A classic car is an old car that people keep because it's special or rare. Taking care of one means you have to be careful and fix it properly so it stays nice.
Recommissioning means getting a car that hasn’t been driven for a long time ready to drive again. It includes checking and fixing parts so the car is safe and works well.
The MG MGB is an old, small sports car made in Britain that lots of people liked because it was fun to drive and not too expensive. It looks cool and is often talked about because many people still enjoy owning and driving it today.
MG used to be a British car company, but now a Chinese company owns the name and makes new MG cars. So MG means different things to different people now.
The Junior is an old, small sports car made by an Italian company called Alfa Romeo. It’s popular because it looks nice and is fun to drive, especially for people who like classic cars.
The Mercedes-Benz 190E is a small, fancy car made by Mercedes in the 1980s and 90s. People like it because it lasts a long time and is well made, so it’s a good car to have if you take care of it.
Perpendicular parking means parking your car straight into a spot that is at a right angle to the road or driving lane. It is the usual way cars park in parking lots.
ADA compliant spots are special parking spaces for people with disabilities. They have extra room and features to help people get in and out of their cars more easily.
Parallel parking means parking your car in a line along the side of the road, between two other cars. It can be tricky because the space is often tight.
The Hyundai Santa Cruz is a small truck that looks and drives more like a regular car. It’s good for people who want to carry things but still want a comfortable and easy-to-drive vehicle.
Cadillac Ranch is a famous art spot in Texas where old Cadillac cars are buried nose-first in the ground. It's a popular stop for people driving on Route 66.
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Welcome to another In-Wheel Time podcast.
Welcome to the In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show.
Coming up, Tim Witton on the stewardship of owning a classic car.
He'll say it when we call it a stewardship in just a moment.
We need to talk to him.
In Jeff's car culture, it's all about size.
And Mike has spring brake destinations.
Howdy, along with Mike out of this world Mars.
We always need more Jeff Zekin and chief engineer David Ainsley.
I'm Don Armstrong.
So glad that you could join us.
So right now it's a sunny here in the Houston area where we broadcast this show from.
We're on the live segment of it right now on Saturday morning, 10 a.m. Central Time,
which is we normally do that every weekend.
It's Saturday.
Yep.
If you're listening on a podcast, we thank you for doing that.
And we are going to start the show from across the pond this morning.
And we have with us now a fellow by the name of Tim Winton.
He is the founder of Cambrian Classics, a family run business that specializes in classic car
repair and servicing.
And it is located by the beautiful Caridia, Carid, Carid.
Come on, Tim, help me.
Caridigion.
Caridigion.
Just like a spell.
Yeah, it's not spelled that way at all.
So this isn't something that I would bring my 1982 Buick Regal into to get it to serve,
service by you.
It's mainly English cars, correct?
Yes.
I mean, we do pre-1980 vehicles all the way back to pre-war.
So if it's got a carburetor, basically, in the UK, a big part of the classic car world
is British sports cars.
We're MG specialists in the first instance.
That's how myself and a number of the guys at work for me came to doing this, was through MGs.
So that's sort of our deepest knowledge base.
But we do a lot of British marks.
And even quite a lot of air called Volkswagen.
And other European makes Alfa Romeo, things like that.
How long have you been doing this?
This company's been going for about five years.
But I've been very involved.
I've run the local MG club for about 15 years, roughly.
And they've been a hobby for a long time, doing my own cars, restoration projects,
buying and selling and things like that.
And then it sort of naturally evolved into doing it for other people in the club.
And slowly, but surely, I just got quite busy doing it and thought,
oh, well, let's give it a go doing it professionally.
I've worked in the motor trade, just not doing classic cars up until that point anyway.
I was a workshop manager in a local Renadela and then worked in a motor factory selling
tools and parts to garages.
So I built up a lot of contacts through doing those two things.
And I got to a point where it got so, life got busy.
And I said, well, I had to either choose doing old cars or I've got to stop
between children coming along and everything else.
So decided to go with the old cars.
I believe that you called it Renault.
And of course, I come from a school where we called it Renault.
Right.
You'll have to forgive me there.
So tell me about just a regress here for a moment.
What's the difference between a French car and an English car?
Fundamentally, not a lot.
I mean, they're all basis on a theme.
I mean, if you go back to really early stuff, then there's greater differences.
But for the most part, things have distributors and brake shoes and boughs and pistons.
They're all variation on a theme.
But with classic vehicles, there are certain technologies and principles applied then
that have changed over time.
So tuning a carburetor on a Renault 8 compared to this Humber,
general principles still apply with tuning, mixture, making sure the spark is good, et cetera.
I guess that all I could think of is the engineering of all of that stuff.
Seems to be a bit different from the good old boys there in England as opposed to the French.
Can be.
Yes, there were different ways of doing things.
And especially some of the French cars, they were quite innovative in the way that they designed
things. British cars were a little bit more reserved in that regard.
The Citroen suspension, for example, as often mentioned, is very, very different.
So you've just got to be aware of those things.
But we had an Alpha GT Junior in last year.
And that was side-draft webbers, seen those plenty times before, with points distributor.
And it's just, let's say, small variations on a theme with every car.
And by the time you've seen 100 variations, it's not that alien.
So Tim, tell me about your shop.
You said you've got some folks that work with you.
How many employees do you have?
And it looks like a pretty decent-sized shop there.
Yeah, well, it seems to get a lot bigger.
But I'll come back to that in a second.
We have, there's five of us in total at the moment.
There's myself.
Oh, I do.
I do do the fixing.
But as time goes on, that seems to get less and less.
But there's my wife then, who does part-time, does a lot of the admin stuff in the background.
I've got Jeremy, who is a semi-retired, does about three days a week.
Lot of experience with the vintage pre-war cars.
So that's quite, there's very useful knowledge base in that area.
I've got a full-time apprentice, Joel, who has been with me about eight months now.
And he's learning really well, really keen.
He's just turned 19, big into classic cars.
And he commutes to work in his MGB.
So that's a good sign when he came for the interview, that one.
And then there's someone else then, Alia, who comes in for doing ad hoc welding fabrication,
as and when we need an extra pair of hands.
This workshop then is attached, is close to my house.
And we've got another room just off camera there,
like a single car room for doing welding and fabrications.
We have a separate room for that, keeps the dust and the noise down.
Because when you're doing engines and carburetors,
the last thing you want is sparks and dust and mud and filler and all of that.
Do you do full restorations?
Yes, but not very often.
We have more than enough to do, doing servicing and repair,
and keeping them tuned and doing carburetory builds,
and doing, say, a sill replacement or a wing or doing some, you know,
general welding repairs.
We do have done a few restorations and do.
There is a car on a rotisserie outside,
but we find there's just so much of this repair work at the moment.
We just don't have space and time to do the larger restorations.
So that's kind of where we stick.
And we're good at full finding and carburettor tuning and running
and getting the best out of them.
So we tend to sort of improve running cars.
And I think increasingly, so many cars have been restored now or on the road
and a lot of recommissioning as well, actually cars that are good,
but have been parked for, you know, five to 10 to 20 years.
We have recommissioned and bringing those cars back onto the road again
is quite a long process.
That's an interesting question.
What do you class as an MG?
I'm sorry?
What do you class as an MG?
Because you can go into a showroom and we're going to buy one now,
but they're made by a Chinese company.
I'm sure that somebody else is probably taking the reins,
but I'm talking about the classic MG.
The MGB is the one over here that was the most popular.
And there were thousands of them around.
Yes, loads and loads of them.
The MGB is the one that I own and we do a lot of.
They stopped production in 1980 and the accompanying shape midget
sort of was an extra year or so past that.
They used the MG name on stuff in the 80s and then in the 90s.
And now the name's got sold to Chinese company.
They make modern cars.
So, you know, people's opinion of what MG varies.
And so there are some that I know that go,
well, there's no real MG sort of after the late 40s,
because they became part of BMC and therefore it's not MG anymore.
Is that a bug eye behind you?
This one?
The green one.
The green one?
Yeah.
This one.
That's a Triumph TR5.
Oh, okay.
It's the one that's directly behind you on the lift.
On the ramp, it's a Humber Hawk.
That's quite a rare thing now.
Someone told me there's only 10 left on the road in the UK.
That one, I think, is a 61, I think.
It's a 2.3-litre four-cylinder.
It's a Roots group car.
So that's like Sunbeam Alpine and Sunbeam Humber,
that group of manufacturers.
Yeah.
What is your favorite car to work on?
I know these are random questions, but these are random cars for us.
Right.
Okay.
Yeah.
Although it's got quite a lot of American styling to this,
it's not something.
Yes, it does.
I can see that.
Yeah.
For me, I've done so many MGs that we're really good at them,
but I do it all the time.
So for me, there's an element of novelty.
But I do really like big Heelys.
So I lost in Heely like 106.
Or I really enjoyed doing the Alfa Junior last year,
again, just because it was something a little bit different.
This Triumph, actually, was a really nice drive.
It's had a few modifications to it,
and that's a surprisingly nice one to drive.
Yeah.
What is the number one service thing
that you do at your shop that obviously oil changes
and the regular maintenance stuff,
but is there anything in particular that goes right to the MG brand?
Things to look out for on an MGB, for example.
Yes.
Yeah.
Aside from the normal tires and that type of thing,
one of the most overlooked things with an MGB
is a lack of lubrication of the steering rack.
They're meant to be oil-filled, and they rarely are.
I get phone calls all the time,
oh, I like power steering fitted to my MGB,
and my usual reaction is, what's wrong with it?
Because mostly they are an easy car to drive.
Usually, they have too low tire pressures,
over two bigger tires, a tiny racing steering wheel,
no oil in the steering rack, under the lubricated suspension,
and people think that's how they are.
So experience of old cars is quite a useful thing,
is I can get into one and go, that gear select is missing the bushing.
These brakes are not as good as they should be.
I've got a basis for comparison,
because I drive and have repaired so many
to be able to drive one and go, whoa, that's not right.
That could be better.
How far away do your customers come
for your knowledge and experience to your shop?
I don't know how familiar your listeners are to the size of the country of Wales,
but I have customers from all four corners of Wales,
so that's probably 100 miles, something like that.
I get quite a few customers come from Dublin as well.
So Ireland, across the IRC, there's a couple of regular ferries,
and I've got some customers that bring cars over from Dublin,
for me to repair, I repair them, and then they come back again and take them away.
Because you're kind of like your favorite barber,
you've been going to him for 18 years,
even though I live 75 miles away,
I'm going to plan the day to go over there and have you look at the car.
You've got those customers.
Yes, yes, definitely, and as time goes on,
we're just getting busier and busier.
So we have a lot of great Google reviews,
and it's exponentially growing the business.
I started off just myself, and in five years, there's five of us,
and we've completely outgrown this place.
I'm about to move to a big workshop,
hopefully, things crossed in about a month.
Is it going to be right, right, right on the coast,
right there, where the great big cliffs are,
and you watch the big storms come in?
And here's the other question, the follow-up question to that is,
do you know Tom Jones?
I was going to ask that before I got out of here.
No, I don't.
Because I don't have a direct connection with him,
but I am kind of in the entertainment business from before,
and I'm thinking, I'll just make a little phone call and say,
hey, we know this guy.
Take your car to him.
Well, yeah, yeah, if he's got a classic car stand in this way.
But yeah, so I mean, if I open those doors,
if you stood at the end of the driveway,
you can just about see the sea.
So sort of through the trees.
You're basically on the coast then.
Oh, yeah, yeah, right on the coast.
If Wales in the middle has got a big bay called Cardigan Bay,
and we're right in the middle of that,
just overlooking the coast.
Is that where Cardigan sweaters came from?
Quite possibly.
Not in my field of expertise, that one.
You are the only one that does what you do.
There's not like, you don't have a competitor in the area or in Wales.
No, not directly.
Lots of places that will repaint your classic car.
So a body shop is a body shop.
A metal panel is a metal panel.
It's got rust holes in it on an 80-year-old car
or a 10-year-old car.
You chop the metal out, you put new metal in, you paint it.
So there's lots of places that will paint them.
And it's quite obvious sometimes when the cars come in,
that this restoration has been a body shop restoration.
They've put the worn out suspension back onto the shiny car.
And that's kind of the bit that we do,
is that mechanical improvement,
improving the performance and the reliability of the car
and getting people's...
Also, you know, if people don't use them,
they become more unreliable.
And when they're unreliable, people use them less
and they become more unreliable
and eventually they get parked in the shed.
What is the highest mileage car that you have worked on
that is still on the road today that you know of?
Um, I owned a 300,000-mile Mercedes at one point.
That's great.
It's a 190.
And that car was incredible.
That was... it was...
belonged to someone in my wife's family.
And, um...
What year model was that?
It was a 91 Mercedes 2.0-liter 190E.
It had the original clutch, the original shocks.
Oh my God, the original clutch?
Yeah.
You didn't have any kids driving that one.
No.
He just drove up and down the motorway.
It was a business...
He bought it.
He had a printing business.
He was a grandfather and he had a printing business
and he used to drive up and down the M4 all the time.
And, um, yeah, it was remarkable.
I mean, after that kind of mileage,
it wasn't in the first flush of youth.
But it was a fun car a long time ago for me.
I think I had that when I was 20 or 21 or something.
I'm now 40.
It was a while ago.
But, you know, that was an eye-opener to old cars
and what they can do.
Tim, we could sit here and we could talk to you all day.
Yeah, I got lots of questions here.
Bizarre, crazy questions.
I can't believe those guys over there in America
have asked me these questions.
But, you know...
Well, the car didn't think caught me off guard.
Well, I will say the car didn't, I'm sure it did.
You know, the only thing that I can think of...
I love British humor.
I always have.
And I know that you guys have a great sense of humor
and I'm sure that you can appreciate
some of my stupid, crazy questions.
But I had to ask them anyway.
But it's great to talk to you and have you on the show with us.
Can we call you back some time and say,
Hey, what's going on?
What do you got in the show?
Yeah, sure.
Yes, yeah, I thought so.
All right, so we're going to do that.
Founder of Cambrian Classics, Tim Winton over there
in West Wales.
And it's a real pleasure and honor to talk to you.
And we appreciate you today.
Thanks for having me.
Yeah, thank you very much.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank your team for us.
Yes, please do.
Well, thanks.
All right, just ahead, Jeff's Car Culture.
Oh, yes, it is really about size.
And Mr. Mars has five spring branch spring break destinations.
And maybe, yeah, something else too.
I don't even know.
It's after this on the In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show.
We'll be right back.
The Tailpipes and Tacos Renowned Cruise Inn Expands to Beaumont.
Golden Triangle Cruisers will want to experience tailpipes
and tacos at the Loopy Tortilla,
high 10 South in Beaumont near Washington Boulevard.
Grab three Loopy Breakfast Tacos with any donation to Shirley's Kids.
Enjoy a coffee or an adult beverage.
Every cruise in vehicle is automatically entered to win
one of the beautiful chili pepper trophies for best hot rod,
classic and modern classic.
Tailpipes and Tacos Beaumont happens Saturday morning,
March 21st, 8 to 11 AM.
If you're a car geek like we are,
this is the event you'll want to attend.
The In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show will be online, live,
and you may be interviewed about your ride.
Tailpipes and Tacos Beaumont edition Saturday,
March 21st, 8 to 11 AM at the Loopy Tortilla,
2050, I-10 South in Beaumont.
The Cady Tailpipes and Tacos happens Easter Saturday, April 4th,
8 to 11.
The free Tailpipes and Tacos Cruise-In
is a production of Loopy Tortilla Tex-Mex, Beaumont, and Cady.
It's pretty good.
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InWheelTime.com has a list, and we know you love lists.
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Thank you for doing with us today.
And by the way, speaking of that,
I wanted to remind you that next week we'll have a three hour,
a bonus hour next week.
We'll be coming to you from Team Gilman MegaMeat 2K26.
That's a Saturday, March 14th, 10 to 2.
We're going to be doing a live broadcast from there.
We hope you join us.
It's up at 18202 North Freeway.
You'll hear the commercial.
All right, time now for Jeff's car culture.
SizeMatters.dot.dot when it comes to parking spaces.
Parking spaces.
Well, parking space dimensions are relatively standard
across the country,
but they can vary slightly depending on the local laws
and regulations.
Standard parking space dimensions across America
are between 7.5 feet and 9 feet of the width.
And 16 feet to 20 feet in length, or what they call depth.
So parking space dimensions,
seemingly relative straightforward at a glance.
There are several things to consider.
They consider that affect the final layout of a parking lot.
Parking lot size affects the maximum number of spaces
that you could put under the different layouts.
Many parking lots use perpendicular parking
to try to fit as many spaces in the lot as possible.
Just like putting a button to seat at a theater or something.
You got to get them in there.
The perpendicular designs are especially common
in high traffic areas like grocery stores
and department stores.
However, there's also times when a parking lot
is too large for the number of people using it.
Having the highest possible number of spaces only matters
in a parking lot.
It sees enough traffic to fill those spaces.
So you can actually over build a parking lot.
This parking is somewhat dangerous
and requires wider aisles.
So it's often possible to use different configurations
in a large lot.
While most people are familiar with perpendicular
or 90 degree parking,
many are the other angles and choices
that can be designed and are in use.
30 degree parking spaces work well on one way roads.
Two sided parking array at this angle is 44.8,
well 44 feet 8 inches across in total.
12 feet of this is for the main driving route,
which is the rest of the parking spot.
The setup offers excellent maneuverability
because drivers only need to turn a little
to get in or out of that space.
It's particularly practical in areas
where people go in and out of the spaces a lot.
So you got a lot of traffic in that one particular space.
Like on a city street.
Yeah, yeah.
One notable advantage of the 30 degree space
is that all doors are cleared on both sides of the vehicle
and that's important.
45 degree spaces, there's another one.
It can fit more cars into the same area.
These angles are still tight enough
that they're only practical for cars traveling
in one direction.
You see the arrows and the lots in the parking space.
That nobody pays attention to.
Right, right.
Well, I do.
However, increased capacity comes at the most,
comes at the cost to reduce speed
because the cars need to slow down
and much more skill to enter those spaces.
Essentially, it is a balanced option
for the angled parking, which is good to know.
60 degree parking is another one.
It's relatively wide.
It uses a 59 foot, 8 inch space for the areas
with parking on both sides,
typically about 20 feet of the driving space
between the parking stalls.
Then you got spaces that gives people
much more room to maneuver.
It doesn't take up quite as much space
as perpendicular parking,
but it's somewhat easier to back into that spot.
Then you got 90 degree parking
or perpendicular parking as we discussed.
Is most common.
It's the choice that people like.
It's where parking stalls are at the right angle
to the road.
Perpendicular parking is the worst choice
for accessibility outside of an ADA.
Compliant spots, which is the handicapped spots.
All vehicle doors could be close to one another.
Such proximity can make it extremely hard
for some people to enter or exit the car.
That's why you have some of the grids
on the side of the parking spot.
Then you got straight parking or parallel parking.
Our common areas where it could be difficult
to install a normal parking.
Driving test.
Yeah, that's exactly what it is.
They're most common along the edges of the streets,
which are very common.
Parallel parking spots are usually 19 feet in depth
with an average of four feet of buffer space
on the top of that,
which is about 12 feet of driving space next to them.
Then you can get into the other specialty parking
like semi trucks, motorcycles and buses.
They each have their own routes of doing that.
Semi trucks are about 30 feet long motorcycles.
You could put more motorcycles
in a regular parking spot than you could in a parking spot
designated for a motorcycle.
And then you got buses, which are about 60 feet long.
So I do this because when I go to grocery shopping
or you go to your Walmart or your Target or whatever,
and you got people that are pushing their baskets
and they just leave them in the middle of the next lane.
They don't take them to the place
where you're supposed to put your car.
I've seen people put shopping carts in the handicapped space
as someone's trying to pull in there
and it just drives me nuts.
So you want to go out there and just poke them in the eye.
Size matters.
Yeah, size doesn't matter.
Time now here on Inwheel Time
to talk about driving destinations,
family funds, spring break road trips.
Mr. Mars, it's all yours.
Yeah, I picked out like five things
that would make great family spring break road trips
in the United States.
I mean, because it's when you're talking about spring
in particular, it's more like a vacation.
You got scenic highways, roadside stops
and lots of destinations where the kids go, wow,
some are more than others.
But we'd start with the Grand Canyon
in the North Arizona Loop.
It's really good to kind of base this out of Flagstaff
because then you can drive up to the South Rim
and you can kind of overlook the rim
and you find lots of paths along the way
and you can be like the gris walls there on the way.
And then you can pick up on stretches of U.S. Route 66
where you go through Williams
and you kind of step back in time with the neon signs
of vintage diners and a lot of roadside attractions.
Of course, you can always stop in Sedona
and check out the Red Rock scenery
that you're going to have along the way there.
And then from there, we could go to California's
Pacific Coast Highway.
This comes up a lot because of what it is.
I mean, if you're into the coastal scenery,
this is just, it's a legendary drive that's hard to beat.
Start in San Francisco, head south towards Big Sur.
You got lots of highway hoax, the cliffs
and the Pacific Ocean.
Big, beautiful bridges to go across.
You can stop at Monterey,
check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium there,
going down to Santa Cruz
where they've got actually a little amusement park down there
to kind of wind up a day of spending the day in the car.
The number three would be the great
Smoky Mountains adventure.
Now families that like mountains and wildlife
and like to go hiking, it's hard to beat this
because the park is so big.
You've got the scenic drives, you've got waterfalls,
you've got short hiking trips
that are great for the younger kids that are out traveling.
And you can go down through the Cades Cove Loop.
Now this is where you can see a lot of deer,
a lot of other wildlife like turkeys
and even sometimes a few black bears out through there.
Now you can also roll into Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.
You've got lots of family fun there,
lots of amusements and it's very touristy.
You've got some aquariums, mountain coasters,
lots of restaurants.
And of course if you go in the springtime
because this spring break,
you're going to find a lot of wildflowers that are blooming.
Makes things even a lot nicer.
The other one would be going back to the other side of the world,
Utah's mighty five, mighty five national parks loop.
Now if you'd like to get out into the wide open landscapes,
this is the place you want to go
because now you're looking at Zion National Park
or Bryce Canyon National Park
or even Arches National Park
where you're going to find all this vast scenery
of red rocks and the canyons and canyon walls,
arches that have been thousands of years in the making.
And you can actually kind of go hiking out in here
because during the summer it gets really hot up in here.
So springtime breaks are a good time
to go out through these desert highways.
The other one that would be the classic Route 66 road trip.
Now if you want to get on one,
it's hard to go wrong with Route 66
because you can start in Chicago,
go all the way to Santa Monica if you've got time.
I'd really like to do that one of these days
but never seems to be enough time.
So you end up on little stretches of it.
Even if you go down through Texas
and you get into the Cadillac Ranch,
you're going to find a lot of vintage motels,
classic diners.
Of course you've got neon signs
that are all going to bring you back
to that American road culture.
And Springfield, Missouri is considered a halfway point.
If nothing else, if you make it to there,
you could go north for a little ways,
you could go west for a little ways.
Great place to kind of kick things off from there.
And so that's some five trips
that you could look at for spring break
because it's the best part of it is
it's a time that the kids are out of school,
the family can get together,
the family can then take off for a few days,
don't mess with the airlines,
just pack up the kids in the car
and take off on a nice road trip.
And buy some $5 a gallon gasoline.
Hey Mike, check your, I just texted you.
Okay.
Check your text.
Check that text.
I didn't want to remind everybody
it's time now for a break here
on the In-Wheel Time show, Mr. Mars.
It's time for break.
In-Wheel Time car talk.
We'll continue right after this.
The Easter Bunny's coming.
To the tailpipes and tacos,
cruise in at the Lupi Tortilla Tex-Max in Katie,
April 4th, 8 to 11 a.m.
And you're invited too.
Bring the kids and grandkids.
It's a cruise in like you've never attended before.
With a donation to Shirley's Kids,
you'll get a free Lupi Tortilla breakfast taco.
There'll be coffee and adult beverages,
plus chili pepper trophies for the best hot rod,
best modern classic and best classic.
There's no entry fee and no registration.
Just bring your ride and the kids.
Bad bunnies aren't allowed,
but the Easter Bunny will be there
and he'll be full of joy
to help make this Tailpipes and Tacos
a very special one, photo opportunities abound.
The In-Wheel Time car talk show
will be streaming around the globe,
and you can be selected to tell your car's story
to a global audience.
It's the Tailpipes and Tacos Cruise-In Easter Edition,
Saturday, April 4th, 8 to 11 a.m.
at the Lupi Tortilla Tex-Max in Katie,
located on 99 the Grand Parkway,
just south of I-10, the Katie Freeway in Katie.
Make plans now.
Lupi Tortilla is pretty good.
Houston, get ready.
Team Gilman is hosting a mega car meet
at the North Complex, Acra, Moscow, Subaru.
We're collaborating with the car meet network
so you know it's going to be crazy.
And that's not all.
We're going to be raffling off six cars
to be sold at $1,000 each.
See below for more details.
You're not going to want to miss this
Houston March 14th.
We can't wait to see you here.
That's it for this podcast episode
of the In Wheel Time Car Show.
I'm Don Armstrong, inviting you to join us
for our live show every Saturday morning
on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and our InWheelTime.com website.
Podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
Stitcher, iHeart Podcast, Podcast Addict,
Tune In, Pandora, and Amazon Music.
Keep listening and we'll see you soon.
About this episode
Tim Winton, founder of Cambrian Classics in Wales, shares insights on classic British cars, especially MGs, and the stewardship involved in maintaining them. He discusses his shop's focus on servicing, repairs, and occasional restorations, emphasizing the importance of proper maintenance like lubricating the MGB steering rack. Tim highlights the differences between British and French classic cars, his team's expertise, and the loyal customer base spanning Wales and Ireland. The conversation also touches on the evolution of MGs and the challenges of keeping vintage cars roadworthy.
What keeps a classic car honest isn’t a fresh coat of paint—it’s the quiet, careful work that makes it start, steer, and stop like it should. We sit down with Tim Winton, founder of Cambrian Classics in West Wales, to unpack the craft of mechanical stewardship: how a small, dedicated team brings MGs, Triumphs, Austin‑Healeys, Alfas, and air‑cooled VWs back from the shed to the street. Tim shares the overlooked checks that transform the driving experience—like why an MGB’s steering rack must be oil‑filled—and how correct tire pressures, proper lubrication, and smart carb and ignition tuning often beat expensive “upgrades.”
Tim’s journey from the modern motor trade to a thriving classic workshop reveals what really builds trust: consistent results and a feel for how these machines were meant to behave. We talk MG identity in 2026, the difference between bodywork makeovers and true recommissioning, and why variety—from a TR5 to a rare Humber Hawk—keeps the craft sharp. You’ll hear how long‑stored cars return to life step‑by‑step, and why experience across “a hundred variations on a theme” helps diagnose issues by sound and feel alone.
We broaden the lens with two practical segments for everyday drivers and road‑trippers. First, a clear look at parking space design—30°, 45°, 60°, and 90° layouts—how aisle widths and one‑way flow affect access, safety, and door clearance, and why perpendicular slots can be the worst for usability.
Then we map five spring break road trips across the United States: the Grand Canyon loop from Flagstaff, California’s Pacific Coast Highway, the Great Smoky Mountains, Utah’s Mighty Five, and the timeless pull of Route 66. Whether you drive a well‑loved MG or a modern SUV, you’ll leave with actionable tips and fresh ideas for the next journey.
If this mix of hands‑on wisdom and road inspiration hit the mark, follow the show, share it with a car‑loving friend, and leave a quick review so more enthusiasts can find us.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
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