[Mg-t] Need TD front wing(s)

[Richard Lindsay]

John, you are right, of course. We restore them to 'correct' because that
is the right thing to do. Old cars are 'history' and by definition, they
should be preserved.

This topic hits a hot button for me. Our wonderful classic car restoration
hobby is a dying thing. And I don't mean because millenials can't tell a
camshaft from a screwdriver! I mean the 'interesting' cars produced today
are not really restorable. Yes, one may be able to buy brake pads but what
about the 'Push to Start' computer in an older Ferrari?

I recently repaired a 1989 Ferrari Mondial T. It had a very poor running
problem. Turns out one of the mass air flow sensors was defective. Yes, it
has TWO, one for each bank of four cylinders. So the problem was that the
right bank was bring fed properly while the left bank was running WAY too
lean...and we know the problem that that causes.

Anyway, the MAF is NLA. Used MAFs are occasionally available in Europe
since the same unit was used on a mid-'80s, European version, Saab. They go
for about €700, if one can be found.

The problem I found was a corroded spot in the potentiometer, right where
the 'wiper' needed to touch the resistive strip! And of course, the unit is
'potted' and can't be opened. We ended up setting BOTH MAFs too rich to
avoid the damaged spot. And even at that, the MAF would sometimes fail,
causing the owner to have to re-tune both banks.

So my overall point is to say how important it is (at least to me) to
preserve old cars because there is not an influx of restorable newer cars
for future car hobbiests.

As for value of a TD; I think it will increase. John is absolutely correct
about the historical data but the same was true for Ferraris. My 308GTB
held at $25k-$30k for the same decade that John quotes. Its worth $100k
more than that right now!!! My lowly TR3b has trippled in value. I just
think the T-Series cars have to follow suit. Not $125k cars, but $30k range
in the next decade is not unreasonable. And that is certainly NOT the best
reason to invest in the preservation of a classic. History is.

-rick, with a late TD,  and 11 other cars

-rick
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://autox.team.net/pipermail/mg-t/attachments/20161012/651fc7cb/attachment.html>