Miata Mailing List: September 1993, Message #35
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   From: capek@peach.rtsg.mot.com (Tom Capek @708-342-5639)
Subject: spark plug access
   Date: Thu, 2 Sep 1993 11:50:59 -0400

Here is another me-too story about engine access.  

In the early 60's, Ford and Carroll Shelby slipped their 260 V-8 into a
Sunbeam chassis and called it the Tiger.  (this was prior to using the AC
chassis and creating the Cobra).  Access to the engine compartment was so
tight that a rubber plug was put into the firewall to remove a spark plug
from INSIDE the car.

This was similar to the horror stories about GM's last minute dropping of
the Wankel engine slated to be used in their early 70's Monza (not the Corvair,
but a fast back model - might be wrong on this name).  Since power takeoff
on a Wankel is in the center, not low as in conventional engines, motor
mounting was lower.  When the normal engine was substituted, dealers cut holes
in the frame and fender panels to pull spark plugs.

Of course my dad tells the story of his '56 Pontiac Star Chief that had the
brake master cylinder under the floor!  I remember zooming through a stop sign 
when the brake fluid got too low and my dad apparently hadn't seen a need to
check it.

Keep those stories coming in!

tom capek