At 10:06 AM 1/28/98 -0500, Jurgen Hartwig wrote:
>
>I am an outspoken advocate of CB Bs on this list. I feel they are better
than
>their counterpart RB models, but again I must confess that this is
opinion. I
>feel many have mistaken my deep passion as snobbery towards the owners of
RB >Bs.
I think you've touched on a few words that explain a lot about this list.
"Feel". "Passion". MGs are cars that invoke deep emotion and loyalty.
The problem is there are so many different kinds of MG owners, and each
feels as strongly as the next, so sometimes we trample over one another.
>Can't a guy just have a deep rooted opinion. Who the heck ever said my word
>is set in stone, or even sane.
I would never claim to be sane. My daily driver is my 'Sebring' 'B,
with a DCOE side draught, lots of negative camber and springs that'll
shake your teeth out. I do this by choice. I think its fun to
drive a comp prepped car back and forth to work. When my chassis gets
a few more years on it (I'm talking back, neck, muscles, etc) I may
think otherwise. But for now, it's what I want. I guess I take the
class "Street Prepared" literally.
>
>I think anyone who owns, drives, or works on MGs is alright by me.
>I saw a fellow in a parking lot yesterday who said, "I haven't seen
>one of those in a long time." I smiled and knew I was having fun.
Yeah. Net."debates" aside, I've always thought the best part about
having an MG is all the people I meet.
>
>Also, some time back I said that all owners should try to
>put original on their cars. I find nothing wrong with Lucas
>alternators, so why partake the chore of retrofitting
>a GM alternator. Some may disagree, I know. The point I am
>trying to make, is what does retrofitting yield when you try
>to resell the car.
>...
Resell is an operative word here (and something you touch on later).
I've had my 'B since I was sixteen , which means I've had it for the
past 11.5 years. I have no plans of selling it. I don't do things to
my car thinking "how will this affect the resell value?". Many things
I view as an investment. My 'B I do not. It's more a part of my
life style. I also don't think changes should be made arbitrarily.
Thought should precede any change. Is there much to gain by fitting
a GM alternator? Cheaper replacement costs. I've had two alternators
on my 'B, the original and a Lucas replacement when a bearing in that
one started making some noise. Will my Rover engine have a Lucas
alternator on it? No way. In that case, mods will have to be done
anyway, and I'll also have electric cooling fans to drive.
>I'm training to be an engineer, and by default I'm one anal little fool
>(I build things; no anality=building falls down, people die).
The other side of it is you can be an engineer like me, one who
can't leave well enough alone.
>
>Of course most of you don't intend on selling your cars, but still, I feel
>original is better, in most cases.
Yes and no. The problem is, what is original? The way the factory
built it? The way it was shipped over to the US? The way the dealer
modified it? (Luggage racks, striping kits) The wire wheels the dealer
swapped on to it because that's what the customer wanted? The same car
with an owner installed factory option? (lots and lots of list members talk
about wanting an overdrive--does that make their cars non-original?) How
about retrofitting parts, early 70's pistons in a '78 'B? Do those few
points of compression make the car non-original? What if had been twin SUs
in place of the stromberg? How about my Rover V-8 conversion? I say if
the car
wasn't supposed to have a Rover V-8 in, they (those guys at MG) shouldn't
have
modified the engine bay for it.
The big step is when it comes to bodywork. I still see nothing wrong
with someone doing a Sebring or Le Mans conversion. (are there any
droop snoot replicas in the US? Do any of the originals exist?)
Actually, I'd think that all the CB people would be happier if someone
cut up a RB car instead of a CB for such a thing. Visual changes are
major changes, and honestly I don't have any want to see someone turn
a 'B into a fibreglass "pimped-out" neon lighted cruiser thing. But
a replica of the factory built racers is cool by me. Sure, I've got
my opinions. And one of them is the show car crowd seems to know
(or even care) very little about MG's competition history.
A good friend of mine is a VW enthusiast. He's a bit on the colorful
side, and one day spent some time deliberating on how he was going
to attach a CB antenna to a Baja Bug. This was a car that had chopped
fenders, a spray can camo paint job, and was being used just for
blasting around logging roads. I mentioned drilling a hole. He
was shocked, that would be a modification! To him, the "original"
condition of the car was the configuration as he bought it. Strange.
>
>Oh well, I am rambling.
Join the club.
>Jay
>with '70 MGB and '78 MGB
>with Spax(gasp!) shocks
^^^^
Hahaha! Out of all the things I've done and plan to do, I've
never had a good reason to convert to tube shocks! I plan on
running the armstrongs even after the V-8 conversion.
-Keith Wheeler
Team Sanctuary http://www.teamsanctuary.com/
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