I replied to the following comments,
> Wanker (n) One who purchases a british roadster for the style
> it imparts to the owner but has no interest in taking
> proper care of it.
and received a couple of E-mail responses.
I think for some, my meaning was misunderstood, or maybe I just didn't
make it clear enough.
What I meant to say was that just because you don't know about
maintaining LBCs, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't own one.
Basicly, anyone who reads this mailing list is probably not the type
of person that I was talking about...
I was talking about the guys who by a LBC and the say "ain't I
Cool"... while the car is never taken care of... They want the car
because it's a convertible, but then find out about cold, wind burn,
etc. and then never take the top down again (like all the people that
ran out and bought the Miatas; driving up the price so that I couldn't
afford one :-( ). Then the back window rots out, and they never
fix it, and still park it in the rain... the floors rot... etc...
All this means is that you don't necessarily have to do the taking
care... just make sure it gets done or at least try to have it done,
and understand the it IS different than your old Chevy...
My first car was a Triumph TR4 that I thought was just fantastic;
five mounths later, I was doing a complete rebuild on the engine and
trans mostly due to poor maintenance from the previous owner...
Being a poor broke college student, I did what was necessary and put
off the rest, but at least I didn't make it worse... and I never
put the top up (except in rain storms), and I sure did like the
mountain roads :-)... Loved that car, until the 56 Buick ran the red
light and totaled it :-( ...
I learned a LOT about fixing cars from the TR4, and more importantly,
got hooked on LBCs.
When I first saw a twin-cam Europa, I knew that I had to have one
(that was before the TR was totaled). By the time I graduated, became
employed, and could afford one, I decided on the Elan, because, for
me, I HAD to have a roadster. I finally bought the Elan (in '76 for
$4500) and drove it for four years, constantly fixing the previous
owners mistakes, like taking it to the local gas station to have a
valve job ... "Duh, Whats overhead cams?"; Putting American
brake fluid in the master cylinders (ever had to rebuild both master
cylinders, clutch slave cylinder, and all four calipers because the
rubber seals turned to silly putty? within 5 days of buying the car?)
even thought the caps plainly state "USE ONLY CASTROL GIRLING BRAKE
FLUID"... You get the idea... Finally got the car restored -
everything is fixed, and I am about to get it registered (holding off
for right now, because I might move out of state soon)... Can't wait
to drive it again 8-)...
Tim Mullen tmullen@thor.nafb.trw.com
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