So, I had an appointment this morning, which is why the panic to get a car back on the road. Chester, bless his little rubber feet, is waiting for a part. Waiting for a part for a volvo 340 is much like waiting for Lemon Soaked Paper Napkins, although the garage have yet to ring back and say they “can’t get it” which is what usually happens with any non-service part.
Anyhow, so, poor Rebecca was yanked unceremoniously from the garage, and we made it, eventually, to the garage for the MOT, as I said yesterday.
She didn’t pass.
This is not wholly surprising, although it was quite irritating. Then things didn’t go quite to plan. At the MOT test station she decided she didn’t want to start again. After about 10 minutes they managed to get her to go, querying whether the vacuum advance on the distributor was playing up. It does, it must be said, not seem to be doing a lot. They suggested it was sticking, but given that I couldn’t get it to move at all I’m not sure how it would be sticking.
Anyhow, we pootled home. And then I tried to get into our garage. Now, getting into our garage’s second bay is a fine art, ideally practiced with two people. Mainly because one of the door currently sticks on the ground outside the garage, which is something I can rectify with a shovel and some time. I may do so today. There only being one of me (something of an inconvenience I’ve often felt) it took a little longer than would perhaps be desirable. Also, on one of the shuffles to get her aligned, she stalled and would…not….restart.
I unclipped the distributor cap, had a wiggle and a check over. Nothing was obviously amiss, and I went to clip it back together, only… PING! Away went the distributor cap clip into the gravel outside our garage. Gravel and weeds. I fished around on the floor. I moved the car back and fished around on the floor. I found a small magnet and my work lamp and fished around on the floor.
After a while of fishing I decided that this was a stupid way to spend an evening and zip-tied the distributor cap to the distributor.
She instantly started and purred into the garage with only a little more shuffling. Having got her in I made a start on the list of three fails:
– Exhaust hanger broken (yes, Nikki, I forgot about it)
– Exhaust blowing at front silencer
– Tight spot on steering (I’d noticed that on the way and couldn’t work out whether it was me imagining it or not).
After a lot of searching I located the spare exhaust hanger, trimmed it down and got it fitted.
Then I slathered the back of the silencer (which has already been welded twice) in exhaust paste.
Then I popped the steering wheel back off, and the cover back off the indicator switch and found that whilst I was arsing around with the steering column mount* I’d managed to move the indicator switch so that the cancelling pin was just fouling on one of the mounts, and thus creating a tight spot. Rejigging things showed, again, what an appauling fit the new indicators are but eventually I managed to hit the point where the cancelling mechanism is more or less in the right place and it’s not fouling. Unfortunately, en-route I found that the cancelling mechanism still isn’t working right :(
Anyhow, this morning, with my appointment at 9:45, I fled the house at 8:18, pulling up at the garage at 8:25. She was in, rechecked and back out by 8:45, and off I walked with my shiny, shiny MOT certificate.
Then I went to my local post office which, the Post Office website tells me issues tax disks. They don’t. However, Church Road post office does, which I arrived at at 9:14 (by my Moskva). New (free) tax disk obtained, and I flew across Bristol to my appointment, arriving fully 4 minutes early. Which is pretty darned impressive, I feel.
And Rebecca? She’s lovely. And later today I shall take her to a jetwash and get all the dust off her, because she deserves it.
*I’d forgotten to fit the plastic ring, and then done so without checking whether I’d disturbed the indicator switch mount
