David,
Thanks for the post. What you say has a lot of merit, but we all enjoy
these cars to the tune of our own drummers. I have a good repoire with my
local LBC mechanic. He does simple welding like this, but he's closed on
Sundays and he has a bit of a backlog. As the car is the only way I have to
get around and the leak had gotten to the point of bothering me, I needed a
solution. Also, given where the leak was, I think welding would've required
removing the entire system (header, pipe, and muffler) from the car and/or
cutting the pipe from the header and starting all over. That may or may not
have been a $20 job. We'll see when the patch finally falls off, as many
have predicted it will do. BTW, total cost was $5 for the cement and patch
kit and 30 minutes time, part of which was examining the entire system to
see what a welding job would entail and whether the system is worth saving
in any event (luckily, it all looks good except for the header-to-pipe
weld).
Not that anyone has to justify how they maintain their cars, but there are
some tasks that for me fall into the category that you espouse. For
instance, I don't mount and balance tires; it's a time, expertise, and
tooling consideration.
Thanks again for the input. I too believe in supporting the 'local little
guy' when it makes sense for me.
Jeff
---
On 8/24/99, David Riker wrote:
>This "We Cheap" stuff is really starting to bug me. Why not just go to the
>local little guy muffler shop, spend the equivalent of two pizzas ( about
>$20) and get the pipe fixed. Sounds easier and about as cost effective as
>the number of hose clamps you all seem to be going through. And once you
>build a relationship with the guy at the muffler shop, he might fix the
>leaks for free every once in a while. I know the place I go will redo
>anything they have worked on for free. Believe me, they can fix the hole on
>the top of the pipe, or put in a small splice that will last.
>
>Sorry to vent, it was a hot day at work. Just my .02 worth.
>
>David Riker
>74 Midget
>63 Falcon
>
Jeffrey H. Boatright, PhD
Senior Editor, Molecular Vision
http://www.molvis.org/molvis
"Seeing the Future in a Very Tiny Way"
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