I have got my car back! Finally after a week of waiting for it I can breathe a sigh of relief. But among all of the hassle I realise how anti public transport I am. I think it’s because I’ve used buses and taxis in the past, and I don’t know the routes or timings for the buses, and often when I’ve ordered a taxi it hasn’t turned up. One time I had to walk home from hospital because there were non available. Also since the pandemic I try to avoid groups of people, so buses worry me.
Having a car is a freedom and a curse. I walk less and don’t cycle anymore because I have one. I don’t know what to do if we have to get rid of it. The car is very old and it’s like an old pair of shoes, if it needs repairing I have to pay out because I can’t afford to replace it with another (second hand) one. But at least by keeping it we are not wasting new resources.
Plans, don’t make them! The mechanic was ill yesterday. He’s a lovely chap, and really helpful. But he can’t help being under the weather. So yesterday he said ring today and the car should be done. Unfortunately it isn’t. He fixed the problem with the earthing of the starter motor but today when he tried running it, it was very feeble. It’s worn out basically. So now he’s ordered another one for Friday but he can’t say when it will arrive. I explained ideally I need to go somewhere tomorrow, but as he said he has no control over the deliveries. I have to accept this (the world does not revolve around me). I’m just thankful it’s getting done.
We don’t need a starter motor! Our mechanic found out it was a loose connection and the motor was not earthed to the car body. We still need a gasket (ordered) some oil and a battery but hopefully it won’t be as costly as we thought. Its been a bit of a nightmare, especially since the car is so old, but it has been very reliable so I don’t mind spending a bit more money on it. Goodness knows what I will do if we have to get an electric car. I might have to buy an old, battery driven milk float! I think that’s all I can afford.
The garage we took our car to is closing down! The owner is retiring apparently. We didn’t know when we left our car on the forecourt. I’m trying to find his mobile number so I rang another business that knows him. They might be able to get his mobile number for me but apparently he will be going there later today so all I can hope is that they tell him we have been trying to contact him or that he goes to the garage and sees the car!
We tried other garages, but I would need to take the keys to the one who could help and they are seven or eight miles away, or the local garage but they can’t collect it until the third of February!
All we can do is hope the mechanic gets in touch for now. I would go and bump start the car but I don’t know if we have the strength to push it as its on the flat.
The breakdown man arrived. He asked what had happened and I explained that the battery had been going and in the end the engine would not turn over. I also pointed out there was oil around the engine rocker box gasket. He said he would check a few things.
Knock on the door. Hello, it’s your starter motor. It’s stopped working. It is no more…. I had thoughts of ‘monty pythons’ dead parrot sketch. The battery may still have a bit of life in it, but until the starter motor is replaced its not worth changing. The man had bump started the car, the problem was if he switched it off it would not start again without bump starting it again.
We sat in the car till it warmed up and the snow and ice melted off it. Then I drove it round to the garage we usually go to. Its closed till Monday but I just had to leave the car parked outside. I will ring Monday morning to explain!
For months now our cat flap has been broken. Not the main part of it, but the screen that opens in and out. Basically we had tried to keep the big cat in at night by putting the lock on it, but he forced his way through and broke the flap part into three bits. For a while I glued it together, and taped it up with sellotape, but soon that had been ripped so my next idea was to tie it open with some string. I can’t get down on the floor so I couldn’t swap one catflap for another and I didn’t know if I could get a replacement.
Today my sister came over so we decided to go on a search. The local petshop said it was a staywell catflap and they only stock petsafe ones. So we went to the big petstore. We had managed to take the front and flap mechanism off as it had catches you push in to release it. The store had about seven different sorts but according to the customer assistant out catflap was out of date!
Eventually after much head scratching we found one that was about the right size. We couldn’t take it out of the box so it was a guess but I decided to try it.
When we got home I and looked at it I realised the whole catflap was slightly narrower than the old one so the screw holes were closer together and if I were to use the whole thing we would have to get someone in to re-drill the holes. Plan B was to take the plastic flap out of the new one and put it in the old one? Yes it fitted, but it was too stiff, the diameter of the cylinders that go into the holes in the flap were too big. My sister filed the sides of the cylinders down where there was a flange around them and I used a knife to whittle the inside of the tube shaped bits it fitted in…. Result! The flap now swings freely. There is about a two millimeter gap at the bottom but it hangs in the closed position and opens both in and outward.
Now I’ve just got three confused cats, there isn’t a hole to leap through anymore, but a window out to the garden. Bemused looks! I opened the flap for one of them and opened the door for the other… If they want to come back in they will have to learn to use it!
We have an old car (no not this one) but parts for it are getting harder to find.
I had to have a new drivers side inside door catch because the old one snapped. We couldn’t get the right one so had to wait for something similar from Latvia. I picked it up from the garage and the door was a bit stiff, I got home, locked the car but when I went to open it later it wouldn’t unlock, in the end we got in by unlocking the passenger door and leaning across to open the drivers door from the inside. We took it back to garage and they oiled the catch and took the surround taken off as it looks like it was catching on it.. Fingers crossed….I don’t want to scrap the car because of it..
Three year old digital drawing. Dots and swirls! The closest to a tree I will have this year. The cats climbed up the last one so I’m not risking my old glass baubles. Plus my cats are bigger this year and with three instead of two… Disaster would be bound to occur.
Did I ever mention the Christmas eve my husband tripped over after too much beer and snapped the tree in half? About twenty years ago. I stayed up and tied it together with tinsel, rehung the baubles and but the lights back on it. When he got up in the morning he thought he had dreamt it happening!
The plastic catch inside my drivers door should look like this…..
But it now looks like this because it snapped. It’s hard to find a replacement. My friend has looked at ebay for me but there are lots of variations. At the moment all I’ve got to open it with is a cable tie I have to pull forward to actuate the lever. This was done by the nice man from the AA, who I have to say was here in a few minutes. I’ve booked it in to a garage and I am not scrapping the car for the want of one small catch, even if I have to import it! Watch this space.
The trike is restored! Very pleased, my hubbies tricycle was damaged last week when he turned. One of the back wheels had buckled! The tyre and tube had come off but the tube was still inflated.
We rang a couple of bike shops and were advised to contact Brian Rourke Hand-built Bikes in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent.
We gave them a ring and were told to bring the trike in. When we got there, there was a lot of sucking of teeth and questioning if they could do it? But yes, they would see what they could do. Then on Monday they rang, they couldn’t source the right size wheels, (26″), so they suggested it might not be worth fixing, which was understandable. But I argued that it was a historic machine. It had been ridden in time trials and my hubby had come third in a 25 mile time trial about thirty years ago. It would be a challenge. Also they could maybe use 700c wheel rims and spokes instead? Cue chat with the mechanic. Yes they would order them in.
Yesterday we had a phone call, the trike was done! It’s got 700c rear wheels built onto the original hubs, 32 spokes per wheel. The other back wheel was eaten away with rust so they replaced that too. Also a new 26″ wheel on the front (it has less spokes than the back wheels so they could source that). The wheels are all Mavic. New white walled tyres and tubes on 1 3/4″ rims. Also a new front side pull brake. It cost a lot, but it was worth the money. Call it my anniversary present to him.
Mallaband-Brown 