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Re[2]: We're SPOILED! (was Re: The Roadster Factory)

To: amace@unix2.nysed.gov, mburdick@netserv.unmc.edu, "Lindberg, Andrew (MN12)" <Andrew.Lindberg@CORP.honeywell.com>
Subject: Re[2]: We're SPOILED! (was Re: The Roadster Factory)
From: jim.sudduth@autodesk.com
Date: Thu, 09 May 96 16:01:14 PST
Cc: triumphs@autox.team.net
     I'm old enough to remember the bad old days of British Leyland. My 
     first car was a '64 AH Sprite 1100, bought in '68. I had a great time 
     in that car until my Dad crashed it, and I dreamed of getting another 
     LBC over the intervening 25 years or so. Now, at last, I have a '74 
     TR6 and I'm amazed at how readily, and cheaply, parts are available. 
     You could build a new one from the ground up with what's out there! In 
     the BL days parts were expensive, backordering was the rule and 
     quality was hit and miss. Sure, anything can be improved upon, but 
     just compare the availability of parts for our cars with what owners 
     of other types of old sporty cars have to put up with and you'll 
     realize we're sitting in clover. I just hope it lasts...
     
     Some example prices I remember (in 1969 dollars):
     
     left rear axle half-shaft (mine would sometimes snap the welded end 
     piece off on hard cornering due to a boughered up axle housing and the 
     resulting wobbly bearing - yes, I actually drove the car that way for 
     3 years. Why am I still alive?):
     
     $110.00
     
     New sliding side curtains after some #!@hole ripped mine off:
     $200.00 **each**
     
     
     
     Jim
     TR6, top-down in the California sunshine - Oh, sorry you guys! 
     
     P.S. How do you midwesterners stand it? If I go for more than a week 
     without driving my TR6 I begin to suffer withdrawal symptoms - 
     irritation, fidgetyness, loss of concentration caused by a pervasive 
     longing for the wind in my hair and that marvelous sound a TR6 makes 
     at 3500 rpms on the open road. I mean, I'd be in the Funny Farm by the 
     time Spring finally came. I'm serious here: what gets you through?


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: We're SPOILED! (was Re: The Roadster Factory) 
Author:  "Lindberg, Andrew (MN12)" <Andrew.Lindberg@CORP.honeywell.com> at 
smtpcc
Date:    5/9/96 3:12 PM


     
I agree with all the nice things you folks have said about our suppliers, 
and I am truly amazed at how many parts I can get so easily for a 36 year 
old car (1960 TR3A).
     
But why in the heck doesn't somebody make an honest-to-goodness thermostat 
for my car?  You know, one with the little sleeve that covers the by-pass 
tube when the engine warms up.  Are the tooling costs prohibitive?  Isn't 
there a market?  Is it because concours judges never take a cooling system 
apart?
     
Andy Lindberg
TR3 in Minnesota (where, quite frankly, my cooling system has not had much 
of a workout yet this year)


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