> [ ... ] In fact, I understood
> that the Volve B16 and B18 engines were copies of the BMC B block - except
> rendered of much more durable stuff. [ ... ]
Of course, the logical extension of this notion is: Can we snag a B18
(engine or block) as a superior substitute for the BMC product? In
other words, what is the extent of the similarities?
--------------------
I think we've hit on something at the heart of the British car enthusiast.
I have Volvo-collector-friends who are really contemptuous of my MGBs. But
if I collected Volvos I might never have learned to build an engine!
Perhaps it is the fragility, the vulnerablity, of these cars that endears
them to us. Who was it who said "I could never give up my British car - it
needs me!"?
I've brainwashed myself into believing my MGB is just as reliable as any
other car. The few things that I've learned about Bs over the years make
minor roadside repairs easy, so I don't think of them as detracting from
reliability. My engine, radio, and heater fan went dead suddenly one
morning - 10 miles and 20 minutes from my first class. I didn't know where
the problem was but I knew I could jump the brown wire on the fuse box to
the white wire on the coil. I met my class in time and it never occured to
me that the car was in any way unreliable. (One of the big spade
connectors had fallen off the starter solonoid.)
Speaking of Lucas - isn't it amazing how *well* these 20-year-old systems
work! How many times have we seen an old abused neglected abandoned car
just begging to be purchased. We succumb, and when we put some juice in
the battery - most of the stuff works!!! You want electrical nightmares -
I had a Peugeot once! When I bought my '76, the PO had removed the engine
(spun bearing). The car was delivered with a wrecker. It sat outside for
seven months before I got the engine ready to put back in. Then one
evening, I sat in the driver's seat for a moment - just to fantasize about
the anticipated thrills the car might bring someday. I accidentally bumped
the horn button - it worked. So did everything else. The car seemed
spiritually possessed - a veritable British "Christine". (I had
erroneously presumed the PO had disconnected the battery - if any - before
removing the engine.) I still feel that "spirit" every time I drive that
car.
' Gotta go do my taxes.
Allen Bachelder
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