John, its a sickness. A sure sign of an imbalanced personality. The worst form
is if you find yourself seriously looking at cheap affordable restorable cars
when you have a severe case of shipwrights disease and you do not enjoy working
on cars.
I don't know what the cure is. I'm tired of spending my time rebuilding/
maintaining cars. I want to just do something else with my life. But a message
comes in about a $700 TR6 and I'm on the phone.. new transmission hmm good
opportunity to add overdrive, needs new interior & dash? OK Needs all SMOG
equipment installed.. hmm but its only $700. Run to the bank... set up an
appointment to look at car before others do...Already sold? sight unseen? some
one wired $$$ into your bank account?
Saved!!!! I don't even really like the TR6 body style. Why was I going to buy
one? BGT replacement? yes after it got running. No its a sickness trust me. I
may find myself purchasing a car too small for my legs to fit in.. providing its
a cheap deal that I would need to close fast.
I don't want much.. Just a fun car to drive, a roadster that doesn't look like
every other car in a parking lot.. no cookie cutter clones.. One that would have
lots of people looking and waving.. One dripping in charisma that would be the
center of a lot of parking lot conversations.. One that looks nice and runs
properly without lots of work. My Land Rover's like that (Roadster with
removable hard top and metal side curtains), My TR3 was like that before I made
the mistake of taking her off the road for a couple of months to do a few minor
repairs. Why don't they just work & keep working?? It would allow me to take
my camera off in pursuit of the perfect image. but no I have to stay home and
put the leaf springs back on the TR3. When I come home from work I check the
porch to see if the TR's steering box or a set of pushrods have been delivered
from The Roadster Factory. I wonder what pocket universe swallowed up both my
TR master cylinders and the clutch cylinder's mounting brackets... And wonder
why wiper motor bushing got discontinued when there are so many LBCs out there
that use the same basic wiper motor... and I gaze at the lichen growing on the
TR's hard top wondering when I will get the chance to strip it and get it
repainted...And the rear Land Rover petrol tank, sitting still wrapped waiting
for me to get the time to install it. I wake up each morning to a perfect TR3A
front valance in primer mustard, and signal red around the empty eye sockets and
wide mouth where it has been painted on the backside... hanging on the wall at
the foot of my bed. The only place I could find in a small house with no garage
to store it without getting damaged....I share my closet with a new set of seat
cushion springs and a black interior kit. AT least the engine parts are out
now....
Outside my front door is a blue tarp strung over a frame. Under it, on
jackstands, covered by a cover is a TR3A, TS75519L, all the body work almost
done, exterior primer mustard... interior signal red, the original factory
colour...New wiring harness connected into new fuse block, new voltage
regulator, cleaned up starter solenoid... instrument panel, newly recovered
installed gleaming with the newly polished instruments... One hole in the panel
where the water temperature gauge fits.. Its not cleaned up yet...Kick panels
and inside of the bulkhead covered with new black carpeting...new factory style
rubber floor mats installed littered with parts and tools.. New fuzzy seals line
the front and back of the door openings...A completely refurbished petrol tank
sits strapped in place. the back panel almost mounted.. Need to get a new drill
bit to make the mounting holes...rear mat in place, snaps installed in
approximate position as original.. Extra hole in boot floor.. forgot about
clearance for the wiring harness when i drilled for the snaps.. Boot seal
installed..and the drain tubes ... stiffeners and proprod reinstalled on boot
lid... I worry about the alignment... the person from the body shop said he had
to bend it a bit so everything would line up perfectly... the seal was not in
place... it looks a little off... well maybe when the rear wings are
installed...
Underside supports new undercoating, rebuilt diff.... Front end has new
trunions, springs and bushings... New tierod ends attach the tierods....Why
didn't the steering go together right...why didn't I know that was an adjustable
clamp that held the box to the frame...The manual could have at least mentioned
it....The heater has been cleaned up and installed... need to get the hoses
installed to the demisters....New stainless steel brake lines gleam as they
stretch across the engine bay.... I wonder how Greg is doing with the engine?
The overdrive transmission sits on a pallet in front of the TR...waiting for the
engine to come home....Will it ever end?? I need to get the intake manifolds and
valve cover polished soon...The header is already showing rust... i can not
seem to keep the dust from piling up alover the car....At least i have the
tannau cover on to keep the interior from getting too bad.... at this rate I'll
need to get the car detailed before it is finished...When will it end?? when
will it drive outside of my dreams??
It won't do anything but make me feel guilty if I don't work on it some more..
Its a sickness ...If I could just remember the address for that $600 big
Healey....
TeriAnn Wakeman One of these days, I'll be old enough that
twakeman@apple.com people will stop calling me crazy and start
LINK: TWAKEMAN calling me eccentric.
408-974-2344 TR3A - TS75519L, MGBGT - GHD4U149572G, 109 - 164000561
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