Well, I've relocated to Portland, OR, and had my lamentably nonrunning 1965
Triumph Vitesse transported up here. It took three weeks and when it
arrived, the ignition had been disassembled (and the removed parts lost),
and the locking fuel filler cap had been attacked with a hammer and
screwdriver and completely destroyed in the process of removal.
I had disconnected the battery to prevent any attempt to start it (should
have removed it, and the rotor cap for good measure), but some idiot with
the transport company decided to try to start it anyway. I should mention
that the rocker shaft is not in place, since I'm having it reconditioned.
The upshot is that these idiots vandalised the car in attempting to start
it, reconnected the battery and presumably turned over an engine with no
rocker shaft long enough to conclude that it "must be out of gas" and
proceeded to smash off the filler cap, presumably before trying to start it.
So I have a moral and a question.
Moral: when having a car transported, it's not enough to tell the
dispatcher that it's not running and don't try to start it. Thoroughly
disable it AND leave a note in the car saying that it will not run.
The question: what is likely to happen to a Vitesse straight 6 when clowns
try to start it with no rocker shaft? The valves and pushrods were still
in place.
I won't know the practical answer to the latter until the engine is
stripped for rebuild.
Caveat transportor...
Dan Parslow
Please use "dan@parslow.com", my primenet address is going away.
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