MOE has new paint

Well theres a long way to go before she's finished but the top coat is looking good

MOE Blushes

Well not quite, but all rubbed down it does have a pinkish blush, all the dents and scratches are being dealt with and the undercoat is going on soon. the base coat appears to be grey then various reds

One thing that has been confirmed is the absolutely brilliant condition the body is in, just a little surface rust on the sill to body join and the drivers door again just a little surface rust on one of the seams. The front panel had a few rusty stone chips but overall I'm very happy I was tempted to have the vinyl roof removed and have MOE change to Bentley Storm Grey but she is to stay red after all.

The Herald is due some work as it is overdue for MOT just a couple of lighting faults to deal with, if it's not mega cold this weekend I'll get that done.

Club membership

I recently bought a trailer tent on ebay, picked it up in Devon, and towed it back with MOE, the seller made me aware that the hinge holding the two halves together was suspect, it sure was, when I got it back to Brum about 8inches of the nearly five foot hinge was holding it together.

My local club members came to the rescue, one guy had a hinge specially made the next day, then two other members came and did the job, dismantling the tent cutting off the old hinge, welding the new one in place, then reassembling. They did a fantastic job, and wouldn't let me pay them for their efforts.
We have a very successful group here in the West Midlands, fuelled by this type of friendship and helping each other in times of need.

10 CR report

MOE was mostly well behaved, radio/CD player kept blowing the fuse so for a while or two no horn or headlamp flasher and when towing a herald out of an Italian tunnel we kangerooed into a layby, two cars both with different fuel problems cutting out within 200 metres, what were the chances of that, the herald needed a fuel pump, and MOE was suffering from a blocked fuel tank vent, both cars repaired and on their way in 20 mins. Unfortunately we were both well behind schedule and missed a couple of passes.

It was great to be part of such a fantastic event, well done to the organising team Eliss and co and great to see old friends and club members, We kept seeing Goody from the States in Dollyroo, a TR7 powered Dolomite 18/50, they had an exciting time after having the windscreen shattered, by a speeding motorist throwing up debris form the road on the first night, they had a two temporary screens before a Dutch enthusiast delivered a new windscreen at the last night halt..

Team Brum, the 13/60 estate and my Mk1 2.5 powered 2000 set off on Wednesday evening, stopped in a travel lodge near to the start of the event (The Plough pub where a lot of Club triumph events start from)The teams were in good spirits, I however had a slipped disc and was in so much pain I nearly pulled out, but I persevered and the took some serious pain killers and carried on.
We stuck together for the first two days, got separated on day three, and lost track of them after a rear axle problem in Austria and had to pull out of the event, they got home after a lot of messing about by the Austrian AA.

We stopped and helped pull/push a hurricane kit car out of a ditch, they had overtaken us earlier in fog on a blind bend, so it wasn't a complete surprise to find them there, or to hear they stuffed it at the Nuremberg track later on, hope no one was injured.

Photos 1/ Team Brum, 2/ Me and Bill Goodwin (Goody)3/ Hotel Rolduc last night of event Holland 4/A pit stop 5/Ferry 6/ Cooling off after a huge climb in Austria 7/Somewhere! 8/Helicopter attempting to bring aid to motorcyclist, but too late9/ Sitting in the traffic jam waiting to get passed the accident.

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The scenery, descents and climbs in Italy and Austria were spectacular, the behavior of some of the motorcyclists was tantamount to being suicidal, when they pulled in a small gap between me and another triumph going downhill at speed, I wonder if they realised I was driving a 48 year old car without ABS etc, crazy. Three motorcyclist accidents we came across on one day, one fatal.

The return crossing on the boat was rough, high winds caused the landing to be delayed by three hours, Steve Hudson and Jayson Murray were the other two members of my team, we got on very well, they proved to be both excellent company and drivers, they can come out to play any time!!

Goody came with me and my wife to Wales for a couple of days to Aberystwyth after the event, last photo MOE on holiday by the Traier home.

Stafford show & 10 CR looms

Had a great weekend with the gang at Stafford last week, MOE towed the trailer tent and my pal Martin drove the herald up, managed to pick up a strut brace for MOE, should be interesting to see what improvements it makes, got a door seal for MOE managed to get 30 cm of the 3.5 metres fitted before I gave up, it's a two man job!

The drivers meeting at Leicester was very good, nice to see faces that I recognise, someone was encouraging MOE's driver to give it some welly away from the car park, but as it was my car and he was not used to it he declined, just as well as would have punched him in the ear of he had of done, I will leave the wheelies and tyre screeching up to others...

I am a bit disappointed with Mintex, I ordered special brake pads, the retailer was given a date in early August, then this was put back till 22nd August, now the date has been set as indefinite and I have cancelled the order, this leaves me wondering the best pads to fit, this and changing the brake fluid is the on the agenda, and to improve the headlighting.

Picture taken on the Shropshire run at the end of July, Pete the owner of MOE since 1960 something came with me for the day we had a great day out together.

Getting ready for the 10CR

MOE has been in the workshop, a new powersteering rack, front struts, with all new shims and bushes has made a terrific improvement, the old rack made the steering way too light and was forever squirting out fluid, the new one feels about right maybe a bit on the heavy side, but I prefer that. No more groaning when turning, well from the bushes anyway ;-) it was then that the clutch slave was spotted leaking away so a new one of them was sourced, the Mk2 is the same as one of the Freelanders, not sure about the Mk1 .

The driveshafts were removed and just one small problem, cured by a larger UJ clip, brakes still need some work, I have ordered 1144 Mintex pads but they will take a little time to get here, when they arrive I will replace the brake fluid.

The heater and emission hoses were looking a bit scabby so there were changed, along with the air + oil filters new oil and the antifreeze renewed. The diff and the gearbox were topped up, the propshaft rebalanced, so apart from maybe improving the lighting I think we are nearly good to go.

Courier Gone MOE in the shop

The Courier went on Wednesday, the new owner is an enthusiast from the Lake District and seems pleased, he went to Sheffield the first night to see family, then off to home in the Lakes, he called me to say he had enjoyed the drive and had fun. He got a smell of petrol when he got there and a small flexible fuel pipe had split, leaking some fuel which he has fixed.I am quite sad in a way, but too many cars and not using it enough spurred me on to sell it.

MOE has shown up some faults after the trip to Cornwall and is off to Mick Papworths tomorrow for some attention to the steering/suspension and vibration on the transmission, I've got a list of other stuff to be done if he can fit it in, especially as the 10CR is just 54 days away, ah well just as well I got some cash off the van sale lol.