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Get me to the show on
time!!
By Richard Frisk.
Wednesday evening: Just arrived back from summer holiday having
unexpectedly moved
our plans forward a week due to work commitments. Now we had a free
weekend in August and the decision was what to do. The choices were
simple, either attack the jungle-like area around the house which had
previously passed as our garden prior to the holiday or go to the
Vintage and Classic car show at Tatton Park – no choice really as the
garden would still be there the weekend after. Having got over the
initial decision we now faced a bigger problem, the Healey had no tax,
insurance or MOT and we had only two days to get it sorted.
Later
Wednesday evening: Lay on garage floor mopping the
steering box oil drips from the Healey chassis and the concrete floor
(maybe I should miss out the “middle man” next time and just pour
the oil straight onto the floor – it all seems to end up there anyway)
and greasing the suspension. Why is it that a grease gun is always empty
when you need it?
Thursday
morning: Car booked in for MOT, insurance sorted with
“flexible friend”, just waiting for the phone call from the garage
to say the Healey passed with flying colours then off to the post office
for the freebie-tax disc.
Thursday
afternoon, late:
Garage called to say they hadn’t been able to perform the MOT test as they had run out of
certificates and I would have to wait until the new ones arrived by
Special delivery post, maybe by Friday noon!
Friday morning, early:
Called garage to see if new certificates had arrived – of course they
hadn’t and didn’t he (nicknamed Mr. Angry) tell me yesterday it
would be “earliest Friday noon?” Please don’t keep calling, as he
was very busy.
Friday afternoon, several times: Picked
up phone, dialled garage, but hung up before Mr Angry answered.
Friday late afternoon:
Garage called. Very nice man (certainly not Mr. Angry this time) said
that the car brought back many wonderful memories for him, that it was
so refreshing to work on a real car after so many euro-boxes and by the
way, did I know about the cracked chassis by the rear shock absorber?
What! Cracked chassis! Arrgh……….! Now the chassis was
cracked there when I rebuilt it, but that was 8 years ago and I had
welded it so well it couldn’t possibly have cracked again, surely not
………….?
3-minutes-past Friday late afternoon: Arrived at garage in
a flap to see the afore-mentioned very nice man grinning like a Cheshire
cat and explaining that he liked a joke now and then, the chassis was
perfect and that he just wanted to complement me on the solid welding!
Joke? Joke? Didn’t he realise
that I had been through three minutes of sheer torture running around
like a headless chicken trying to find the gas bottle for my welder?
Ah well, MOT in sweaty-hand and off
to the Post office for the tax disc; joined the longest, slowest moving
queue in post office history, but eventually became legal again just as
they closed. Phew!
Friday evening – until very late:
T-cut, Super Resin polish and Extra Gloss protection, all the family
joined in to make RAF735 look like she belonged at a show.
Saturday
and Sunday: Parked on the Northern Centre Club stand at the show in
beautiful August weather with like-minded Healey enthusiasts. After much
fortification from the customary barbeque (aka Tony and Ken’s Diner),
it was a real pleasure to talk to other car fanatics whether it be
Healeys or other classic cars. One of the biggest pleasures in owning a
Healey is that everybody smiles when they see the cars or in this case a
dozen or so of the best prepared Healey in the area, all polished and
glistening for everyone to enjoy.
Sunday evening: Debate
over whether the effort was worth it or not? Definitely, but next year,
either we will get the MOT done early or take an extra week holiday!!!
Many thanks to the Northern Centre for putting on a jolly good show.
Get
me to the show on time – RAF 735 MOT’d taxed ready to go
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