Then, a week before the show I changed cars, I know...bit last minute, but the deal had to be done.
So anyway, I had a week to weld on a wheelarch, a wing, a few patches to a sill, paint and prep the car...oh and fit a rear seatbelt...the seatbelt was done on the saturday morning, cutting it fine yeah?
So off we went, merrily cruising along, everything going fine, ( except a small intermittant hesitation, more on this later) until just outside Oakham, when the fan bet started to squeal. So I pulled into the co-op carpark to see if I could fix it.
Oh god it was hot down there...i melted my arm on the exhaust, burnt my other arm on the rad... so i decided i could put up with the squeal till i got to the show so i could let it all cool down a bit before going down there again.
so off we went, after putting an extra tenner in the tank as it looked like it was using a bit of fuel. ( possible warning sign)
So we turned off the A47 onto the road to MH the B6047. (Still hesitant, still missing, still squealing) when we had about 7 miles left to travel there was a funny sound from the engine bay, a kind of twang and a slap, and something hit the underside of the bonnet I think, and the ignition light came on.. so uh-oh, that's the belt then
I don't know why, maybe it's the recklessness in me
( for recklessness read 'idiot' ) I decided to push on, the wind speed would keep it cool right? So I hit traffic, broken down horseboxes, tractors, and inconsiderate cyclists and on average managed about 30mph grrrrrrrr
So after nearly missing my turn and upsetting an Audi driver with my swift exit from the B6047 I finaly got to the showground, came through the gate (engine very very hot) got to the entry fee bit, and told the guy my issue and could he 'hurry the f*** up before i cooked the old girl' ( i was obviously a lot more polite than this but i was stressed) . He suggested i turn off the engine, er...no...I might not start again, nothing charging the battery you know, so he trundled off to get change... from Leicester I assume 'cos he took so long...then he needed to get me a map....and write out a day pass......(engine is really very hot now) ... then after escaping him i hit the photo guy queue . . . .oh my god... how slow? at billing we just drove past the photo guy...this Market Harborough dude must be new to this! finally it's my turn, he asks me to stop, i shout 'No way she's cooking up' as I jerk past . I swing into the viva club stand, ask some guy if I can park next to his, but he directs me to a different spot that requires more maneuvering, but not too much...i'm stressed remember..all I wanna do is stop. But I duly park in the allotted space and kill ( not literally hopefully) the engine. Whew.
From then on it was a pretty fine day, chatted with lots of people, some great friendly sorts who were helpful, especially the people in the estate we were parked next to, and Marcus Cooper, who gave me a fan belt to use which held all the way home, thankyou mate
....can't believe the autojumble had none for my Magnum Actually I was pretty disappointed with the autojumble, it was a bit 'sparse' ... but anyway we had a good day.
So after wandering around and taking a few pictures ( not many as a) I couldn't see my screen 'cos of the glare from the sun, and b) a lot of them turned out all 'bitty' as i'm assuming the sun and the heat caused my phone to boil up as well as my engine ) I returned to the car to fit the fanbelt, I also was going to investigate the poor running, so after fitting the belt, i went to remove the dizzy cap, damn those spring clips were tight, seriously tight, i considered getting a screw driver to prise them off, then I thought, with my luck i'll probably break the damn thing, and I then also noticed It looked as if the car was running electronic ignition so I coudn't have messed with anything anyway, so I left well enough alone.....Oh if I had only taken that cap off, I would have sorted out the running issue in a second...hindsight huh....
Anyway whilst being under the bonnet, a familiar voice ( a mate from Melton ) said...whilst laughing, 'not your day is it? bonnet up, fiddling under the engine, and a flat tire !'
'what???'
'You've got a flat mate...totally flat'
Sure enough n/s rear totally flat, so was my spare...and i didn't have a jack. What happened there then? it was ok when I parked up. but now was a pancake? jeez.....
So I got out my portable pump and set it to work, all the while my mate from Melton laughing saying that is never gonna fill up...but it did, and after buying a can of tyreweld from the extortionate petrol station at the next roundabout, it held all the way home.
finally a break...sort of... She ran like total *Bleep* all the way home, missing, chuffing, running on 2 or 3 only , seriously jerking us around, spluttering and coughing and generally having a fit at any hill ...oh and needing yet another stop at a petrol station because of how low she was getting...I can only assume i was leaving a trail of un-burnt fuel all the way home
well...remember the missing? remember me deciding NOT to take off the dizzy cap? yeah... I do too
I took off the dizzycap later in the day, after a little nap to clear my head and get over the whiplash of the drive home. The metal spring tab on the rotor arm was twisted and bent right over to one side, I can only assume that when the cap was fitted after the accuspark was put in, it must've caught the contact and pushed it somehow, I straightened it out, and took the old girl for a spin, she didn't miss a beat, ran beautifully...
If only I had took the cap off earlier
anyway..here's the few pics I took . . .
Oh I bought a t-shirt from the club stand as my daughter had an 'accident' on the back seat ( yeah I know, I gotta wash the bloody seat too...good job its hot innit) and when we got home, she wanted to try out her new 'tybo' tie-dying machine . . . . .
)
).
- went to his van and came back with a mini rotor arm saying "we can prob adapt this - there is no spring metal to rub on the centre brush but the spark should jump the gap - also the locating tab is 180 degrees out to the viva one so if we swap the plug leads round...…!" As he said that there was a blur of hand movement and he said "there try that" - I turned the key and it all fired up 
