Blog
Taking my temperature
Wednesday 23rd March 2016
Last year, a good-for-nothing low life broke into the blue car's garage. Luckily, he didn't steal the car. I imagine it would have been too difficult to start and, anyway, it couldn't be sold on the open market without it becoming obvious to me or other members of the Vintage Austin Register. There is a small community of Austin enthusiasts and word soon spreads when a car is advertised for sale.
There were no tools left in the garage so the thief was out of luck. But, bizarrely, he did steal the radiator cap, complete with temperature gauge. I was able to buy a new radiator cap from a club member from Derbyshire who recently had a batch specially made but finding a replacement temperature gauge proved a more tricky assignment. You can buy brand new gauges but I wanted an original 1920s Wilmott Breedon unit complete with appropriate signs of its age. You can find them on Ebay but often, they are ridiculously over-priced or they are the wrong model or age or don't work. I had resolved to go to the big autojumble at Beaulieu in May where there would be a good chance of finding the right one. But the fates smiled on me the other week when I met my cousin Arthur for the first time in ages. Somehow we got to talking about my loss and he casually said " oh yes, I have one of those. You can have it if you like". Apparently he had acquired this many years ago and it had been sitting in his garage gathering dust ever since. It soon arrived in the post and I promptly fitted it to the car. It was a perfect fit. Fantastic!
The blue car now proudly sports the temperature gauge and looks great. Thank you mate!