Club Funds

[Guest]

Several times in this thread you have highlighted where the club has not backed you in spares related issues, I am suggesting that this is an area we are looking to change.


It's hard to talk about your personal spares collection without making it feel personal

It's not my personal spares collection.

What is at the barn now, has been financed by myself and Sean Norwood.

My personal spares have always been kept seperate from the main.

Several times I have pointed out where the club(s) have not been able to donate time as we had hoped. Not a dig , a simple fact.

In regards to the previously mentioned "Fuel Filler pockets" I was asked to represent interested members of Triple-m and work with David Monks on what could be done.

As I understand it, the committee made the decision not to further they're attempt due to the reasons mentioned.

I reported back to Triple_M forum memebrs of the findings, but unfortunately at that time the MMOC was not "at liberty" to share with us the details of the company in question so Triple_M could not follow up on it or finance it themselves.(nor MGM if it had wished to do so)

I have no personal bias against any club/committee or individual member.

I have been associated with, and friends with members of this "community" for going on ten years, and my only reason's for not joining were as follows.

I was a paid up member of several clubs, and at the time of finding this one, and saw little reason for myself to pay out more funds to a club which at the time, concentrated on the none MG varients of the mark and was somewhat biased towards the Maestro. (I had an MG Montego at that point).

Since then I have had many say I should join and "your the kind of people we need" etc etc, and although slightly flattered was not interested in becoming a member or the possability of being drafted into another committee.
(I'd had my fill of "committee politics" in the past)

I hope this statement end's any critiques regarding bias/grudge's or unfounded "reasons" you or anyone else may have of me, Sean or our motives regarding spares etc.

[CPL593H]

Nice selective quoting...

The point I'm trying to make is that the committee is open to, and actively pursuing new ideas with spares.

[Guest]

Nice selective quoting...

There, I have included all your previous reply.

[CPL593H]

I'm trying to open a dialogue with you to see if we can get your parts better known to our membership, but you seem to be defending yourself on issues I don't even know about.

I'm sorry as I appear to be wasting your time

[Guest]

Posting such comments as

"nice selective quoteing"

"A little far feched to still be carrying a grudge"

Intimating I have some form of Bias etc is not helpfull.

The club , it's members and it's forum members have been "aware" of what Sean and I were trying to do for almost 8 years.

I have responded to the original OP's post, not to "further my cause/have a dig/ etc" as I have no cause to further and no reason to have a dig.


You say that you want to get the barn parts better known to you membership?, How about making it easier for your membership to access the parts the club holds instead?

It is widely known that the club has a decent sized spares stock.
It is also widely known that it can be quite difficult for members to access it.
It is known that the club has a large selection of panel work.

To quote the club:

"We almost have a complete catalogue of original panels now" "and hope to use these examples as patterns for future reproduction"

Taking into account all that has been posted by club and committee members alike regarding TLC's original post.

This is now unlikely to happen, so has the club changed it's mind? if it is unlikely to happen/will not happen, why not make accessing the panels and parts to your members a little easier, then funds will come in for you to improve things for the club membership as a whole?.

And before it is deemed that I have gone "off at a tangent"....

This is the question TLC has asked the club.


These are questions that have repeatedly been asked by your membership on this forum and at shows.

These are questions that I get asked at least 7 or 8 times a year, and I'm not a member.

So I refer them back to the club.

So when it comes to "defending myself" some of the reply's that have been posted have made me feel is was necessary.

I have tried to be plain, I have been honest, and I seem to have been singled out for diversionary reasons.

Is this to divert people away from TLC's original request? or something else?.

As you use a reg number for your user name, I am unsure as to who you are, (or even if we know each other) so unfortunately cannot respond direct, and will have to continue to direct my response as a forum member to the club.

So, are your inferences the official response of the club, or are they you're personal opinions?.

[Guest]

Not wishing to play devils advocate, but what inferences?

This thread seems to have gone more from opinion expression to ranting and I'm sure any prospective member will have been delighted* and enthused* to join the club as a result of reading things like this.

That's what Andy and Steve have been trying to get across (from how I read it) and what my original point was. This is a Maestro & Montego Oweners club which first need to raise awareness of a the status of the marque and do something to get the cars recognised (maybe more so in the non-MG guise as there seems to be a larger love/following for them already so the A-R models have some catching up to do?).

It's not a club solely dedicated to the supply of spares and to be honest this isn't something that most clubs will do; yes there are some clubs who have the resource to produce NLA stuff or hoard away bits (I can think of Datman who's strongly associated with the Datsun Oweners Club and runs the forum himself) so it's his baby and he has control of it. Clearly the logistics of his opration are much easier to manage as I believe he operates from his own farm - not a barn almost 200 miles away -, so when asked about a particular part he can give a straight and direct answer almost immediately; plus he's got a website for it etc. But he doesnt manufacture anything, everything is either NOS or from spares cars.

Clearly there is a spare element they're trying to build up, but by poking jibes at it or casting aspertions on it's qualities and merits offers no value and will set to get people's back up about the whole thing (which I assume isn't the point at all).

The guys on the committee here seem to want your help Mal as you have loads of knowledge and resources to assist with things, so it'd be a shame to continue down this road.... "can't we all just, get along" .

Also - Just on the point of people not wanting to pay £60-70 for a door; it depends completely on the reason for wanting it, ie; if you are doing a complete resto on a car, full respray etc, clearly you have set a budget out to include such items and as such that kind of price for a brand new item is perfectly reasonable. However it does need to be recognised that there are some people who arent running £5000 show winners for whom a £10 second hand door to replace a crusty original is completely understandable (and I think anyone expecting a nos door for £10 is a bit daft to be honest!), these people should not be ridiculed or treated as a different breed of enthusiast, it's just a different solution to a wholly different problem. There is a touch of elite-ism in the suggestions made previously and people need to get a grip because THAT is what's bad with owners clubs, not people wanting spares cheap.

[TLC]

On a slight tangent wasnt there going to be a better catouloged parts system the other year and when i was i was still a member!! as i found the est roof bars still listed and i bought them in 2007.

[CPL593H]

On a slight tangent wasnt there going to be a better catouloged parts system the other year and when i was i was still a member!! as i found the est roof bars still listed and i bought them in 2007.

This is one of our priorities list this committee term. last year it was producing new lines of regalia and a small re branding exercise and basically getting ourself out and about.

Our spares are largely catalogued already. but we need to implement that into a user friendly interface - TLC - whatever might have been promised in the past i am not sure, I am talking about here and now.

Mal - You are right, we don't know each other, although i was hoping that would be a bonus, a fresh start if you will. MarkM put it better than I can, we are after some knowledge.

My name and photo is under the committee contacts part of the main website

I have been a member of this club for 6 years now, and I was not fully aware of your barn and its contents and our many 'offline' users do not either, I was hoping our 2 spares collections might complement each other to fill inventory holes. far be it from my intention to 'divert' as you say.

I know we need to do more to promote our spares, that's the direction I'd hoped this thread would head in.

With regards to the original question about panels, we mentioned it was out of our budget for now, as long as the examples we have are kept. the option will always be there in the future.

[TLC]

Bigrct offerd a hydraform to do sills in my other thread and said it was a simple thing to acheave/ possably a cheap option?.Could the possabilitys of useing this method be assesed?

[Chris Y]

I'm sure any prospective member will have been delighted* and enthused* to join the club as a result of reading things like this.

Indeed. It's something that perhaps needs to be 'aired' as there are many misconceptions flying around from various sources, but it doesn't look good for prospective new members to have a 5 page grumble-fest on the forums. We're supposed to be a 'community' with a common interest in the cars - perhaps it is time to let the past be the past and try and all work together for the cars' futures.

This is a Maestro & Montego Oweners club which first need to raise awareness of a the status of the marque and do something to get the cars recognised.

It's not a club solely dedicated to the supply of spares

Nail. Head. Thank you Mark

[countrydude]

But these 2 things go hand in hand. You simply can't do one without the other. If you do, it won't last long!

This is a Maestro & Montego Oweners club which first need to raise awareness of a the status of the marque and do something to get the cars recognised.

It's not a club solely dedicated to the supply of spares

[H48HPE]

We're going round in circles here.

this is how I see the current situation:

back to the original question.... Can we start making panels / other spares?

The answer is:

we would like to start making panels, but we don't have the funds to do so - this is partly due to a lack of membership numbers.

In the future we would like to start making panels - I would think something like sills would be a good place to start. Its a case of buying sheet steel and finding someone to make them, the club can't afford this yet.

We have a collection of panels so there are ones to copy at the time we can start making them.

Personally I don't think putting membership subs up in price is the answer, that will reduce turnover. the answer is to throw our efforts behind promoting ourselves and trying to attract new members, that means using club funds to attend shows, with suitable events equipment (like flags and banners etc) providing this forum which has proven really good at attracting members. the list goes on, but the end game is keeping cars on the road and providing a community for members...

Andy

[Guest]

But these 2 things go hand in hand. You simply can't do one without the other. If you do, it won't last long!

Do you not think the guys do enough (the spares available on the club page seem quite good to be fair, they're not running a shop you know!), compare other owners clubs and you'll not find any with such small membership numbers who offere anything like the increasingly ludicrous suggestions of what should be expected. come on chaps, you have to be realistic about things. It's churlish to suggest otherwise IMO

[TLC]

[QUOTE=MarkM;152098]Do you not think the guys do enough (the spares available on the club page seem quite good to be fair, they're not running a shop you know!), compare other owners clubs and you'll not find any with such small membership numbers who offere anything like

The spares page looks impressive. But theres alot in that list that isnt still in the club stock as ive mentioned before itams that i purchased years ago are still currenly listed.
The Dolomite club have a well maintained stock of re-produced spares and repair panels together with fiba glass wings and front panel .We are now looking at remanufature in metal of the boot floor.

[Guest]

Perhaps the Inventory does need update, I wouldn't know (and nor presumably does anyone outside the committee.. why would they?!) but give em chance, this is run in peoples spare time, it isn't a job.

Obviously it's needed with the dolly club, it's an older vehicle (of which i've owned 2 technically (a 1300FWD and a Dolomite 1500)) and as such mainstream suppliers and spares cars a much fewer than MMs, but the MMOC clearly haven't a resource/fund to do something that isn't needed 'en masse' and it would be unrealistic to do so at thsi stage.

Anyway I think enough has probably been said on this; people expecting miracles from a club which barely turns over 5000-6000 a year is lunacy , yes there's always improvements to be made, but constructive discussion with well grounded solutions is the key, not whinging, disproportionate comparisons and uncovering old wounds.