It has begun..
Discussion
Several carefree weeks of Chimaera owning* came to an end today. I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. Engine turning over ever slower on starting. Just catching before expiring. You know the thing. Still - I had put off the inevitable. Stored it in the garage, radio off, alarm off etc.
Went for a rare drive to my favourite local tyre / exhaust / money-laundering operation to find out about a pair of 205/60/15 SE02's (mine is a VERY early Chimaera). Apparently Bridgestone never made these - but that is another story...
I walked out and pushed my way past the grease monkeys who had congregated around the car and found the Good Lady seated in the passenger seat happily listening to the radio. THE F*CKING RADIO. She might as well have stuck the headlights on, chilled herself with the blowers, and smoked a fat cigar.
Anyway, once the red mist had cleared and the Good Lady had been helped to her feet I tried to start the engine and 'click'. Nothing. This had a strange effect on the oily creaures in attendance. One Grease Monkey rushed off to get his tools. Another got the battery application book, and a third (the manager) started muttering about being able to buy a a new watch earlier than he expected.
Anyway - you know the rest. I have to say it's not AS difficult as I had been led to believe, and some pillock had fitted an 063 in the battery box, so no wonder it was wholly dead when we tested it.
Now the battery has been replaced I am searching for new things to worry about. The gearbox rattle is a good place to start - although I suspect this is just a thrust bearing. And the wishbones. Despite what David Gerald said, they are too rusty for my liking. I have been hitting them with a hammer as hard as I can for the past three weeks to prove them wrong and they have not chipped or broken, so I suppose they are sound. And tomorrow, the carbon breather canister comes out to rectify the large percussion instrument I seem to have acquired in my boot.
* This is a complete lie. I have spent three weeks, under it in the garage, flat on my back, painting the chassis. I now know how Michaelangelo felt.
Went for a rare drive to my favourite local tyre / exhaust / money-laundering operation to find out about a pair of 205/60/15 SE02's (mine is a VERY early Chimaera). Apparently Bridgestone never made these - but that is another story...
I walked out and pushed my way past the grease monkeys who had congregated around the car and found the Good Lady seated in the passenger seat happily listening to the radio. THE F*CKING RADIO. She might as well have stuck the headlights on, chilled herself with the blowers, and smoked a fat cigar.
Anyway, once the red mist had cleared and the Good Lady had been helped to her feet I tried to start the engine and 'click'. Nothing. This had a strange effect on the oily creaures in attendance. One Grease Monkey rushed off to get his tools. Another got the battery application book, and a third (the manager) started muttering about being able to buy a a new watch earlier than he expected.
Anyway - you know the rest. I have to say it's not AS difficult as I had been led to believe, and some pillock had fitted an 063 in the battery box, so no wonder it was wholly dead when we tested it.
Now the battery has been replaced I am searching for new things to worry about. The gearbox rattle is a good place to start - although I suspect this is just a thrust bearing. And the wishbones. Despite what David Gerald said, they are too rusty for my liking. I have been hitting them with a hammer as hard as I can for the past three weeks to prove them wrong and they have not chipped or broken, so I suppose they are sound. And tomorrow, the carbon breather canister comes out to rectify the large percussion instrument I seem to have acquired in my boot.
* This is a complete lie. I have spent three weeks, under it in the garage, flat on my back, painting the chassis. I now know how Michaelangelo felt.
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