In a message dated 98-11-26 16:04:40 EST, spitdrvr@camalott.com writes:
N.A.,
Interesting comments. Unrelated to the discussion at hand, but interesting.
> I guess Im a purist but my Spit does just fine in my book.
But I'm not reading from your book. The Spitfire is a nice little car, no
doubt about that, but in my book, it could use a little improvement.
> Yes, Ive done
> allot to make the engine pur but it's still a British Powerplant.
So the rotary is out, but the Rover V8 would be OK? It's a British powerplant.
Or does it have to be a British 'design' as well? In that case, I guess the
Stag engine would be OK?
> I sit and
> read about all of you changing your alternators and such to get away from
> the Lucas problems, wanting more reliability and all of this type stuff.
In my articles on swapping the Lucas alternators, no mention is made at all
about reliability. I say the three problems with the original Lucas units are
low power, high cost, and unavailability on short notice. I agree, there is no
inherent problem with Lucas alternators. They are low powered, cost a lot, and
if you need one 'right now', you are out of luck. For about 1/4 the price, I
can have a GM unit with up to twice the power, and, if it ever fails, I can,
in most any city in the US, have the old one out and the new one installed in
about an hour.
> I have never been stranded on the side of the road with my Spit....
That's a first! I've heard all sorts of reasons for owning a Spit, but
reliabilty and dependability are usualy not the reasons given. I agree with
you, though, there is no reason a Spitfire, or any British car, can't be just
as reliable as any other car, as long as they are properly maintained.
> I have
> been sitting on the side of the road with my Ford and Honda and Chrysler
and
> GMC...... Oh yea, my MAZDA left me on the side of the road between Odessa
> Texas and El Paso once to.....
In the fourty plus years I've been driving, I've owned a wide range of cars -
American, British, German, Swedish, and Japanese - and I have been stranded
only once. With your record, I would suggest you need to improve your
maintenance habits. Anyone with that kind of record either isn't keeping up
with the basic maintenance routines, or they are buying junk yard refugees.
Under those same conditions, a Spitfire won't fare any better.
Dan Masters,
Alcoa, TN
'71 TR6---------3000mile/year driver, fully restored
'71 TR6---------undergoing full restoration and Ford 5.0 V8 insertion - see:
http://www.sky.net/~boballen/mg/Masters/index.html
'74 MGBGT---3000mile/year driver, original condition - slated for a V8 soon
'68 MGBGT---organ donor for the '74
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