Am I a bad owner? [long] Resto. related

[cherokee]

Let me give you the short story of my life with the GT6. I bought it about 10 years ago always wanted one, It ran fine and drove it for about a year or so looking like junk. I pulled it off the road and did all the mechanicals my self. I sent it off to the body shop where it had a home for almost 2 years. It had floors, rockers, fenders, all kinds of body work done. During this time I started to question if I wanted to finish the car. Everything was done from head liner to peddle pads. When I got it back the carbs where leaking gas, it ran like crap, but it sure looked good. At this point I had just had it. And it sat in my garage for another couple of years. Finally I started messing with it, driained the gas, checked brakes, then went to the carbs...and fooled and messed with them. Now I know what I am doing around a car and admit I did not have the right mindset when going into this....again. So finally I just said the HE!! with it and took it to someone to get it running. Everything he found was stuff I KNEW to check but for some reason I did not, burnt points, crappy plugs, sticky carbs, on and on. I know all this stuff. I run a race car with two weber 40's on it, I know how to fiddle with cars. For some reason I just did not want to mess with the Triumph, I just wanted to drive it.

So the question is; is it time to give up on having a fun little car, I just do not want to work on it. Now that it is running I love it I am upset it is raining today...I wanted to drive it again, but I know with these older machines it will need something again. I am not sure I am going to want to fix it. I don't have a problem with paying for it to be done. Perhaps I am just getting old. But it just does not figure...I love playing with the race car, how has the Triumph lost it for me, I still love the car.

Sorry for the ramble....what are your thoughts?

One last thing (I hope I don't offend anyone) but if anyone says the word Miata I will just scream. Z3-Z4 coupe perhaps (however they lack a soul) but never a Miata.

 

[Tinkerman]

Long restorations have a way of eating you up. I'm working on a TR-3 that I bought in 1989. Should be driving it this spring. At various points I thought of getting rid of it, but glad I didn't. Like you I am no stranger to restorations, I think we lose interest over the long haul, maybe not totally but tough to keep it up. When I first bought it I couldn't keep my hands off of it. Now its tougher. This forum has regenerated my interest and my desire to see it finished. Hang in there If you are a good wrench you will get back at it and come to enjoy it again.
Cheers, Tinkerman

 

[Geo Hahn]

Having driven one of my TRs for 5 yrs and the other for 25 yrs I recall that both went thru a period where they required a bit of sorting out -- but today I drive them every day with no more maintenance than I give to our newer cars.

If I get in the mood to work on them there is usually something I can find to do but they are no longer needy and demanding.

Perhaps you just need to know that you can get a Triumph to the point where it is 98% driving enjoyment and 2% stuff that needs to be done.

I've said it before: I've never met someone who said they are sorry they didn't get rid of their Triumph... but I have met hundreds who wish they would have kept theirs.

 

[Steve]

Now that you have fixed it up, why not enjoy it? I know how you feel, sometimes, but these little cars were meant to be driven, and there is no shame in paying someone to wrench on it for you. DIY maintenance is not a condition of ownership.

It's obvious that you love the car, otherwise you would have unloaded it long before this. Sometimes it's possible to get bored with something if you don't get to drive it as often as you would like.

I think that maybe it's more a case of feeling guilty, because you have the ability to work on it, but don't want to, hence the mention of a modern replacement at the bottonm of your post? That way you have to pay someone to fix something like that!

Why not, then, stay with a classic, but something that demands specialist care, like a 911 or something Italian? Looks like you are more into the coupes as well, judging by your ownership of a GT6 and thinking aof a BMW Z3-Z4 coupe.

Hows about a Lancia Fulvia, or an Alfa GTV?

 

[CinneaghTR]

Hang in there. There are bad days like you are having, but they can be more than offset by the good once you get the GT6 sorted out.

If you are content with having someone else work on it (not that there is anything wrong with that! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif I rely upon my mechanic/wizard A LOT!!) and help you get it to Geo's state of LBC-nirvana, then your patience and perserverance will pay off so you can dedicate your wrenchin' time to the race car and drive the GT6 to and from the track.

 

[JamesWilson]

[ QUOTE ]
....I've never met someone who said they are sorry they didn't get rid of their Triumph... but I have met hundreds who wish they would have kept theirs.

[/ QUOTE ]

Its a long slog doing a proper restoration. Sometimes it can be a little depressing- like when you weren't able to bring yourself to do the things that you knew needed doing.

But it sounds like you've kept going and now have reached the other side with a good car.

Take it out a few times, rain or not, and make friends with it again; and, yes, it will need a little care and attention, but that's part of its character and attraction that presumable drew your attention originally....

As for a newer one, at least the GT6 is fully depreciated....

 

[cherokee]

I enjoy the GT6 so much when driving it. And it should be to the point that it is Toyota reliable. Before I sent it off, did all the stuff you should do to a car that has sat for a while, wheel bearings bla bla bla...

I think I feel a little guilty about farming it out for something that I knew I could fix. I did not feel that way about he body work. I can weld but I think a good body man is an artist.

I am not going to sell it, and will dig up some before and after pics for that thread when I get home.

You are right I think I will drive it rain or shine for a while. That will no doubt change my mood.

 

[Tomster]

Don't get rid of it you'll only regret it.
My 4A sat in a family member's garage from my early 20's. Virtually same scenario as yours cherokee. I have re found the wonderfull repar technician that used to bail me out that many years ago. With his assitance, that little car is now back on the road and I am in LBC heaven!
No, I too no longer have the time or inclination to focus on some of the repairs and maintenance issues that I would have done in my sleep in my youth. It's sort of like how a kid can put a bicycle together in minutes sans instructions while Dad mumbles about for days re reading the instructions.
When your young, you have less on your mind therefor fewer distractions and enough moxy to know that "I can do anything because I know everything"
At my age I now know how to enjoy and appreciate the finer things, if nothing else.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif

 

[Guest]

Without Fellas like U... there would not be any Fun for us Hobbits ;-)

Note: The Beard /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[Andrew Mace]

[ QUOTE ]
...Perhaps you just need to know that you can get a Triumph to the point where it is 98% driving enjoyment and 2% stuff that needs to be done....

[/ QUOTE ]Geo, I think you NAILED it with this statement, especially when you consider that most of these cars are now 35-50-year-old designs from the days when 1000-mile lube jobs and 6000-mile minor tuneups were the norm for pretty much every car on the road!

And I truly believe that Triumphs are no different than any other older car in that the secret to keeping them running well is to keep running them regularly. Conversely, long periods of inactivity almost guarantee problems when you do drive.

I think I've mentioned before that the previous owner of my Herald put 700 miles on the car in 13 years. The inactivity was well evident as soon as I began to drive the car: brakes had yet to bed in, etc., etc. It literally got better and better as I drove it (especially its little "trial by fire" 2550-mile round trip three weeks after I bought it)!

Normally, it gets stored from roughly November to March or so, to avoid upstate New York's salty winter roads. But last September, the season ended early when the clutch blew apart. For various reasons, the clutch wasn't replaced until this past July. This was an unusually long period of inactivity for the car during my four-year ownership...and it showed. After starting to drive it regularly again in July, I've spent far too many hours cleaning and recleaning the fuel pump and carburetor...and finally replacing the gas tank with one that hadn't sat for nine months and accumulated rust and other gunk! I'm sure that this was 99% due to the car just sitting. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[dklawson]

Many above have already said most of what I was going to add. Succinctly, now that it's largely sorted out, enjoy the car and use it periodically to keep it up. Yes, routine (more frequent than modern cars) maintenance will be required but if you know that up front and use the car it won't be the chore that you recently went through.

Also like others said, you still have the car and you could have dumped it at any time so it must mean something to you.

On a related note, when I'm approached by persons interested in my LBCs (and they ask whether I'd sell my cars) I start the conversation with "Do you like working on old cars?" These aren't Toyotas and Hondas and they require a lot more TLC. There are only a couple of shops in my area that would even consider working on my LBCs if I wanted a pro to work on them.

Keep your car and enjoy it.

 

[DougF]

Personally, I would hang on to it. Unlike women and pets, you can walk away from your Triumph for an extended period of time and it won't complain or leave a mess on the floor. Well, I guess they DO leave a mess, but it doesn't need cleaned up until the car is moved.
You will never get a Triumph to Toyota dependibility. They are cars that need attention. If it bothers you to top up oil in the carbs, you can always switch to Webers. You can change to electronic ignition. There are ways to reduce the maintenance, but you will still have to tinker or send it out to be worked on.
The Miata is really not that much different from the Z-3 or Z-4. Neither one will have the personality of a British car. They are both turn key and go, relatively maintenance free, down the road. Either would make very nice cars.
Maybe you need to sell it, it all depends on what you want in a car. If you don't like the Miata, maybe an S2000 would be another option.
But, as you already know, only you can make the final decision.

 

[cherokee]

Well I drove this weekend and again I drove it to work, It is so funny seeing it tucked inbetween a bunch of crown vic patrol cars. I don't think it could be in a more safe place. I am going to keep her. I think I was just close to burnout on this project. I can better understand how projects can sit for years and then be sold off inches away from being done. Now I am going to order a tank valve for the XJ6.

Thanks for the words I needed my spirits lifted a little.