Kai,
Thank you for your comments on the New TR6 Restoration book written by author
Roger Williams.
Since this book was written by an Englishman about cars built in England, it is
hard not to miss his English perspective. These Guys (English) are infatuated
with the "Tim Worm" and importing cars from The United States. As I am a
regular subscriber to "Practcal Classics" magazine, I am constantly reading
about owners who have spent the money to import cars from the USA.....
especially from States like California and Arizona because they are usually
rust free.
The car that was restored for the magazine series from Practical Classics would
by most people concerns, here in the USA, be a parts car. No one in their
right mind would try and save that car. (I bet someone will disagree with me
there). They spent 34,455 sterling pounds (about 55,000 dollars)restoring that
car. They would have been better off buying a body shell rather than weld
fabricated metal onto the existing shell (what was left of it). They could
have easliy purchased a car that was a fair driver and still offered the same
level of content for the restoration and saved 15 or 20 thousand. Did you see
how much sheet metal was used from the original car? Wow.
I know..... they picked this car so they could address a total restoration.
Honestly, I really like the Practical Classics book and would recommend it to
anyone ..... if they could find one. I don't believe they are available
anymore. Someone let us know if any are still available.
I think that both of these books provide valuable information. Yea, some of
the ideas that we can always find areas of disagreement when it comes to
anyones perspective of how to restore a car, but in general, in my opinion, the
book is worth every penny whether you buy it from Amazon or 6-PACK.
Kai, While I don't agree with your thought that the book is not worth the
money, I do think that an American perspective is missing. I still think there
is a benefit in reading this book and would still reccommend it for any TR6
enthusiast to read.
Thanks to Kia's thoughts, I have a suggestion for the list. I had thought of
this before, but now seems to be a great time to throw this out for discussion.
As most of these cars ended up here in the United States, and the car had a
successful SCCA history here in the States, wouldn't it seem appropriate to
publish a TR6 restoration book with an American perspective including american
resources for parts, sevice and support!
I could be opening a pack of worms (no pun intended), and I am definately not
qualified to contribute like many of you are, nor am I endorsing the 6-PACK
clubs involvement in this type of project .....yet.
What do you think?
By the way Kai, as I am reading more of your e-mail messages to the list, I
would like to thank you for your experience with your cars and sharing them
with the list. The more we share, the more we all benefit.
Thanks,
Mike Brinker
The following message was sent by "Kai M. Radicke" <kmr@pil.net> on Sun, 14 Oct
2001 14:37:14 -0400.
> Well I had my copy of the book on order since August, and it finally arrived
> on Friday. I am VERY disappointed.
>
> Roger Williams seems to think a car or parts originating from California
> is
> a cure all to all your restoration woes. I doubt the man has even been
> to
> California, or that he knows that California is one of the largest states
> in
> the US and in the upper half of CA is rains and snows just as much as many
> other places in the eastern USA! He doesn't seem to make this
> differentiation though, and he makes little mention that American cars
> tend
> to have been through more minor and major accidents in their lifetime than
> many European ones. I frankly got sick of his recommendations of finding
> a
> California car and parts, it was uncalled for, poorly suggested, and very
> excessive.
>
> Secondly, the book was rushed into print. There are numerous references
> in
> the book where Roger eludes to important elements being purposely unattended
> to in this book, and will be included in a future edition. There is no
> point to the first book then, other than to make the publisher even more
> money. One such item include the Bosch fuel pump conversion for PI cars,
> I
> feel this is very useful information for anyone restoring a PI car... and
> there is nothing but a mention of it, and to purchase the next book for
> more
> information.
>
> The body section is unfortunately not detailed enough. Many problem areas
> of the TR6 body are not addressed, such as the dimpling that can occur
> on
> the front valance above the two center air holes. I don't think enough
> information was devoted to paint prep, or even cleaning up after stripping
> the paint. I have to disagree with his statement that removing rust with
> a
> rotary took is just polishing the rust, I don't think so Roger. Those
> 3M
> Roloc pads are great, they lift the rust right out of the crevices. And
> what about Metal Prep? There are many ways to prepare your car for paint
> other than sand blasting. Soda blasting was ignored as well, which is
> probably the best way to remove the paint from your car. And there is
> NO
> mention of cleaning the car out of after sand blasting... he is too focused
> on getting the body in primer within four hours. Well that is all fine
> and
> well, and the sooner you get your primer on the better... but not if there
> is still stand in corners and in hidden places that are hard to get to!
> 'They'll just trap moisture for the future and create rust.
>
> Anyway, as you can see I'm rather displeased with Roger's book. Anyone
> who
> wishes to buy mine for $25 may do so.
>
> I preferred the Practical Classic's TR6 Restoration more, it has better
> photo detail and more photos... and the body and chassis sections are far
> superior to what you will find in Roger's book. If anyone has Lindsay
> Porter's MGB Restoration Guide, you will know what a quality restoration
> book is like. Roger's books is not one of them.
>
> Kai
|