By Dean Sprague
I know we have all had or have a least one car that we loved but also hated. You remember the joy and exhilaration you felt the day you got it home and the remorse you began to feel when it failed in some spectacular way. This may have occurred multiple times during your ownership yet through all those episodes it still holds fond memories.
I can sight a few personal examples. Of course, a couple of my Jaguar acquisitions would surely qualify. I can recall two XKE’s for example and shall we forget my 1959 XK 150. Upon reflection the XK 150 was much more pleasurable sitting stagnant in the driveway than ever attempting to propel it under its own power. I will surmise briefly. I purchased this car filled with great promise even though I bought it ailing with a blown piston. I thought of course I could fix that. I was a Jaguar mechanic once, right? I went through the bottom end and while at it lapped in and adjusted the valves, replaced some bearings, gaskets, seals and so on. When completed it ran beautifully, well for about 5 miles anyway. I had just routinely shifted it into third gear for maybe the 10th time but on this final attempt the shift lever locked there permanently. Apparently, someone had attempted to overhaul the gearbox without sufficient knowledge or I suspect, a workshop manual. Fortunately through word of mouth I found a freshly rebuilt gearbox from a totaled XK140 that had sustained a multiple rollover. The box only had about 500 miles on it and I got it for a mere $50. That was a deal even back in the early 70’s. Undeterred I refaced the flywheel, replaced the clutch and swapped the transmissions. Again I thought all was well. Actually it was for about another 50 miles then the front brakes began seizing up, I barely limped it home. No problem, things happen all I have to do is remove the wire wheels and rebuild the hydraulics. I jacked up the car and removed the spinners only to find all the wheel hubs are rusted solid on the splines. It took another two weeks but with persistence, lubricants, a torch and several wheel pullers I finally got them off. Then I replaced everything that held hydraulic fluid and she was rolling and running again. This time I drove it almost 10 miles before I began to smell that smell. You know that burning plastic smell when you get an extraordinary wiring failure. Before I could react it ignited the firewall sending flames thru the front grill. Fortunately at the time a lady was watering her lawn so I quickly removed the hose from her hands and got the fire out. Note to self; always keep a fire bottle in your classic car.
Despite the fact that owning this car was getting very long in the tooth I still loved it so I tightened a notch on my belt and replaced the engine harness, repaired some blistered paintwork on the bonnet and this time checked “everything” before I even thought about driving it again. Now comes the imprudent part, while waiting in line at the parts store (again) a guy behind me commented how much he always wanted a XK150. I turned around and before I knew it he was the new owner. I heard later that he drove it failure free for almost two years, I think my love for this Jaguar was one sided. It was me the car hated.
Most of my other acquisitions paled by comparison but my next example is my 1985 TVR 280i. This was a car I found on an online auction (buyer be ware). I became the high bidder by putting my highest number on auto bid. My bid was based several email dialogs with the owner since the car was four states away and I couldn’t do an on-site inspection. He told me everything anyone would want to hear but nothing as it turned that was actually true. I picked it up at the freight distribution center and almost couldn’t get it started. The professed perfect running V6 Ford Cologne engine was hitting on about 4 cylinders. The “immaculate” interior was actually dried cracked and the carpeting had been wet for so long that it had black mold everywhere. The smell was atrocious. The paint was covered with so much over spray and fall out that it felt like sandpaper. When I tried to call him the phone was disconnected and he had moved with no forwarding address all in about 5 days. Surprise!! But since I had little recourse and still I loved the car I decided to fix it. I took the entire interior to bare fiberglass; scrubbed with chlorine bleach then replaced everything with very expensive beautiful new hand sewn leather from a local upholstery shop. Sealing the Bosch fuel injection leaks and replacing the electronic ignition module, along with a new cap, wires and plugs resolved most of the engine problems. I decided to try and salvage the paint by wet sanding and buffing it before attempting a re-paint it. It worked wonders. The car shinned like a new dollar.
Aside from getting buried moneywise in the car it was now a very respectable 10-foot driver. Then suddenly it started to randomly not idle well. I found a micro leak in the unobtainable rubber air intake and more tweaking of the Bosch mechanical K fuel injection connections. I used silicone and thread sealer. All was well for a while and my TVR love affair was renewed. I had just replaced the battery and was thinking seriously about doing a drivetrain swap to a 5.0 Mustang engine and 5-speed transmission. Then a fellow club member decided he had to have my TVR, so off it went and I was probably saved from more misery but still it just left me wanting another one.
Sometimes we are our own enemies, awakening monsters that probably could have remained dormant. I have several good examples where I have accomplished this but my 1971 Triumph Stag or current Volvo P1800 projects are perhaps my best examples. Since you are probably already aware of the Volvo status and I promise to keep you updated, let’s talk about the Triumph. It was a car that hadn’t run in several years but looked ok from 20 feet anyway and frankly was quite complete. A friend gave me the car free with the understanding that I would rebuild the original engine and not retro fit a Chevy 350 V8 like most other Stags. Unknowing to me at the time I inadvertently unearthed engineering flaws factory designed into the car. I discovered you could fix them by doing some re-engineering but not cheaply. Since I got the car for free and if you don’t count my 3 years of labor when I sold it I broke even on the parts and materials. If I could only learn what any good gambler already knows. He understands when to hold cards, when it’s time to play them and when you should fold and run. This is a skill I have never acquired. My strategy is to find something that stirs my sole, ignore my intuition, and throw caution to the wind and just dive in. However I found comfort in knowing I am not alone. Almost every car lover has at some point done something very similar. If you are one of us just remember to keep telling yourself, “I own something I love and someday it will be beautiful again” but always remember there is a thin line between love and hate. Having a bad memory can be beneficial as well.
