the governor is back alive

[craig12]

after months of not running , due to a flat battery , my old mate the governor is now starting up again , it was good to hear the magnum start up , it started a lot better without any foot pedal , and no choke , pressing the gas pedal had no effect whatsoever on starting , not even trying to start , but as soon as I had no right pedal , up he fired , a bit rough running and a very strong smell of fuel in the garage , but its not ventilated with any open windows , a bit of fuel marking on the garage floor just below the exhaust tailpipe , I do love this car , ive got really attatched to it now , I was going to sell as we,d looked at houses with no garage at all , meaning it would have to sit outside or under a cover , ive got the money to make this a nice standard car , but in all honesty ive no idea how much it would take to make a nice example to take to shows , I once saw a programme on sky called chasing classic cars , in which wayne carrini states you can overspend on a restoration , in other words , if you spend say £8000 to restore , your magnum will still only be worth £4000 , but isn't it just the love of owning a rare viva /magnum whatever year that makes us stand out , what makes this sound like good money to put into the magnum is simply this, escorts can be £30000-£50000 , renault clio williams mk 1 can be £15000 , im happy with the governor , yes its a bit rough , but im going to put a few thousand on him and see where we end up
mot time next week and lets see what he fails on

[1972nail]

Congrats on getting it going. It's refreshing to hear of someone wanting to spend on a car even though they don't expect a large return on their investment. Too often we here of cars being bought and then sold on because of loss of interest .... at a large price hike to boot.

A car doesn't have to be the most beautiful, best restored, most desirable, most perfect or whatever to be very well received at shows. I'm all for owning a great looking car but one that is as best looking you can do within your budget. I couldn't afford lots of new parts, a professional paint job or even deemed it necessary to carry out a precautionary an engine rebuild but I worked within my budget and produced that a believe to be a nice looking car. And one that I enjoy.

I don't go in for prizes or awards at shows, I don't expect any complements or praise of the vehicle but instead like to drive it because I can drive something that very few others can. And I don't think I'll be selling it anytime soon!

[craig12]

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[Colin]

Well said, both Craig and David.

I often think my old HBs are a bit too shabby to show, and I would love to be able to afford full bare shell restorations but, living in the real world, it's just great to be able to own and drive the cars - and gradually improve them over the years.

There's really no point in trying to make a profit out of a concourse restoration project unless a) you happen to already have a fully equipped workshop b) either never sleep and never get tired or have a team of fully skilled staff at your disposal for free and c) the car is going to be worth at least £50k when finished. Otherwise it's going to cost!

So, true enthusiasts just do it for the love of the thing - usually over many years!

[craig12]

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[craig12]

so much for bringing the governor back to life now ive got a screech when reving , poss fanbelt , and when its idling at low revs , reving gives a sort of lumpy backfire , , I don't ask for much in life why me ? it didn't have a screech yesterday whats different apart from 24 hours

[1972nail]

A slack fan / alternator belt can cause a screech but it is also dependent on the state of the battery charge. If the battery or electrical system needs more power from the alternator then the alternator is harder to drive, hence the increased tendency for a belt to slip and screech.

[Fred Dukes]

Fettling and fixing is what Classic Car ownership is all about - it would be boring if nothing happened - ( says he who decided to take The Baron to the shed for a check over prior to MOT and finished up with petrol starvation half way out on a 7 mile trip - finished up someone took me to the shed for a tow rope and we towed The Baron in with Peggy - spent the rest of the weekend taking the electric petrol pump out and cleaning it and putting it back- all back to normal but still need to do the pre MOT check )

[craig12]

isn't it funny how sometimes you take stuff for granted checked the radiator last night, half empty

[1972nail]

isn't it funny how sometimes you take stuff for granted checked the radiator last night, half empty

Or half full depending on your outlook....