Richard, et/al., ...this is going to be brutal in the eyes of some but from those of us who see the hobby from a different aspect (Steve, James, myself, etc.) find that too much poor maintenance is being blamed on "
it's only a driver." as a way (i.e.: an excuse) to have a "mechanically sub-standard" car, --or as a way to validate the need to re-engineer their car as if to say the originally engineered Model-A part does not meet the demands of today's environment.
Lets look at some data. Arlen spoke of several failed electronic ignitions systems. A very valid argument can be made regarding someone with a faulty condenser or points could have been up & running again in a few moments with original parts. These hi-compression heads and their faulty gaskets seem extreme too. I have heard of one instance where the driver suspected a blown head gasket as the vehicle had no power, --yet in the end it was a faulty 12v coil that was causing the issue. While granted this could happen to anyone, I have been told by several different sources that there are some 12v coils that are not designed to be mounted in an inverted position as the original Model-A coils were.
Next, let's talk about how does a block get cracked when driving, --or better yet, how do connecting rods come out the side of a block or pan? My experiences have been when the babbitt starts leaving the rod, it starts hammering well in advance so the driver knows he has a problem. On the flip side, many a stock connecting rod has been poorly converted to insert shells where the big end of the rod has been overbored affecting the integrity of the rod bolt. When the rod bolt gets jerked out, that broken rod usually does make "windows" in the side of the block or pan. Ohh and another one that just made me shake my head is a Model-A "hydroplaned" and skidded off the road on the way to the tour. When I looked at the picture, the first thing I saw was big wide radial tires on 16" rims. Ponder on that one for a bit!!
I could go on, ...and I know it infuriates many folks here when some of us get on these "originality" kicks, but this tour is a prime example of some of the nonsense that happens when "restorers" start modifying their cars all for the excuse they want to be able to drive them as if to imply 'stock' or 'original' cannot do it reliably.
When you really think about it, the BRP is just an example of how most roads in this country were back in the Model-A era (1930s and 1940s), ...and these Model-As would not have survived this many years if they experienced something as high as a 10% failure rate, ...much less a near 20+% failure rate like seen on this tour!
Again, think about how many Model-A's were driving on the roads in the mid 1940s that were already 15 year old 'used cars' that had experienced the depression-era, and the war-era where good replacement parts were difficult to obtain yet the beloved Model-A was known for its reliability and very small mechanical failure rate even during that time. We as 'restorers' should have our Model-A's in better mechanical shape than what a typical Model-A would have been during the mid-40's! Leave it to us as 'preservationists' to ruin the great reputation of such a time-proven automobile!!
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