shipwright's disease

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Mich7920
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#1 shipwright's disease

Post by Mich7920 » Sun Mar 31, 2019 12:25 pm

It's so true !!!
( From Jag-Lovers web )

" Jaguarphilia.

While we are all lovers of things Jaguar, a person
suffering from this disease takes things to the extreme. He or she
is consumed by the notion that there is a better Jaguar to be had
in trade for the one(s) in the garage. Most of those afflicted do
not have the financial wherewithall to support the disease, and
end up bankrupt.

Those who can support the disease live a peculiar lifestyle. Such a
person is distinguished by having an express-mail subscription
to Hemmings Motor News, their business card is on file with every
major auction house, they are personal friends of "Doc" and all
the other major brokers of used Jaguars, have one of the travelling
appraisal companies on retainer, and live for those stories of
people who bought jags, drove them home and put them in storage
with all of the original paperwork and literature. This sort of
person buys a home with the main criteria being the amount of
land available for garage space and the related zoning restrictions.

They also have incredible collections of Jaguar books, literature,
advertisements, models, paperweights, keychains, umbrellas, towels,
dinnerware, furniture, clothing (including underwear with the
leaping cat on the front and the growling face on the back), and
imitation road signs (e.g. Jaguar Parking Only, and Yield to Jaguars).
The interior of this person's house is decorated predominanantly in
BRG and white, with British Flag and chrome accents.

The less affluent sufferer merely has the express subscription to
Hemmings, and trades cars about once every year or two, having reached
the point that they can't imagine that any other car could have as
many problems as their particular Jaguar. If bankruptcy doesn't stop
this person, eventually they have a breakdown that results in a
major personality shift to Jaguarphobia, wherein they buy a Toyota.
[cw]

Jaguarphobia.

A hatred of all things Jaguar. A state of mind that
is usually preceded by Jaguarphilia with insufficient funds. In
extreme cases, the afflicted person cycles between the two
conditions in a manic-depressive manner. [cw]

Improvementitis.

Many of us are interested in improving upon some
of the quirky little faults that make up the Jaguar personality,
especially when they affect the reliability or safety of the
particular car. On sporting models, it is also typical to seek
performance enhancements, including nonoriginal engines.

Such natural desires should not be confused with
improvementitis. This person professes to love Jaguars while at the
same time detesting every part of the car that was installed by
the factory. There is some speculation that this may be related to
multiple personality disorders. He or she thinks that NOS stands for
Nasty Original Stuff. Any fault in the car is viewed as an excuse
to replace some component with a "better" part, often of GM or Delco
origin. Such people are often disciples of the owner of John's Cars,
live by his Broken Kitty catalog, and turn first to his monthly
diatribe in each new issue of Hemmings Motor News. As far as this
person is concerned, there is no part in the Jaguar for which a
suitable replacement cannot be found at the local discount auto
parts store (or by modifying something dragged home from the
junkyard).

For example, a dirty connector to the ECU means that "the
stinking little box should be chucked" and since it is too much trouble
to retrofit the Jaguar engine, that should be replaced by a Chevy V8.
This leads to a new drivetrain, exhaust system, cooling system,
modified suspension, wider wheels, flared fenders, supercharging,
a custom fiberglass bonnet with air scoops and a Eurolight conversion,
etc.

A little static on the radio leads to an all new stereo system in which the
boot becomes a sealed bass enclosure (after the rusty rear valence is
replaced with a custom fiberglass aero design) and the rear seat
becomes an amplifier rack. Then there are the little touches like
the Nardi steering wheel, the sheepskin seat covers, the golf-ball
shift lever handle, the fuzzy dice, the front and rear spoilers,
and the neon underbody illumination. With a complete black-out
paint job to hide all of the chrome and black-out window treatment
to hide the interior, this person may eventually be satisfied with
their XJ-6 and move on to more interesting projects such as
hotrodding a Mark V or converting an XK-120 into a dune-buggy. [cw]

Shipwright's disease

Goes something like this:

Sailor owns boat.
Boat has burned out light in galley.
Sailor decides to change bulb.
Sailor notices socket is corroded, decides to change socket.
Sailor notices wiring frayed while trying to change socket.
Sailor decides to change wiring.
Sailor notices galley ceiling slats are rotted while changing the wire.
Sailor decides galley ceiling slats need changing.
Sailor notices ...

this goes on and on and on and on and pretty soon, Sailor is undertaking a
major renovation of his boat because of a burned out lightbulb. [wz]

There is also:

Wakeman's Syndrome

Wherein many perfectly functional trim and interior pieces, which looked and
worked just fine before the restoration is started, suddenly appear too shabby
to use and must be replaced at great cost, after the bodywork is finished and
the shining new paint job is applied. [lb]

and the newly discovered:

Post-Jaguar Shock

Often misdiagnosed as schizophrenia, the symptoms are that, upon sale of their
Jaguar, the patient is simultaneously struck down by dark melancholy, longing
and depression at it's loss, while, at the same time, experiencing tremendous
relief at finally getting rid of the damn thing and keen anticipation of the
coming hunt for a replacement Jaguar. [lb]

What do you mean "newly discovered"? I've been suffering ever since I sold
my E-type in 1977 (and my wife even said "are you really sure you don't want to
keep it and get something else for work?") [rr]

In each case, once infection has begun, the cures can only be measured
in doses of cubic dollars. [lb]

Concouritis Nervosa

..in which the sufferer endlessly cleans the nooks and crannies of the car with
Q-tips, toothpicks, cotton balls, toothbrushes, etc. And applies an endless
stream of Armor-all, Zymol, Lexol, Simichrome and so on to the car.

A drive in the car becomes a nightmare in which dump trucks carrying gravel,
freshly resurfaced roads, rain, mud, and areas where bugs congregate must be
avoided. Small children, dogs, and incontinent elder relatives are forbidden
from riding in it.

Amazingly, many of these people never show their cars at concours events
because of the fear that some judge will discover the carefully touched up
chip in the bonnet paint that the owner can still see with a 10X loupe when the
light is juuust right. ..cw]

Assembler's Malaise.

This disease, which resembles procrastination, occurs when the
assembler's standards exceed the assembler's perceived skill level,
ie. "I can't do the job as well as it should be done." So nothing
gets done.

There are a couple remedies for Assembler's Malaise:
1. Farm out the job to professionals. Pride and budget constraints often
prohibit this.
2. Lower your standards. This is tough to do but a bit easier with an MG
than an Aston Martin. One of the lessons of restoring my MG-TC was
realizing how poorly the bodies were originally assembled. Usually the
two sides didn't match but I wanted them to!
3. Group therapy: ask some friends to help get the job going again.

The worst possible manifestation of this disease is a long period of
inactivity followed by selling the project - usually at a big loss.

Fortunately, subscribers to this list seem to be Can-Do types who are
not likely to be afflicted with Asembler's Malaise. We're the ones who
track down and buy the rare old Something-or-other which has been
apart in some barn for years - and we get it back together again!

George - about to begin restoration #4 - Haynes [lb] "
Michel
1965 E Type FHC - On the road / 1963 E Type OTS - on the road after Angus Restoration

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Barry
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Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2012 1:11 pm
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#2 Re: shipwright's disease

Post by Barry » Sun Mar 31, 2019 12:33 pm

How right you are! I had to laugh seeing myself in several descriptions. So everyone on this Forum have an affliction.......is that the point you are making....!

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Mark Gordon
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#3 Re: shipwright's disease

Post by Mark Gordon » Sun Mar 31, 2019 1:36 pm

I'm sure that you're right, Barry. I plead guilty on several of the charges. To wit:

" If bankruptcy doesn't stop
this person, eventually they have a breakdown that results in a
major personality shift to Jaguarphobia, wherein they buy a Toyota."

I bought a 2002 XJ8 VDP in 2014. After an endless stream of one problem after the other, the cheapest fix running about $500 and putting more into repairs than the original purchase price, I was hit with a repair estimate of somewhere around $5000 including complete replacement of the rusted out rear suspension, I finally said that I'd had enough and bought a Toyota Camry with all of the features and then some of the VDP. The only thing that the Camry lacks is any hint of style. Although on the plus side, if I run short of cash I can put on a mask and rob a bank and use the silver Camry as my getaway car. "Well, you see, officer, the holdup man had a mask on so I don't know what he looked like, but he did drive a silver (or maybe it was gray) Honda (or maybe it was a Nissan or Chevy or Toyota or Accura or.....). Best camouflage on the road.
Mark

67 OTS 1E14988, 2015 Camry XSE

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Durango2k
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#4 Re: shipwright's disease

Post by Durango2k » Sun Mar 31, 2019 5:23 pm

How is it called when you re - fit the original, old, slightly distorted dash undertrays to your restored 2+2 because you think it will add character to your car ? Or keep the car‘s soul in it, whatever that is ?

Carsten
Jag E '66 S1 2+2, 74’Citroen DS 23 Pallas iE, 73’ Citroen SM 3.0, 75’ Concept Centaur MK1, 54’ Citroen 11 BL, 71‘ Velosolex, 88‘ Unimog U1650

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mgcjag
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#5 Re: shipwright's disease

Post by mgcjag » Sun Mar 31, 2019 5:32 pm

Hi Carstens. ..it's called ..Patina..
Steve
69 S2 2+2 (just sold) ..Realm C type replica, 1960 xk150fhc

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