~ Scott Fisher said:
~
~ > ... Besides, Kim really
~ > wants to be involved with this, and I think it'll be a lot easier for
~ > her to work on it (cleaning the bores, etc.) if it's on the stand.
~ >
~ > - --Scott
~
~ Beg pardon? Are you saying that your Significant Other *wants* to be
~ *involved* with engine work on an LBC? Involved, not merely tolerant?
Kim did much of the cleaning the first time I rebuilt a set of SUs,
more than ten years ago. She's always helped with detailing and
cleaning our hopelessly shot old British sports cars; whenever we
get a new/old car, Kim goes over the gauges with rubbing alcohol and
a handful of Q-Tips, a technique that I cannot recommend highly enough
as a way of improving your car's dashboard. And if the grille is the
face your car offers to the world, the dash is the face it offers
you, the owner, while you drive.
When I first built the engine that we're tearing apart now, Kim was
7 months pregnant with our youngest daughter and didn't want to put
herself through the chemicals, strains, and other risks associated
with the assembly. But before kids, she has always been active in
our restoration and repair procedures. In fact, we originally bought
our '67 Mini Traveller (think Mini-Cooper Station Wagon if you have
never seen one before, ours without the wood trim) to be her car, and
she did much of the disassembly before, well, things happened and
we ended up selling it as a project. One day we'll probably have another,
one not so far gone, and it will be Good. (In fact... Hmmm. I bet
you could find a decent Mini Cooper S for under $5K. And they may
not be technically sports cars, but there's a certain Wonderfulness
about them. Hmmm indeed... Maybe I'll zip over to Mini Mania today
at lunch and see what they have on offer.)
~ In my experience, this is quite unusual. Any pointers as to how you
~ managed to arrange such a felicitous partnership?
Fate. No, really. It's odd that we met at all; it's even odder
that if I hadn't met her the way I did, there were two additional
"backup" paths by which we would have met eventually.
As for maintaining it, well, ceaseless effort, continual attention,
and sparkling wit are the essentials. That, and I CC: her on email
messages like this one so she knows I think good thoughts about her
even when I'm at work. :-)
--Scott "Buying champagne all the time doesn't hurt either" Fisher
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