Blog
Happy New Year
Sunday 30th December 2018
Well, another year gores flying past! The vintage cars were out and about last year and I thoroughly enjoyed driving numerous brides to their weddings. But now is the time to dust them down and start getting ready for next Spring and Summer.
In anticipation of another Beast from the East, I have 10 litres of antifreeze at the ready and this will go into the cars next week. After that, each vehicle gets an oil-change and thorough service with the grease gun. In addition to all of that, I usually take on a winter project. Last year I removed the gearbox from the Kiwi car, had the internal gears totally replaced with brand new ones and then replaced the gearbox. That may sound straightforward but there were several problems along the way and I ended up fitting that heavy gearbox three times. This year I shall be renewing the whole braking system on each car. As they have cable-operated brakes, this involves taking the mechanical components apart, checking for wear and replacing items as necessary. This doesn't require the brute strength to fit a gearbox but it does need an awful lot of patience. The final process is to balance the brakes so they all bite at the same time. This involves crawling around underneath the vehicle, adjusting the cables, testing and re-adjusting until everything is perfect.
The work on the brakes can be very frustrating and time-consuming but it is essential for safety. Also, I have been appointed magazine editor of the Vintage Austin Register and I ran an article on safety checks for vintage cars. So I feel duty-bound to heed my own advice and make this my Winter project.