from a 1973 car, showing the large sheets of stippled 

insulation, painted body colour, on the floors and kick panels (photos from Ebay).

As can be seen from the small scraps remaining, a white foam or fleece material may then have been glued on top of the pads. (But I've only seen it on this car so it could be a later addition.) Each of the four footwell mats themselves had a backing layer of rubberised-hessian insulation:

Reverse of footwell mat from a 1974 GT.

3) At either end of the cabin floor, a layer of fleece-based insulation was glued to the back of the toe-board trim panels and the heel-board carpet. The material is like loft insulation in texture and appearance, so probably provided heat insulation too. It was covered by a thin plastic film.

Fleece insulation. Top photo from MG Experience forum, bottom from a '74 car (damaged).

4) Pads, made of the same material as used on the floors, were located inside the doors and the C pillars to damp-out panel drumming:

Door pad on my 1973 car.

5) At the rear of the car, each also C pillar contained a large foam wedge, the purpose of which is not immediately obvious.

C pillar foam from my 1973 car.

6) The quality and thickness of the original carpets is noticeably better than some after-market kits. (Clausager notes improved, thicker carpets were adopted from August '72.) In addition to a good depth of pile, the battery-cover piece, plus the tunnel piece, also came with integral felt underlay. As mentioned above, the heel-board piece was backed with fleece insulation. (The load board piece and the boot pocket liners do not seem to have had any backing.)

Battery cover carpet from a '74 car.

The underlay came as a separate moulded piece in the case of the rear wheel arches.

Rear wheel arch underlay being expertly fitted.

7) At the back of the car, the boot loadboard had a large rubberised felt pad glued to the underside, similar to those used under the bonnet.

8) Finally, a black wrinkly tar-like substance was sprayed around the front bulkhead, from the cabin side, in a slightly hit-and-miss manner judging from the application on my car. Presumably this has a sound-deadening role.

Wrinkly spray stuff on my 1973 car.

Please, er, shout if you think I've missed anything!

        

               'Cum on Feel the Noize' was another No. 1 Hit for Slade in Feb. 1973 - but British Leyland weren't so keen.

EEC Sticker

Brenter

On 1 January 1973, Britain joined the European Economic Community. "We can look forward with excitement to the venture on which we are embarking," Edward Heath promised the nation. 

The Prime Minister.

However, one of the (arguably) less exciting consequences was that new British cars had to show compliance with EEC standards for safety and emissions. Compliance was demonstrated by a sticker affixed to the vehicle.

Like this.

The black and white rectangular stickers were paper-based and so have not survived well. Or at all. Nor are there any reproductions available from classic MG parts suppliers. That makes pinning-down the details (should you wish to do so...) quite challenging.

Location: In the case of the MGB, the sticker was located on the 'slam panel' under the bonnet lip. Initially, it seems to have sat on the nearside, as shown below.

EEC sticker on an early 1973 car (photo from Ebay).

But during 1973 the sticker seems to have migrated to offside the bonnet latch. New drillings introduced for the V8 model (which were carried over into 4-cylinder cars for standardization) required a general re-arrangement of stickers and commission plate in this area, as seen below.

EEC sticker on a late 1973 car (photo from Ebay).

Oddly, on the contemporaneous V8, the stickers were placed right over on the offside. Perhaps there was concern they might be damaged during installation of the fan guard?

EEC sticker on a 1973 V8 (photo from Ebay)

The stickers are not mentioned in either Clausager or the Parts List. But Rob Rose of the MG Car Club has researched, and had made, EEC stickers to cover the years '73 to '77. Details are in the article below (including part numbers). He welcomes orders from genuine MGB owners who want to obtain an authentic item.

Article from Safety Fast! December 2021.

Coding: It is clear that the circled 'E11' at the top of each sticker is the EEC country code for Great Britain. Beneath it are codes in the format, '11R-0017' etc. These relate to components fitted to the vehicle and to their manufacturer.

Unravelling what they mean has taken some rather labyrinthine detective work:

→ UK legislation is published on the appropriately named www.legislation.gov.uk.

↗ There, can be found a series of regulations from 1972 onwards called 'The Motor Vehicles (Designation of Approval Marks) Regulations.' The regulations seem to have come out every year and were sometimes amended within the same year by 'Motor Vehicles (Designation of Approval Marks) (No. 2) Regulations' or '(Amendment)' regulations.

↘ From these, it seems that the first part of the code (e.g. 10R or 11R) refers to the corresponding regulation (e.g. reg. 10 or reg. 11) of the snappily-named International Agreement of 1958 concerning the adoption of uniform conditions of approval and reciprocal recognition of approval for motor vehicle equipment and parts.

↜ The second part of the code (e.g. -070 or -0017) refers to the manufacturer of the relevant vehicle part. It seems each company had to have an identification number allocated by a 'competent authority' (presumably the Ministry of Transport in the UK).

↴ Sadly, I haven't been able to track down the text of the 1958 Agreement because I expect it's a good read, but browsing through the UK Regulations reveals several illustrations of codes, with descriptions, from which the subject of the corresponding 1958 regulation can be deduced. (The 1976 Regs have a particularly good list, if you're interested.)

⇆ So:

• 10R is radio interference suppression
• 11R is side door latches and hinges
• 12R is protection of the driver against the steering mechanism in the event of an impact
• 15R is emission of gaseous pollutants by positive-ignition engines
• 18R is protection against unauthorised use.

↸ Annoyingly, I haven't been able to find out which manufacturer each dash code relates to. (I'd be interested if anyone knows.)

↧ One further refinement: it seems that components made in another EEC country, but fitted to a UK car, had to be listed underneath the correct E code for their home country - as can be inferred from the badly torn version below.

EEC sticker from a chrome-bumper 1974 GT, showing a 2nd country code.

While Edward Heath's exciting European venture may have ended for the UK, it continues for MG anoraks.

Engine Bay

Engine Bay References

The original look of the early-1970s engine bay is fairly clear from the contemporary sales brochures. The photos repay careful study. (Click to enlarge).

1973 engine (without the optional brake servo).

The above is from the sales brochure for the 1973 model year roadster (British Leyland Publication No. 2961). The 1973 model was manufactured between Aug. 1972 and Aug. 1973. As far as I am aware, the engine bay for the GT version of the car was identical to the roadster's.

In the picture above, the radiator diaphragm is missing its rubber seal and the rocker cover has no visible BL sticker (both of which one would expect to be present according to Clausager). The Tudor screenwash bottle was replaced by a 'hot water bottle' type bag in June 1973 (Clausager, p.148).

The shot below is from the 1973 model year GT sales brochure (British Leyland Publication No. 2962) and provides an interesting cross-reference. However (confusingly) this engine is actually from the period Aug. 1971 to Dec.1971 (1972 model year) as shown by its colour and the straight air filter pipes (Clausager, p.147). But I believe the curved air filter pipes were the only change in 1973. The optional servo is lurking top left.

1972 engine (with the optional servo).

Here is a shot from the roadster brochure for the 1970 model year (British Leyland Publication No. 2724). This expands the view to include the slam panel and the off-side inner wing, which is helpful. The original is rather small hence the poor resolution.

1970 engine bay.

The twin Negative Earth stickers, one above the other on the slam panel, are curious. From a Google search of cars with original-looking stickers (a search for "commission number" throws up best results) it appears to be a one-off. (Maybe hiding a scratch in the paintwork?)

Finally, a classic piece of '70s marketing cheese from the same brochure. Nothing suggestive going on here then...

Pulling birds was a persistent theme of early '70s MG marketing.

A blog about original features of the home market MGB GT in 1973 (ish)

Introduction

Unlike early MGB models from the '60s, the British Leyland-era cars of the '70s are rather unloved and not (yet) regarded as worth keeping original. 

This blog focusses on some of the original features (often obscure ones) which I have researched while rebuilding my own 1973 GT as near to 'factory' spec as I can. It's been an interesting project and isn't over yet.  If you spot anything that I've got wrong please leave a comment. I claim no expertise. Hopefully, it will be of interest to other anoraks who are aiming at authenticity and not wishing to re-invent the Rostyle.

I strongly suspect it will be of no interest to anyone else.

The 1973 model MGB GT

I'll be referring to a couple of standard references throughout this blog:

• 'Original MGB' by A. D. Clausager (Bay View Books, 1994) ISBN 1 870979 48 6 ('Clausager')
• 'MGB, Tourer, GT and V8 - Up to September 1976 Parts Catalogue' (British Leyland UK Ltd 1977) Part No. AKM 0039 ('Parts Catalogue')