Wow, apparently this is a common problem. I don’t remember having this much trouble when I had my A’s in the 50’s, but all of them were less than 30 years old. I don’t know if they had head gasket sealer like “Indian” back then. One of the cars I bought had two head gaskets on it. It ran OK, but lacked power. I pulled the head, had it milled, and the car ran great afterwards. I immediately sold it because I had found another car as a project. I realize now that although I loved owning A’s, it was the challenge of getting them running and looking good that I really enjoyed. Mom and Dad could never figure that out. Oh, by the way, I had so many hours of driving A’s in all types of weather on mud, snow, ice, and dry dirt that when I went to get my license in 1960, it was a breeze. That license didn’t last long because I bought a black ’59 TR-3 with a crumpled right front fender, and after I replaced the fender and put white racing stripes (two narrow with a wide one in the center). The very first ticket I got was for doing 110 in a 55 over Sylvan Hill leaving Portland, Oregon on my way to the beach. Boy, the cops and the judge hated the fact that a 16 year old had a sharp looking sports car that would even go 110.
For all of you who didn’t drive sharp looking cars as young people in the late 50’s and early 60’s it’s impossible to explain what it felt like to drive around with a terget on yourself and your car. We were fair game, and getting stopped for a supposed tail-light being out, or being stopped so a cop could slide his pack of cigarettes under the front of your car to check for clearance was normal. At least it was in the Portland, Oregon area. Talk about harrassment with a capital H.
I still miss those days, but they weren’t all good.
Mike
. Jeff
