MadaboutKitcars

Merry Christmas!
OK, I know I'm a few days early, but I've a real work deadline of 'before Christmas' to meet.

So things have been very hectic lately and I've already put in some laptop hours this weekend.

But some free time and some dry weather finally lined up for me earlier and I went out for a quick spin.

Here I am near the hop of Harrow Hill.



Where this marker is.



And here is the view towards the centre of London & Canary Wharf.



Note:
In the summer this view is blocked by all the pollution!

Then it was off to Sainsburys to stock up on more stuff for Christmas Day.



Thankfully, I'm currently sitting at around 95% ready. so not much left to do.

If I get the chance, I'll pop back in before the big day.

If not, have a good one.

Take care, Paul.

PS
Don't know if you saw the dash cam footage from the mini-tornado crossing the M25?

Well, we arrived on the other side of that carriageway just a few minutes later.

On our side there was a huge piece of corrugated roof across lanes 1 & 2.

"Let's be careful out there."

It has been a while…
Due to a mixture of Christmas, then catching the cough/cold doing the rounds and work being hectic.
(One day last week involved travelling for a total of 6 hours on trains to get to and from a meeting.)

So yesterday was the first time I had a chance to start the car up and it didn't want to start.

The battery sounded flat and there was no sign of life from the engine.

Thankfully, just before I was going to give up and put the battery on charge, it coughed.

So I tried one last time and it burst into life.

Something seems to be wrong with the both the trip and odometer as they think I only did 2 miles in an hour.

The speedo was working (I assume/hope accurately enough for the speed cameras).

But I'll worry about that another day and leave you with a traditional car park shot.



Which doesn't really do justice to what a great grey and miserable day it was.
(I could see the steam of my breath when stopped at traffic lights. :icon_sad

The roads were also pretty 'slick' and the car definitely tried to go sideways a coupe of times.

Until next time, take care, Paul.

PS
Last week my wife and I went to the Tutankhamun exhibition and it was mind blowing.

Some of the things on display looked brand new, despite being over 3,000 years old!

And that is before you start thinking about the skills required to make everything.

It is good to get out, I remember, before I retired it could be weeks before I could get the car out, now I wonder where I found the time then! We went to the King Tut at the O2 years ago. The beauty and workmanship was incredible, but what got me were the smaller things where you could see chisel marks in the wood and imagine a long dead craftsman making it.

Nice to see you back! Was thinking of sending out a search party! A belated Happy New Year Paul

Dpaz - It would certainly be interesting to know just how long some of these things took to make.

Jones Thanks Ian.

Unfortunately, a search party would find me working 7 days a week at the moment.

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The calm before the storm (Ciara)…
My last trip out in the car was on 8th Feb when one of my mates came to visit for the weekend.

With lashing rain in the forecast for Sunday, we decided to make the most of the lovely weather on Saturday.

My wife took a couple of photos, although this one doesn't look too graceful.
(Plus the double chin is encouragement to keep at my efforts to lose weight. )



Whilst the sun was out, it was cold, so the extra layers were needed.



Headed out towards St.Albans where we stopped for lunch.



I'd told my mate to expect a positive reaction when we were driving along.

But he was quite surprised at just how much of a stir the car causes.

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It never rains, but it pours…
My Mondeo suffered a complete refusal to start.

Obvioulsy, it was raining when I had to get the jump leads out of my tool bag.



The other thing I noticed was the tool bag wasn't strapped in as normal.

Which means I never got around to doing that either after Goodwood, or the MOT.

After a bit of an effort to push the Mondeo back far enough, I could jump start it.



I am sure it knows I've been looking at other cars on AutoTrader.
(Need to get a ULEZ compliant one at some point.)

Until next time, take care, Paul.

That was the week that was…

Saturday
I peeled back the covers to start the car after the hailstones had finished.



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Sunday
Not sure if I missed this the day before, or it was the rain that came afterwards.

Either way, my covers clearly have a leak somewhere.



Still I was able to nip out for a quick hour in the sunshine.

Got a friendly wave from a guy in a mint Mk1 Escort that was in the style of Harris Performance.

Although, don't let the sunshine fool you, it was COLD!



Note: You can also see the damage the tarpaulin is doing to my paint.

Who's dumb idea was it to build and then keep a car without a garage?

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Friday
Had the chance to quickly nip to Sainsburys at lunchtime.



Was stunned to see the evidence of panic loo roll buying.



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Until next time, take care, Paul.

Hi Paul, I have one of those cheap plastic "universal" car covers that I don't use.
Your welcome to it if you want it.
But sorry, I'v no spare toilet paper.

Micky1mo - Thanks for the kind offer of a car cover.

But I really just need to get my act together and get a tonneau cover made.

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On days like these...

You wish London wasn't on a voluntary lock down.

Still, at least I could justify the very short drive to Sainsburys on a crisp Spring day.

As I needed to pick up some flowers for Mother's Day.



Unfortunately, I'll need to drop one bunch at my mum's door before chatting from a safe distance.

She is in her 80s and I've been taking up to six trains a day for various meetings with work recently.

Thankfully, my company has now switched to WFH and video conference calls.

Finally, with the sun dropping in the sky, this was a much nicer view that the photo suggests.



Let's be careful out there.

Take care, Paul.

Sunday is supposed to be wall to wall sun shine ! It will be very tempting to go out for spin, from point A to point A. Is that frowned upon or ok if I don't stop ?

Paul, I think I saw a couple of rolls on the top shelf. If you run out there is always the Daily Mail !

Lucky – Hi Paul,

It may be different where you are, but in London the advice is don’t make any unnecessary journeys.

On the roads, that means avoiding causing the regular traffic jams here that delay key workers doing key work.

So, for me at least, there is simply no excuse to take the Swordfish out for anything longer than 2.6 miles.

Ironically, I am now classed as a key worker because my day job is working in Transport (Railways).

I’ll post a proper reply about the virus in the separate thread that you started when I get the chance.

But for now, my local hospital (Northwich Park) was the first to run out of critical care beds a few days ago.

And we are still a few weeks behind the sharp rise in cases/deaths that Italy has experienced.

Emergency railway timetables will start tomorrow and who knows what the new normal will be, or when?

I been working 7 days a week on a report due out tomorrow that is already out of date.

Which is why I'm up early on a Sunday, so I should finish this reply and get back to work.

Take care, Paul.

Good advice Paul, I'll avoid the temptation to go out for a spin.
Yesterday seemed to be bikers day. Out in the garden I could hear them in all directions ! Living in rural Worcestershire there are long stretches of empty A and B roads, rarely do we see a traffic jam !

Stay safe

Lucky - Unfortunately, the more crowds seen out on sunny days now, will leave the rest of us in a forced lock down sooner rather than later.

Stay safe too.

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Strange Times Indeed
After writing my reply to Lucky yesterday morning I went back to working from home.

But I then thought about whether dropping flowers into my mum was a good idea at all.
(Noting that I was already planning to do the social distancing thing when I got there.)

Thankfully, I was saved from any moral dilemma by a request from my mum for some washing powder and clothes conditioner.

I knew these shelves were already cleared out in my local supermarket, but I found some 'no name' brands in the corner shop.

Delivering essentials to someone in their 80s is allowed, so off I went.
(And took the Mother's Day flowers with me too. :icon_wink

Left everything at the front door and then retreated back to the garden gate to have a chat.

This part of West London was poor when we were growing up there, but now you can see things like this parted outside.



Plus these empty parking spaces are now more likely to be from people retreating to their other house in the Cotswolds.



Provided you are using your car for essential journeys, it should be OK while it lasts.

Take care,

Paul.

I called in at my local Morrisons earlier today for essentials, bread, milk, beer etc. I hadn't risked it over the weekend, I thought it was going to be busy. I was really surprised today, quiet, no pushing and shoving, plenty in stock and everyone was being polite and sensible. I made a point keeping my distance as did everyone else whilst being careful not touching anything I didn't need to. Used the hand gel before and after and washed my hands when I got back.. Wish it was like this on a normal visit !

Went for a walk with the wife this afternoon, did nearly 4 miles along public foot paths I had never been along before. We didn't see another person the whole time we were out. Views across to the Malvern Hills were stunning, I'll have to post some photos if we go out again in the week.The sun was out and thought we might as well make the best of a bad situation. At least Boris is letting us out for essentials and a bit of exercise, just be sensible with it !

Lucky - I've also noticed things have calmed down in Sainsburys too.
(Still lots of empty shelves, but I finally managed to get some loo roll. )

I also went out for a walk with my wife yesterday evening.
Despite the urban setting, the few people we saw out were keeping their distance.

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Lockdown Update
I'm still working from home and the switch to video calls seems to work well.

In my last few posts, you will have seen I have stuck to the spirit of travel restrictions and not gone for a blast, despite the temptation of sunny weather.

However, I've now decided to leave the Swordfish on the driveway until the lockdown is lifted.

With NHS staff in tears begging people to stay at home, my car sends out the wrong message at this time.

The thing is, I know that I'm only going the 2.6 miles to Sainsburys and back.

But, my guess is that everyone else thinks I am out for a long drive in the sunshine ignoring the rules.

We should all be in this together, so I'm happy to do my small part.

Take care, Paul.

PS
Was hoping to see a few more build updates now that people can't go down the pub.

Don't worry Paul, I've been working on my Speedster every afternoon as I'm now working Monday to Friday mornings only from home.

I'm in the process of creating the lower subframe which will look suspiciously like a Triumph Vitesse one.

Will update soon, I promise.

I took a food package over to my elderly mother earlier. It was tempting to go in the 275 but I thought people would think I was taking the piss so I went in my daily driver.

Been out in the garden again tidying up. If the weather turns bad I'll be inside catching up on jobs that have been left for too long.

Mr T & Lucky - Take care gents.

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Wembley
Not a great photo, but here is the Arch lit up in blue for the NHS.



Cheers,

Paul.

Lockdown - End of Week 3
Unwrapped the car on the driveway and the warm weather helped it start first time.



Just let it tick over for a few minutes, as I'm not sure when I will be out in it again.

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Sir Stirling Moss - RIP
I've posted this photo before, as I just love the idea of a pit stop involving a cup of tea.



I plan to re-watch this Petrolicious video about his 1955 Mille Miglia victory at some point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJsdw-pof1o

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Tim Brook-Taylor - RIP
I remember him most from The Goodies on TV.

Didn't realise he co-wrote The Four Yorkshiremen Sketch, as I have often used the word "Luxury!" in this context.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKHFZBUTA4k

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Hope you are all keeping well, take care, Paul.

Yes Paul, very sad to see both of those go.

I met Stirling Moss at Lydden Hill in 1990 and he was a real gentleman.

I never met Tim Brook-Taylor but I loved his writing and The Goodies were a childhood favourite.

RIP to both.

Had the great fortune to meet Sir Stirling (my childhood hero)
and have a small conversation at the Goodwood Revival a few years ago. R.I.P.

I also had the privilege to be waved off by Sir Sterling at the start of the London to Brighton run in 2009.

London-Brighton 2009 Start by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

This was before I had my Sportster painted, so it was still in its rather unattractive 'hearing aid beige' gelcoat

Misted Towed, Molleur & Peterux – Thanks for the nice replies chaps.

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Nothing to see here
Apart from peeling back the car and starting the engine again.

So please see previous driveway photo to imagine what that looked like.

The good news is that I’m still working from home and getting paid.

The bad news is that I don’t have lots of extra spare time to work on the car.
(I’ve used the time saved by not commuting to do some much needed exercise.)

At some point, I’d like to have a go at making inner wheel arches for the front wheels.

Until next time, take care, Paul.

Lockdown - Week 6
Two days running this week we've had some serious hailstones landing here.
(Not easy to see in photo.)



But as today was dry, I took the car for a scenic tour of my driveway.



At least driving it forwards and backwards a few feet will stop the brakes from sticking.

Take care, Paul.

On the road (ish)
Finally drove the car off my driveway, but only got as far as parking it on the street.





The front of the our house needs painting and the car would be in the way of the ladders.

Thankfully, my wife wants professionals to do this, so I just have to pay the bill.

As the lockdown rules are now easing, I might go for a proper drive at the weekend.

Take care,

Paul.

My car is still SORN, I'll tax it again in June if the new rules are still in place. There are plenty of events still on for the second half of the year, hope they do go ahead. Weather is set to stay good for the coming weeks.

I would have had a go at painting the house !