09-11-2010, 08:40 PM
In my enthusiasm, I didn't go over the ground rules, as Thrift Store Scott has ably done. Answering all those questions in the affirmative is a necessity.
One point where I do differ from a lot of the posters above is in regarding old british iron as unreliable. During the day, specific Lucas and SU parts were indeed unreliable. However, there is so much knowledge out there on these parts today that eliminating the major reliability issues is not that difficult while undertaking a restoration. For example, SU fuel pumps were horribly unreliable due to the burning of electrical points in them. There's now a guy available that does nothing but remanufacture those pumps to new specs and he modifies the final product to solid state operation so that the points no longer burn. He does this for a remarkably low price and includes a lifetime warranty.
Once you fix the various unreliable bits, the basic cars are built like tanks and are much more durable than many cars on the road today.
One point where I do differ from a lot of the posters above is in regarding old british iron as unreliable. During the day, specific Lucas and SU parts were indeed unreliable. However, there is so much knowledge out there on these parts today that eliminating the major reliability issues is not that difficult while undertaking a restoration. For example, SU fuel pumps were horribly unreliable due to the burning of electrical points in them. There's now a guy available that does nothing but remanufacture those pumps to new specs and he modifies the final product to solid state operation so that the points no longer burn. He does this for a remarkably low price and includes a lifetime warranty.
Once you fix the various unreliable bits, the basic cars are built like tanks and are much more durable than many cars on the road today.