Actually, you are going about this in the right way. You have met an honest
and knowledgeable mechanic, something you will need. As you said, you are
learning a lot about the Spitfire. This is frustrating now, but in the long
run it is better than learning the hard way. Keep your head up; you will
find the right Spit.
Terrence Banbury
Mk III
> ----------
> From: Garner, Joseph P.[SMTP:JPGarner@UCDavis.Edu]
> Reply To: Garner, Joseph P.
> Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2000 8:40 PM
> To: 'spitfires@autox.team.net'
> Subject: latest in the saga
>
>
> Hi everyone, more tales of woe
>
> So i thouhgt i had stumbled across a bargain... the ad came up a couple of
> days ago... "spitfire for sale runs, needs tune up", and was
> coincidentally
> just round the corner from my girlfriend's house in palo alto. So i rang
> the
> guy up, and he was at work but said to go round and check the car out. It
> was '79 1500. And it seemed too good to be true: the bodywork was pretty
> immaculate (though it wanted a new paint job). The interior was fine.
> Overdrive switch (wooo-hooo). not a spot of rust. straight frame. The
> engine
> looked good, and the brake and clutch cylinders and the oil filter had
> obviously been replaced recently. the guy said it was his
> every-other-daily-driver and that he had too many cars for his new
> place...
> anyway, so i rather stupidly took a day off work today to test drive and
> take it to a mechanic. It drove great, OD worked, not any horribly
> suspicious noises (bit of rear diff. whine), brakes worked.
>
> Now, if it was in sacramento i'd of come over to see laurie, but as it was
> we were in palo alto... so i hope you can excuse the infedelity ;-)
>
> So we get it to the shop and the mechanic looks it over, and then says he
> wants to take it fro a drive to listen to everything, and gets me to jump
> in. We're just out of earshot of the owner, and he says "it's going to be
> a
> lot of work". Bugger.
>
> So, the moral of the story is, get the car up on a lift, cos then you can
> spot all the stuff that hasn't been maintained because it's hard to get
> to:
> the transmission was leaking horribly, the rear suspension was about to
> die
> on one side (which probably explained why the car twisted alarming along
> its
> long axis when it started), and the brake lines probably needed replacing.
> oh, and the electrics were on the way out, and the engine WAS making a
> funny
> noise (once it was pointed out to me... it was just a funny noise i hadn't
> heard before). passed smog though.
>
> So current score: 3 spits, 2 mechnically iffy, 1 sold too quick to see.
> Joe
> is getting proggressively a)wiser b) dispirited.
>
> On the upside, i am learning one hell of a lot about these cars, and i
> have
> just met a very nice, up-front, and good mechanic.
>
> Oh and advice for anyone else hunting for the first time:
>
> 1. see a bunch of these things before you buy. uou learn one hell of a lot
> 2. take it to someone who knows british cars, and is a triumph fan. it
> will
> save you a lot of heartache.
>
> ho hum
>
> cheers
>
> Joe.
> _________________
>
> Dr. Joseph Garner
> Department of Animal Science,
> University of California,
> One Shields Avenue,
> Davis,
> CA 95616
> USA
>
> tel: + 530 754 5291
> fax: + 530 752 0175
> _________________
>
>
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