Vintage Thing No. 151 - Arkley-MG
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| This is me getting up Simms! With Simon Knight (Photo : Pete Brown) |
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| My car stands a lot taller than other Arkleys |
The Arkley kit consisted of a new bonnet and boot moulding for careworn Spridgets. The man behind them was Modsports racer John Britten and I first read about the Arkley SS in Peter Filby's Alternative Cars 1979. Production began in 1970, with moulding produced by the Lenham company, and cars based on really early Spridgets needed a bespoke hood. Conversions based on post 1967 cars don't need a special hood so my M-reg example can use a standard Midget hood. (More of that later.)
Arkley survival rates aren't bad considering that rust was the main reason they were converted in the first place. Corrosion would inevitably attack the rear spring hangers and sills so some cars had a brief but shiny flowering before ending up - by degrees - in a dust pan and brush. (More about rust a bit sooner than later).
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| Normal Arkleys (Ha! Normal Arkleys!) having a sloping boot like a Morgan Roadster but mine has an aluminium boot and a spare wheel carrier |
I'd known about this particular Arkley for many years as Ray Goodwright campaigned it in classic trials. He lived across the valley from me but our paths only crossed in competition and there was little time for a yarn. Ray acquired another Arkley SS Midget in pieces and gradually made that into a track day car using a Rover K series engine. The old Triumph 1500 engine from thiks car eventually found its way to me for another project of mine but I didn't buy his trials Arkley from Ray. It had two other owners in between, both of them local.
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| The Arkley-MG in Beast of Bodmin country, its natural habitat. |
Ray evolved his trials Arkley, usually calling on the expertise of local metal guru Adrian Booth. Ray bought it in 1994 already with a 1600 crossflow Ford engine and a four speed Ford box. It's interesting that the car has always been registered as an Arkley-MG and not an MG or an Austin-Healey. Ray suspects that this car could have been built up by John Britten, the man behind the Arkley SS, and was registered as such by him.
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| Ray and Rosemarie Goodwright on Blue Hills 2, Land's End Trial 2005 |
Ray's first event in the Arkley-MG was in 1995 and in 1996 he entered it in his first Land's End Trial. However, by 1998 the engine was a bit tired.
Adrian had been very impressed with the low down torque of a friend's Golf engine so Ray sourced a 1600 out of a Scirocco. Adrian made an adaptor plate out of a flat sheet of steel and in due course they switched to a Ford P100 pickup five speed box for its lower first gear. Ray also says the P100 box has stronger bearings.
When the Scirocco motor gave up the ghost, a similar engine from a Golf did the honours. The present engine is from a Passat and runs twin 40 Dell Ortos with exhaust and inlet systems made by Adrian.
After bottoming out in a muddy bomb hole, Ray switched to the present setup of 15 inch wheels on the front 14 inch on the rear. Adrian modified the suspension to increase ground clearance and eventually made new wishbones for the car using modified Sierra hubs and coil overs at the front. The rear axle is 105E Ford with a Transit diff fitted by Adrian. He also kitted it out with Sierra drum brakes. Front discs are ventilated Sierra
Ray subsequently won his first of two MCC Triples in 2008 and also won an Exmoor Trial outright.
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| On the LET, 2009 |
He told me that the local single venue events, such as the Camel Vale and Launceston Trials, were not the cars main forte. This is my impression, too, and from chatting to the next owner Simon Riddle it's interesting that he felt the same way. Often the sections consist of a right angle turn immediately after the start and then a twisty run up a steep hill over tree roots. The long distance events are the car is happiest and it's in the Land's End and Exeter trials that I really want use the Arkley-MG.
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| Big wheels and lots of ground clearance make the Arkley look even smaller in my opinion |
Calling it an MG nowadays is stretching things a bit as the only MG part that remains is the middle, that is to say the section between the front and rear bulkheads - the cockpit, windscreen, doors and some well hidden chassis members.
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| Binky has a chat while I take a snap at the Perranporth Control, LET 2009 |
Ray sold the car to Simon Riddle in 2010 and he used it for a few years but by 2017 it was getting very tired. It was probably beyond redemption but Adrian thought to himself "I can't let that car die" and made Simon an offer he could have refused.
An intense burst of activity then followed in Adrian's workshop. Age had recently given up trialling a Triumph TR7. He'd found them too heavy and wide. Getting the right sort of ride height and weight distribution was always a struggle so the nimbler MG appealed, despite Age's preference for the Triumph marque. Spitfire's or Heralds never had any success in trialling due to their rear suspension, which didn't easily lend itself to being raised to increase ground clearance.
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| Lighweight floorpans developed by Fred Flintstone (Photo : Adrian Booth) |
Age had already embarked upon a Midget project so had plenty of body panels to use up resurrecting the Arkley-MG. They were needed, too. On one visit to his workshop, I saw the shell in two halves. A crack had spread across from one side to the other behind the seats.
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| Can you tell what is yet? A sculpture depicting man's inhumanity to man? Or the rear half of the upturned Arkley-MG body tub? (Photo : Adrian Booth) |
Kitted out with an electric tyre pump and a very slick hydraulic ram for changing the rear wheels, Adrian completed the 2018 Exeter and LET. However, the much modified MG-Arkley runs in Class 7 and Adrian has never been keen on restarts which are a feature of this class in classic trials. This dislike of restarts was one of the reasons he likes the front wheeled Class 1. You just get to blast up everything! His focus remains on Class 5 with a supercharged A series Midget, although there is a plan to do something with a Vauxhall Corsa, not to mention a TR3 that has been coming together as well.
So, when Adrian said he would consider selling the Arkley-MG, I knew I would regret not buying it. Regular readers will know I passenger Rob Robinson-Collins in his luvverly Allard J1 but he's considering what to do with that car following a series of expensive rear axle issues. The J1 could also do with some body work. It's never really had a restoration, even though Rob has done so much to it during his tenure. I had been wondering what I would do if the Candidi Provocatores ceased to ride so buying the Arkley-MG was the obvious thing to do.
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| Now that's what you call a floor! (Photo : Adrian Booth) |
I have not regretted that decision. I may not have completed as many events as I would have liked but Adrian's after sales service has been second to none and I have learned an awful lot about the car and its capabilities to say nothing of how to straighten back axles and other arcane engineering practices. The only trouble is, providing me with that support has put Adrian's own projects back a bit.
I don't have a van or trailer to tote the Arkley-MG around. I drive to the start of my events and would very much like to drive back again. Consequently, I may not try quite so hard as other competitors but the local one day trials run but the Launceston and North Cornwall and the Camel Vale motor clubs are great for seeing what the little car can do. The routes also take you to the most obscure places in the country and some of these are on my doorstep! I would never have found them otherwise.
It's far better than the driver! It has loads of torque and could probably manage a higher first gear. The ballast is well distributed so grip is good although I find that some forestry sections with lots of tree roots can impeded progress. I need to practice my restarts to be really competitive. I could run much lower tyre pressure on single venue events but have yet to master the art of changing a flat in a muddy forest without nipping the inner tube. Someone like Lee Peck ought to do a YouTube inner tube tutorial. He's bleddy marvellous at it.
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| The wonderful jack in use (Photo : Graham Beddoe) |
One of the many things I like about the Arkley-MG is the hydraulic jack that Adrian made. An electric motor that once powered the soft top on a Fiat Punto drives a hydraulic pump that powers a specially made ram that slots into the ends of the rear chassis rails. The end of this ram slots into a large plate that spread the weight on soft ground. This has come in so handy whenever we pop a rear tyre. The only trouble is, Age wants it back when he starts trialling his next project....
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| Shredding tubes and tyres on Angel Steps with Mr Graham Beddoe, 2019 Tamar Trial (Photo : Pete Brown) |
I get through plenty of tyres already but you have to if you're going to be competitive trying. Usually it's sidewall damage to the cover. The trick is to find something would a tough sidewall that flexes well to enlarge the footprint. The Arkley-MG has Hillman Minx 15 inch front wheels and Sierra 14 inch rears and finding sufficiently "high-profile" tyres is a challenge. Many are intended for high mileage taxi use and don't deform enough when running lower pressures. Kingpin remoulds were good but are no longer available and I've chewed chunks out of the sidewalls on my last two.
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| The hydraulic handbrake operates on the front wheels as well as the rear |
Another of Adrian's innovations during his ownership is a hydraulic handbrake. This is in addition to what our American cousins would call a parking brake and makes reversing down a section a lot easier as well as helping with those pesky restarts. It still operates on just the rear wheels but is bleddy marvellous on slippery sections and especially when it comes to doing restarts.
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| I got air on Simms in 2019 with Mr Lee Peck. One might say we are leaping... (Photo : Pete Brown) |
It's a tough little car and I have burst my mechanical sympathy bubble on a few occasions with it. It's all part of seeing what it can achieve in difficult situations. Having broken a halfshaft and subsequently upgrading them, I have embarked on a care and maintenance programme. I've smarted it up a little since I bought it, including fitting a new hood.
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| Noddy goes trialling. My first event with the car was the 2018 Camel Classic |
The rear axle leaks a little oil. Age said it always did and it's a good policy to top it well up on a regularly basis. "If it's not dribbling a little bit it's probably too dry."
And, as he puts it, "If you're not buckling a rim you're not trying hard enough!
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