Moggy Update - Finally!

So there has been lots of advancements over the past weekend, which have not only been exciting, but also meant that on Sunday night I took Lucy out for a spin for the very first time! After Scout Camp at the weekend, I was extremely excited to be greeted with a covered Lucy there on my drive, and when I found out off my parents that it was ready to go I was extremely excited.

It has been fixed and MOTd, as well as the underside being scrubbed down and wax-oiled so that it is protected against the rain and wet that will be thrown at it over the coming months. However, the work has only just begun. There is still the sealing of the wood to do, as well as polishing, cleaning and touching up the tiny patches of rust, not to mention trying to get l the chrome to a reasonable shine!

There is still a mountain of stuff to do, but already it appears to have brought together the entire family, working together to perfect the car. My dad was really chuffed about being able to drive it home from the garage and proud to tell me about the amount of times he crunched the gears on the way!

Anyway I will keep you posted with further progress, after I have enjoyed driving it round a lot of course, and will try and get some pictures up for you to see the work so far.

Thanks for reading. Follow me on twitter: @peachy146

Moggy Update: Nearly Roadworthy!

Well Well Well. I have to say, a lot has happened in the past few dayssince I last talked about the moggy. Not only that but it has bee themost exciting stuff and we are ever closer to getting her roadworthy.So there I sat, at the dining room table, the morning before I set offto Yorkshire to pick it up, on the phone for 51 minutes and 14 secondsto try and inquire about an off-road insurance so that the moggy wassafe on the trailer on the way back. Well apparently it has to belocked in a garage for it to be eligible, so that was a non-starter.However when we inquired about the difference in the premium from 17to 18, there was, to our surprise, absolutely non! So I gave the niceman a Footman James my card details so he could take a deposit from meand jumped out of the house and straight into a family friend's car,trailer attached on and ready to go.The journey up north was pretty good, only small amounts of Fridayafternoon traffic and a very nice Costa at Wetherby Services. Weproceeded up the A1 to a junction which nobody knows the number of andheaded through a little town called Bedale into an even smallervillage called Newton-Le-Willows. The tyres on the Moggy had stayedpumped up from my Dad's exertion up there a few days prior, the clutchand the brakes freed, but still a flat battery and a dead engine. Wehooked her onto the trailer winch, and without many issues we got itonto the trailer. Then came the issue. The garage which it was storedin faced the opposite way to the farm track andwith the towing car only being a 2 wheel drive, there was no way itwas going to move on the wet grass. After burning the clutch and thetyres, we had to do a bit off imaginative thinking and tow the trailerwith a rope. Eventually, with a bit of persistence we finally got itrighted and on it's way.I spent the entire journey looking out of the back window to check ifLucy had fallen off the trailer. And yes, I have called my car Lucy.For 1 reason only. The number plate is LSD 496G. LSD > The Beatles -Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds > Lucy. Explained? So when we got backwe dropped it off at the local garage, slightly nervous about it'ssafety. I have to say I didn't sleep very well that night, and as soonas I had finished my paper round, I was off to the garage like a shot.What I didn't expect to find was 2 men with their heads in it. What Ialso didn't exect to find an hour later after I had gone home for ashower, was a call to say "It's started," ratified by the sound of itgently chugging away in the background!Needless to say, I am awaiting an MOT for it, while the chaps at thegarage service it and prepare it, and then all that is left to do isto scrub away a small amount of surface rust on the bottom and thenre-coat it in wax oil and rust remedy! In the future I hope tore-varnish and re-seal all of the woodwork, possibly upgrade thebrakes and fit in a nice little audio system so I can play all theclassic 60s tunes on my various road trips around the country. I amalso looking forward very much to further participation with TheMorris Minor Owner's Club and also a trip to the Classic Motor Show atthe end of November! I am looking forward to many more stories andadventures to be had with my Moggy, as well as much toil I shouldimagine!Thanks for reading.Follow me on Twitter: @peachy146

I almost forgot to Update You On My Moggy

Oh yes, I have been so busy recently with the Alrewas Radio and other things going in the Arts Festival that I almost forgot about the Moggy! So I was just popping home to see how progress was going on the chicken run on the last day of the radio when I was presented by the postman with 2 brown envolopes printed with a return address of "Morris Minor Owner's Club." I can't explain the excitment, it was so intense.

So I opened them up to find the July/ August issue with my membership certificate and membership card which now takes pride of place over my driving liscense (yes that's right) in my wallet! So the last installment of the moggy tale was that I had been granted the access to it. However it was in Yorkshire with 4 flat tyres, no MOT and a dead battery.

So now, it is still in Yorkshire. Still 4 flat tyres, still a dead battery and still not roadworthy. However, now that is the only issue stopping me driving it. Over the past few days I have been able to get hold of a tow-car (I couldn't use my gran's Land Rover because she ruined it driving to Devon) and also a trailer, with a winch and a massive amount of straps and ropes to get it back. I have also spoken to the garage down to road and they said that I would be able to drop it off and then get it all fixed and sparkling, just like when it came out of the factory 44 years ago.

Proudly displaying my Moggy Owner's Club sticker on the back window and wih my Minor Matters Magazines (yes that is really what they call the official owner's magazine) in hand I am feeling ever more confident about actually having a car to drive which I can afford to run, repair and insure! Not only that but it is a classic. There is npo denying that it is the ford mondeo estate of it's day, but it is still elagant and incredibly fun to drive. Call me old-fashioned, but the classic cars are the best, adn this is certainly one of the best all-round classic motors you can get, at a reasonable price and availability.

However I do find it slightly sadistic of the insurance companies to give me a qoute of £4,000 for a 2003 ford fiesta with an actual safety-rated with seatbelts already fitted, whereas I can get a 44 year old death-trap on wheels that will not do the speed limit even if the road is 300 miles long, straight and downhill no matter how hard you will it to insured for £985.64! The fact of the matter is, I am pleased that it has turned out that way as I get to drive the best car in the world. Well the best that I can afford, which admitably is limited, but nonetheless.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/peachy146 @peachy146

PROJECT MINOR (Part 1): Official Morris Minor Owners Club Member!

I am pleased to announce that I am now an official member of the Morris Minor Owner's Club of Great Britain, now that I am officially the owner of a lovely 1968 Morris Minor Traveller, navy blue, a dead battery, 4 flat tyres, and seized engine, a leaky roof...

Still I am very much looking forward to the project of doing it up and will keep you well and truly updated with how it is going. Now the first thing is getting it back from North Yorkshire, with the seized engine and the 4 flat tyres.

Nonetheless, first thing tomorrow I am off down the garage to try and scab and trailer in exchange for my car to fix and make happy again. Genuinly can't wait to get in it and drive round the UK in my Moggy!

Twitter: @peachy146

Thanks!