Friday 24th May. MOT time. Again

With its MOT due, I really needed to look at Gertie's speedometer problem. (Having a working and accurate speedo was never part of the MOT up until March, but this has now been added to the test.)

The speedo needle does work but I think it really wants to be a windscreen wiper as it tends to act in the same manner.

The problem was highlighted when Davemate and I were on our way back from Holland and Dave asked me what speed I was doing. I don’t think my answer of ‘between 30 and 80mph’ was none too impressive!

I’ll have to find somewhere to get this one repaired as it’s a Mk1 2.5 PI one that reads up to a 140mph. Especially seeing as Gertie is the only car I have that may even be capable of reaching that speed. (Although it will probably have shaken itself to death long before then!)



Anyway, I knew that the actual speedo cable was new, so I inspected the angle drive which was working as it should too. The only thing it can be is a worn head, so I invaded the loft in my quest for another one. I did find another one but it was a Mk1 head but with MK2 2500S digits in it. (Or Mk2 facelift PI?) God knows where that came from, I wasn’t even aware I had it!  (See pic below-and ignore the dirty dashboard!)



Anyway, I fitted it and a  test drive revealed it to be working fine. I took the old head with me and asked the tester if he could put that mileage on the MOT certificate rather than from the head I just fitted. That way it keeps the mileage on the MOT’s correct. Luckily he agreed. Gertie once again sailed through her MOT with no advisories at all so all was good. Incidentally, the difference in mileage between this years MOT and last years was just short of 8000 miles. She clocks up quite a bit for an old bus doesn’t she? I don’t even want to think about converting that into petrol usage and pounds, shillings and pence!

 

The Red Shed.

 

I finally got to evict the Red Shed from the garage Thursday night and take it for a test drive. It wasn’t impressive. It runs beautifully while stationary, but it turns out, not under load. The carbs have only been set up as per workshop manual and without the aid of any tuning equipment so this will be the next stage. It’s very sluggish when driven, but responds when you pull the choke out, so I’m guessing it’s running far too lean. It also got very hot again on the test drive, so this needs to be investigated too. I don’t think I’ve changed the thermostat on this car yet, so that will be next.

Before I evicted the car from garage I fitted a rear spot light. (Always handy for reversing up a pitch black driveway after you’ve missed a turning on a night rally-Which seems to be a lot!)

I didn’t want to drill a hole in the bumper, or bootlid so I fitted a longer bolt on the spot light and used one of the bumper iron holes instead. Another job off the list.