A bit of advice that many may already be aware of, but some might not!!
Last week I took the Spitfire and drove up to Kingston ON. for vacation
and All British Car Day. (The pictures are coming, it's just that the
first week back has been pretty hectic. But I digress!) Car ran like
a champ. The trip back was rather rushed, though as I left the show
around 4:00PM for a one shot 300 mile drive. This meant rather than
taking things like The Seaway Trail all the way home I had to do the
last 200 miles on the Interstate. BUt that was no problem either.
65 - 70 mph all the way. Engine ran smooth. No vibration, rock solid
steering.
Where is this leading?? Well, just before the trip I had ordered a
complete frontend rebuild set from Rimmer. Trunions, ball joints,
bushings, etc. The whole works. Today I started the job. Now, based
on the way it drove and the relatively low mileage (75K) for a car this
old, I was expecting to find most of it in pristine condition. Boy was
I wrong. Once taken apart, there are several degrees of play sideways
in the old trunions. The lower wishbone bushes are worn through
completely so that there is no rubber contact at all.
The moral of this story?? If you use your car as a daily driver as I
do and you haven't rebuilt the frontend, do it now. There is likely
to be much more wear than you think and it is a matter of safety.
All the best.
bill
--
Bill Gunshannon | de-moc-ra-cy (di mok' ra see) n. Three wolves
bill@cs.scranton.edu | and a sheep voting on what's for dinner.
University of Scranton |
Scranton, Pennsylvania | #include <std.disclaimer.h>
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