Hi Fellow Listers,
The note from the New Jersey club hosting the ultimate garage seminar
reminded me that I should report on our spring garage tour, which took place
on Saturday, March 27. The tour was co-hosted the Manitoba Triumph Drivers
Club and the A-H club. I couldn’t make the breakfast at a local restaurant
but did meet the 20+ plus participants at the jump off point.
I’ll try to keep the report short and technical but its hard when so many
great people come with these great machines.
Our first stop was a 30’ x 40’ ‘garage’, it had a 15’ ceiling with a heated
concrete floor and a single 9’ x 7’ garage door. This shop had two 5hp air
compressors, industrial grade sand blasting cabinet, mig welder, english
wheel, drill press and a TV w/remote hooked to the satellite dish. He had a
A-H 100 under a cover, was installing a turbo-diesel into a mid-70’s Land
Rover and had a late 50’s Rover Sedan parked to one side ready to be
restored. Behind his ‘garage’ he had Sprites, Jaguar 120s, and TR3 part
cars. In one of his other buildings there was a ‘E’ type Jag and more TR3s.
He was also kind enough to provide coffee and Danish.
Next stop, two car garage with a ’54 Morgan (original owner) just ready for
paint and a newly purchased Stag. His TR6 was parked outside but in the
garage across the lane was a TR3 and a TR4. He had metal girder bolted to
the ceiling with a mobile hoist on it so he could pull motors and move them
to his bench by himself. He was also giving away back issues of old LBC
magazines. I picked up the December 1992 issue of British Car featuring the
electric Spitfire by Rick Michaels of Tampa, Florida.
On to Mellow Motors, which is actually a 1200 sq. ft. corner of a shoe
factory converted for LBC restoration. There we found a functional Austin
A10, a Mini, purchased for $350 CDN (230 $US) by the 14 year old son of
factory owner, being restored. There were also two TR3s and a TR4A (Dave
Terrick’s). Along with welder, Mellow Motors also has a plasma cutter.
Next was Classic MotorWorks, the local Moss distributor, Mini racer and A-H
club member. He had 2 Minis and a A-H 3000 in one double garage and another
A-H 3000 and Mini in a single garage. He had a cute little hoist for his
Minis that probably started its life as a transmission hoist for a Semi. The
nice part of this stop was that I could pick up my latest order for the
Spitfire and hear about the exploits of a ’69 Lotus Cortina that was
resurrected for the final ice race of the year.
We had lunch at a locally famous hot dog stand which is usually jammed
during the summer but we overwhelmed the current serving staff of two when
our tour showed up on a cool (2C, 35F) but sunny spring day.
Due to navigational errors we did not make our next stop on schedule but it
was still worthwhile. We only got to see half of a 4 car garage but it had a
A-H 100 just needing paint and a TR4 needing body work. The gentleman is a
airframe tech by trade and has an english wheel, which, judging from the A-H
he knows how to use. I guess he could also paint since he was setting up his
HVLP sprayer and homemade outside air breathing apparatus. Behind the garage
was a TR7 and a Austin 4x4 truck which I mistook for a Land Rover.
My last stop was a converted farm building with a Stag, TR3 and TR6. Outside
were TR6 parts cars, a TR7 and a TR8. He too had a beam attached to the roof
but he used his to lift bodies from frames. The nicest part of his garage
was the wood burning stove providing great ambiance (and warmth).
I had to miss the last stop which had at least a Mk II Spitfire and a
Sprite.
Doug
’78 Spitfire (getting it back together)
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