My DLM rebuild (photo heavy)

So the Next long trip,
Blackpool. via the scenic route
266 miles and what should have been 5 1/2 hours turned into 8 1/2 hours
Up the A1 before Worksop the car started to sound sick and over heat.
Manifold were loose, the one By spanner I didn't have.
AA called, found that the washers that should have been under the nuts had been missed.
Being a steel exhaust and ally inlet the mixed metals expand and contract unevenly,
washers compensate for this.
also found one of the studs was missing
but we managed to get the car running as well as possible,
seemed ok still I got me home again some 400 miles or more later.



Home again ,Carbs off again, manifolds off again to replace the stud, found to be broken.
Bit of a fiddle but managed to fix it.
That was last June

Being a quiet shy reserved quiet type of person I don't say a lot
And if you believe that, your a friend for life
Just noticed Post 102

OK been to Blackpool voluntarily, must be a fool going again next year

So now have attended a couple of shows and a few mile.later, just over 1200 since the MOT.
Was invited to enter on August 1st 2010 a classic car country run from Battlesbridge to Aldham in Essex approx. 34 miles I did about 10 miles to be greeted with this AGAIN AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH





Gasket number three blown.
Head off again, getting good at this, one advantage with a side valve, and this engine.
Head / gasket change about 30-45 minutes,
be lucky if you can find the engine on a modern in that time.
Distributor off, dynamo off, top hose off, 13 bolts and head off.
No electrics to disconnect..
This time under closer examination the steel head was found to have very fine pitting.
So of to get it skimmed, 20 though had to be removed.
Couple of days later back on the road.
So far, touch wood, all OK.

On the trip to Thorney I was able to put my kit in the camper,
On t6he trip to Blackpool no such luxury, being a classic one tends to carry tools and spares that are not readily available.
I have a hold all in the ??boot?? only just enough room.
So packed a small rucksack, no room.
So Blackpool luggage was a change of cloths and a wash bag.
Was among friends so not too much to worry about.
Anyway I built a little trailer using a Roof box.

　
A few improvements since on the road
As mentioned the original wheel was misplaced so ebay and £30 later.
Bought it as a 15 inch but it is 16.

Wheel one
Too big at 16 inch, I'm not that small any more and don't bend so easy now.



Wheel two
This was the original.
Wood rim under the leather, had to lag it as the wood was splitting
Now have the time to renovate it I will do so.
And at £300+ for the same wheel on eBay, it might pay for a project.
ALSO notice the colour coded rain wear, and hat


　
Wheel three.
From an MG via my nephew.
It was in bad shape and had to be rebuilt, stitching was all gone and a couple of holes in the leather


Not the best of shots, and as you can see I plan to make a tonneau cover


Final wheel
This was bought at Battlesbridge show and auto jumble for £10
Needed a bit of surgery but is a nice fit to the hand, more important the car fits better.

You can also see the padding and leatherette I have lined the cockpit wall with.
Full length mats as well, mind you one disadvantage with these this time of year, they cut out the heat coming from the engine bay.

No central heating any more.
But the air conditioning works fine.

Had to change the side mirror and the centre mirror, being virtually useless.
The drivers side mirror was refitted with a replacement as the old one had corroded beyond repair,
I fitted it the wrong position, the original position having been lost with the rebuilding.
Anyway it didn't have enough movement to get a proper view.
The centre mirror was replaced with a twin to the drivers.
This was found to be too close to the body and the glass was half filled with bodywork so a spacer was made to push the mirror out about two inches.
This was done to the drivers side to match both sides.
The centre mirror, an interior mirror off ??, was removed.