Not much progress on the Vixen, mainly because there's not much left to do, and also because I've been kept busy with other stuff anyway.
Did get a call from Hugh on Thursday though - he has his car in a garage, who have employed an auto-electrician to try and sort out a few wee repairs, including a broken indicator switch. This auto-electrician has apparently bought 3 different switches for various models of Ford Escort and Fiesta, none of which turned out to be the right one. That's because the correct switch is Ford Sierra Mk1. Not a Mk2 because that doesn't have a horn push in the end, and it has a round hazard switch in the top, not a square one.
Just to confirm, I removed the switch from my car yesterday, and noted the part number - definitely Sierra Mk 1.
So with that confirmed, I order a second-hand switch for Hugh from the bay of dreams, due for delivery on Thursday. The cost is extortionate though - people are buying all these now-rare Sierra bits and relays etc for their Cossies (real ones and pretendy ones) and the prices have risen accordingly.
On to today, the day of the TVR Car Club meeting. Eric and I meet up at Dave's house, where he shows us that...
he has his Griffith's engine back together, and installed in the car! To prove it, he starts it up.
There seems to be a few bits left over though...
So after a discussion of the likelihood of rain (about 30% according to the weather forecast) Dave and I decide to go roof-off for our wee run. We get over the Forth Bridge and the heavens open - it's absolutely pishing down. We divert off the motorway to put the roof on.
Onwards, and the rain goes off, and it turns out to be quite nice. We're already late though, so we're last to arrive at the lunch venue (albeit after a brilliant wee run).
Hugh is already there, and we have a chat about indicator switches. He has brought one of the switches that his man bought - and it IS the correct one! Apparently, though, it doesn't match the wiring in Hugh's car, so doesn't do what it's supposed to do... I can't see how that can be, it's the same switch with the same Ford part number. I've ordered another one anyway, so we'll see what we get eh?
I forgot to say that Claire is with us for the first time in ages, and we end up talking about one of our first TVR trips, to a show in Newark in June 2008. This is quite cathartic for me, since Friday was the 4th anniversary of my son's death, and it's nice to hear stories.
We also talk about other stuff like Hugh's ongoing organisation of the "Pilgrim's Walk" from Culross to St Andrews, a journey of around 60 miles which they are completing in 6 or 7 stages. The original pilgrims didn't have sat nav, an out of scale map and an air ambulance on speed dial, though.
Back home, and I fit the radiator air guides to the Vixen's bonnet temporarily with white cable ties (I have thousands of those so don't want to use
up my black ones at this stage). All fits well, but now that they are fixed in position, I find that I need to shave a tiny bit off the back edge
so that they don't foul on the radiator and stop the bonnet closing.
Here's the nearside one from under the wheelarch, with the bonnet closed...
and here's the offside one.
So that's it - I'll take those off again and it's all ready for the paint shop - booked for 30th of June after my holidays!