[tomkat]

LOL in total empathy with your tales !
And tho 40yrs later, it's a small ex post facto comfort to know that even a jet mechanic struggled.

And clutch alignment tool  FOFL .. only took me what seemed like about 13 days to get things lined up w/o one !

That B was my first car as well, and even with all the 'learning' involved, I think the pride in it (at the time) still offset the frustrations.

And who can ever forget the tedious delight of cleaning wire wheels ?!

Better yet, how awesome it was to a 17yo kid to be toolin' down a country road on an autumn afternoon with the top down
and an indescribably cute redhead's long hair blowing around on the seat beside him . . .

American Grafitti, British Leyland style   d:^)

[rlmorel]

Heh...you UNDERSTAND! Seems to be a common experience, eh?

I was 19, and stationed in Cecil Field, and decided to buy a MG Midget (77)that had 18K miles on it. I think I paid $3600 for it (and the insurance for a 19 year old single sailor was $1200 for ONE YEAR!)

When I drove it out of the lot and back to the base, I had the top down, humming along in the left lane, and...the car died.

I coasted off, and didn’t take long to find the problem. The car had about three cups of gas in it when I left the lot! Never even looked...:)

But I had so much fun driving that car, and learned how to troubleshoot car charging systems!!!!!

(The Father of Darkness and all that!)

[rlmorel]

Thank God I never had wire wheels...I would have completely obsessed on them!