Monday 24 February 2014

Spring has sprung!!.....

Well, we hope so, as these photographs show.  They were taken this afternoon in the churchyard of our local church, St Chad's, Poulton-le-Fylde.
The church of St Chad...there's always scaffolding when I get the camera out!
They were shot following a lovely short drive in my newly polished and greased 4/4, just to check that I'd fitted the newly cleaned wires correctly! Nothing dropped off, so presumably all is well!
Always a gorgeous sight , every year.
This afternoon was really quite pleasant, sunny and warm, conjuring thoughts once again of picnics by babbling brooks and 'wandering lonely as a cloud' along country roads in the Lake District and theYorkshire Dales..
 My wife and I are getting rather excited at the moment, as we are looking forward to the imminent arrival of our fourth grandchild, so no doubt we shall be called upon from time to time for additional babysitting duties.

A sheer delight, but a pity I couldn't get a photo of the Morgan in the middle of them!!

Monday 17 February 2014

News of my demise has been greatly exaggerated!!

It is now many weeks since I sat at my keyboard and typed a missive for my adoring readership and for that I apologise profusely.

In the UK this is a particularly lean period in the year for Morgan motoring, unless the owner doesn't mind washing it after every trip to remove salt/mud etc., from the roads. This year in particular has been particularly wet causing flooding in large areas of the country and although fortunately there hasn't been any water ingress into our humble abode, the weather has not been conducive to pootling around in the Mog. and this is certainly one reason why I have had little to report on the Morgan front.

However, one important reason for not putting pen to paper during this period was the fact that I spent a week in January in the Acute Medical Unit of our local hospital where doctors were trying to ascertain why yours truly had collapsed in a heap at home on the 14th January. They still don't know and medical appointments are ongoing.

However, enough of this I hear you cry, what about Morgan matters?

A couple of weeks ago I tried to book a service at my local dealership and found that the earliest that they could accommodate me was the middle of March, due to the amount of work they were currently doing converting the traditional Morgan suspension system to the 'Suplex' system by Librands.

Forgive me, but I bought my Morgan so that I could enjoy the unique traditional qualities of a quintessentially English sports car with characteristics more akin to the thirties than the 21st century. If I'd have wanted a semblance of luxury and a smooth, soulless, insulated ride I would have chosen an Audi TT or something similar.

When I drive my Morgan I can feel the road and it adds to a great driving experience, why change it, and at a cost of approaching £1000!!!! I shall not be changing mine!

The other day a wire on my trusty battery charger broke and as it is a sealed unit the manufacturer advises replacement...well they would, wouldn't they? So I sent for a new one only to find that the polarity had changed, which necessitated the lead and socket switching from the positive terminal to the negative terminal on the battery, or conversely.

Being the physical wreck that I am I did not relish the idea of fumbling around in the dark recesses of the battery compartment,which demands a huge amount of physical contortion and the ability to be able to work upside down, so I arranged with Lifes at Southport to do the job for me. At the same time they could sell me a set of replacement wiper blades, one of which had started to disintegrate as I was taking the car for it's MOT locally the day before.

Total cost £29 and that was just for three wiper blades, each around 6 inches long!! No charge was made for the battery job.

Yesterday I greased the front suspension and cleaned the stainless wire wheels, so the Morgan is ready for the new season once there is an improvement in the weather and we look forward to adding a few more miles to the 21980 we have so far completed. As for the greasing, I have decided that in future, I shall run the car to my local garage so that they, for a nominal fee, can squirt some grease into the appropriate nipples.

The prospect of crawling around on my back under the car with more grease on me than in the sliding pillars has lost its appeal!!!