Jim,
One of the things that always strikes me at these shows is how few of the
Triumph owners know about this list and what a great resource it is. They
know about VTR and the technical section but not the mail list. Maybe that's
a good thing ;-).... we get to keep all this knowledge to ourselves!
Bob Danielson
1975 TR6
http://tr6.danielsonfamily.org
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-triumphs@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-triumphs@autox.team.net]
On Behalf Of Jim Muller
Sent: Monday, September 18, 2006 11:05 PM
To: triumphs@autox.team.net
Subject: [TR] BI followup
I was struck by the number of conversations I had with people who knew
little about their cars. For example, the A-H 3000 owner staying at the
same campground as us said it had been (in his own
words) twenty years since he'd put a wrench to a car. He didn't even know
where the fuel pump was. He had trailered it from somewhere in NY, but he
said it was a driver and indeed it showed one small stone chip. He did
drive it the 15 miles between the campground and the site. It looked great
too. But he was definitely an owner/driver, not an
owner/driver/mechanic/tinker.
I spoke with another gent what owned a Mk2 Sprite, asked us if we thought
eBay was a good way to unload some wire wheels. (Beats me; I'm not a big
fan of eBay anyway.) I tried to point him to the SOL website and the
various email lists. Anyway, he described how he'd picked up these wheels
and discovered that they rubbed on the brake calipers. (Huh?) Apparently
they were meant for some other car. Or needed spacers, or something. Then
he described how he'd bought a hardtop (not the one on display with the car)
and discovered that it was for a Mk1 (which must have meant a bugeye,
right?) and wouldn't fit the Mk2, which surprised him. He was learning as
he went, which is what we all do, I suppose. But his learning curve hadn't
yet reached the level of evolution that his car itself had achieved.
To me, half the fun is knowing how they work, half is making them work right
and putting wrenches to them to do so, half is driving them, and half is
BS'ing and talking tales and swapping truths with other owners. Okay, so
maybe I got the proportions wrong, but you get the idea. It's gotta' be
fun, and fun is a humnan activity, not an own'n'show activity. If I was
just an owner/driver I'd get bored with it, I think.
Jim Muller
jimmuller@rcn.com
--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.1.406 / Virus Database: 268.12.5/450 - Release Date: 9/18/2006
=== This list supported in part by The Vintage Triumph Register
=== http://www.vtr.org
|