All Dressed Up and Nowhere To Go

All Dressed Up and Nowhere To Go

By roychinnor2 Comments
After ten weeks of lockdown, unsurprisingly the cars are ready to roll. I think I have completed every job there was to be done, with Bertie now sporting hazard warning lights and Bridget showing off a new tonneau cover. I have no problems with 'social isolation' but being confined to one location does challenge me. Being physically restricted tends to send my brain off on hypothesized journeys and so I find myself, once again, considering another 'tour' once lockdown is lifted. It has been seven years since the last tour that took me into the Arctic Circle and then St. Petersburg. Since then I have only done some 'local' tours taking both cars to my Winter Quarters on Gran Canaria, obviously on separate occasions, and Bertie took me to Northern Italy and Switzerland last year (all reported on here). So now, where to, when and which car? There is one location that I remember learning about at school that has always been...
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Ready To Go Where!?

Ready To Go Where!?

By roychinnor2 Comments
Having decided to stay in the UK for winter I couldn't face the idea of laying on cold concrete under the car trying to locate various faults and so decided to hand it over to the experts. They tackled the noise at the rear first and having checked everything I had already done could not identify precisely what the cause was. They did identify that the nearside rear tyre was distorted and needed to be replaced, but everything else was good. They decided to move on and tackle the oil pressure problem that they believed might be the generally known (by everyone but me) trouble of the crankshaft. It needed to be re-ground and they replaced the main bearings and big-end bearings whilst at it. Also replaced was the oil pump. Whilst removing the engine the mechanic noticed that the gearbox mountings had collapsed and that a mounting bracket was 'non-standard'. What's more it was bent and distorted, so it, and the...
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Wonder (not Wander) Winterland

Wonder (not Wander) Winterland

By roychinnorNo Comments
  When I returned from the Canary Islands in April I said I wouldn't be returning in the Winter of 2019. I have made similar statements on previous occasions but then changed my mind and returned to the sun as soon as the weather in the UK started to cool. This year however, I am still in the UK in November and I am staying! The reason for this stupendous decision is that I am going 'WALK-ABOUT' in 2020. The plan, as much as there is, is to ship Bridget (sorry Bertie) to Halifax, Canada in May. We will then mooch around until the end of June when we hope to attend the NAMGBR event in Calgary. After NAMGBR we will explore the Rockies before descending into the USA where I intend to complete a large circular tour that will include a visit to the Mullin Automotive Museum in California. I am thinking Peter Mullin's new museum being built in the UK would...
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European Summer Walkabout 2019

European Summer Walkabout 2019

By roychinnor4 Comments
I was back from my Winter Quarters in the Canary Islands some two months when the ‘itch’ started. Not the kind you go to a doctor with, but one that can only be cured with a ‘walkabout’! Not something that could be ignored, because that route only leads to hum-drum, boredom, even talking to oneself. I went online and quickly bought a ticket for the Channel Tunnel. Not a lottery ticket to win it, but a one-way ticket to freedom. I decided to turn right at Calais and head south, even though the sun and heat was, according to the BBC weather presenters right across the Country. Bertie the ‘B’ was now as ‘completed’ as such cars ever are and I was keen to experience how he handled with a new Mazda gearbox. Even the sceptic in me had to admit the drive was now easier, smoother and quicker than previously. Due to various delays, one caused by my not having secured...
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Almost Home…..again

Almost Home…..again

By roychinnor1 Comment
Contrary to popular folklore this is not where I have been for the last six months. Well, not The Bulldog anyway. This is where, every Sunday, I go for a Full English (breakfast) and deal with any e-mails, etc. The Bulldog is in Playa del Inglis, on Gran Canaria, and is just about the only place in Playa that I frequent. My social life, such as it is, centres around the gym in the mornings and Melonares in the evenings. I have also met up for the occasional drink with a fellow motorhead who has a MGB in Norway and a Morgan (I've had to re-type that 3 times because it kept crashing my laptop!) in Canaria. Amazingly he has a very nice Norwegian partner, so he does have some taste. I am currently in Burgos, Spain for the night and tomorrow will be heading up to Bilbao to catch a ferry home. Originally, today would have been the 3rd day after...
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