cliff.b Posted June 15, 2021 Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 Needed to go to my Mother today, a few miles south of Sudbury. Decided to take the Spitty although it's over twice as far as I have driven her before. Took the A14 East for about 20 miles, then turn off (J35 I think 🤔) cross country for the remaining 40 or so, down through the Suffolk/Essex borders towards Clare and on through Long Melford to Sudbury. What a great decision. Fantastic driving roads, hardly any traffic, lovely scenery, beautiful villages to break it up. And of course, great weather. In fact, the perfect run to make in an open top classic car & to top it all, the Spitty didn't miss a beat 🤞 It doesn't get better than this 👍. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted June 15, 2021 Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 5 minutes ago, cliff.b said: It doesn't get better than this 👍. Spot on, my run out was sheer bliss as well 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted June 15, 2021 Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 this is the best way to get a smile and confidence these cars are very reliable pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted June 15, 2021 Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 Quite agree, once you are confident that the car isn't going to let you down the moment you get more than a few miles from home you soon settle down and enjoy the experience, the sound and the journey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliff.b Posted June 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 22 minutes ago, Pete Lewis said: this is the best way to get a smile and confidence these cars are very reliable pete I thought that was Colgate 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliff.b Posted June 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 The "icing on the cake" today, if any were needed, is that the drive home was just as enjoyable and trouble free. About 125 miles altogether today and three and a half hours driving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliff.b Posted June 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 1 minute ago, Mathew said: You know you have a good car when you want to take the long route with detours. Very true. There was an accident blocking the A14 near home on the way back so I diverted back onto the B roads and didn't mind a bit. Usually it would have wound me up 😡 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted June 15, 2021 Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 Just now, Mathew said: You know you have a good car when you want to take the long route with detours. Then I must have a very good car as I only take the long route with detours, in other words I get lost a lot! Last year I did a circuit and my 'worry' wasn't would the car break down but was I up to it physically 🤔 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliff.b Posted June 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 39 minutes ago, Chris A said: Quite agree, once you are confident that the car isn't going to let you down the moment you get more than a few miles from home you soon settle down and enjoy the experience, the sound and the journey Yes, I agree completely and seem to be getting there. Having a problem crop up during the journey has now progressed to a possibility instead of a probability lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliff.b Posted June 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 1 hour ago, Pete Lewis said: this is the best way to get a smile and confidence these cars are very reliable pete Agreed. The Spitfire I had 40 years ago never let me down, despite me abusing it mercilessly. So I don't see why it shouldn't be possible to make them reliable now. Most of the faults on my current Spit have been due to work having not been carried out correctly, some of it by me lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliff.b Posted June 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 35 minutes ago, Mathew said: Most problems with these cars are due to lack or incorrect maintenance. Mainly started from 3 to 15 years. Spitfires tended to be a car someone bought for the summer then sold on. Having not done any maintenance. Thats why so many have lots of owners. I hav a 4x owner one and a 16x owner one. As they have got older the change of owners has mainly slowed down. The first one i restored was driven as my main car for many years with just servicing and no major issues once the initial snagging from the rebuild was completed. Went to Cornwall and back no problems. My dad borrowed it and his bags of cement and angle bead fitted in well! Crunt. I think the maintenance thing applies to all cars, or in fact most mechanical equipment. I used to fix stuff that had a regular maintenance schedule but then other companies came in & undercut on price by just fixing things when they broke. The customers were non technical and accepted the lowest bid so every other supplier had to do the same or they wouldn't get any business. So a few years later everything starts going t*ts up and nobody could work out why. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badwolf Posted June 15, 2021 Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 Same old, same old. Who do you trust to do the work? Me, ok, I' m no mechanic but have a little experience but a lot of back up for help and advice. Even with that, I can still make an absolute ##**## of it!! Or my friendly neighbourhood garage who put my leaf spring in appallingly wrongly, even dangerously, with a WSM and Haynes manual to guide them and then pass it for MOT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliff.b Posted June 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 18 minutes ago, Badwolf said: Same old, same old. Who do you trust to do the work? Me, ok, I' m no mechanic but have a little experience but a lot of back up for help and advice. Even with that, I can still make an absolute ##**## of it!! Or my friendly neighbourhood garage who put my leaf spring in appallingly wrongly, even dangerously, with a WSM and Haynes manual to guide them and then pass it for MOT. I guess it's the same dilemma with any other skilled job or trade.There are good people out there but it's finding them. Maybe that's something a forum like this could be good for 🤔. Nothing like personal recommendation 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted June 16, 2021 Report Share Posted June 16, 2021 I hope?, I have over a lifetime, gained just enough "expertise" and experience, to know 3 thing`s 1) Who is bullshitting!!. 2) When not to carry on, but to be sufficiently confident in another`s abilities to make a safe and professional job. 3) When to ask advice!. I guess so far I have got it right, more times than not, or I would not still be here. Some Forums, (on other subject matter) Do have a Forum section where one can post personal recommendations. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badwolf Posted June 16, 2021 Report Share Posted June 16, 2021 I'm sure that this was mentioned a few years ago, it may even have a thread but I can't find it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliff.b Posted June 16, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2021 1 hour ago, PeteH said: I hope?, I have over a lifetime, gained just enough "expertise" and experience, to know 3 thing`s 1) Who is bullshitting!!. 2) When not to carry on, but to be sufficiently confident in another`s abilities to make a safe and professional job. 3) When to ask advice!. I guess so far I have got it right, more times than not, or I would not still be here. Some Forums, (on other subject matter) Do have a Forum section where one can post personal recommendations. Pete Those 3 things are the result of a life well lived. How much easier things could have been if we knew them when we were young. Of course older wiser people did try to share this wisdom but few listen at the time 🙄 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted June 16, 2021 Report Share Posted June 16, 2021 13 minutes ago, cliff.b said: Of course older wiser people did try to share this wisdom but few listen at the time 🙄 Amen!. to that!. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badwolf Posted June 16, 2021 Report Share Posted June 16, 2021 I listened to my Mother (not the radio programme of a bygone age) for wisdom and guidance. A good, wise Yorkshire woman. Sadly she knew nothing about Triumphs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Twitchen Posted June 16, 2021 Report Share Posted June 16, 2021 58 minutes ago, Badwolf said: I'm sure that this was mentioned a few years ago It was, and certainly on the 'old' Forum. However, far from just being personal recommendations you ended up with some people slagging off some suppliers in response to others saying what good service they had received. This was usually without any great basis and in some cases they had not followed a common sense approach in the first place. Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliff.b Posted June 16, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2021 26 minutes ago, Badwolf said: I listened to my Mother (not the radio programme of a bygone age) for wisdom and guidance. A good, wise Yorkshire woman. Sadly she knew nothing about Triumphs. Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliff.b Posted June 16, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2021 39 minutes ago, PeteH said: Amen!. to that!. Pete I eventually managed to convince my younger stepson that most of the "bad luck" that he always seemed to suffer from in life was actually a consequence of the poor decisions he made and by blaming luck he was denying himself the opportunity to take control of his life. I used a combination of evidence and logic to get him to see this. Fortunately, it was not a step daughter or I would have got nowhere 😒 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted June 16, 2021 Report Share Posted June 16, 2021 we had a quality guide used at work with a mirror inside its said if you look in the mirror you will see the problem Ha ! Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted June 16, 2021 Report Share Posted June 16, 2021 Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know when I'm out of my depth and to get an expert in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliff.b Posted June 16, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2021 1 hour ago, Mathew said: Wisdom is the ability to realise through experience when you have made a mistake and correct it . Like most things it only happens when its too late. Foresight should be seeing others make the mistake and not coping it. As someone once said, luck, the more i practice the luckier i get. Indeed. I have certainly made plenty of mistakes over the years but I do try and learn from them and find I seem to make fewer these days 🤔. When I am a very old man I will probably know everything but a lot of bl**dy use it will be then 😒 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliff.b Posted June 16, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2021 51 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said: Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know when I'm out of my depth and to get an expert in. Ha ha. So true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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