John,
I myself am not a purist in the strictest sense, although I think I
would draw the line at adding the Subaru spoiler or whatever it was. IMHO, you
will probably never see the amount of time and money you invest from a resale,
especially as our model seems to garner little respect from "the big boys". I
have done plenty of engine mods, up to and including the decals and stickers of
the manufacturers of my favorite componenets (ie. Weber, Mallory, Redline,
Earls plumbing, etc.) stuck to my aluminum engine valences.
I think it looks sharp, runs really well and gets it's share of respect
(second in class at the Moss meet in Goleta this year, without even trying).
To go along with the engine and driveline mods, including the O/D, race profile
suspension, Monza exhaust on 4-2-1 header, I added the armrest from the 1500, a
pullout Sony deck, amp and removable Eclipse speakers. The dashboard was
converted from the bland black plastic version of the Mark IV to a custom made
show finish Koa wood dash (in honor of my Hawaiian wife). This alone has drawn
people's attention to the point that I carry Randy's card in my wallet for
direct reference when asked where it was done.
I say, go for it......it's your damn car, make it comfortable and fun
for YOU. The racestoration angle works for me, and mostly cause it's got my
touch. Fortunately, it's the same angle lots of owners would take if the lived
out their dreams.
I only wish I had the money, time and expertise to do something like
Barry Schwartz has done with his Spit 6.....you wanna see a BEAUTIFUL car?
JEEES.....
Keep us posted
Chris Prugh
72 Spitfar
Morgan Hill, CA
----------
From: SUCHAK[SMTP:suchak@mediaone.net]
Sent: Monday, September 01, 1997 11:35 AM
To: triumphs@autox.team.net
Subject: Well, hasn't THIS just become all complicated on me?!?
Now I have a problem.
I bought the "roller". It's immaculate. Really. One spot of surface
rust, about the size of a quarter in the middle of the passenger floor
pan, nothing of note anywhere else. Frame's been blasted and painted,
as have the four corners. Like new. Literally, as new. Worse yet, the
title is no problem. I'll have it inside two weeks.
What problem you say?!?!
Well, it's too nice to do a "race-storation" on, as I'd been doing with
my Spit before I found the frame rust. With mine, originality was not a
big concern, only because the car had a history of neglect and "hacks".
Now I'm faced with reassembling a totally rust free car on an immaculate
frame. Don't I have an obligation to do it as close to original as
possible? I'd really like to do it with a fair amount of modification,
but am I throwing away the real value of the car if I do? I'm not
talking about really chopping up the car, but I would like to use the
custom dash and interior I've made for mine, as well as a fair amount of
engine modification.
Any opinions on this? Do I have some moral imperative to keep it
original? Would I be subjected to jeers and derision at a Triumph meet
if I modified a *really* clean car? Would it make any difference if the
car was a composite of excellent parts from several cars that were
generally clapped out, and not a factory cherry car to begin with?
John
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