Thought I'd try to improve my On-Line mood with a greeting, rather than
a rant. No rants today, just a couple of responses to comments, an advisory
note, and I'm back to lurk mode (I can hear the applause already :)
I want to make it CLEAR that vin tags, and rivets ARE big deals from a
legal standpoint. I actually had my Tiger inspected by a Washington State
Patrol Trooper who specializes in vehicle inspections because CA had screwed
up the original registration. CA used to delete letters and add year numbers
to VINs...This is a problem, because these VINs don't match the car. When
the car was registered in WA, they used the wrong abbreviation for
SUNBEAM-should be SUNB, not SUNTA. These codes are part of a national law
enforcement system (NCIC) to document cars, and to allow police to determine
what a VIN means to assist in the detection of stolen cars. When my car was
inspected, the Trooper knew there were no other hidden VIN codes on the car,
(unlike on current production cars) so if I'd had weird rivets, he would've
known, and could have seized the car. There are books that show Troopers
what goes where, and what it looks like. Later, a friend of mine had his
Tiger restoration finished, and the civilian inspector refused to certify the
car, because he didn't know the rivets to be proper. My friend was scheduled
for a re-examination with a Trooper, who inspected the car. My friend even
brought a copy of "THE BOOK OF NORMAN" to support the information, and the
Trooper easily passed the car.
As to whether I obey all the laws-yeah, I try to. Especially those that
could result in felony charges being filed against me :). To me, there is a
BIG difference between swapping VIN tags around, and, say jaywalking. One
can make you the object of a felony investigation, the other could get you an
infraction citation. Given a choice, I'd leave the tags alone, and if I ever
paint my car, they're staying put. Personal choice. But it does protect me
from having to worry about some of these issues. If your car's tags have been
removed, and replaced, then you'll have to deal with that, should it EVER be
an issue (and maybe it won't). Seriously though, I have heard from people
who have had their Tigers re-tagged by their Highway patrol because of vin
tag issues, and who were worried about their car being a possible conversion
until it was certified by TAC as a Tiger. I see that as a service by TAC, and
a great relief for those owners.
As to how to restore a Tiger properly, that points out the overall lack
of documentation about our cars. When I bought my Tiger, I'd known of it's
history first hand since about 1978. I had Bill Carroll's book as a reference
when I bought it, but I found the best source of information was my local
club. Pacific Tiger Club has very knowledgeable members in it, and they saved
my car in so many ways (especially from me), it's not funny. What I'm saying
is that there are clubs ALL over the US with bright, knowledgeable members,
who are willing to educate members about what is right or wrong with their
cars. You'll find Larry Atkisson of PTC to be as good as anyone, I mean
anyone, because he does almost all of the work himself. The Tigers Larry
restored all have been TAC'ed yet he's not a TAC inspector. How can this be?
Because he's figured out Tigers, just as Tom, and Paul and Norm and everyone
else who is seen as their local expert has...These same local experts will
know if you removed your tags, or rebodied your car, and, if asked by a
potential buyer, may just say that...Your car's condition is not their fault,
and their knowledge can be your salvation, or pain, depending on how your car
IS, not what it used to be. Much of this knowledge is in their head. In a
perfect world there would be a "Tiger Restoration Guide", which would show
the Jensen 'cue tones', as well as all the other little things which would
make the cars perfect. It doesn't exist, so we have to rely on our clubs for
the information.
STOA chooses to codify some of their knowledge into TAC. Tom feels very
passionately about Tigers, and I'm betting he does not in any way want to
assist someone in defrauding the marque. Is there a way to ensure that this
information "only be used for good"? If there's a way, I'd love to hear
it-like Frank, I find a lot of that arcane build stuff interesting. I won't
blame STOA for not releasing the info, though, because if it were released,
and the marque was flooded with conversions from say, Mexico where the labor
was cheap, yet could be done to TAC standards, everyone would then say, "STOA
really screwed the marque when they released their TAC info-now you can never
be sure of what you're getting." While this may seem absurd now, because of
the current relative value of Tigers, it may be a possibility should prices
rise...
Finally, I'm going to post the article on a national umbrella club to
the list. It will be titled, "NATIONAL CLUB" so if you're tired of me, and/or
you don't care about the topic or what I said in '96, just delete. Thanks for
your time.
Yours in Tigering,
Von Levandowski
B9472230/TAC #160
faded paint, torn upholstery, but shiny LAT 9s...
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