Hi,
two weeks ago we had 8" of snow and the grandkids came up to do some
sledging we had a great time (but for the following two days my legs seized
up from dragging the sledge uphill for the kids to slide down again). After
the sledging and some warm soup, the 7 grandkids (eldest 9) trooped into the
garage and asked to look at the Healey. Mary as she is known had been under a
cover since being tucked away since November, our single track lanes and
liberal use of salt when the frosts start herald the grand clean of the car
and a
few squirts of WD40 before being encased in her breathable cotton cover. This
time I had placed a blanket over the engine and left myself a note on the
drivers seat to remind me or my executors (if I did not survive the winter)
to
warn of the blanket before attempting to start the car. I propped open the
bonnet told the kids to keep their hands away from the engine bay and turned
the key, the fuel pump clicked several times and I pulled out the choke.
Pressing the starter button I was relieved to hear the battery had enough
power to
turn over the engine.
On the third attempt she fired and spluttered and then began hissing and
coughing like an asthmatic overweight Labrador, after a minute or so I slowly
fed back in the choke and left her to tick over. The grandkids looked on in
awe,
as if some primeval beast had been awoken and I guess it had ! If I leave
my Lexus for more than three weeks then the various alarms, trackers, clocks,
and GPS drain the battery flat (as I found after spending three weeks in
Australia recently and finding after a twenty three hour flight a dead
battery)
So, a few cursory checks in the next week and a trip down the local garage
for the annual MOT (muffler check) a trip to the post office to collect my
free
Tax disc and my #80 direct debit to the insurance company and I will be on
the road again. The only problem is how to fit in 7 grandkids without too
many
arguments?
Dave Latham.
Wales UK.
1953 BN1.
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