"E, them's pretty knickers!"

Words uttered by a lovely, elderly lady in a very well known department store in Southport, as she  shopped with her friend, and sufficient to send me into paroxysms of suppressed mirth. It didn't stop there, for the conversation between these two carried on in that beautiful accent and kept me entertained, while I waited for madam to complete her browsing amongst the multitudinous racks of clothes.

This is our regular ritual after we have dropped the Morgan off at Lifes for its annual service: we go for a coffee and then wander around the shops in town, before returning to the sanctuary that is Lifes, whereupon I can start enjoying myself while my wife sits reading a newspaper.

As we returned to Lifes there were two more elderly ladies looking longingly through the Showroom window and as we opened the door to go in, one of them questioned whether we were going to live the dream ( I hadn't the heart to say that we were already living it!) and asked if my wife would kiss the bonnet of the particularly fine red example that the lady was lusting after. This incident reminding us once again of the effect these cars have on many in the population, at least those with a soul, and the fact that we are indeed very fortunate to own one!

Overlooking Windermere

Apparently trade is a little flat at present, but happily, Dave Randall was able to assure me (because I like to keep track of the value) that should I decide to sell, which I am not, I could expect to receive around £4000 less than the amount we paid for the car, FIVE years ago! What excellent residual values our cars enjoy!

Anyway, having feasted my eyes on the muster of Morgans in the showroom, the car was pronounced ready and I settled the bill.

As I busied myself, ensuring that the flaps on our new style hood were well tucked down, because they have an annoying habit of occasionally being forced out by the wind, one of the staff said that one of their customers had fitted a male Tenax fastener to the side of each of the arms of the hood, on to which the female fastener on the end of each flap could be fixed, thus solving the problem.

Home we went with a couple of the said fasteners kindly provided by Lifes and the following day I proceeded with the task, taking photos (now deleted) of each stage for my blog. On the face of it the exercise was very successful and provided a solution to the 'problem'.

WARNING!

However, as I tossed about in bed, my mind in turmoil about the forthcoming budget, the strange celebrity murder 'trial' that was taking place in South Africa, the BBC saga, the banks and where our next trip in the Morgan would take us etc., I suddenly realised that there might be a potential flaw in the modification.

Sure enough as I got into the car with the hood up I realised to my horror that the black material on the hood arm is there to ensure that when you bang your head on entering or leaving, you are not a candidate for E&A at the local hospital. Unwittingly, I had totally nullified this safeguard by adding, what amounted to a centimetre long spear,(the male Tenax fastener) jutting out from the arm, that could quite easily have penetrated my skull!!!

They have now been removed from the car, as has the post on my blog, plus the photos showing my handywork.

The Tenax fasteners should have been fitted to the SIDE of the arm and NOT to the top.

I have decided, on reflection, not to bother and to continue to stuff the flaps down the side of the collapsed hood as usual.