Les,
I agree, especially with your last two statements. I don't consider
Oklahoma to be 'Midwest' in the sense of salt belt either, so no offense
intended. My 2nd Tiger sat out in the Nevada desert waiting for rescue for 14
years.....no salt. But the windshield was out and the front left tire was
sunk way into the dirt. I could turn ANY nut or bolt on the car when I got it
without the slightest problem and there is NO rust. Except where the front
left floorpan acted as a sump for water in through the windshield opening and
I had to replace 2/3 of it.
This is like the old nature vs. nurture argument in biology and medicine.
If your Mom and Dad were great people and raised you well, you're likely a lot
better off than if they were druggies. But if they both had an IQ of 96,
you're still probably not going to end up at MIT.
Salt is like the genetics side of the argument. The two jack ports in
front (leading unobstructed into the front framehorns), the holes in the
bottom of the main lateral box frame (just in front of the seats), the
unfinished cutout through the front X-frame for the exhaust, the notorious
failure of the 'sealer' at the back of the front wheel wells opening into the
'A' post and rockers -- there are many other places on the Tiger, but all
these are examples of easy access for road splash, etc. to the inside of
frames and panels. Those are unpainted, unwashable and maintenance irrelevant
areas.
Most major rust happens from the inside out. It's just common sense to
think of cars with a potential accelerant in the vulnerable areas as
potentially less valuable. You're right, all those So.Ca. cars are going to
rust out some day. But for the average car with average use there's still a
difference and people will pay for it.
Chris
----- Original Message -----
From: Les Mcclelland
To: Tiger Mail List (E-mail)
Cc: Pirouette@uisreno.com
Sent: Sunday, September 08, 2002 10:06 AM
Chris,
All it takes is crawling under the car and looking....not rocket science. I
can understand your wariness of salt belt cars, but Oklahoma is not PA or IL
it is in the lower Midwest, and there is NO comparison of weather conditions
or road salting that will hold water. . You guys on the coast breathe far too
much exhaust fumes. The likelihood of finding high quality old cars is
actually very good here. My REAL un-TAC'ed Tiger had no floor pan rust when I
bought it 13 yrs ago and remains that way. Any car any where will rust given
time, no oversight, or intervention.
Les McClelland
Real but Un-TAC'ed 65 MK1A
B382000599
Tulsa, OK
Date: Fri, 6 Sep 2002 02:47:50 -0700
From: "Chris Hill" <Pirouette@uisreno.com>
Subject: Re: Value of Tiger in the Midwest
Andy,
I don't want to seem nasty, but you're not being realistic. I brought my
well loved (and cared for) Healey 3000 out to Huntington Beach from Pa. and
watched it dissolve in the summer sun. I bought my first Tiger out of
McAllen, Texas (near Brownsville, on the Gulf coast) and I got REALLY
thoroughly into that car from underneath. It sits waiting for someone who
cares that much. The guy who owns the (very professional) restoration shop
that did my buddy's super nice Tiger is from the Philippines. He described
what salt air and road splash will do to even modern cars over there in a
short time (not pretty!). Ask Chris about his Hawaiian Tiger.
Salt corrosion is chemistry, pure and simple. A REALLY well cared for and
protected car from the Midwest might be worth as much as a So. Ca. car, but
how many people can truly document that sort of thing back to the mid
'60's.
Wariness of salt belt cars is not peculiar to Tigers, nor is allowing for
problems then reflected in the bid price unique to them either.
Chris Hill
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