Originally Posted by MINISQL

I was in the garage cleaning out my tool box and my son had picked up my feeler gauge. He asked me what it was for, and I demonstrated the different thickness sleeves and that I used it to set the points on the MG I used to have.
"What are points?" he asked, and it suddenly struck me how much time I used to spend puttering around in the garage doing these little maintenance chores on my cars that are totally unknown to most young drivers today. We simply get in and turn the key and go.But I remember the jokes we used to tell around the parts store where we used to congregate on Saturday mornings... Why do Englishmen drink warm beer? a FIAT owner would ask a Triumph driver... Because they all have Lucas refridgerators! was the reply from the back of the store where they were aligning and tightening the spokes on a wire wheel.
The British were the Kings of the sports car world back then, Triumphs, MGs, Austin Healeys, and the rare and beautiful Lotus, but the all required constant maintenance. Adjusting twin sidedraft SU carburettors, refilling shock absorbers with oil, filing and adjusting points and plugs, adjusting rear drum brakes, setting valve clearances. All these things we used to do, just to have fun on Sunday morning at the Autocross. These things were many times done in the back parking lot of the parts store where the owner would usually give you advise and lend you his tools, along with the 10 or 15 other guys that were standing around drinking Cokes and bench racing. Every time you got in your car was an adventure, wondering if it would start when you turned the key, and how far would it go before it died by the side of the road. No wonder we went in groups!
But thats all gone now, cars last more than 100,000 miles, we get more miles out of an oil change than we used to out of a valve job, and we do our bench racing on a computer at the speed of light with people around the world.
This little MINI that I've had for 2 years brings all of that back for me, oh, not the reliability issues, but the fun I used to have, the camaraderie I enjoyed so much. That when I mention the sweet spot at 4300 rpm, you all know what I'm talking about and have felt it too. This is what I enjoy about this website and it is why this will be the closest I will get to making a political statement on these forums. I leave that world behind when I log on and I hope that I can bring some joy, or thoughtful discussion to these forums, about the MINI and motoring enjoyment. I doubt that any of you could change my political views, or that I could change yours, these are things that are developed through life experience and in most cases are based on core beliefs that will not be altered by e-mail or epithets.
Now, if you will excuse me, I have whitworth wrenches to sort and clean.
Motor On

Originally Posted by JCIP

I could have sworn that the phrase was: Lucas, the people who invented darkness! When you say adventure, I couldn't help but think about the electrical dash fire...after dark, in mid winter, miles from anywhere, and miles to go! This was in a AH Sprite, interesting, not the last!

Originally Posted by pocketrocketowner

My second job in college was as an apprentice mechanic (read car cleaner to start) at Forest City Imported Cars in Rockford Illinois. what days of fun once i graduated to prepping cars and then actually working on them (nothing like syinching carbs on the V12) or pulling out grenaded Spitfire engines out of cars with less than a hundred miles on them cuz of over torqued bolts on the air cleaner.......or seized MGB engines cuz some bright soild at the factory kept forgetting to put a copper washer under some bolt.........I became VERY adept at using test lights and ohm meters as well......fond memories......me iIowned a Fiat at the time.........1200 Two seater...prettiest thing ever probably....slow but...it didn't leak and it didn't short circuit and it definetely did not grenade or seize its engine.......