I has able to attend a wonderful little car show in Columbia, Missouri,
this weekend. It the organizers on this list, congrats on a job well
done. A nice show and a great time.
There is a thread on the MG list querying preventive maintenace tips.
This brings to mind several observances the last couple of weekends.
One fellow has been bringing back a TR8 with a lot of sweat equity and
quite a few new parts -- and a nice paint job. He blew the upper
radiator hose. He has owned the car for a year and a half and knew it
had been neglected for 10 years before he bought it. The hose is
specific to an 8. He never bothered to renew it.
A Midget lost a fan belt while trying to run home at speed on the
freeway. They hadn't owned the car long. It's a low mileage Midget but
its still 20 years old.
An MGB filled it's crankcase and carbon cannister with gasoline. It got
to the point that a foot of flame was coming out the exhaust.
A Spitfire was running really, really hot. Finally removed the
(required, here) front license plate and frame to stop blocking the air
flow. This was somewhat effective. But when you open the bonnet, none of
the original fiber board shroud directing air into the raditor could be
found. The car eventually overheated on the freeway and then locked up.
The motor is gone.
A fellow with a Big Healey was contemplating selling the car. It just
never rode very well and shook and shimmied on the highway no matter
what he did. What he did was paint it and replace the wire wheels. This
weekend he was praising new tires. He finally replaced the Pirellie
Cenurtos (sp) that haven't been produced in about 10 years. It
completely transformed the car. It now is a decent road car again.
At a previous event, an old guy in a V12 XJ sedan hoofed it good and
hard. He blew a heater hose, the engine over heated and it hydraulic
locked on its own coolant. The beautiful old motor is toast.
And your's truly never bothered to service the U-joints on the
halfshafts of the TR6 until it was almost too late. I had always been
meaning to so it but I knew it was an ugly job and just hadn't got
around to it. I was lucky to limp that one home.
These truly are pretty realiable cars but they are now at least 20 years
old. Just how long do you think the maintenace can be prolonged? All of
these car were shiny, and pretty, and looked pretty sharp. In each case
the owner lacked the knowledge, common sense, or gumption to do the
required mainteance.
If you expect to keep them on the road, you have to hold up your end.
These are pretty reliable cars if you replace the parts that would
normally wear over time. That is all the rubber items, the U-joints,
wheel bearings, brakes, a major tune-up and make sure you have healthy
fluids.
If your engine is healthy, a professional could get the car in shape
for, maybe $750 plus a good set of tires. Is your car worth it? Are you
worth it? Maybe that is a lot of money but, as a point of reference, the
Wife's Z28 ate it's water pump at 60k miles. The dealer replaced the
pump, belt, and hoses. The bill was $700. Our cars are no more expensive
to maintain that the modern stuff and, in fact, most of the parts are
relatively cheap. You just have to set your mind to it.
Off the soap box,
Bob Allen, Kansas City, '69C/GT, '75TR6
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