by Andy Perman.

After a long delay in my blogs caused by lockdown 1 pausing all my work, then returning to work in June and still having to complete a year’s work in 6 months, I’m putting finger to key again now the Christmas holiday is here, so I’m taking a break from eating, drinking and lounging about to pick up the story which if you remember left off at the tail end of 2017, I’d arrived at my local garage and looked over a crashed VDP. It was time to do a deal!

I marched inside………..

‘I’m interested in the VDP’ I said to the now surprised owner, ‘can we have a chat’?
Oh, Err, OK was the reply. I was just going to get the displacers removed so I can sell them on EBay then scrap the rest as it’s not worth anything now it’s crashed, he said.. Thinking fast I said ‘OK, what do you reckon you will get for your displacers’? Worth 200 quid each all day long he said. They probably aren’t if not re-gassed but I let that go. OK I said, ‘I’ll give you £800 for the car and save you the trouble of taking the displacers off and arranging for scrap collection’. Err, OK I guess came the reply. ‘Brilliant’ I said, ‘let’s do the paperwork’

With the paperwork done and the money pressed into his hands, the chap left and I got the chance to have a chat with James the garage owner who was now wearing a massive grin. I need to ask a favour, Can I store the car here in your workshop until I get some storage and body shop sorted out? Already cleared that space over there for it he said, and give these guy’s a call in the New Year, they do all our refinishing, whilst handing me a business card. Perfect, a plan was forming, I needed to find a secure dry garage locally, get the bodywork repaired and tell the wifey I’d just bought another car! No pressure!

​After pushing the car inside and pulling a sheet over it, I said thanks again and drove home wondering how I was going to break the news to my wife.

It didn’t go too badly on reflection; I think she only swore twice but then calmed down significantly when I explained I’d be keeping it in a garage, not on the drive. Plus I added, all car parts are always £20 so it will be an investment!
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I phoned around the next day and got put on a waiting list for garages (who knew there was such a thing) and I phoned the body shop number James had given me. Ah yes, the chap said, we have spoken to James and already taken a look at the car this morning. All easily repairable but there is a problem. You are 28th in the queue so you’re looking at around August time before we can start, is that still OK? Perfect I said it will give me a chance to make it to the top of the garage waiting list!

With the blue VDP effectively parked as a project for the next 8 months I turned my attention to the Mirage one; the Enthusiasts group were having a meet in February at the Coventry Transport Museum, which gave me a few weeks to carry out some winter jobs. I’d ordered a set of new ball pin joints and a higher rated alternator which I wanted to fit. I’d also received a set of bronze bushes which were made by a fellow Allegro owner to replace the nylon ones inside the steering rack so I wanted to get that done too.

​As always I left things till the last weekend before the show so had a lot to do! The ball pin joints didn’t take long as they were brand new so no messing about with shims! The alternator also was a simple bolt-on job which gave me an extra 25 amps of power. The steering rack was slightly more complicated as it required complete disassembly on a part that was really designed to be replaced and thrown away. No boring details but the job went smoothly but took a long time as there were so many parts and stages!

The following Saturday morning dawned bright and c c c c c c cold! But the drive up and back went fantastically and was a great chance to have a chat and catch up with everyone. Even our intrepid Eric Dalton drove all the way from Montrose (Scotland) to be there. Fairly sure the show has been covered in detail by Mike or Gar in a previous blog so I won’t dwell but it was great to meet everyone again.

The next few months nothing really happened, I didn’t make the Brooklands show due to work commitments but had received a call from the body shop saying they were still on track and were anticipating starting the VDP in August. They also said there would be some trim parts I might like to source in the meantime. After a few posts on the owner’s pages a friend of mine said ‘I’ve a whole boot lid you can have that has all the trim items attached to it. Do you want to come and get it?

Well there were skid marks on the drive the following weekend, my friend owns a LOT of classic cars so it would be a fun day. First stop was his underground garage where he keeps a few of them, and lots of parts so we picked up the boot lid which was in great condition but painted brown; no problem the body shop can paint that, but plenty more of that later. We were just loading up when another friend rocked up and said ‘are you coming to Waterloo classics now’? Jon said. ‘I’d forgotten about that, shall we go in the model T’? Gods yes! Anyone that has been in one knows they are huge fun, but on the streets of London are truly terrifying! They have two speeds, about 10 miles an hour, or about 40 miles an hour! Nothing in between, so after getting the model T started 5 minutes later we were bouncing round the streets of London at what seemed pantaloon filling speeds! Huge scary fun.

The next few months, May through to July there were a number of my usual shows plus a tour of the Peak District organised by Phil Allin. A brilliant weekend, already well covered in a previous blog and over a thousand miles clocked up. I managed to call in to Caudwell Mill on the way home which is a fascinating place with lots of history, however they were currently modifying the mill's turbines to generate electricity giving a modern use for the old machinery, as I said fascinating and well worth a visit.

2nd week in July I got a call from the body shop saying they were ready to take the car the following week and could I get any parts to them in readiness. So the following week I took the parts into them to find they had already picked up the car and wanted to speak to me. I was walked round the car by the paint guy who started pointing out things I hadn’t noticed, plus a fair few dings and battle scars I had. He said ‘we can repair the damage and paint the affected areas but it will look like a crash repaired car, or we can do the whole car for £800 more’….. well I nearly bit his hand off, just do the whole car please. A decision I’m so pleased I made.

August was a busy month, there was the steam rally over the first weekend, one of my favourite shows as there is so much to see and do. Then the following weekend was the Somerset and Scrumpy tour where the Gar weather was on point, actually flooding a few peoples tents so badly they went home! Again, well covered in a previous blog.
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The following weekend was MOT time, which passed with no problems and the inspector commented on the number of miles I’d clocked up, over 2.5K in the year. Whilst I was there I got a message from the council saying I was next on the list and a garage had become available in a block that was 5 minutes walk from my house and would I come and sign the contract and collect the keys. Result!

​Then during the last week the body shop said the car was ready, would I like to pick it up!

To be continued………..

We find ourselves in part 13 of these blogs and it’s now early 2017. The VDP had been safely stowed away for the winter, but its slumber was about to be cut short; the Enthusiasts of British Motor Vehicles group were planning a day trip in February to see the Vulcan Bomber at Wellesbourne Airport. This was to include a full tour and then a line-up of our cars for a photo in front of the bomber. There was no way I was missing that! So on a cold, squally Saturday (it was winter after all) I headed north to Warwickshire. I was first to arrive but within half an hour several classics and other members started to rock up.

The day has been well covered in another blog by our own Fat Controller Gar in his blog, so I won’t go into details here but the Vulcan was simply awesome and the staff showing us round really took their time and knew their stuff. Several had actually worked with the bombers during the Falklands conflict and their stories were really engaging. We then all arranged our cars in front of the grand old lady for an excellent photo shoot. A brilliant day, I was rather enjoying this new group!

​April through to July I attended quite a few shows, including my last trip to Pride of Longbridge where I picked up 1st Prize at the Allegro National, rather humbling. The VDP was running and driving like clockwork having sorted out all the niggles over the past few years and although great for me to enjoy, as blogs go, vanilla!

In August I attended another event organised by the Enthusiasts of British Motor Vehicles. This one was a steam rally (one of my favourites) and it was at South Cerney Airfield so just a short hour and a half drive for me. The show was on for three days but I could only make the Sunday. The rally was brilliant, a great mix of steam, cars and old ‘stuff’ and was right up my street so I put it in my diary to attend the following year! It has also been covered excellently by Mike Peake AKA ‘Fat bloke’ in his "Fat Bloke & Poppy" chronicles, and a full account of the whole weekend is to be found here along with the relevant photo gallery.

The following weekend was MOT time. Just a couple of advisories came up; one of the CV gaiters was approaching the end of it’s life and one of the ball pin joints had a bit of play in it. Nothing serious. Middle of September on a fine day I jacked up the front of the car, removed the drive shaft and changed the gaiter. The MOT chap was right - it was rather tender in places! I decided to change all four ball pin joints rather than just the one with play in it. All done in a day and just in time as the end of the month was the close of season Milton Keynes show which was excellent.

​Show over and back home I stowed the car for what should have been the winter……… however……

The Enthusiasts of British Motor Vehicles group had organised a whole weekend tour of Snowdonia national park in October, with two full days of driving. I really fancied some of that, so booked a local B&B and packed the car. I met Mike Peake and Poppy at Frankley Services where we could refuel the cars and ourselves then in a convoy of two we headed West into North Wales. The first part was busy with traffic and dual carriageway dullness but half an hour later after a left turn we were transported back to 1969 halfway up a mountainside in Italy on the film set of the Italian job for a most exhilarating drive! Cue the music.

Again the weekend has been fully covered in the ‘Fat bloke and Poppy’ chronicles - click here to read it but I’ll just add a couple of things. The ‘Gar weather’ feature of our tours had undergone a full software upgrade since Coventry and ran a full power sequence Friday evening through to Sunday morning! Funniest moment was Gar hearing the Coleman shelter giving up and collapsing in the storm during the early hours of Saturday morning and just casually unplugging the extension lead before rolling over and going back to sleep! And just the sound of Nick’s Jensen growling around the dry stone walling scaring all the sheep! My first tour with the group, I was hooked and vowed to attend plenty more.

Monday morning, tour over and with another of Wales finest breakfasts inside me I headed back along the Italian Job road and then East to Telford for an appointment with Ian Kennedy to get my Hydrogas displacers re-gassed. This is a complicated and highly specialist job, way beyond my skills.

The suspension system on the VDP is of the Hydrogas type and consists of four displacer units above each wheel then interconnected front to back. There are essentially two parts to this; a gas part - in this case nitrogen - and a fluid part, essentially a type of antifreeze. The gas part provides the springing and is kept separate from the fluid by a rolling diaphragm. The fluid carries the weight of the car and is used to trim the height of the suspension and provide the front to back interconnection.

​There is a semi non-return valve on the rebound side of the fluid and this provides the damping factor. Extremely simple but awesome to drive. Problem is the units were sealed for life, at the time this was set at 15 years at which point they would have been replaced with a new unit. Roll on 45 years there are no new units and the existing ones are all low on gas which results in a harsh choppy ride so Ian has devised a method of drilling and welding in a high pressure injection point on each displacer then re-charging the nitrogen. This also requires the fluid to be evacuated and the displacers disconnected from the car first.

It was humbling to watch a true engineer at work - a highly skilled job all carried out in less than a day. On the test drive afterwards Ian directed me into a road that had speed bumps and said in no uncertain terms ’40 miles an hour’! Well previous to the work that would have been suicidal and the car would have crashed over them probably going into orbit in the process. True to say you couldn’t feel or hear the bumps even at that speed, it felt like a magic carpet! Back at the workshop Ian connected his Sun analyser to the engine and made a few adjustments to the fuel settings which made it run even smoother. Top bloke.

Job all done I made the long journey back home but it was a pleasure, the car glided along soaking up every bump. Anyone who has not experienced a well set up Hydrogas system needs to get a ride in one, it really is something else.

That should have been it for the year but a week before Christmas I got a call from my local garage, it was James the owner. He said ‘remember the blue VDP you saw in here last year?’ Oh yes I said. ‘Just had the owner on the phone, he’s had an accident and rear end crashed it, he’s bringing it in later today for me to remove all the displacers so he can sell them then he’s getting the car scrapped’. Then came the hook, he said ‘I don’t want to kill it and I’m sure you don’t want to either, Just call in around 6 tonight and see if there is anything we can do’. On the spot or what!

Rear end crashed? What could that mean? Could mean it’s a write-off of course but I wanted to be the judge of that so I grabbed a tape measure and took loads of careful measurements around the rear of my car, paying particular attention to the boot opening, rear glass, arches, and some! Allegros have no chassis or sub-frames so any distortion in the body is game over (the windows fall out don’t you know).

​Armed with the figures and cash in my pocket I headed for the garage a little earlier than 6. It paid off because the car was parked up and nobody was about. The damage was fairly significant, but on closer inspection not horrendous. However when I compared the actual measurements with the ones I’d written down you could have knocked me down with a feather. Millimetre perfect. So it was game on.

I marched inside.

To be continued...

After the very "Gar" wet weather run up to Coventry where I’d inadvertently blown water into all the electrickery by leaving the cooling fan override switch on, I thought it would be a really good idea to fix the dash warning light cluster so I didn’t repeat the mistake again. Only the low fuel light in the cluster worked, although hugely inaccurate so I assumed there was something sinister lurking in the console electrics. Obviously there was no rush as it was now winter, Christmas was coming and I wouldn’t need the VDP until the Austin show at Brooklands in March., which meant I could pick a mild day to investigate as I am a southerner and not used to ‘bracing’ weather.

What that meant was my arm chair was way more comfortable than the workshop and there was obviously no suitable day as it was winter. Brooklands was almost upon me when I thought I’d better hurry up and take a look.

Armed with screwdrivers and a multi-meter I set about dismantling the centre console and removing it from the car. With it on the bench I rolled my sleeves up and got my probes ready to get stuck in proper as I rather enjoy diagnosing electrical problems. Imagine my massive disappointment when I found in the first five minutes that it was just three blown bulbs! With them replaced it also gave me a chance to adjust the low fuel warning mechanism as it was coming on quite early so I usually just ignored it.

​All in all it took longer removing and replacing the console than it had to fix it. Never mind, with the engine running I now had all the lights doing what BL intended them to do - problem solved!

I attended several shows over the next four months; Brooklands (which was excellent), the Allegro club show in May and my favourite local show, the SHVPS and I was pleased to see even more rust than in previous years in the auto jumble. I picked up a couple of AVO 8 multi-meters for very little cash here, and they both worked too! Then in July there was the second meeting for the Enthusiasts of British Motor Vehicles, which was to be held at Gaydon. Again BL Dan was going, so knowing his love for all things Allegro I asked one of my fellow Allegro buddies Jon Bennett to join me. He agreed and said he’d bring his white estate that had spent the majority of its life in Sri Lanka and had quite a tale to it.

The show was excellent; I recognised a few faces from Coventry the year before and of course there was a pile of cake so high there was snow on the peak. The Stig even joined us for an hour taking a look round but not saying much! Asked him to stand by my VDP which he did for a camera roll, still use it as wallpaper to this day! BL Dan voted Jon’s estate his star of the show and had a sit in the rear of it as a treat. There was also a photographer taking lots of action shots of all the cars and I was really pleased with how the VDP looked poised on the road, a view I don’t get to see from the driving seat.

The following weekend I went to see my friend Jon Bennett in London who owns a massive nine Allegros! He had recently acquired a 1500 special HL but was having trouble getting it started. As the engine is exactly the same as the VDP we could copy the settings from mine (which runs like a metronome) onto the Special. This we did, but it still refused to start. Few more checks of all the obvious drew a blank so we had a break for some strong coffee and a think. Bingo, the one thing we hadn’t checked, compression! Well the best reading we got was 60psi, the worst 40psi. No wonder it wouldn’t start! With a good squirt of oil in each bore and two batteries connected we pulled in the starter and it fired up. We even managed to keep it going for about 20 seconds until it died.

​With the engine needing an overhaul that put an end to things, so we decided to remove the sump and check the gearbox. We were greeted with long spirals of swarf in the strainer so it looked like the auto box was toast too. At this point we gave up and went for a spin in his Ford Model T, like you do.

September rolled around again and I was booked into the Milton Keynes show at the end of the month. I wanted to take a look at the steering rack play before the show, so the weekend before I removed the rack from the car & got it on the bench. Whilst I was visiting Jon the previous month he’d said there was a nylon bush inside the rack that after forty-odd years becomes brittle and breaks up, causing the play and knocking I was experiencing. Fortunately another Allegro member had some bronze bushes re-manufactured to replace the nylon part and I’d bought a few from him. I’d never worked on a steering rack before, but it was surprisingly easy to dismantle and remove the failed bush. The new part fitted like a glove and it was soon all back together and back on the car with no play. Getting the tracking checked the chap said ‘you got that within 1mm, well done!

The Milton Keynes show was excellent. My VDP picked up another award in its class! I was fast running out of space on the parcel shelf for them all. Again the car drove superbly, the steering was sharp and focused, however I’d had a really interesting conversation with Ian Kennedy about the Hydrogas suspension units and the need to get the nitrogen replaced in them. The symptoms of low gas I was now noticing - choppy at the front and a bit tip-toe over rough surfaces. I decided to get the units re-charged next year when I was a bit closer to Telford where he is based.

The final show of the year was an MG show that I’d not been to before but had been invited to. It was a short drive along the coast to the town of Lancing and it was right on the sea front with great views over the Solent. More than can be said for the views of the cars - it seemed pretty much everyone who could drive had turned up, I was parked next to a Vauxhall Corsa with bigger speakers than its wheels in a line of similar dull moderns. Needless to say I spent the majority of the show on the sea front and have never been back!

So another year had passed, I’d fixed a few niggles on the car but mostly just enjoyed driving and showing it off. The most poignant moment had passed, at least to me, almost unnoticed in the MOT test garage where I’d looked at and photographed the VDP that would come my way in somewhat unusual circumstances the next year, and bring with it a whole bunch of problems, top of them all would be another difficult conversation with the wife……

​To be continued.

So it was now October 2015. It was five years since I’d spotted and rescued the VDP from the scrap yard and it had been performing flawlessly since replacing the shimmy hub. It had picked up quite a few awards at various shows, been to the NEC and sparked many interesting conversations. So from my perspective this was great, but from a blog point of view it’s a bit vanilla.

That however was all about to change. I’d joined this new Facebook group called Enthusiasts of British Motor Vehicles and they were having a meet in Coventry. This was going to introduce me to a phenomenon now known as ‘Gar’ weather, something that is not seasonal or even desired. I’d also been told a chap called BL Dan wanted to see my car in the flesh, so there was no question, I was going.

The night before I watched in horror the ‘Gar’ weather forecast. It was awful, a band of very heavy rain the whole length of the country pretty much all morning, all blown in on a stiff wind. Well I’d driven back from the NEC the year before in pretty bad weather so it couldn’t be any worse than that, could it? 

I’d set an alarm but it wasn’t required. The rain lashing on the roof woke me up about 6am. Unable to get back to sleep I got up and made an extra flask of strong coffee so I wouldn’t need to stop at the services half way and get soaked. I opened the workshop door to load the stuff and if a car could wear an expression it would have been ‘really’?

I set off early, about 7.30, but with about 180 miles in front of me it meant I could take it easy in the vile weather and not have to push the car too hard. The first leg along the M27 was uneventful, the wipers and lights all working hard but otherwise fine. The heater was producing plenty of heat and the car didn’t seem to be leaking which was a bonus.

My exit onto the M3 to take me in a more northerly direction was approaching so I moved over into the slip lane in readiness and felt a hiccup. Or did I imagine it? Ah, the cats’ eyes along the slip, must have gone over one of them. Five minutes later, another hiccup, unmistakable this time, something was not happy but I did what we all do when in denial, sped up a bit to ‘flush it out a bit’ and turned the radio up.

​My denial lasted about five minutes more when the hiccups returned with all his mates and proceeded to rock the car whilst stealing all the power. I moved into the emergency lane and backfired to a halt, the wipers mocking me as they swept the now biblical rain from the screen. One final cough and the engine cut out, leaving an ignition and oil light glaring at me ‘really, told you so’.

Great, it was absolutely sheeting with rain and I’d failed to proceed on the hard shoulder of the M3. I’d tried to restart the engine but it was having none of it so resigned myself to having to take a look. Good job I’d packed some waterproofs - I was going to need them. They were however in the boot. I leapt out quickly and winced as the cold ‘Gar’ rain instantly soaked into my shirt. I ran to the boot only to find it locked, ran back to the car to get the keys, back to the boot where I could finally get the waterproofs out but by this stage it was far too late as I was already soaked right through.

With my ‘Gar’ waterproofs now on I popped the bonnet and had a cursory look. Everything was covered in a fine spray so I was sure the rain had played a part so grabbed a can of WD40 (other alternatives are available) and began the process of chasing the water out of the electrickery. This got the engine started, but rough and certainly not capable of the trip in front of it, so I slapped the dwell meter on the coil and Bingo! The reading was all over the place. I removed the points and grabbed some emery paper then jumped in the car to re-face the surfaces. And dry them out!

Re-faced and fitted I started the engine, still rough but the reading on the dwell meter was stable now, albeit out of spec. Quick adjustment and got it spot on, engine now happy idling smoothly. Then I spotted the cooling fan was running continuously. I’d left the override switch on! No wonder there was spray everywhere, it had sucked it in! Satisfied I shut the bonnet and jumped in then tried to wriggle out the waterproofs as only an overweight middle aged man can. Un-elegantly!

I switched off the cooling fan and pulled back onto the motorway, picked up speed and headed north. The rest of the journey was good, but the rain wasn’t. It didn’t let up for a second, lashing me all the way. Once I got through the horrendous road blocks and one-way systems in Coventry I found my way into the museum, more by luck than judgement and parked up. As if on command, the rain eased then stopped.

I was the new rookie on the block and didn’t know anyone but one thing I learned quickly is this is a friendly group and I was welcomed by smiles and cake. Lots of cake. Then I met BL Dan, a real enthusiast for anything British, but particularly Allegros. He had been man and boy at several large dealers back in the day when Allegros were commonplace and had a real soft spot for them. Shouts went up and the Admin chaps assembled in front of my humble VDP and the picture was taken that has become synonymous with BL Dan, this group and is still his profile picture to this day. Proud moment.

As ever the day flew past and as the light was fading it was time to head home, but not before getting my VDP alongside another rare MK1 1500 Special Allegro that had also joined us for a camera roll. Interestingly that Special now lives just along the coast from me in Bognor with a real Allegro nut, but that’s another story. The journey back was fabulous, no wipers required. The car safely stowed meant the end of another eventful season, but things were going to take a change; this group were about to embark on tours in the next year. In ‘Gar’ weather. Camping. In North Wales. In October.

If a car could have an expression…… Really?

To be continued.

The day after the Hovercraft Museum shoot and breaking down, I got a message from an eBay seller that he had a passenger driveshaft and hub complete, but it was still attached to the car he was scrapping and I’d have to remove it myself as he didn’t have the ball joint separator and puller for the job. Fortunately it was located in Bognor Regis which is a short drive from me, so loaded with a bag of tools I headed over after work. The chap was really pleased to see me saying he’d been messed about so much by tyre-kickers that I’d restored his faith in humanity! An hour later and with loads of dirty grease on my hands I’d removed the whole part I wanted and just in time as the light was fading fast.

Once home I cleaned up the whole thing and replaced both ball pin joints and the CV rubber gaiters as it’s much easier to do when removed from the car. The following weekend I removed the shimmy hub and driveshaft that had caused me so much trouble and once on the bench I could actually feel the driveshaft binding in the hub as I turned it, wouldn’t have been long before that failed again so consigned it to the bin!

​An hour later I had the replacement hub fitted and excitedly took the car out for a test drive. Well, what a transformation, it glided along the road, no shimmy or shaking. I loved the way the steering now felt, so much feedback from the road, you really felt like you were driving it.

I’d also returned the call of the recovery chap that had a deceased estate VDP that he’d been trying to shift on eBay after rejecting my offer at Christmas, obviously unsuccessfully! He wanted to know if I still wanted the car for the same price I’d offered him 4 months ago! In a moment of madness I said yes bring it over, no rush. He had other ideas though and wanted to clear space in his yard and could he drop it off this coming Saturday! Yikes! That meant two things; clearing some space on the drive and a conversation with the wife. I had no doubts which one I would fail at and I did, spectacularly. I had to eat humble pie for weeks I tell you!

Saturday morning the chap arrived bright and early with the car, it looked worse than I remembered and my wife certainly pointed that fact out before disappearing indoors with a scowl. Unlike the undignified tipping off my mirage VDP got he gently winched the car down and then helped me push it onto the drive. Paperwork done and paid he was gone. I was surprised to see the car had only one owner from new, had 78k on the clock but looked like it had done most of them off road! An hour later after giving it a good wash and a coat of polish it looked like a different car, much better. I thought it was just brown but it was actually a metallic brown paint. It did have quite a few patches of rust that was going to take some time with a welder though. Anyhow at that point the heavens opened and that put an end to any further work so I took a few pictures and covered the car up.

Over the next couple of months I went to several shows, the Allegro National at Nuffield Place, home of Lord Nuffield, founder of the Morris motor group. It's a fascinating place full of history then more locally the SHVPS show which has a massive auto jumble where you can buy all manner of stuff in various shades of rust! The VDP was transformed; it felt right, difficult to explain what, but just right. It was starting to pick up a few more awards too, must have been that shiny boot lid. Or those number plates!

I’ve struggled to write this next part as it upsets me a lot but here goes, my sister had wanted to go to Kempton Park Engines since seeing pictures of the place from when I’d taken my son there a few years before, and she wanted to go in the VDP. It was on her bucket list and she only had a certain amount of time to complete it as she was terminally ill. In July all the stars must have aligned because she had a gap in her medication and the engine was in steam - it only runs about 6 times a year.

​We set off mid-morning as it’s about an hours drive and wanted to get there in time to watch them start it up. We made it in plenty of time and watched in awe as 1000 tons of engine rumbled into life. Anyone who has been knows what I’m talking about. If you’ve not been and like engineering on steroids, go! We had a fabulous day; it was exactly what she imagined it to be and she really enjoyed herself. It was over all too soon and time to leave as she had another round of chemo the following day and needed to prepare for it so we headed home. She died five weeks later.

Over the summer I joined my company up with a local conversion company which basically doubled our turnover, but proportionally kicked up my workload too! That left little time to tinker with the new VDP but I did spend one Sunday afternoon investigating the non-running engine and pumping up the suspension. After checking a few things on the engine I worked out that somebody had got the coil cables on back to front! That had killed the condenser and burned the points out. Once I’d rectified the wiring and fitted a new condenser and points I cranked it over and without hesitation it burst into life. Sorted.

​Tried the auto-box, it went backwards and forwards on the drive so it would certainly make a solid base for a restoration. But there was no way I had the time for that. A chap had been asking on the club site if there were any VDP’s for sale so I offered it up as running but otherwise unknown. He turned out to be a decent honest chap, rocked up a week later, paid the money and took the car away the following week. I often wonder should I have put it away and done it when I had the time, the brown paint didn’t float my boat but maybe repainted in cosmic blue or black tulip……

Towards the end of the summer I’d started to notice this Facebook group cropping up a lot on my feed – "Enthusiasts of British motor vehicles built before 1985", so one evening filled in the entry questions and as a qualifier attached a picture of the VDP saying ‘I have this, does that count?’ Within minutes a chap called Gar came back and said "Our BL Dan is going to LOVE this! We are having a show in Coventry, in November. You are coming aren’t you?" It wasn’t really a question.

Coventry in November, in a 45 year old VDP. What could possibly go wrong?

To be continued……

I’d been invited to show my VDP at the NEC show in November 2014 which pretty much marks the end of the show season. Remember this predates the EBMVBB85 group by a few years where we have winter gatherings, or summer gatherings with winter weather.

After the debacle of the wheel bearing setting me back I had a bunch of detailing jobs to tackle in preparation for the show. I’d spoken to a few club members who’d previously shown their cars at the NEC and been warned about the rivet counters and those ‘knowledgeable’ comments we all love (not). However there were a few things I needed to tackle beforehand to try and limit these undesirables, which were; replacing the headlining as mine was shot and hanging down in places, repairing the boot lid which was badly chipped and scuffed - probably from it’s time in the scrap yard, order a set of decent number plates, mine were a basic modern type and I wanted something period and finally give the car a service.

I hit the internet and ordered a set of correct period plates, again £20; it’s the law and at the same time sourced the material and glue for the headlining (£20). Trimming was not something I’d ever done before but given the timescales and cost I was ‘giving it a go’. Well I got there in the end, but I have to say I really hate trimming! A dusty, fiddly job that took ages but the results were pretty good. By this time the plates had turned up so these were fitted and also looked really good, so now it was time to tackle the boot lid. After a good look I quickly worked out it was WAY beyond my skills so removed the whole thing and dropped it off at a local paint shop. That left me a bit of time to detail a few paint chips at the front and carry out the service. A week later the boot lid was ready so I collected it and bolted it back on. It looked stunning. I was ready for the show.

I set off for the NEC on the Thursday morning, stopping for some lunch about half way there making for a pleasant drive. Once there I found the correct hall and our area, then spent the rest of the afternoon building up the stand, raising the rear of my VDP and drinking coffee. I have to say I really enjoyed the show taking turns manning the stand and going for a wander round. Highlight of the show was getting offered a fairly significant sum of cash for my VDP from a collector who recognised its rarity. ‘Where are you from?’ he asked ‘Portsmouth’. He then said ‘go home on the train 1st class’. I declined his offer anyway but wonder what would have become of my VDP had I accepted. Low point(s) were the damn awful lighting, come on guys there are plenty of LED solutions available, and the fair number of rivet counting shuffle bottoms declaring ‘the wheels fall off’, ‘oh look, an all-aggro’ and ‘where’s the square steering wheel?’ I worked out the most effective reply was ‘I’ll let you know when you’re being funny’. Worked every time!

Sunday evening soon came round and it was time to go home, after saying plenty of fond farewells to people that were now becoming friends I headed out the NEC into the full force of the November weather. The car worked hard all the way home the wipers, blower and lights all on all the way, but it performed beautifully all the way. More than can be said for myself, I was completely knackered! I stowed the car the next morning after a wipe down ready for the New Year’s Day gathering at Brooklands.

Before that however at Christmas I got the nod through the club of a VDP that had been pulled out of a deceased estate and was now in the hands of the recovery company that was local to me. Was there anything I could do? The chap was no enthusiast and was likely to weigh the car in fairly soon. As it was Christmas week I had plenty of time so went to take a look. It was pretty rough and a non-runner but was a solid base for a restoration. Chap wanted to know ‘how much?’ pretty much from the outset so I said after taking a look £300. His reply was unprintable here and he said ‘I’ll get truckloads more on eBay’, so I wished him good luck with that, made a report back to the club and assumed that would be the last of it.

New Year’s Day was a cloudy but still day, bitterly cold but no snow or ice! I rocked up early as I was warned it gets mobbed to be greeted by the marshal saying ‘You beauty!’ I hope he was referring to the car but anyhow said ‘Park as high along the banking as you can then we can form a cavalcade behind you’. After doing so and getting out somewhat awkwardly due to the extreme angle I took what is still my favourite picture of my VDP. 

Poised high on the banking there is just something about it that does it for me. The show was awesome, really busy but managed to get round the bits I’d missed previously including a second visit to the Barnes Wallace laboratory. All too soon though it was time to go home so I said my farewells and headed off. Again, I had that feeling all was not well pretty much from the off. Within a mile of Brooklands the shimmy gave a shake and almost instantly locked up the front wheels; I had failed to proceed again! The AA were really prompt, arriving in less than ten minutes, whereby I was unceremoniously hitched up and towed home! ​

Again by the next morning it had loosened off and it didn’t look like the wheel bearing either. I removed the LHS wheel and found the caliper looked lop sided, upon removing the caliper found one side of the pads completely scuffed out, although the caliper itself was absolutely fine. I stripped it anyhow, new seals and re-greased everything and fitted a new set of pads. On the test drive it all seemed fine, that light shimmy still there that I had gotten used to now, and I’m sure the more knowledgeable among you will be screaming the obvious but to me It seemed fine and just assumed it was the caliper that caused the problem. How wrong I was!

In March I received an invitation from Practical Classics. They were preparing an article on cars that didn’t use springs for their suspension called ‘no springs attached’ and wanted my VDP to participate. The shoot was local to me at the Gosport Hovercraft Museum, again a place I’d wanted to visit previously but now I was getting in for free! The shoot was booked for mid April weather permitting as the site is right on the coast and gets very lively if its stormy - something I witnessed first hand quite recently, also for Practical Classics but more of that later!

​The date arrived and the weather wasn’t great but deemed OK to proceed, so I turned up at 9 o’clock as instructed. I was greeted by Andy Taylor from PC who is a giant of a man both in stature and personality. He directed me where to park and thrust a coffee in my hand. Top bloke. Whilst they shuffled the cars, played with lights and lots of stuff I didn’t understand I got the chance to look around. I was shocked at the condition of the two cross-channel hovercraft. Their structure was so rotten no access was permitted onboard and all the engines had been removed. Such a shame these two leviathans have ended up this way.

The shoot lasted most of the day and we were all interviewed about our cars, then by about 3pm the weather was deteriorating quite rapidly so they wrapped it up and we went on our way. Again I got no more than a mile from setting off when the shimmy went up on steroids and locked up the front of the car again. I was seriously questioning why I’d not left the VDP in the scrap yard to rot and again phoned the AA. The patrolman turned up within 15 minutes and instantly took a liking to the car having ‘worked on them back in the day’ and wanted to fix the problem.

​He questioned me in detail regarding the previous breakdowns and work done. He went Hmmm, lifted the front of the car and felt each wheel. Something not right here mate he said rotating the passenger wheel, "Jump in and start it up". I did and engaged drive whilst he stood back and watched. Hmmm he said again and dived into his van and emerged with a spanner. I jumped out and watched, my curiosity piqued. He undid the master cylinder from the servo, ‘That’s better’ he said, ‘got the brakes out the way, now both wheels are going round’ He again stood back and watched. After about a minute he said ‘You got a problem with your driveshaft end, look at the left hand side wheel, there is a slight shimmy on it’ That’s what is killing your wheel bearing, knocking the brake pads out and causing it to lock up. Won’t have done your steering rack any good either all that shaking. You need a new drive shaft mate. I’ll get you home now", which he did.

Back in the workshop I was dumbfounded, but elated! It was as simple as that. Sometime in the past it must have hit a kerb or something causing a slight distortion in the shaft where it entered the hub. The shimmy shouldn’t be there! I’d seen a few complete hubs with driveshafts on eBay for £20 a few weeks back so went inside and ordered one straight away.

​I’d also noticed a missed call on my phone and a voicemail. When I listened back it was the recovery company chap from Christmas asking if I still wanted the car.

To be continued…….

One thing I like to do is take one of my VDP’s out for a drive on Christmas Day if the weather is not too wet or icy. This is something that started in 2013 and it was great fun driving into the city and the seafront on mostly deserted roads. (Who knew what was coming in 2020???) I had noticed during the Winter the starter was struggling a bit, especially with the low temperatures and long spells between starts, so decided to take a look before the show season kicked off.

However, I got the nod early in March about a show at Brooklands, a place I’d had on my visit list for a while so decided to go before I’d had the chance to look over the car. Brooklands is a fascinating place with as much aircraft history as it does racing, so much so I couldn’t get round everything so made a note to come back on New Year's Day for the main open event. The Barnes Wallace lab and stratospheric chamber were particularly jaw dropping. I was definitely going to take a better look.

Later the same month I removed the starter only to find they are not designed to be un-mantled and repaired, just binned and replaced. In the absence of suitable replacements, the auto has a number of special to type parts, the starter is one such part. I decided to ‘have a go’. After an hour of chin-stroking and Hmmm ing, worked out how to get the solenoid apart, which I was sure was the problem. Ten minutes with the soldering iron and small spanner set I had it in bits and bingo, the top main contact was badly oxidised, hence the problem of slow cranking. Quick polish with a fibre glass brush soon had that shifted, then I could re-mantle the solenoid. Quick test and all good, sorted!

May saw the annual Allegro show which was held at the Needle Museum in Redditch. Another very interesting place showing how needle manufacturing was done during the industrial revolution and all water powered. Also had an opportunity to line up a MK1, 2 and 3 VDP. Never been done before and made for a nice line up.

Next appointment was my son and daughters prom. I have twins so it was going to be a busy night! The old girl was polished to as shiny as you can make mirage and all the bright work detailed. I had a fabulous evening ferrying back and forth to the Holiday Inn where their evening function was. Highlight of the night for me was a nod to the Italian Job with three Mini Coopers dropping off and then powering out simultaneously. Goosebumps.

I’d received an invitation in August to the Vanden Plas show and been told it was almost a concourse type show - not one of my favourites but decided to give it a go. When I rocked up I was directed to the 1500 parking area and found myself alongside a D registered model which was odd as VDP production stopped in 1980. Turns out the original owner stored the car until the registration EES came up as they were his initials. He’s also responsible for the two tone paint work. Definitely a marmite car but the picture of mine next to it represents the earliest and latest surviving VDP’s.

The show over I headed home and you get a feel for when something is not right. The shimmy on the steering seemed slightly more accentuated than before, and the car seemed sluggish. After about an hour the shimmy turned into a shudder, coupled with a nasty crunchy grinding noise and a definite loss of power. Fortunately I was on top of some services so I pulled in and ground to a halt, literally!

Great, I was 100 miles from home and it was 6 o’clock on a Sunday evening! I rang the recovery services and booked a relay home, was warned it maybe a significant wait as there had been a large Ford show in London and that was already keeping them busy. So what to do, I spotted a burger place so went and got a bite to eat. That done I had a quick look at the car and quickly worked out the passenger front wheel bearing had done something nasty internally and now it had cooled down had seized up pretty tight. There was still a lot of play in something though which I was sure wasn’t the bearing, but with the light fading whatever it was would have to wait.

The recovery home wasn’t as bad as feared, but it was done in several stages due to the way the AA works with zones. It was almost 2am when we arrived back so got the guy to unload the car onto the drive for me to sort out the next morning. Weirdly the following morning the wheel had freed off somewhat, but still sounded nasty when you turned it. That odd play looked like the lower radius arm; something was not right about it. As the car could be moved I backed it into the workshop and went in search of a new wheel bearing and radius arm thingy. All £20 each. It’s the rules.

A week later, both the parts had turned up so lifted the workshop door to place the parts inside. What greeted me was like a scene out of demolition derby. My workshop doubles up as my materials store for my business as well as a place to store and work on the car. Something in the roof had obviously given way and all my timber and tubes had dropped and been deposited on top the car! Once my heart had stopped hammering out my chest I looked around more carefully it appeared the majority of the stuff had glanced off the car and slid down the side. The only way to inspect further though was to pull it all out and get the car out. I was going to need some strong coffee!

An hour later I had a pile of stuff and a car on the drive. Remarkably there wasn’t a mark on it. Obviously made of strong stuff. It took me the rest of the day to clear out the workshop, fix the roof problems and get everything stowed safely. The next day I lifted the front of the car and removed the passenger side hub complete with the drive shaft. On the bench and stripped apart the wheel bearings literally fell out, some of the balls were in half! Fitting the new bearing was quite an unpleasant job, it just felt very tight in the hub and on the drive shaft, but it seemed to go back together OK. Next I removed the lower radius arm; the inner bush was sheared off its housing entirely. Why? At the time I’d no idea, but alarm bells should have been ringing. With the new arm fitted and the hub re-installed I went for a road test. All seemed OK. No crunching and the shimmy was back to the level it had always been. Again, alarm bells should have been ringing, but being a humble plumber, all seemed good.

My final appointment of the year was at the NEC in November where my car was going up on a stand. I had lots of detailing things to be getting on with in the meantime to keep me busy. But what about that shimmy?
​
To be continued...

I’d set my alarm early for the following morning but there was no need, I was up early and actually getting nervous. The night before over a beer I’d got all the necessary paperwork together so should I be successful I could pick up the tax on the way home and be road legal ready for the drive up to the Gaydon show on Sunday morning.

​With a coffee in hand I opened up the workshop, jumped in and turned the key. She roared into life and I began easing out of the workshop, round the awkward bends and down the drive. Once on the road I got my first experience of driving the old girl. Loved sound the engine made and the gentle whine from the auto gearbox that reminded me of the Mini I’d had years before. I was also more than aware this car had not turned a wheel for the best part of 15 years but felt confident I’d done everything I could to bring it back to life.

The drive to the MOT garage was only a couple of miles and was over way too soon, I was proper enjoying myself in the leather loveliness. It was like driving around in your favourite armchair. As I arrived the shutters were up and James was waiting with a coffee in hand and wearing a massive cheesy grin. I jumped out and handed over to him. Once on the ramp I got my first proper look at the underside and it was remarkable. Not a mark or scabby bit on it, completely original. Whilst I was distracted by the view of the car one of the old boys that works there came over and said ‘I heard that come in, recognise that sound anywhere, not running quite right is it?’ I explained my rush at tuning it the night before to which he replied ‘leave it with me, be my pleasure to set up once the boss has finished’.

The next 40 minutes went by very quickly and I watched James go over the car then put it on the rolling road for the brake test, then finally the emissions. "Couldn’t find anything wrong with it", he said. "Credit to you, well done". "Oh, it’s passed then?" "Yes of course it did, in fact your front brakes were pulling 148% efficiency so well done!" Ticket done and paid for, the old boy came back over and said ‘jump in and start it up’.

​After a minute of listening said ‘off’. He took off the distributor cap, fiddled about, put it back and said ‘fire it up’ Already it sounded better. He then tweaked the timing, all by ear for a few minutes then with a satisfied grunt said ‘that’s tuned’. And it was, you could balance a coin on the engine it was that smooth. Didn’t want paying for it either so I put a donation in their tea boat instead. Well I hardly remember the drive to the Post Office to collect the tax and change the status from SORN to on road. I’d done it and was elated - I was going to Gaydon!

The next morning I was up early and nervous again, but more of a nice anticipation this time. So loaded with some tools just in case and a large coffee I set off and pointed the car North with 165 miles to destination on the sat-nav. It settled into a nice mile-eating canter at about 60mph where the top gear was engaged. I’d noticed a very slight shimmy on the steering wheel and put it down to slight wheel imbalance and ignored it.

​Unbeknownst to me there was a serious underlying problem that was going to occur and bite me several times before I got to the bottom of it, but that’s yet to come! The oil pressure gauge I noticed never got any higher than 35psi, whether this was an issue or not I had no idea, so I decided to take a look in the workshop manual when I got home. About 100 miles in I’d also noticed the lovely sound the engine and exhaust was making seemed to be getting slightly louder, so as some services were coming up I pulled in to re-charge my coffee and investigate.

Coffee replenished I had a quick look and it was obvious, the manifold clamp that I’d recently put on that joins it to the new exhaust was letting by a bit so no drama. I could sort that out when I got back home so again pointed North and pressed on,  turning the radio up a bit. The other thing I’d noticed was the kick-down wasn’t doing anything. Even a good shove on the throttle didn’t produce any change down. Probably why it had been removed in the first place by a previous owner, but no drama - I could use the stick shifter which worked great, changing the gear instantly.

Well I arrived around 10 o’clock and was immediately surrounded by various excitable people saying ‘where did you get this car?’ ‘We didn’t even know this car still existed’ and ‘Do you know how rare this car is?’. Once I gave them a chance to calm down and explain one at a time It turns out my humble old scrap yard car is a very early MK1, one of only 3 known to still exist, in a rare colour (mirage) and with an even rarer Tuscan leather interior. It’s the earliest one surviving, being registered only 3 weeks into production and remains to this day the only MK1 on the road. Then after all that the chairman of the Vanden Plas club came over and said ‘Can I have some pictures of your car please for my history books? Only I don’t have any of a MK1 and certainly not in this colour’. So my car is now in the pages of the VDP handbook at Gaydon!

Well the bad weather that was forecast turned up with attitude, so we all went inside, had lunch and a wander round. Then at 2pm Harris Mann gave a presentation. What a lovely humble chap, talking about his original designs and the inner wrangling of BL at the time and what eventually emerged as the Allegro. Fascinating. Then a few awards were given out and my VDP picked up it’s first one, winning the "Best Early Series" award. ‘Something else to dust’ was my wife’s response when I phoned to tell her, so to this day the awards live on the rear parcel shelf out of her way! The show over, we said goodbyes and I headed the 165 miles back home with no issues other than the rain. And that shimmy I’d dismissed……….

The following weekend I looked up oil pressures and 35 at best was not right, the spec was 65psi running, 25psi idle so I started to investigate. With the oil head taken apart all seemed OK so I dug deeper and removed the sump and the pressure bypass valve. The sump was pretty grubby and the strainer pick up worse. The main problem though was the bypass valve, it was jammed open and no amount of persuading and swear words would release it. Quick word with my Dad and he suggested leaving it in a jar of diesel for a while, so I did.

​About an hour later whilst I was cleaning up the sump and strainer I heard a 'plink' from the jar it was in, the valve had freed itself off. Dad you’re a genius. Everything back together I fired it up. Perfect! I had 65 at fast idle and just over 40 at idle. Job done. I also got the local tyre fitters to sort out the manifold clamp which they truly did as they are the experts! I had ironed out those niggles, so I thought - but don’t forget that wheel shimmy, I had and it was going to cost me!

I got another three shows in before the end of the year all with no issues and picked up another award, but winter was coming so it was soon time to put the old girl to sleep. Busy year next year - I had my kids prom and I’d been invited to show my car at the NEC that Autumn.

To be continued……

Early April saw the cold weather come to an end and the temperature start to rise. That coupled with the lighter evenings gave me more time and I was going to need it! I basically had a month to finish the car, get an MOT and tax it before the Gaydon show in early May. Being a 1974-built car it missed the frozen nil duty on classic cars by one year so I had to pay up!

Now I could tackle the engine mountings and the decidedly wonky-sitting engine. The workshop manual said to lift the gearbox and power unit to just take the load then remove the 4 bolts securing the mount to the body, remove the top engine stabiliser bar, then to lift the whole power unit 4 inches before taking off the inner nuts connecting it to the gearbox housing. Then repeat for the opposite side. Amazingly it all went textbook. The new mountings went back in and I got my first look at the engine now sitting level.

So next I removed the tie bars and the bushes to replace them. It was weirdly cheaper to buy the whole tie bar and bush kit than just the bushes, so whole new ones went back on. While removed it gave me a chance to rust treat and paint the front under body heavy gauge parts that would otherwise have been difficult to get to. 

Next job for the front of the car was a new steering rack. There was a lot of play in the passenger side arm so that clearly had to be rectified. What I was unaware of at the time was this was a simple bush change, but more of that later! Removing the rack was very simple. Separate each track rod end ball joint. Undo the 4 clamp bolts, then finally undo the lower steering clamp bolt. As I did so I heard the clonk of the rack dropping free onto the inner wings. With the rack removed I lined up both the old and new racks on the drive to set the track rods as I was seriously running out of time and didn’t think I’d get the opportunity to get the tracking professionally checked and set, so I could get it damn close myself just in case. Then before fitting the new rack, injected the gear oil into each set of the bellows.

The re-fitting was fairly straightforward except trying to get the lower clamp connection to line up. I spent ages climbing in and then under the car trying to get the two parts together and not getting anywhere, then swearing at the stupidity of the design making this such a difficult part to fit, before I realised you simply slide up the steering column then drop it onto the rack spline. Simples!! Last job for the front was to re-fit the newly shod wheels and lower it to the ground.

I could now raise the rear of the car and again refurbish the wheels so I could send them to the tyre place. However the job I’d been dreading was changing the cross tube mounts. Both mine were shot and had come apart like the engine mountings had and there is no way they would get past my MOT guy.

​The big issue was that the full force of the suspension fluid cantilevers on the mountings, so you really need to de-pressurise the system before removing them. Problem was I didn’t have a pump unit so I had to use method 2 in the manual which assured me by the use of 3 jacks and wood packers it was possible to carry out the job without de-pressurising, but it looked terrifying.

With the three jacks in place and the radius arm packed up I undid the main bolt and………. well, nothing happened. I didn’t all fly apart and squirt fluid all over the workshop as I’d feared. It was actually very straightforward and was all done in 6 bolts and half an hour. Result! With the opposite side also changed I refitted the newly tyred wheels and lowered the car. Job done. Last job of the day was to fit the new exhaust. Really simple, one bolt on the manifold clamp and three rubber hangers saw the job done in an hour.

That just left the puzzle in the boot - the kick-down linkage. There was little information in the workshop manual and very few people knew much about the auto gearboxes, so I was on my own. I had found a diagram online for a Mini automatic set up and that turned out to be really useful. It enabled me to lay the parts out on the bench and work out how they connected together. With that done it was fairly easy to then connect them to the appropriate throttle arm point and onto the governor housing lever via a cam on the gearbox. I’d spotted the odd looking lever not doing anything whilst fitting the exhaust but now it all made sense.

One final job; I’d bought a Boyer Bransdon ignition amplifier. Simple four-wire fit and it removes all the points issues. It certainly improved the running of the engine when I fired it up. Quick check of the dwell and timing - it wasn’t perfect but good enough given I was now out of time. So that was it; I’d done it. MOT was 8am the following morning. The Gaydon show was 10am the day after! No pressure then. The car was on all 4 wheels for the first time in over 2 years. I shut the workshop for the night and had a well earned beer.

To be continued……

So with the front of the car complete I wanted to take a look at the hot running issue before I got stuck into the suspension stuff. I’d tried running the car on several occasions but each time it seemed to get very hot quickly regardless of whether the electric cooling fan was running or not. And with snow still on the ground in March it clearly wasn’t adverse weather conditions having an influence!

The interior blower fan was not working so I decided to remove the heater unit first although I was sure this wasn’t where the problem was. Well anyone that has had the (dis)pleasure of removing a VDP heater knows what I was about to get into. You pretty much have to remove both front seats, the steering wheel, the dashboard, the control cables and the panel then finally all the elecktrickery. Then from the engine bay, drain and remove the hoses, remove the intake grille and the rainwater drain points. Then and only then can you remove the three bolts that hold the unit in place and remove it from inside the car.

With the unit stood on the drive it was a simple job to replace the faulty fan and get rid of 40 years of dead flies and dust. It also gave access to the heater matrix that once removed I could flush out. Again, it was a bit murky but not blocked or leaking so I was confident there was no fault here. With the heater unit back in one piece and somewhat cleaner I put it back in the car then spent the rest of the day putting the car back together.

With a functioning heater unit I put a good dose of DS3 in the cooling system. I use DS3 to de-scale boilers and heat exchangers and its good stuff. I let it whirr round for half an hour where I noticed no change in the hot running, then drained it out. It was mucky but not awful, kind of like cappuccino. With it refilled with fresh coolant there was no change - zip. Still running hot into the red on the gauge and it felt hot too so that pretty much ruled out gauge inaccuracy. The radiator and hoses were new, the heater and water jacket were all freshly cleaned, so that left one candidate. The water pump.

A week later after tracking down the correct pump (the early engines have a non dished pulley, later ones do) it had arrived. We were due to visit some friends in the afternoon so after checking the workshop manual it assured me the water pump was a half hour job. I had plenty of time. Off came the belt, then back on went the belt so I could slacken the pulley bolts, then off came the belt followed by the pulley.

​Now I had access to the three bolts that hold the pump, again they came out with no drama. The next step said "hold the pump body and slide the assembly out of the engine". I tried. Nothing. I tried a bit harder. Nothing. OK, try giving it a tap, nothing. Bigger tap, still nothing. Tried some swear words. That didn’t help either. Right, got my large wrecking bar and gave it a grunt, definitely felt something move. Gave it some more grunt. Ping! The pump body sheared in two leaving the sleeve section embedded in the engine!

Well I was out of time now and getting a look from the wifey so I swore again, shut the workshop and went out. The following day after speaking to my Dad he assured me by chopping through the sleeve with a sharp cold chisel it could then be ‘collapsed’ on itself and removed. So armed with a chisel and hammer I set about chopping away at it. It was much easier than expected and only took about half an hour before the remains of it came away along with a pile of swarf and rust. With the bits removed I got my first look at the impeller; there was almost nothing left of it. I’m guessing the car stood for many years with the same rusty water in it so the part of the impeller in the water slowly dissolved into nothingness!

A quick backwards flush of the engine to remove any stray pump debris then it was time to fit the new pump. I covered the sleeve in plenty of silicone grease to stop it corroding itself in the engine again. The new pump and pulley fitted perfectly and I soon had it all back together with a new belt fitted. Coolant in then it was time to check if the hot running issue was sorted. It worked perfectly - textbook even. You could feel the thermostat opening and the rush of heat across the radiator. The electric fan cutting in and out periodically and controlling the temperature. Sorted.

​But this had cost me time, time I didn’t really have. I still wanted to get to the 40th anniversary show and there was still plenty to do and that all important MOT to secure.

To be continued………