tuba in a car

[tofu]

Oh, yeah -- transliteration: English saloon = American sports sedan, as in the Jaguar S-type 4-door with the rounded nose, er, bonnet.

boot = trunk
bonnet = hood
hood = convertible top
spanner = wrench
petrol = gasoline
estate = station wagon
roadster = convertible, but one completely open without a foldable top, and has an optional hard top that latches on
tyres = tires
headlamps = headlights

There are more, I just can't think of them right now. It comes from having owned two Jaguars, and doing your own work off real factory facsimile reprint manuals. My 1986 XJ6 , in a wonderful cherry-chocolate brown with tan leather, had the rear seat wiring done in the afternoon - the right switch worked the left window and vice versa. I finally had to sell that one from just too much repairs from obviously having been parked outside for most of its life. I still have my 1967 E-type with its 3 SU carburettors (English spelling - 2 t's) and covered headlamps, and it had the bonnet put on in the afternoon, because after my headlamps seemed to be working funny, I realized that a right-hand drive set of headlamps had been installed instead of left-hand drive: on brights, the left beam projected and the right beam spread, instead of the other way around. Why do I say afternoon? Because I've been to Coventry, and toured the factory. At lunch, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, from the chairman of the board down to the person who sweeps up, has at least one pint with lunch, if not two (or more?) at the factory pub on the grounds. So much for the tight-!!! American "no alcohol at work" rules! Now you know the real reason for Jaguar "quality control," or the lack thereof.

Hey don't let Lucas off the hook! As you probably know they call Lucas "The Prince of Darkness". Every english car suffered from the lousy electrical systems of Lucas and don't even get me started on Whitworth tools. Bad enough you got to have SAE and METRIC these days. But if have vintage English cars you need Whitworth to boot.

My only quibble as far as your definitions go is the difference between a Roadster and Convertible. In the US a Roadster did not have roll up windows and a convertible did. Prior to WWII a convertible was typically referred to as a Cabriolet and a car without windows was a roadster. Roadsters used side curtains to keep out the wind or rain. Putting the side curtains on is usually no walk in the park. As far as non-foldable tops my 53 MG TD is an english roadster and has a foldable top and no hard top was offered from the factory.

[MartyNeilan]

I think we worry a little too much about our instruments.

You have obviously never lived in the New York City area, or any major metro area for that matter. Many of my friends in that area have had horns stolen, including having car trunks randomly pried open until something is found.

In "podunk" Cleveland, Tennessee (meth capital of the Southeast) instrument thefts were a regular occurance at my school. And a pro trombonist friend of mine had his Edwards stolen during a church service in Chattanooga when he went down to listen to the sermon and left it in an unlocked closet. If memory serves, the tubist in the Chatty symphony had his 188 stolen about a decade ago.

You are right in that anything can be stolen, but why go out of your way to make it easier? I'll be damned if I will let someone just take something I have worked hard to buy.

"Well, its insured" is a big cop-out I often hear from careless young people. Insurance can be very difficult to deal with, you WILL have serious downtime without a horn, and nothing can replace "your" horn. (Although I have had a number of theft victims tell me they like the replacements better.)

A well known NYC repairman had his shop cleaned out about 15 years ago and it put him out of business for some time.

Cheap locks may only keep honest people out, but I guarantee you I could set up a door that only the NYPD or FDNY could break down with serious equipment. Alarms only tell you that someone already robbed you.

[windshieldbug]

my 53 MG TD is an english roadster and has a foldable top and no hard top was offered from the factory.

Wow! Your TD was built in a factory!? I thought most of them were made in Lucas equipped thatched roof barns using Whitworthless tools...

(I grew up in the BACK SEAT of a '60 Porsche 356 Cabriolet. With the top up, in case of rain. And I'm now 6'3"... )

[tofu]

my 53 MG TD is an english roadster and has a foldable top and no hard top was offered from the factory.

Wow! Your TD was built in a factory!? I thought most of them were made in Lucas equipped thatched roof barns using Whitworthless tools...

(I grew up in the BACK SEAT of a '60 Porsche 356 Cabriolet. With the top up, in case of rain. And I'm now 6'3"... )

I think the factory viewed the dealer as "quality control"
When you restore these old birds you really do develop an appreciation for the precision engineered build of today's vehicles.

I had a '63 356 Cabriolet that I restored in the early 80's. Wished I had kept it. Sold it to buy a '63 split window vette. Should have kept it. Sold it to buy a ... on and on it goes!

[iiipopes]

Point taken on the definition of "roadster."

Re Whitworth: fortunately, all I need are a couple of Whitworth sockets for the fuel lines and carburettor fittings, which I was able to custom order from a Snap-On dealer.

I've had pretty good luck with my Lucas parts. But you have to keep the contacts perfectly clean, including the fuse block, and have a really good alternator with good diodes. The diodes can go bad really quickly, and the voltage spikes are what do a lot of Lucas electrics in.

Now, I resemble this next remark, having spent a whole day at the Bass brewery in Burton-on-Trent, and when I remember it I'll tell you about it so there should be no offense taken by our UK neighbors: Why do Brits drink warm beer? Lucas makes refrigerators!

Oh, yeah, back on topic: I can't carry my tuba in my E-type. It sticks up to far in the seat, and the space for your feet isn't wide enough you can pad it properly, and the floorboard is too hot from engine heat to put it on the floor - it gets hot enough you don't want to hold it on your lap for quite awhile!

I try not to worry when I drive it: I usually only drive it on round trips ending up at the house; when I'm in a restaurant I try to pick one with a window where I can watch it; I keep well clear of other traffic when I can, and the rest I have to just take a deep breath if I'm going to enjoy it for a few hundred miles every year. When I park it, I usually leave the windows or the convertible top down; if someone is going to steal it, I want them to steal it, not trash it in the process. Hmm, I wonder how a modern-day thief who has only dealt with interlocks would deal with a starter button that he's never seen before? Probably wouldn't know what it is for on the dash!

[windshieldbug]

I'd bust a gut just watching a thief trying to get an E type with SU's started, let alone find that ignition button. Or watch one trying to open the hood from the front...

[iiipopes]

Oh, yes -- with manual choke that you have to feather as the car warms up, and internal bonnet pulls, to say nothing of the "slap" technique needed to pop the gearshift over to reverse gear!

But with manual steering, no air conditioning, a thermostat controlled fan on the radiator, and only vacuum assist on the brakes, (all so the least amount of power is sapped from the engine) it is a car you DRIVE!

PM me if you want to hear some great driving tales, including time trials for round trips, 4-wheel drifts that were soooooo easy, etc.

[LoyalTubist]

Around here, people will steal the car, then take out what they can't use (flutes, tubas, hair curling irons, Strobotuners), and leave it in the parking space at apartment complexes. You might have a really nice Rudy Meinl and an old beaten up Ford Granada. They'll take the Granada and leave Rudy behind!

[tofu]

Oh, yeah, back on topic: I can't carry my tuba in my E-type. It sticks up to far in the seat, and the space for your feet isn't wide enough you can pad it properly, and the floorboard is too hot from engine heat to put it on the floor - it gets hot enough you don't want to hold it on your lap for quite awhile!

I try not to worry when I drive it: I usually only drive it on round trips ending up at the house; when I'm in a restaurant I try to pick one with a window where I can watch it; I keep well clear of other traffic when I can, and the rest I have to just take a deep breath if I'm going to enjoy it for a few hundred miles every year. When I park it, I usually leave the windows or the convertible top down; if someone is going to steal it, I want them to steal it, not trash it in the process. Hmm, I wonder how a modern-day thief who has only dealt with interlocks would deal with a starter button that he's never seen before? Probably wouldn't know what it is for on the dash!

The only one of my horns I can get to fit in one of my convertibles is the Besson in its gig bag because it is long and narrow and that is just in the miata. It won't fit in the current vette and certainly not the TD.

As far as thieves it would be pretty funny to see them steal a vintage car. But for real grins I like to see them steal one of my Model A's --

lets see -- pop out ignition on dash (which when it is popped out means you can start without the key), starter is a little quarter sized button on front floor board to the right of the quarter sized accelerator button which you work with your foot by pushing down, you then need to work the two spark advance/retard lever and the throttle lever on steering column just behind banjo sized steering wheel, combination choke (pull out) & fuel mixture adjustment line (turn left or right to lean or enrich) located where a glove box would be today just under dash and all of this has to be done virtually at the same time and then fine tuned as you drive, no synchromesh manual transmission requiring double clutching and the real grins begin when they throw it into first and get reverse first is where second would be today and second is third! Or they go to put gas into it and holy cow where does the gas go? Ha ha -- its in front of the folding windshield in the middle of the cowl just in front of the two halves of the engine hood!

Of course this assumes they have the muscle to steer a car with no power steering or any steering assist at all. On both of my late '31 "A"s before they do any of this they have to open the passenger side hood and find the fuel bowl (on the fire wall) and turn the lever into the "on" position (assuming they know which position this is). Not easy to drive but even harder to steal!

[LoyalTubist]

My ex-wife knew I never chose a car for the family unless I could fit my main tuba in the trunk. I remember one afternoon in Fort Worth, Texas, about 14 years ago, my tuba was in the trunk (or we tried to get it in the trunk) of about 15 cars. It surprised me that an Isuzu I-Mark had more room for the tuba than some of the bigger cars. (I drove the I-Mark until I moved to Southeast Asia a few years later.)

[windshieldbug]

Well, every car I've had had to carry my main tuba, too, but sometimes that meant being "creative"...

Like taking the passenger seat out of my '56 VeeDub in college. Plenty of room for my big case, a keg, legroom for the people sitting in the back seat, etc. When I got more flush, I started buying hatchback Saabs. Cavernous rear space, even with the rear seat up and rear shelf in place. Down, the things were like "estate"s.