Garage Talk and Other Nonsense

Last updated April 1, 2003

Some of you may have received a post card that Cardinal Triumphs has ceased operation. Sort of disappointing to hear since Cardinal had always carried quality parts at good prices and have always provided superior customer service (they even email you to make sure your shipment got there ok). Alas we are down to only a couple of parts suppliers from across the pond that will continue to provide us with quality parts and great customer service. James Paddock is one of them and it is a family run business and they have always been nice and great to work with. They will now be my primary supplier for Stag and other Triumph parts that are not available from our US sources.

When dealing with certain suppliers, it's caveat emptor - buyer beware! While it seems to be a running joke among my ISOA friends, I assure you it's not funny. Questionable quality on several parts caused two catastrophic failures with the Stag which cost me in excess of $3000 to remedy. Since isolating the source, I have not purchased anything from them since 1999 and I have not had a single problem with the Stag since then. Prior to those failures, within a two year period I have receipts totalling almost $6000 that I spent with a single supplier. Maybe I was naive to expect a fair shake in customer relations. After reporting the failures, I was treated like a technical moron and the failures were all my fault. Was mine an isolated case? Not hardly, there are other documented cases from others who have run into a similar situations. As with all of our Triumph part suppliers in the US and England, support those who support you. It is a two way relationship.

In an upcoming issue of Snic Braaapp, we will run a review of Triumph parts suppliers here and in England. I would like to gather any comments from the membership on things you like and don't like from the suppliers. This newsletter is distributed to all the US parts suppliers and I would like to get their input as well. So if they pay attention to the newsletter, they will drop me an email or mail me their input. It should be an interesting story for all. Heresay and innuendo will not be published! As I said, it is a two way relationship. We depend on them to supply us quality parts to keep our Triumphs healthy and we supply them money to keep their business's healthy.

The most current status from Erik is that he is doing much better. He longs for the ISOA verbal abuse and generalized insults to get his butt in gear. Being sick is no fun. And to all who haven't been feeling right, get well soon. I have had some health challenges myself through the month of February and into March. I lost a couple of solid weekends to work on stuff at the Triumph farm. Everytime you get up, you get knocked down. The brain wants to go but the carbon based life form that supports it wants to stay in park.

Hopefully everyone has scheduled and started maintenance on their cars. Spring is upon us and you certainly do not want to spend the summer Triumphless. While I have been concentrating on Sandy's Spitfire restoration, I do have some parts for the 65 Spitfire and the Stag. I have not had to touch carburation and tuning on the Stag since 1999! I'll probably just go through all of the settings and fine tune any areas needing some adjustments. I do not 100% subscribe to the thought of "if it ain't broke don't fix it". Tuneups and general maintenance do not fall into that category. Pulling a transmission for the heck of it does. The '65 Spitifire is having an annoying mixture issue which I am attributing to aging floats in the carbs. There is only so much adjusting those things could take after so many years. A new set will be put in for the season.The only other thing is a minor vibration problem. The wire wheels have been balanced twice by specialists so I think I can eliminate that as a cause. The only other variables in the equation is the new driveshaft which was balanced. I'm almost tempted to pull the shaft and tow the Spitfire down the road to see if that is the cause. If so, back to the driveshaft dude. That should be a fun day. Thanks to the Factor, he had a late model pivoting rear spring assembly. Once cleaned up and painted, will go into the old Spitfire and eliminate much of the tire tuck under that plagues swing axle rear ends. As you all know, I do drive the cars in the spirited manner they were designed to do. Since ripping up two of my 38 year old wire wheels and hubs (yes Tim, I was warranted in being somewhat hesitant about pushing those things) [but he still got Fastest Time in the Club at the 1998 VTR Autocross with those wheels and hubs! WM], I have a new set that will propel the little monster in ISOA driving events and the occasional autocross.

It is amazing that no matter what the problem or challenge you have with your Triumph, once you get behind the wheel and drive it, all is forgotten, all is forgiven. Are these cars fun or what?

by Joe "Stagmeister" Pawlak