Tintin is my daily driver, 3 miles to work each way. I simply keep an
eye on things. When I replace components like the generator or starter,
I try to not skimp. I replace it with new or a professional rebuild.
When I work on the wheels, I check the brakes. When I check the brakes,
I peel back the wheel cylinder cups to check for leakage. Rather than
rebuilding the brake cylinders (unless funds are REALLY short and the
cylinder is PERFECT inside) I replace them.
I keep an eye on what's under the hood and try to anticipate problem
areas. Last time I got stranded was about five years ago. I ran out of
gas. I was running on the last few drops and... GUESS WHAT? The guage
has gotten a little inaccurate over the years. It showed a little bit
when there really wasn't.
Tintin has been my daily driver since 1972. I've been stranded twice.
Once was a hairline crack in the distributor rotor that I could have
fixed with my girlfriend's nail polish, had I been able to diagnose it,
and the other was out-of-gas.
I've had to do roadside repairs many times, but I was always able to
get going again after tapping on the fuel pump, rocking the car to get
the starter pinion out of the flywheel, coasting to a stop in front of
a car dealer and replacing the ruptured fuel line (pure luck!), resetting
the points, etc.
The trick is to keep a manual and a tool kit and some spares on board,
and read this list to find out what to anticipate!
Good luck, have fun!!!!
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*Philippe Tusler - Mission Viejo, CA | "MILOU" '57 MGA Roadster *
* | "TINTIN" '66 MG/MGB-GT *
*InterNet: Philippe.Tusler@Unisys.Com | N/A '88 ISUZU Trooper*
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