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RE: sacralige or ????

To: "'larry hooven'" <dirty_howi@yahoo.com>,
Subject: RE: sacralige or ????
From: Davies William-qswi646 <William.M.Davies@motorola.com>
Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2000 14:25:18 +0100
> 1973 MG MGB. 
> (hence the flame
> suit).  it appears to be not unlike the spitfire in 
> configuration, can any of
> you closet mg owners confim/deny any like attributes to the 
> spitfire, .... car is
> supposedly complete cept for the standard no floor pan/ fred 
> flintstone effect.

Larry,
        Having previously owned a 1968 B for about 8 years, I can tell you
firsthand that it is a very different animal to the Spitfire. I liked the B
a lot, but it was a much heavier car - far more a tourer than a sportscar.
Construction wise, the B is based on a monocoque, while the Spitfire has a
seperate chassis. The B is far less flimsy, and I always found myself
worrying about the slightest noise - the constant crashing and banging from
the Spitfire makes me wonder what I was worrying about! The B has quite a
complex body structure, and in my experience this is much more complicated
to keep in alignment than that of the Spitfire. The sills are easily fitted
incorrectly, which ruins the alignment of the front wings and doors.
        If I was going to have a serious accident, I would rather have one
in a B - they have immense strength, which is how so many have survived with
levels of rust which would have broken a Spitfire in two! If I had to choose
one to work on, it would be the Spitfire. In that respect, I've found most
engine bay comonents to be quite inaccessible in the B, and I've never had a
great love of adjusting wheelbearings with shims - I like the cheap and
cheerful arrangement we have with the Spitfires. 
        Finally, the Spitifires (especially the round tail models) are much
prettier cars. For me, aesthetics win every time,
        Cheers,
                Bill.

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