What 2010 will hold amongst other things of little interest.

Hello, whoever you are, wherever you are,

I thought it best to post on new years day... but i didn't, so 2 days late will just have to do. I guess on the topic of new year I may as well refer to Christmas, what a lovely time it is. I didn't get many things of interest minus a miny 3ch RC helicopter and a new simracing wheel - logitech G25 (look in Sim racing report in late January) Both are very good fun and I can only suggest that everyone buys them both and take up equally as geeky hobbies. However, I must quickly revert back to cars, as that's what I said I would talk about when i started this blog. I forgot to mention my dads greatest car and the two best renovated cars that have circulated within my family over the last 25 years. Firstly is my dads ford 'Mexico' Mk.I escort rs1600, like this one...



What a stunning piece of kit that was... was referring to up until it was stolen and torched... If I could I would kill the b******s that did it, a car like that doesn't deserve to die. In the late 80's my Dad and Grandad bought a 1983 Chevy camaro in 2 tone black and red, Fixed the engine and the brakes and were left with an astonishing car. I ha vent a clue why they got rid of it. I mean, no one in their right mind would do that.

Finally for this dreary bit of family history is a car that my Dad built for my mum. It was a British Racing green Triumph Spitfire, a beautiful car to say the very least. My mum drove it and loved it for a short number of years up until she fell pregnant with me. Always did like to ruin the moment. She had to sell it up and buy a micra (nuf said).

Now... some news that is actually 100% relevant to this blog. My car... The Merlin 2+2. Just before new years eve I went to Norfolk to see my grandparents, and also to see and work on my car. Now... When I got there I was saddened by the appsense of my car. Apparently It was still on a friends farm waiting for me, my dad, grandad and his friend to go and pick up. Upon arrival I didn't find myself running up to my car but being offered a drive in a 1981 land rover. By a drive that meant I got given the keys and got to go trekking over the mud and ice for 15 minutes... great fun and a great machine (Note to self : must get me one of those). Anyway, I returned to the main farm area with the land rover... smile from ear to ear already understanding once again why I have a passion for cars. I waddled (it was cold... shhh) into the garage, which was more of an air hanger full of tractors and forklifts to see my car in the middle of everything, Its bonnet on and seats covered. I distinctly remember just looking at it for some time while other people went about other things. As soon as I came round from my daze we set to work. Since I'm the most useless, in practical person in the world I got the job of putting air into the flat tires, which i did with no problems what so ever while the other 3 where trying to figure out exactly what the engine was and what shape it was in.

This came with both good and potentially bad news. The good news being that they had identified the engine to be a 2.0L ford pinto engine with over head cam, meaning that it was a race ready ford engine. The bad news was that the car had its fair share of light rust and battle scars, and this meant that the only way to see how the engine was, would be by starting it. Like you do we try ed the ignition which failed to work as the cellanoid was bust ( look it up ) It is now replaced but wasn't at the time meaning that we had to use a screw driver to split the battery current. On top of that, there wasn't a battery current, and the battery is due to be replaced as well. So we got the land rover in and connected jump leads between the two. Nothing happened time and time again leaving us thinking that a car battery was simply not juicy enough to restart a considerably dead car. Fortunately our next plan was better (ish) We were in a shed full of tractors, so we attached one to the side of the car, along with a man holding a screwdriver over the cellanoid and tryed it again. For the first time in 12 years the engine turned over, albeit only once, and then it ceased to work again. We were getting desperate, So we roped it onto the land rover and tryed to jump start it... with no brakes. On this farm was a 3/8th of a mile strip of tarmac that we used. It was hugely tense on the way down, the car kept turning over then stopping, over and over again until we ran out of road and came to a controlled and brake free stop. The engine was still dormant. We turned it around to give it one last run, one last shot at starting up. I sat on the back of the land rover watching the engine. The screw driver sparked and the engine turned over and stopped. The screw driver got put back on, It turned over again, and then again, again, the carburettor choked once or twice before spouting out all of the old oil in a 5 ft plume of flame. At which point the engine roared into life and was under it's own power. The engine ran perfectly with no exhaust smoke and no cut outs. It was spot on. So I kicked my dad out of the car, and got a feel for it.



With a new cellanoid now installed it runs with no problems just so long as it has any battery but it's own supplying the power. Anyway, that's all for this time folks, please stay tuned for more videos including the first installment of the Merlin video diaries ( or VLOG for you technical people). Also keep watching for the Sim racing report which will come about in late January after the third round of the Grand Touring Amateur League, It should be a read for everyone, not just the Sim racers out there.

So...

Good morning, good evening and good night.

Oscar.