View single post by Ron Earp
 Posted: 09-09-2006 02:26 pm
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Ron Earp



Joined: 03-12-2005
Location: Cary, North Carolina USA
Posts: 339
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 You might want to wait around a bit. Don't be in a hurry, there are plenty of JH's for sale out there.  I don't know where you are, sounds like California though with that many for sale in such a short period or time.

As to "4 or 5", I would probably choose four speed with the knowledge that if you want a five speed you can swap on in later - A Ford/Chevy T5, Supra 5 speed, etc. The JH five speeds are very rare, and, cost a real fortune if one needs a rebuild. Parts are no longer available for it and a select few transmission shops (two I know of now) have enough parts and know how to do the job. I'm forced to use a stock five speed for class racing rules, but a lot of the guys on this board get rid of the Getrag five speed (stock) and replace it with a five speed from another car that is plentiful and cheap.

All the other standard things would apply - good compression, rust checks, general care, etc. There are good cars out there for sure.  I've seen a few excellent machines in the $5-$7k range before.  Seems JH's are unique and cool, but they have not reached the status of other classic British iron, and it doesn't look like they will.  Which is good for us folk that want to own them to use them, bad for folks that are waiting for value to go up for resale later.

The problem I've seen with a some of the cars for sale is that they are owned by owners who have no idea of what they have. And since they have no idea what they have, they really have no idea of how to maintain the car and the car suffers as a result.  Be careful out there, you'll find the right car.

Ron