Jay I am ASTONISHED that such a thought would come from you :-). I
partially agree with you, and if I were having any trouble with the car at
all I'd rip and replace. I am more inclined to agree with Kurt and Bob's
(herbeam) philosophy.
Here is the status: I have a line on a Series V with no engine and tranny
(but everything else is good) that's been sitting for 10 years in a garage
in San Diego (thanks for the lead Dick Barker) but I need to get photos and
go check it out. Before I do that I would of course need to sell my Series
II (the wife would KILL me if I brought another car home), and I do have a
couple of people interested but nothing firm. I am very open to offers of
sale or trade deal (I've had various offers, but I want something closer to
turnkey - IE: no major body work, welding, missing seats and dash, etc).
Think about it: we could add one more Alpine to the driving ranks and save
an original!
I'm feeling good about this, but I do need to close a deal since I'm the
impatient sort and need to get started so I'm 'beaming again this Spring.
Tim (still looking...)
Tim Beloney
VAR Development Manager
Wyse Technology
www.wyse.com
tbeloney(at)wyse.com <mailto:tbeloney(at)wyse.com>
510.749.9432 (phone)
510.714.2067 (cell/pgr)
-----Original Message-----
From: Jay Laifman [mailto:Jay_Laifman(at)countrywide.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 13, 1999 9:00 AM
To: alpines(at)autox.team.net
Subject: Keeping them alive
Tim writes:
>I thought I'd make one last go-round before I start
dismantling the
Alpine.
>I have a 62 Series 2 which is 99.5% original - wire wheels,
dual
Strombergs,
>no rust that I know of etc... I am about to do an engine
swap to a V-6
and
>T5 and have all the parts. Before I start taking the
Alpine apart I
thought
>I'd once again offer it for trade/purchase/sell to someone
who might have
a
>poor old 'Pine (any series, but s3-4 preferred) without an
engine and
>tranny, but is otherwise complete.
Kurt writes:
>Someone PLEASE help him out! We have to stop chopping up
all the good
Alpines.
>We are supposed to love these cars and want to protect
them. 99.5%
complete
>Alpines with no rust should be treasured. There just isn't
enough of them
left.
>Please don't get me wrong here. I personally have no
problem with
conversions
>but please, please, please let's try to do it with
incomplete cars. Thank
you
>Tim for trying to save this one. I really hope you find
one.
Here are my thougths, which by the way are a very recent 180
degree change
from my position for the last 35 years. Tim should go ahead
and do it.
These cars are over 30 years old. The market for them has
never been large
and it's going to keep getting smaller. Engines and
transmissions wear
out. There is no denying it. At some point, no matter what
we do about
it, a block, crank, head, etc simply cannot be fixed. New
replacement
parts do not exist; no one is going to start making them
again. And really
good used replacement parts for these are not widely
available. So, if we
want to see these cars keep going for years to come, we need
to accept and
welcome whatever it takes. I applaud Tim's offer to get a
car without an
engine. And I agree with Kurt, except that I think this is
"loving these
cars" and "saving them." But, why not use the nice car he
has to restore,
and make the engine and transmission available for someone
who wants to
keep their old engine going? Does it really matter that the
engine number
and the body don't match? Maybe for cars worth much more
than the Alpines.
Ok, so that's my soap box.
Jay
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