Hi Joe,
thanks for the advice... in fact the garages i spoke about were specialist
british car garages... the one i got the most detailed advice from serviced
MGs, and other triumphs, they just had a particular thing about spitfires.
the mechanic i spoke to was english, and had worked a lot on spitfires in
the past. So i figured he knew what he was talking about (especially in
terms of estimating the likely money i would have to put into that
particular car in the next year or so). Also, he was of the opinion that the
poor shape of most spitfires reflects 25 years of inappropriate maintenance
exposing latent weaknesses in the design, rather than an inherent weakness
that would appear when the car was properly maintained.
This is actually exactly what a lot of other people have said in so many
words (that the car is only as good as the last mechnic for instance). And
in the case of this car, the last owner-mechanic is probably not quite good
enough.
If i had a first car already i would be far more tempted, but i think i'm
going to hold out on this particular car at least. Having said that if i saw
a mechnically immaculate car for a few dollars more...
;-)
cheers
Joe
___________________________
Dr. Joseph Garner
University of California
Department of Animal Science
One Shields Avenue
Davis
CA 95616
USA
Phone: (530) 754 5291
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Joe Curry [mailto:spitlist@gte.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, March 14, 2000 12:40 PM
> To: Garner, Joseph P.
> Subject: Re: ... the saga continues
>
>
> Joe,
> From one Joe to another, I suggest that American garages will
> all have a
> negative attitude toward Spitfires and Triumphs in general. What's
> more, Foreign car shops these days typically cater to Japanese cars
> because there are so many of them. Therein lies the problem.
> To get a
> valuable opinion from a mechanic regarding Spitfires, go to a mechanic
> who specializes in them. All the others speak from inexperience or
> prejudice against the cars. Somewhere back through the years someone
> brought a Spitfire to them and they tried without the proper knowledge
> or tools to solve the problem and failed. That left a sour taste in
> their mouths for the cars and therefore adds to the common
> misconception
> that the cars are not sound.
>
> That couldn't be further from the truth. Just like any mechanical
> product, Spitfires must be properly maintained and if done so, will
> provide years of trouble free service. While you might have to
> implement some repairs in order to get the particular car into good
> operation condition, once it is done and you do the periodic
> checks and
> changes, you shouldn't be strapped with an unreliable car.
>
> So, my advise is to look for mechanics who specialize in
> British cars or
> more particularly, Triumph automobiles and you'll probably get a much
> more realistic and optimistic evaluation on the reliability and
> serviceability of the cars.
>
> Don't give up the quest, my friend. We'd love to bring you into the
> fold!
>
> Regards,
> Joe Curry
>
> "Garner, Joseph P." wrote:
> >
> > Once again, thank you everyone for all the advice. I think
> i can summarise
> > as follows:
> >
> > 1. everyone pretty much has raved about how much the love
> their spitfire,
> > and how much they love driving it. I don't need convicing,
> i think they are
> > the most beautiful car in the world, and having just test
> driven one ...
> > well it was the most fun i've had behind the wheel in a long time!
> >
> > 2. I have had more mixed opinions on safety. Bu the
> consensus seems to be
> > that being a good driver is going to save your life, having
> airbags isn't. I
> > couldn't agree more.
> >
> > 3. I have had very mixed opinions as to reliability in
> general, and as to
> > the value and likely prospects of the car which i described.
> >
> > So I had a very sleepless night last night, and i came to
> the following
> > conclusions :
> >
> > 1. i would love to OWN a spitfire. This is what has got me
> so excited.
> > 2. on my salary i cannot afford to OWN one car and USE
> another. (USDA pays
> > better an academic better than in england.. but not much!)
> > 3. Therefore i can only afford to OWN a car which i can USE.
> > 4. if i was not madly in love with the most wonderful woman
> in the world,
> > who just happened to live in palo alto, I would only USE a
> car to go to the
> > gym and got to the field station, and for the occasional
> outing to SF,
> > sacramento, or the Yuba.
> > 5. and therefore i could afford to OWN and USE a pitfire
> which needed a
> > little TLC
> > 6. Fortunately however I AM in love with the most wonderful
> woman in the
> > world. Hurrah!
> > 7. In which case I have to own a car which can regularly
> make it to palo
> > alto and back.
> >
> > So i still had no idea what i was going to do!
> >
> > So I rang around the specialist garages in the area, and
> their opinion was
> > somewhat in line with the gloomier 25percentile of
> respondents on the list.
> > None of them would agree to check the car over: they all
> had a no-spitfire
> > policy! But everyone was very friendly, and gave me plenty
> of advice.
> > Namely:
> >
> > 1. Again, in concensus with opinions on this list they
> thought that the test
> > drive noises that i described could indicate any or all of:
> an engine
> > screwed over by a bodged smog retro fit; rear bearing that
> needed replacing;
> > rear transmission that needed replacing; exhaust problems;
> or major valve
> > problems.
> >
> > 2. They also agreed with opinion here that low use in the
> last 12 years
> > (especially 8 years in storage) was probably a very bad
> thing. The most
> > helpful guy i spoke to (who was actually from near where i
> grew up in
> > england, judging by the accent), was also the most
> sympathetic to spitfires
> > but he was of the opinion that a car that had stood that
> long -even if it
> > ran now- would need a continuous and severe rebuild over
> the next few years
> > if it was used at all heavily, and the symptoms i described
> were the first
> > signs of the need for that rebuild.
> >
> > 3. Certainly, everyone indicated that i would be putting a
> lot of money into
> > the car and that it was probably not worth the $2000 being
> asked. The other,
> > really interesting, comment was that the reason none of
> these garages would
> > take spitfires is that they were notoriously unreliable,
> but that this
> > unreliability was mainly due to years of neglect... i.e. if
> the car has been
> > well maintained for a long time it is an excellent car, but
> simply most
> > people don't know how to the preventitive maintainence
> required to avoid the
> > development of these particular unreliabilities.
> >
> > 4. I actually think the situation may be more subtle: the
> people who DO know
> > how to maintain these cars rarely if ever take them into
> the garage (sorry
> > that's shop in american). So the garage mechanics really do
> see a lot of
> > very unreliable spitfires... and it really isn't worth
> their while to work
> > on them... but that's because all the reliable spitfires
> are relible simply
> > because they are being properly maintained by people like yourselves
> >
> > 5. As to my mental state, opinions ranged from brave... to deranged.
> >
> > I think this latest bout of fact-finding may have put me
> off this PARTICULAR
> > spitfire... but i'm still thinking about it... i'll keep you posted!
> >
> > cheers
> >
> > Joe
> > ___________________________
> >
> > Dr. Joseph Garner
> > University of California
> > Department of Animal Science
> > One Shields Avenue
> > Davis
> > CA 95616
> > USA
> >
> > Phone: (530) 754 5291
> >
> > >
>
> --
> "If you can't excel with talent, triumph with effort."
> -- Dave Weinbaum in National Enquirer
>
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