Laura,
I just wanted to second Dean's opinion of the O/D. When I first got my Spit
it didn't have one, and I'd have to wind it up pretty well to stay up with
traffic. I tried to limit my freeway driving as much as possible (which in
LA, as you know, is not too easily accomplished). Now that one in the car,
it is SO much nicer that I really would NOT want to have one without an O/D.
But again, Nigel's engine is capable of quite a bit more than my stock 77 w/
smog controls can give me.
Dave Moag
62 TR3B
77 Spitfire
La Canada, CA
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-spitfires@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-spitfires@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Dean Dashwood
Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2000 10:24 AM
To: Laura.G@141.com; spitfires@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: So, who wants to sell me a Spitfire OD tranny?
Laura,
Good point about more things to go wrong. In fact, in the time I've had my
car,
the overdrive has gone wrong far more times than anything else. But it's
always
been a simple electrical problem (broken wire, inhibitor switch worn, etc)
which
I've always been able to fix myself, so it's not really bothered me - of
course,
this will vary depending on individual ability.
Personally, I would think twice about buying a car without overdrive,
especially
as a daily driver - it really is much more pleasant to be able to reduce the
rpms by 1000 or so when cruising along the motorway. To me, having to
remove
the gearbox tunnel every few months to fix a wire is a fair price to pay for
that.
Of course, Nigel is not your average Spitfire, so he may be able to take the
high RPM much better than my car!
Dean
------------
Date: Tue, May 23 2000 10:21:54 GMT-0600
From: Laura.G@141.com (Laura Gharazeddine)
Subject: Re: Re: So, who wants to sell me a Spitfire OD tranny?
None of my Spits have had o/d. With Nigel, we've talked about it. Then one
of
the guys from my local Triumph club said he could get me (a used) one at a
good
price. I thought about it. Talked about it with Dave. Talked about it with
the
English guy who works for Dave. In all, I talked to about 5 different people
and
what it came down to is that it's a nice thing to have-but not a necessity
and
more importantly-it'll be just *another thing to break or go wrong*.
That last bit, coming from individuals I respect and who hadn't confered
with
each other convinced me not to do it.
This year, at least!
Laura G.
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