In message <9506030222.AA14878@hamlet.cp10.es.xerox.com> Leslie B. Nesbitt
writes:
> Hardcore auto restoration is not for everyone.
> However, there are people (and thank God for them)
> who thrive on such challenges.
>
And there are those of us who don't realize how much work we are getting into
untill we are there and then are too stubburn or stupid to get out from under
the project, but grit our teeth and keep going.
Though I do not think I would have come nearly so far on this journy if I had
not driven the car for a few years before taking it appart. A lot of times the
only thing that kept me going was the rememberence of throwing the car through
tight windy mountain curves through the forrest. The roar of the 3's engine,
squeel of the tyres, smell of the redwood forrest. Had I not fallen in love
with driving the 3, she could have easily become one of the majority of project
cars that get taken appart and never reassembled.
I remember when I put the steering wheel back on the car. I found myself
cleaning the glass of the windscreen and mounting it, then going into the house
and bringing out the seat I had just recovered. I put it into the drivers side
and got in behind the wheel. Inserted the ignition switch and pressed the
starter button. My mind heard the sound of a TR3 engine turning over and
catching. The distinctive sound of the engine ticking over. It was a time of
fogged glasses and a tear for the once and future Triumph as on the rebuild.
About a month later, I got the engine and transmission installed.
To survive a complete restoration I think you either got to love wrenching on
things in your spare time and have at least $200/month income that can go to the
rebuild, or you need to be extreamly stubbern and too stupid to stop doing
something you're tired of doing and go out and get a life. If you are not in
ether of these extreams, chances are you will not be sucessful and your project
car will never go back on the road and will eventually be sold for next to
nothing.
For some people, a car that just needs a tune up, interior and paint is a
project to walk away from. For others its a wonderful way to spend free time.
Others, just grit their teeth and fight their way through it.
The '61 TR3 thats been discussed is a car that most people should not attempt,
especially if they have a life other than tinkering on cars. Unless you have
fallen in love with that car and you insist on sacrificing your life for a few
years to get the #@*^# job done.
For 95% of the population my advice would be to walk away, but do not part it
out.
TeriAnn Wakeman .sig closed for remodeling
twakeman@apple.com
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