Fellow Lucasites,
About octane boosters [from Howard A. Landman]...
> 66% Benzene [with toluene substituted]
> 33% Methanol
> 1% Hydrogen Peroxide solution
Howard mentions that benzene is carcinogenic and methanol is poisonous,
and that all these except H2O2 are flammable. Toluene is not exactly
harmless, and benzene and especially toluene are explosively flammable.
In addition, H2O2 has the nice property of releasing free O, which forms
O2, which enhances flammability. This combination strikes me as a nice
way to blow your house to smitherines and maybe your neighbors' houses too.
(It has been a long time since I studied chemistry. I switched from chemistry
to physics as an undergraduate sophomore, but I did some co-op work in a
lab that routinely used great quantities of toluene, benzene, and a few
other seriously nasty hydro-carbons. The building was "flame-proof" with
sealed light switches and such...not for the faint of heart. I wonder if
they still do the same stuff the same way. Today they would probably be hit
with lawsuits on a number of hazard and health issues.)
Speaking of seats (with a nod to Larry Gillam), just how tough is it to
re-cover seats? Or modify slightly the cushioning to provide more lumbar
support?
Last week I received a new Spitfire & GT-6 catalogue from Victoria British.
(They still bug me...they don't seem to carry Spitfire whaletails anymore
but they still carry only high-volume items.) They list "like original"
houndstooth seat kits that claim to need only removing the old covers and
sliding the new ones on. I dunno', sounds like a poor fit would be the
result. They also list Lucas Constant Energy Ignition kits, apparantly as
new, from-the-factory stock. Aran, I thought you were looking for an
electronic ignition module. Is this one not acceptable? (It comes with a
complete distributor, I think.) I thought someone in SOL said the CEI
system was no longer available. Maybe someone should tell V-B that...
About cars that still have the window sticker or have low mileage (with a
nod to Chris Perez)... "I would dearly love to know what the H**L good cars
like these do sitting in someone's garage undriven?" I don't know about
the window sticker cars. There was a elderly couple at last year's VTR meet
that had a '69 TR-6 they had bought new. It still looked great, had about
20,000 miles. He drove it some, cleaned it when necessary, touched up the
paint when necessary, and was as proud of that car as a new father. Last
year there was an ad in the Boston Globe for a late-model Spitfire with
under 10,000 miles (my memory is getting fuzzy...did someone mention dice?),
a car that had apparantly been garaged and used very little. Asking price
was only $19,000. I don't think he sold it for that.
Today New England has been hit with the first truly-summer day. Percy (the
Spitfire) has been out before this year, but today was his day totally. Top
down, he delivered me to work with a smile on both of us. We expect to make
it to the NE (upper right coast not counting the Outback) picnic at Rob
Rimbold's tomorrow, and then he goes under the knife. I have gotten tired
of hearing his differential rattle away like a tin-can on uppers, so I ordered
a used one from a salvage yard that I trust, all inspected (as far as can be
done by pulling the stub-axles) and supposed to be delivered today. I'll
have about two weeks before they want to old casing back, so I'll have to
get busy. But about this cold-weather stuff, I too like to drive top-down
even when it is cold! Last December, while driving to Alliant's Christmas
party about 7:00 PM, we passed a fellow driving a Jensen-Healy top-down,
looking very miserable! But enjoying it nevertheless...
Just a reminder to everyone that we have a large community here. The cute
exchanges of one-liners are not going to break anyone's bank, but... I do get
occasional requests to remove names from the SOL list, and the most common
reason is inability to wade through the hugh (typically unxpected) volume.
Thanks.
Be careful,
Jim Muller, Keeper of the Flickering Flame
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