With ownership of a Triumph comes the inevitable question of original
parts, as opposed to NOS, NORS, modern replacement, "pattern" parts, etc.
You might think it would be easier with an eight-year-old American car.
You are WRONG, Castrol-breath!
Yesterday I purchased a new spare tire carrier/winch thingie for a 1991
Ford Explorer from a Ford dealer. This set my account back on the wrong
side of $60. OK.
Got home and opened up the box. Looks nice enough, but for $60+ you'd
think they could supply new bolts for mounting. But no.
OK, fine. Use the old ones.
GUESS AGAIN! While the original car appears to have almost all metric
fittings, the old bolts do NOT thread into the tapped base of the new
part.
So some [LBC content] Herald [end LBC content] that gave its life many
years ago now has yielded a couple of small nuts, bolts and washers to
hold up the new spare tire winch until such time (if ever) I feel like
yanking it back off the car and taking it to the hardware store to get
"proper" bolts.
I think my next tow vehicle will be either a '64 Land-Rover or a '51 Ford
F-1 with the Marmon-Herrington four-wheel-drive conversion. I have yet to
replace the ruined locking front hub (nearly $300) on the Explorer, for
which no user-serviceable subassemblies are available....
But at least the spare tire is back under the car where it belongs!
--Andy
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* Andrew Mace, President and *
* 10/Herald/Vitesse (Sports 6) Consultant *
* Vintage Triumph Register *
* amace@unix2.nysed.gov *
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