Sorry I've been a bit quiet lately, but I took the decision back in mid July to garage my Spyder and wait patiently until the end of summer.
That might sound a bit strange given how much I love driving it, but there was method in my apparent madness: When starting my build in June 2011, my on-the-road target was January 2012. As pretty much any part-time amateur car builder will tell you, target dates are as easily achieved as a Euromillions multiple rollover win.
This left me finally completing my build in July 2013, which meant my annual MOT test was always due bang in the middle of summer. As there always seems to be a list of jobs that need sorting prior to the MOT, I've found it a bit of a pain to have to take the car off the road and dismantle it just as I want to get out in it and enjoy the warmer drizzle that the great British summer inevitably brings.
So I decided that I'd put off the MOT this year until the end of summer. After the Italian car show the MOT lapsed and my Spyder was put back in the garage for a rest.
It didn't get too lonely though, as I thought I'd make a few changes that I'd meant to do for some time but hadn't got round to as I'd been too busy enjoying the car.
First up, an advisory on last year's MOT was to tidy up (somebody else's) welded repair panel on the chassis. Thankfully, a friend of mine has bought himself a proper hydraulic lift which he very kindly let me borrow, so no more grovelling around on the garage floor trying to weld with my face pressed against the concrete -
He bought the lift as he's a bit of a classic fan himself. He restored a lovely MkII Jag last year and has just finished his latest project, a jen-you-whine (American accent required) WWII Wyllis Jeep -
Next job was to remove the tired old Stromberg CD150's that came with my donor and fit the pair of CD175's that I bought about a year ago. I dismantled one of the 175's first as I wanted to see if they needed a rebuild before fitting, but they look like new inside, which was a bit of a bonus.
Tired old 150's
Shiny 'new' 175's
Which are too big for the bonnet to close
...so it was back on with the tired old 150's.
Oh well, I'll squirrel the 175's away for a future project and save my pennies for some reconditioned 150's.
And finally, in my rush to get the car on the road in 'only' two years, one of the things I neglected was the wiring loom. Under the bonnet was a bit of a mess of straggly wires but I sorted that in the spring. Far, far worse was the crows-nest of dangly bits of electric string randomly drooping out from under the dash. It wasn't just unsightly, I also enjoyed a (thankfully short lived) pyrotechnic show when a live wire I'd not bothered to insulate managed to find a route to earth while I was climbing in one day...
So, a full day was spent yesterday stripping out redundant circuits, like all the feeds for the stereo (not necessary in a car like this after all) and tidying everything up with insulation tape. I've also removed the hot air hoses and socket vents from the heater - I've kept the heater as it's really useful for additional engine cooling when stuck in summer traffic jams and keeps the occupants nice and toasty on winter drives, but I've never liked the cluttered look I ended up with when I fed the hot air into the footwells.
Oh, and I then spent most of today rectifying the electrical faults I'd introduced by tidying up the under-dash wiring...
Anyway, before -
...and after -
The red wires sticking out of the hole in the side panel have now gone, while I've made some leather pads to cover the holes left by the speakers which have now been shelved for a future project.
So, the car's now back in the garage and will be MOT'd at the end of next week ready for the Snetterton vintage sports car festival on 27th September, which is well worth a visit if you're anywhere near Norfolk that weekend.
http://www.snetterton.co.uk/40908.aspx
See you back on the road next week.
eace: 
