Stupidity+Haste=Tragedy.

That takes me back to the time when we were cutting the roof off my old convertible. We had strengthened the sills etc, and cut through the B/C post and D post, then moved to the front of the roof, we got about 1/3 of the way across the roof panel with the angle grinder, then we realised the roof panel bolted on :oops: So we welded it back up and unbolted it.
 
John said:
Dave, for my Homer Simpson moment you want the time I was using a gas blow lamp to scrape off layers of thick black tar like underseal from under a Granada, I then ran round the garden beating my face due to my rapidly diminishing beard being on fire. That hurt a bit. I think my wife might have cracked a rib laughing.
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This reminds me of my brother who had a series 1 P6B which seemed to use more oil than petrol, and plenty of both.

He was having problems getting it to start so thought he would pull the air cleaner elbows off and squirt some petrol into the carbs. Now I tried this with Sparky to get him going first time, but there is a major difference. Sparky has a downdraught carb :shock:

I can't remember why he had taken the exhaust manifolds off, or indeed why he hadn't tightened them up fully when he had refitted them, just a mixture of stupidity and haste I suppose. There were various bits in states of being fitted, hanging off etc.

He squirted the petrol in and then cranked the motor, nothing. Tried again and then it fired, catching all of the spilt petrol alight through the small gap in the manifolds. Now it wasn't a huge fire, but a worrying one all the same and my memory of it was of him leaning into the engine bay trying to blow it out and interspersing his speech with huge puffs of wind. It went something like, "puff puff quick get me puff puff a puff fire puff extinguisher puff puff."

I rushed off to the van to get a fire extinguisher and by the time I returned he had actually managed to put the fire out, or more likely the petrol had all been burned. He was looking very sternly at me as if to say, why the hell did you go 50 yards to the van when there are some fire extinguishers on the wall inside the factory (5 yards away) but as he had a very black face and the left hand side of his beard was now gone I found it very difficult to take him seriously. 8)

Richard
 
Unfortunately not, the last picture in the gallery section...

scrap1.jpg


Shows the car just before it was removed for scrap. I was in the process of repairing some rotten areas, but Ian at Rover Classics offered me a very good (pretty much perfect) base unit, so I decided to start again...

Most of the panels from the old car have survived, I have used front and rear wings in my coupe project, and I still have the boot lid and bonnet, along with other customised bits, like the electric front window winders, and boot release mechanism.
 
I have some good news, sort of. Dave emailed me to tell me that my bonnet has been straightened. He wants me to pick it up, fit it back on the car, then return the car to him for the final fettling and to "make it look pretty". I'll head over there some time this week. Goodness knows what the outcome is, or how much it is going to cost me, or if my wife will ever speak to me again...
 
You're so right, Richard!

Anyway, my bonnet is home, looking better/worse that it did when I last saw it. Better because it's straight, worse because it is bare beaten aluminium at the rear corners where Dave's man Simon has been at work. He's done a great job. How he got everything back into the right shape without unpicking and removing the internal frame is a marvel.

Simon decided that my bent hinge is unrepairable, but I'm going to take it and talk to another bloke I know. If he can't sort it out I have the loan of one from a dormant P6 which will tide me over until I can dig up a replacement. Once I've refitted the bonnet I'll return the car to Dave for fairing/painting of the bonnet and the small touch-ups to the scuttle and driver's door. Dave's confident that only the repaired corners need repainting, so he won't break my bank. Going by the work he's done on my doors and wings I'd say he's right.

I have vowed that henceforth I shall never again make a silly, rash decision/mistake ever, for as long as I live.
 
Back when I was a teenager ie 25+ yrs ago I managed to let a van hit a bookies. Basically I was loading a small Suzuki Supercarry with boxes. When I went back in to get some more and came back out the van was gone :shock: :shock: looking to the right down which is a VERY steep hill was the van casually rolling away, well I dropped the boxes and as I was young and fit then raced after the van to stop it before it really got serious :( The van mounted the pavement and hit the corner of the bookies and nobody was hurt thank god!!! well except me who ran headlong into the front of the now stationary van headbutted the windscreen and knocked myself spark out :oops: I kept my job but had to make deliveries in my old VW camper whilst the van was fixed. People still talk about it today :oops:

A hard lesson learnt to make sure you leave a car in gear along with the handbrake fully on!
 
Awesome! I've seen a Suzuki Carry. I reckon a young, fit individual could get in front of an escaping example and, provided the tread on his soles was in good order, bring it to a halt without causing damage. You were just a little slow to react.
 
And now for something a little different! My now-straightened bonnet still needs fairing and painting. Unfortunately, my firm made me redundant a couple of weeks ago due to the ongoing post-earthquake loss of business. While I take a break and consider my options I need to be VERY careful with the money, but I do have plenty of time on my hands. So I went to Dave the painter and asked him if he'd be interested in a labour swap, ie, I go in for a couple of days and do some trained monkey work for him, and he finishes my bonnet (I pay for materials). Not only was he interested, but he gave me something far more interesting to do than blocking and sanding. Next week I'm going to carry out an engine and gearbox swap on his very nice '65 Hillman Super Minx estate. The idea is to pull out the tired 1592cc engine and gearbox and replace them with the reconditioned 1725cc and box currently sitting alongside the car. I keep saying I'm no mechanic but this is well within my capabilities. I'm really looking forward to it! Such are the advantages of being (hopefully only temporarily) unemployed!
 
I keep saying I'm no mechanic but this is well within my capabilities
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From my experience of "SOME" mechanics, the only differences between them and us are that they get paid, and they don't care about the vehicle :roll:

You never know, this maybe a new career for you !
 
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