For a few weeks now I've been scouring the Ad's of various magazines and weekly publications for a nice little classic car to run around in. Ya know just something old with character.
My wish list was simple.
a) Looks cool
b) Has 4 wheels
c) Running engine
d) MOT certificate (I wasn't sure wether this infered point C)
Anyway I was in Nottingham and had seen ads for a dealer near there so I popped in for a browse. A test drive later and I'm handing over 1200 quid for a car I have no knowledge of "It's blue don't ya know, with a white stripe down each side!"
I find a friend in the area who's willing to have it on their drive until I could get back down to Nott's to pick it up (I live in Cumbria). We go for a quick spin and said friend is suitably impressed, possibly by the fish n chips I bought her or possibly by the car, I never determined which.
That night in bed I couldn't sleep a wink, I was worried about it's location in nottingham so far away from me, the dicision was made to collect her the next day. After a six hour train journey I arrived in nottingham and started her up first time. I then drove around for 45 min trying to find a station that still sold lrp (that's what the mechanic said i should use?) before seting off on my long journey home. she made it all the way to derby before starting to kangaroo at speed above 40-mph (only way i can think of to describe it).
"Probably the points have closed up", said the man at the garage I'd bought it from," should be 15 thou"
Next call the breakdown peeps. Out they come and I watch diligently so I can say to my friends later "I would have been able to fix it if only i had the tools with me". Set off again but still no joy, turns out there is a huge difference between 15 thou of a mil and 15 thou of an inch where points are concerned...
That small problem over I set off again and really started to enjoy myself. Whilst taking a break from driving I learned from the owners manual that first gear was used for steep hill starts, second was for starting on the level, third was for overtaking and fast acceleration (Pardon!) and fourth was for "normal" driving. Suitably amused I vowed not to use first unless it was indeed steep and prayed that one day I'd get to test third whilst overtaking.
Travelled up the A6 through buxton i determined that the journey to cumbria was too arduous to attempt in one day and figured i'd take a pit stop at a friends house in liverpool so planed a left turn left at manchester (more fish n chips would no doubt have to be purchased). It occurred to me whilst driving through derbyshire that it really was quite a pretty place, strange as i had ridden the route on my motorbike a few times but never really noticed anything but Matlock (they do good fish n chips there by the way). Even getting stung by a wasp for the first time in my 28 years did little to dampen my spirits, I found the little beggar on my back seat 2 hours later when resting at a service station on the M62 and such was my heightened state of happiness I carefully helped it out of the car and released it back into the wild.
Twenty minutes after the kind act I was back on the phone to the breakdown people, definitely the same symptom but there was at least a gap at the points this time (I knew how to check now). The breakdown guy, a jolly fellow named Gerry, checked the points points and declared them fine so after another failed attempt to get above 40-mph without kangarooing( what term can you use here?) decided to put her on the back and take me home. He did also mention that it may have been a little rash to expect a recently re-commissioned vehicle of such a vintage to endure such a large distance particularly as it had only done very local trips since it had been back on the road. Gerry kept me entertained the whole trip home though. If you ever break down near liverpool and have Sureterms own recovery service ask for Gerry his tales of serving in the REME for 15 years are priceless and he knows a few good one liners as well.. His Parting words were "you might wanna start with a new distributer."
Next day I joined TSSC, yep I should have done it before I bought the car but like I say I'm impulsive and anyway it's blue with a white stripe down each side
I checked the trader ratings and gave Mark at jigsaw a call to order a
reconditioned distributor and have a chat about these electronic ignition thingies I'd noticed in the TSSC shop. He talked me through checking to see if
there was play in the shaft of the distributor advised me against the electronic thingy until I had a stage 1 or 2 engine and found me some new leads and a
coil that would be suitable for the job, at my request (i'd done a bit of reading by then). Hopefully the bit's should arrive tomorrow along with a
workshop manual from the club shop, I've already acquired some tools for the job so as soon as everything gets here I shall get my hands dirty for the
first time since I helped my Uncle with my first wreck of a car 8 years ago.Hopefully it will be just as much fun as the rest of the saga has been.
cheers from a happy herald owner,
Nathan