I have a car- now the hard work begins!

Today I picked up the car that should take me across the UK and back on my Lands End to John O’Groats adventure. The car is a 1968 Morris Minor in smoke grey. She has an 1098 cc engine and at her prime was good for just over 70mph- although that was a while back and like us all she is probably not as spritely and energetic as she used to be!

There is something very exciting about buying a new car, firstly there is the nervousness that it may not be as good a s you think, then there is the excitement of giving over the cash and getting the keys and finally the joy of the first solo drive- and in the case of classic cars the risk that you won’t make it home!

We collected the car from Eastleigh and drove it down the M3 and onto the A34. On the test drive and around town she behaved fine but once onto the motorway I noticed a distinct reluctance to perform.

If she was going any faster than 60 or under load (going up a hill for example) she started to pop and fart in the most disconcerting way and lose power.

At one point I had to pull over and let her have a bit of a rest and this is on a 20 mile journey so I don’t think she is quite ready for the big one!

That said with such a simple engine there were only a few things that could be causing this problem- either fuel starvation or ignition problems.

When we arrived home after a journey where our fingers were tightly crossed I popped up the bonnet to see which one of these was most likely.

From what I could see the plugs and leads and presumably points and distributor had not been replaced for a while so these seemed like likely candidates. While I had my nose under the bonnet I also noticed some oil leaks and a blowing exhaust.

Add onto this the repairs that need to be done to the seat bases, the rear tie bar bushes and the fact that the MOT expires a day after we start on our journey and you may think that I have bought myself a whole heap of trouble.

But fear not- none of these things are expensive to fix and the seller was very honest with me about the leaks and bushes and to be honest you would be mad to consider taking any classic on a long drive without a full service- add to that the bargain price I paid (£1350) and I am confident with a few days work she will be running sweetly.

Parts for the Morris Minor are really cheap and I was able to secure all the bits I needed plus a few cosmetic parts for just £127- this included plugs, leads, filters, condenser, coil, seat bases x2 seat webbing x2, seat clips (40), rocker cover gasket, sump gasket etc etc.

A quick jump onto Amazon and I had a Haynes manual sorted and I have already persuaded my brother to help me do all the work in a couple of weeks.

I have already started compiling a list of jobs to be done which I will publish shortly- the biggest challenge will be ignoring the cosmetic jobs as she could use a re-spray . I keep telling myself that the car may not be any good after the trip so I mustn’t do too much tarting up.

Plus I hope she will be smothered in corporate sponsors logos which will cover up the holes and filler any way!

139 miles, 4 cars and nothing bought (yet!)

The weekend started in the most frustrating way . I had been watching a reasonable looking MGBGT on E-bay. Unfortunately the auction ended at 11.20 on Friday morning – so work interfered with my ability to bid! I consoled myself with the fact that the £1200 price would undoubtedly go through the roof in the last minutes of bidding . WRONG some one bought that little beauty for only £1260!

Saturday morning arrived and the girls were all very excited at the prospect of viewing 4 cars in one day!

First stop Devizes where a dealer had an Austin A30 (who we christened Millicent) and an MGBGT for sale.

Lynn discounted the MG immediately and having started it I can’t blame her- it was very close to the budget and made some expensive sounding clunks from the gear box/ drive shaft area.

The A30 looked great and was just a joy to sit in. To start it up you first needed to switch on the ignition and then pull the toggle switch that worked the started motor.

It started first time and ran nicely so the whole family climbed in and we took it for a test drive. It was great fun – particularly the trafficators (indicators that pop out the side of the car) but the steering got a bit vague at anything over 35 and braking was probably what you’d expect on a 55 year old car.

The safe top speed was probably about 45-50 mph which would seriously extend our adventure from the planned 4 days to closer to a week.

Finally the car would have left only £5 in the kitty and I would definitely have wanted to fit seat belts so grudgingly we moved on.

At Eastleigh we met a 1968 Morris Minor called Molly. The kids liked Molly immediately and although cosmetically she was showing her age a bit (some one had given her the equivalent of Botox more then a couple of times) she was exactly as advertised- a decent honest classic.

She started up on the button and the owner gave us a tour of the small bits and pieces we would need to do. Sadly we couldn’t test drive her as she was blocked in by scaffolding but that comes down this week so we will be back – probably with a fistful of fivers.

The kids were now severely cheesed off having wasted an entire day being hauled around the county in the back of my car (which they hate because apparently I drive too fast).

Our final stop was an MGBGT in Winchester. The owner was fantastic taking pity on the girls and inviting them in to play in his garden while Lynn and I took the car for a rapid spin. It drove nicely with no uncomfortable noises. There was the usual MG rust but the price was very competitive. We drove home for a well earned Chinese and on the way I received a text from the MG owner offering to drop the price by £200 to support our charity run.

We have only got one car left to view on the shortlist (another Morris Minor as previously featured in the blog). At present I think the family are pushing towards Molly – who seems like the practical choice with 4 seats (for children and dog) but I do so love sports cars!

I will reserve judgement until I have test driven Molly.

Here comes Noddy!

The fund raising is going really well and I am extremely proud of myself as I have managed to create a facebook account and publish on there too. (With some help!)

Unfortunately the search for a car is not going quite as planned.

Of the cars I posted last week nearly all of them have been sold before I even got a chance to view them and very few new options have appeared on the classic car websites.

Worse still I have had to abandon my plans to get an MG midget or Sprite as I went and had a look at one and it took only a matter of seconds to realise I was far too big for it.

My legs were too long and my shiny bald head stuch up over the top of the windscreen - according to my wife I looked like Noddy!

I am currently pursuing a couple of Morris Minors ( I would really like a convertible but no luck yet) and a rather nice looking MG BGT which is in Cardiff.

The plan is to try and book some test drives this weekend.

I am sure as soon as I have the car I will find that there are lots of jobs to entertain me and I am really eager to get cracking.

Recently one of my sponsors suggested that Lynn and I should do the trip in period costume i.e Flares and mini dress for the 70s etc. If I can achieve £1000 in sponsorship by my birthday on 28th of Feb I (and reluctantly Lynn) will do it.