A40 - No news = Good news

[N Dentressangle]

I don't put any grease in those either. The ones one the Disco are just plastic caps with no hole:

and no-one fills them with grease.

[Scrubworks]

13 hours ago, Matty said:

So we found a specialist selling mk3 rear screen rubbers. Bought one and fitted it or didn't. Far too fat and glass wouldn't go in the hole.  Rang him up.       " Yeah its for a GT6 really but they fit". No it fucking doesn't

PARTS GUYS. FFS WHY DO THEY

But yeah, fitting older screens where they have a sharp curve at the side is always a complete pain in the dick. The final boss is of course split-screens.

[Matty]

I've attempted to make some videos. This is difficult for me being technologically subnormal. I made a video of me driving it over the moors and back. I did this by putting my phone in an old phone holder cable tied to the passenger seat head rest and videoing in selfie mode. What I ended up with was 20 mins of the dashboard and trees. And selfie mode transfered the handing of everything from right to left. Sigh 🙄

So instead, if it works, have a walk round video showing where the car is at now. @worldofceri it doesn't seem the same car now that you brought to me 3 years ago!

 

[N Dentressangle]

Very smart.

You'll be taking that to shows and sitting in it with a thermos and sandwiches soon 😉

[Matty]

41 minutes ago, N Dentressangle said:

Very smart.

You'll be taking that to shows and sitting in it with a thermos and sandwiches soon 😉

I've taken it to two. I park it up and rapidly walk away before anyone can ask questions 🤣

[worldofceri]

8 hours ago, Matty said:

@worldofceri it doesn't seem the same car now that you brought to me 3 years ago!

Indeed! But I liked it then and I like it even more now. It’s a credit to you.

Funny that you should tag me, I just caught up with your thread this morning. 

[Matty]

37 minutes ago, worldofceri said:

Indeed! But I liked it then and I like it even more now. It’s a credit to you.

Funny that you should tag me, I just caught up with your thread this morning. 

Happy days. The fear really hit when you sent me this picture as I waited round at my dad's 😆

[Matty]

Mum and Dad have took the kids down to my Auntie in Essex for a few days. So weds night i took the Austin over to his and left in the Spitfire. The intention being to do a few little jobs but then a change is as good as a rest.

Considering I only live 10 mile away I did well covering 50 mile home 😁. Couple of beauty shots.

I've attempted to rehang the stainless exhaust but getting it off the ground enough at home is hard work. Be much easier at our Tonys on the four poster. Can't ever hang an exhaust proper unless the car is bearing it's weight on all 4 wheels.

New (old but good) window winder on the drivers door, plus new check strap and sill carpet glued down. And tickled the idle speed upto about 1000 rpm. Or 900. Depends what the car feels like. Fuel injection. Gods own invention. Previously it idles so low you could here the gear sets rattling.

Easiest cars in the world to work on 

[High Jetter]

3 minutes ago, Matty said:

Fuel injection

Um, you seem to have carbs?

[Matty]

4 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Um, you seem to have carbs?

Come on kidder. Hence fuel injection being gods gift to smooth running vehicles. Ie fuck carburation 😁

[tooSavvy]

I once did a *kwality bodge on a spitty...

A continental colleague of my BIL bought a tatty spit to take home, over on the North Shields ferry.

Unnerved by the cars wayward steering, he asked BIL if he knew someone 'cheepz' might have a gander 🤔... Enter, yours truly.

I popped the bonnet and got BIL to twist the wheel and I watched the rack move L/R with little tyre movement 😮. The rack was held with U bolts and some rubber bushings so, having only a suitable size spanner, I loosened the U bolts off and wrapped coarse grit Black & Decker disc pads [folded back on themselves/grit both sides] and fed one under the U bolts either side + cranked up really tight!! (I was 17..).

He went home... I heard nothing more...

🚙💨

[N Dentressangle]

6 minutes ago, tooSavvy said:

I once did a *kwality bodge on a spitty...

A continental colleague of my BIL bought a tatty spit to take home, over on the North Shields ferry.

Unnerved by the cars wayward steering, he asked BIL if he knew someone 'cheepz' might have a gander 🤔... Enter, yours truly.

I popped the bonnet and got BIL to twist the wheel and I watched the rack move L/R with little tyre movement 😮. The rack was held with U bolts and some rubber bushings so, having only a suitable size spanner, I loosened the U bolts off and wrapped coarse grit Black & Decker disc pads [folded back on themselves/grit both sides] and fed one under the U bolts either side + cranked up really tight!! (I was 17..).

He went home... I heard nothing more...

🚙💨

IIRC the bushings quickly get soaked in oil and get spongy, so nothing wrong with that fix IMO!

The Spit exhaust isn't the easiest to get right - the bit where it runs under the rear of the chassis is quite tight, and it needs a bit of fettling with all the joints loose to find the sweet spot. Two pairs of hands help too: one person can twist the front whilst the second sorts the back end.

[Matty]

Burnley Classic Show at Townley Park. My local one. Always a really good show. Tons of interesting and varied stuff. Non of which I photoed so it's a use your imagination job.

Very official

Mine and Dads

Arse end of the job.

Very enjoyable. I love getting stuck talking to all the old boys. Dad and Uncle walk off sharp and pull faces at me but I like the tales.

Time to have a few now before work tomorow. 

No other updates. Haven't broken anything yet. 

Did fit mirrors to my Dads. Preferred it without but surprisingly hard without, especially motorways and bypasses. The bullets were his choice. I think it looks ok anyhow.

Cheers all.

[Matty]

Just using it at the moment so no momentous updates. Nothing broke (yet) few little jobs to do but they can wait for winter.

Could be my imagination but I'd swear its getting quicker as the miles pile on. Real little flier. You can see why the A series lived for so long. Slight cheat I know considering how much has been done to mine but still.

Have some moody shots taken tonight. Last one is outside one of the first places I plied my trade as a machine mechanic. Local soap works. Long closed but happy memories.

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, Matty said:

Just using it at the moment so no momentous updates. Nothing broke (yet) few little jobs to do but they can wait for winter.

Could be my imagination but I'd swear its getting quicker as the miles pile on. Real little flier. You can see why the A series lived for so long. Slight cheat I know considering how much has been done to mine but still.

Have some moody shots taken tonight. Last one is outside one of the first places I plied my trade as a machine mechanic. Local soap works. Long closed but happy memories.

Running in. Only pass, if you're fast enough.

[comfortablynumb]

On 29/06/2025 at 15:54, Matty said:

Very enjoyable. I love getting stuck talking to all the old boys.

When dad used to take my mums woody mini to the Harpenden classics on the common show, he took great delight in talking to anyone and everyone. 

Both mum and dad were more than happy to let kids sit in the mini and pretend to drive, have their photos taken etc etc, made them really happy.

Best one we had was a bloke who was absolutely delighted to see it, and asked excitedly if the rear door hinges creaked ( they all do)

We let him open and close the doors, he was the happiest bloke on the showground, even if his other half thought he was completely insane!

Apparently his aunt had one, they used to ride around in the boot as kids, that was his overwhelming memory of it.

Small things... 🙏

Glad it's still providing sterling service, nice to have that after the effort you've put in 

[Tommyboy12]

The A-series definitely gets better as it loosens up. Until it hits about 60k miles when it becomes too loose and starts to need a rebuild again 😅

[Matty]

51 minutes ago, Tommyboy12 said:

The A-series definitely gets better as it loosens up. Until it hits about 60k miles when it becomes too loose and starts to need a rebuild again 😅

The current fly in the ointment is my new rebuilt gearbox zings and fizzes on the overrun in 3rd and 4th. Such a shame as its the quickest and sweetest changing one I've had. The actual vehicle mechanic in the family rode with me to a show the other weekend and pronounced it non internal and said it wouldn't bother him.

Ah well. I've bought a new anti vibration kit for the lever turret. And I've still 18 months warranty left.