Tuesday 21st October - Disappointing service from Atspeed.

 In January 2024, my Green Cortina had a rolling road session at Atspeed. They did a fantastic job and the car was running really well. 

Since then however, I have had my 'breathing' issue in which I have had to alter the pipework as the breather hose from the engine was going to the remote brake servo instead of the inlet manifold which isn't correct. The pipe from the engine breather needs to go to the inlet manifold in order to suck the gasses out of the engine. If it doesn't do this, then you will get crankcase compression and the engine oil will spray out of the dipstick tube.

Needless to say, changing this then altered the characteristics of the breathing through the inlet manifold and my engine is now running lean and not getting enough fuel.
 I explained all of this when I took the car in to Atspeed and asked them to look at the fuel jetting and give it a dynotune. 
I dropped the car off on Monday afternoon and I received a phone call on Tuesday morning asking me why I had brought it back. So I then explained again, and was told that my breather pipe was on wrong and that it should go to the remote brake servo. I told then that that's how it was before and it caused crank case compression and sprayed oil out of the dipstick tube, so I asked him not to alter the breathing and just alter the carburettor jets instead. He didn't seem happy with that though.
When I collected the car, I got my wallet out and went to pay and was told it was free of charge. I asked if he was sure, and again was told that it was free. I then drove the car home and found out why it was free. It was free because they hadn't done anything to it!

I then rang them the following morning and asked why nothing had been done and was told 'Well you think its right, I think it's wrong, so I didn't do it'. I repeated that it isn't wrong and again explained the situation. He then said again that the breather from the engine should go to the remote brake servo, but I then pointed out that these cars never had a remote brake servo when new, so where would the breather have gone then? 
He still wouldn't accept that the breather was correct and carried on telling me that he didn't do my car because it wasn't correct. I was more annoyed that he didn't even have the decency to tell me that he hadn't done it when I collected it. What kind of customer service is that? 
I booked the car in with him to cure the lean running and alter the jets in the carburettor, I didn't book it in with him to look at the breathing.
I really don't understand his mentality as his refusal to do it has lost him around £400. (That's the approximate price of a dynotune.) What a way to run a business! 

It's a shame because I've used Atspeed many times before and recommended them to numerous people, but after this experience I'll never use then again and wont be recommending them to anyone. 
Since this ordeal, I've spoked to other people about them and found that they've had issues with them as well, so it appears they've already got a poor reputation.

I've also since spoken to Redline Racing at Laindon and will be booking the car in with them. They did a good job on my Zetec Cortina, but I didn't book the Green Cortina in with them as I didn't think they were a Weber carburettor specialist, but it turns out they are, so that will be my preference in future. 

Sunday 19th October - Battlesbridge Breakfast meet.

This was to be the last Battlesbridge meet for this year, so needless to say, quite a few people came. We had also been promised rain from 11am onwards, so a lot of people got there early with a view to leaving when the rain arrived.  

I brought the Zetec Cortina to this meet just to keep it in use and also to run the new tyres in a bit. It looked good with it's different wheels and I was tempted to put the for sale signs in it, but decided to leave it until next spring. (Nothing is really selling at present-I think this hopeless Labour Government has got everyone too scared to spend money in case they want it!) 

The rain that was promised didn't materialise, so we stayed there until lunchtime. All in all it was a good day and nice to finish the season on a high. 

Saturday 18th October - Billericay Breakfast meet.

 With the classic car season almost drawing to a close I decided to get a few more meets in. The cosy cup cafe at Billericay is the location for a breakfast meet and is a nice friendly place to go. 

I decided to take my Green Cortina to this one as I hadn't been out in it for a while. It's not running quite right, but it's booked in for a dynotune soon, so hopefully that will resolve that. 

It was a good meet, although I don't think I'll be eating there again. The food is great, but the service is appalling. it took 40 minutes from joining the queue to receiving our food. That's 40 minutes I'd rather spend outside looking at cars and talking to friends. 

It was still a good meet though and there was some nice cars to look at. The location is also hard standing, so hopefully it will carry on throughout the winter. 

Friday 17th October - A change of wheels.

 After the exhaustion of the 2000 mile Club Triumph Round Britain Reliability Run, I took a short holiday down to Cornwall. It felt a bit weird driving down to Bude in Cornwall on the Saturday only having been there six days before, but it was a much needed rest and very enjoyable. 

I was back home by Thursday, so on Friday I decided to change the wheels on the Zetec Cortina. I had been wondering if it was the black wheels that was putting off potential buyers and a friend had emailed me a link to ebay that showed a brand new set of four JBW wheels for £100, which I promptly bought. 
However, when the wheels arrived one of them was the wrong PCD and therefore wouldn't fit. Also, there was only one hubcap sent when there should have been four. When I rang JBW to point out their error, they then found that they didn't have another wheel to send me. The original advert was for a set of 4 x 13 inch by 6 inch wide wheels. Because it was the end of the line, they didn't have another 6 inch wide wheel in stock. After a lengthy discussion they agreed to take the incorrect wheel and another 6 inch wide wheel back and send me two 5.5 inch wide wheels instead. (Plus the missing three hubcaps) 

With the the 5.5 inch wheels now in my possession, I fitted the new tyres and got to work putting them on the car. I must admit, I'm happy with the look and hopefully, it will gain more interest when I put it up for sale.