>An eight hour drive in any car is too much for the average human
being.
>Long before you get to the end of it your reaction times will be
shot,
>you'll be feeling tired and groggy, and your chances of having an
>accident will have increased dramatically. In a car like a
Spit, with
>no power steering, no cruise control, and none of the other
modern
>devices for making driving boringXXXXXX easier, the effect hits
harder
>and faster. Plan to break the journey - or plan to break the
car!
I've never had a car with power, cruise control or any of that
other stuff, so I really don't know-have nothing to compare...
I was thinking of driving as far as Santa Cruz to spend the night
at my sisters-but thats 7 hours! At least then I would arrive in
San Francisco in daylight, instead of after dark.
>>So, based on the performance, I made my decision. Mike-if you
ever
>>get out here, you've got to have a drive.
>
>I'd love to; thank you. The chances of me getting to California
seem
>pretty slim at the moment, but one never knows...
>>>What is more important, to my mind, is to preserve examples
>>
>>of the
>>>cars as they came off the production line. The number of
people
>>>swapping standard gearboxes for OD gearboxes at the moment
>>
>>suggests to
>>>me that in a decade or so, you and I'll have the only Spitfires
>>
>>with
>>>standard gearboxes left in the world!
>>
>>Well, Nigel's engine is a little too tweaked to be "as they came
>>off the production line"... but it is the original engine. Of
>>course there's the Weber and the oil cooler, but at least it's
not
>>some sort of engine switch. (Augh!)
>
>These were not uncommon modifications carried out when the cars
were
>still being produced - and the good thing is that they are easily
>reversed if you wanted to go back to a "concourse" car. Engines
and
>gearboxes are a different matter...
One of my friends who has judged concours at VTR in years past
said that I could put my car in (VTR) concours as it is!
>> When I looked at the Spitfire
>>racing at Monterey, her engine didn't look that different from
>>mine! (Of course, that was on the outside-who knows what's been
>>done to it on the *inside* where no one can see!)
>
>I'd rather have a rebored original engine
Which is what I have...
>than a stock engine
from a
>different car.
Me too!
>>With all the engine swapping and gear box swapping, someday
Nigel
>>and Carly might be two very rare beasties indeed!
>>
>I wonder if the Spitfire Database ought to start tracking which
cars
>have been modified (and how), and which cars are original?
I think that would be very interesting.
You know, a friend of mine who had his 1964 LHD Spitfire converted
to RHD took some criticism/heat for that from the powers that
be-and yet, it seems ok to yank the riginal engine and drop in
something else?...
>>With the clutch and tranny-and a new spring on the throttle
>>cable-(and the brake adjustment of a couple of weeks ago)-it
feels
>>like such a different car now! The pedals all feel stiffer, the
>>gear shift tighter, the noises and vibrations not what I'm used
>>to! It's like getting accustomed to a whole new car! (Ok, half a
>>new car!) It needs a bit more aggressive driving style than I've
>>been using on him for the last 6 months or so since he was
>>"ailing".
>
>I'm very much looking forward to getting Carly's engine stripped
out,
>and the piston rings replaced. It will be very pleasant to
drive her
>like a sports car again!
I'm sure she'll appreciate that too!
>>I wonder what will be next-because (altogether now!) "It *never*
>>ends! There's *always* something!"
>
>The thing that strikes me is that even those things that you
think have
>been "fixed" can still go wrong. I had the rear suspension done
a few
>months ago, which made a tremendous difference to the ride, and
to the
>position of the rear wheels. I've noticed over the past few
weeks that
>the driver's side rear wheel has started to lean in again at the
top -
>quite dramatically. I presume something needs tightening up, or
a bush
>replacing, but unfortunately my mechanic is on a fortnight's
holiday at
>the moment, and so I can't get him to look at it for another ten
days or
>so. :-( He put it in; he can fix what's wrong with it!
My drivers side is experiencing sag, but the spring has been
checked and is fine. Everything is fine. Dave told me that there
are adjustments that can be made...
I hope!
Laura
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