Hey there, fellow Triumphiri (Triumphisti? Triumvirates?) A week or
so ago I received unsolicited in the mail (real mail, not spam) a big
catalog (for you traditionalists, catalogue) from an outfit called
Northern Tool (NorthernTool.com on the web). They seem to be based
in Minneapolis. (Phil E., you ever drive by their warehouse?) It's
a huge catalog, almost 500 pages, kind of like JCWhitney only bigger
and more toolish. It has pages and pages of stuff I have neither
time nor money nor space for but if I ever need a duffel with exactly
certain dimensions or an array of power cords in my choice of neon-
glow colors I know where to get'em. One of the pages I stumbled on
accidentally included two different sets of lock picks, plus the
stuff you could use to open car door locks through the window slits.
I thought that kind of thing was illegal, especially the lock picks.
But then, what do I know, I get my knowledge about that from reading
Sue Grafton and Robert Parker.
A few weeks ago I received another JCWhitney catalog. It seems to be
missing the joker snubbing-his-nose hood ornament with the light-up
eyes. I guess they finally sold the last of the lot. But it does
have plenty of other stuff. They have power inverters rated for 750
watts! With small print offerings for units with even more power.
Lessee, at 14 volts input, that means almost 55 amps, not accounting
for any internal inefficiency. At least they come with their own
battery clamps so you won't burn up your wiring harness. But your
battery won't last long at that rate, and your wimpy Lucas alternator
won't help at all. I wonder what you'd use such a unit for? Does
enyone ever really need to power an arc welder from a car battery?
I took both the Spitfire and the GT6 out for short spins around the
neighborhood this afternoon! The yellow orb came out today in the
northeast. In another day or so it is supposed to become cloudy and
rainy through the weekend, more or less like the rest of March has
been. I've had new wheels and tires all mounted up for months on the
GT6 but had no weather or time to exercise them.
R. Ashford ("Bingo"?) Little, your 6 sure looks nice. Take it out
for a drive first, and *then* mount the new tires.
I spent the first part of last week in L.A. (Took me a few days back
home to recover from jet lag and the working hours.) Didn't see any
Triumphs while there. Did see a DeLorean and an NSX tooling along on
the Ventura Freeway or the 405. (Sigh.)
Now back to your regularly scheduled distractions.
--
Jim Muller
jimmuller@pop.rcn.com
'80 Spitfire, '70 GT6+
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