No, have not yet worked on the motor. I have yet to order the rings rods and
mains. I have a
friend that is going to order some parts and I was wanting to combine shipping
costs but he is
not a quick to order as I had hoped. I need to push a little and see if he is
serious or
not.................. I am thinking of using this wheel in my Bugeye, so value
is not a real
concern. I don't want to hurt the wheel in any way value wise of course, but it
is not a major
concern in this instance. It is appearing that this is a "one off" if you will.
This wheel was
obviously made specifically for the Sprite because of the placement of the hole
for the horn
wire. I work at a cabinet factory and have enough of an access to the plant to
make a piece of
furniture that is not normally available to anyone else. I am wondering if this
was the case
of this wheel, someone wanted one with slots rather than holes. Who really
knows...................... Brad
Andrew Weaks wrote:
> Brad,
>
> Just watch Antiques Roadshow sometime. I have seen pieces of furniture that un
> "refinished" that would go for $100,000 but after Frank's meddling would
>only be worth
> $10,000. This is commonplace with antique furniture but whether the same goes
>for a
> steering wheel, I don't know. Stripping off the old, black, gunky Shellac is
>not the way
> to value. If it is just for you and ascetics, do what you want but you could
>be removing a
> significant portion of the value.
>
> I remember one show a lady had a beautiful Philadelphia chest-on-chest that
>was
> refinished. She said it was all black and icky and wanted to see the
>beautiful wood
> underneath. In its present form I believe it was worth about $15,000. If in
>the original
> condition it would have been worth several hundred thousand. The look on her
>face was
> priceless. Pun intended.
>
> Andy
>
> You get the motor worked on yet.
>
> Frank Clarici wrote:
>
> > Brad Fornal wrote:
> >
> > > Restoring Vs Value
> >
> > Brad
> >
> > who is to say the "professional" who "restored" your car was a Sprite
> > "professional"?
> >
> > What if the guy was a corvette specialist?
> > Would that make all the fiberglass on your sprite more valuable?
> >
> > I once contracted a window and vinyl siding job, I installed the new
>windows,
> > had the siding delivered to the job and just started to put it up when the
> > owner asked me what I was doing? I told her "siding"
> > She proceeded to tell me I was NOT a professional sider because it did NOT
>say
> > so on my truck! Needless to say, she was dead serious so I subed the siding
> > part out to a "professional sider" who had "siding" written on his truck. I
> > also made her wait 3 months for "the professional"
> >
> > Back to the question, what makes someone a profession restorer?
> > Price?, Name on his shop? You could print up some letterheads and call
> > yourself Brad's Professional Austin Healey Sprite Restoration shop.
> > Heck, Geoff Healey personaly told me I was able to use the the word
> > "Authorized" Healey repairs. Does this make me a professional Healey
>mechanic?
> > No! But I can use (and I have the sign) Authorized Austin Healey repair. If
>I
> > did it for money,. it would no longer be a hobby and no longer be fun.
> >
> > Now for the LL wheel. You can restore it yourself.
> > The black mung is semi melted varnish, hand oils and shop grease. lacquer
> > thinner will clean it off.
> > Rock Hard brand wood filler mixed with some walnut stain will fill the
>cracks,
> > sand it down, use a good oil based marine spar varnish, NOT polyurethane,
>and
> > spray it on. It will need about 8 coats to look like new. It is also the
> > period correct coating.
> > I am going to redo my wife's Formula wood wheel real soon, it's sun baked
>and
> > split too.
> > --
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