In article <002801c1b196$672715b0$7c00a8c0@c842110a>, Ken St.John at
Twangdemonium <stjohnkj@twangdemonium.com> writes
>I guess the question I have is how many people have a truly stock original
>Spit and just how much are we allowed to modify them???? Who decides this?
That's three questions. <g>
OK, I don't have a truly stock original Spit. I can think of the
following bits that are different:
- Transmission tunnel - now fibre-glass, was cardboard
- Stereo - now state-of-the-art R/C, was just a hole in the dash support
- Engine baffles - now just fresh air
- Carburettors - now have heat shield
- Boot now has aftermarket boot tidies over wheel arches
- Hard-top - missing chrome corners for rear windscreen trim
- O/S under-rider has a hole in it
- Odd bits of rust here and there
How much are we allowed to modify them, and who decides? Well, I guess
the owner of the car decides what he does with it. Scrap it, paint it
pink, replace the engine, add oil coolers and oversize radiators,
whatever.
That being said, we are not many decades away from Spitfires being rare
and precious antiques. We really ought to start thinking of ourselves
as custodians of automotive history. If we do, then we must try to
keep our cars in "authentic" condition. My own view (and this is *not*
something I would try to force down other owners' throats) is that we
should keep our Spitfires in as original condition as possible, however,
cars are made to be driven and enjoyed, and modifications may be made so
long as they are easily undone. Swap your rad for one from a Herald by
all means, but hang onto the old one. Don't even think about engine
swaps. Look at it this way: would you prefer to own a 1935 SS Jaguar
with an original engine, or one with a 1960 retrofit of a power-plant
taken from a 1955 Ford? Now go forward forty years, and you're talking
about our Spitfires.
>
>I just don't want to see them crushed.
I think we can all agree with that.
ATB
--
Mike
Michael Hargreave Mawson, author of "Eyewitness in the Crimea"
http://www.greenhillbooks.com/booksheets/eyewitness_in_the_crimea.html
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