…is paved with work!
A few months ago we made the decision to attend the Llangollen Railway Classic Transport Rally, held over the weekend of 5th and 6th July. Before this though, we had one other show booked in at the Cider Farm near Abbey Dore. This is where the work started.
Reversing Lizzy out of the garage, we encountered a “car to wall interface issue” causing damage to the offside wing. Never the less we continued with our day out even with a slightly battered wing.
Above: All settled in at the Cider Farm, near Abbey Dore, Lizzy showing off her better side.
The day would continue to through up some issues with a reoccurance of the issue that caused Lizzie to break down on the way back from Gaydon. This first occured not long after leaving the venue but she soon started to fire correctly and was fine for 30-odd miles, until we were about half a mile from home, when she cut out again. I swapped the coil, still the same. I managed to limp her to the bottom of our hill, at least the tow home would be minimal, except I decided to apply some “percussion persuasion” to the HT Leads… that worked! so back in the seat and up the hill before she decided to cut out again.
Thats two jobs on the list. The running issue was tackled first with the coil, leads and spart plugs being replaced. A quick test run confirmed all was good to that point. The big job was the bodywork
Above: the main part of the damage, this was new territory for me and I started to make a complete hash of things, until I called on a friend, who was more than happy to help. Anything to get his hands on a classic Ford!
Above: Having spent 12 hours over five days sanding, priming, spraying and polishing, Paul soon had the wing looking shiny again.
So, that was us all set for North Wales? Not quite as a quick check on the break adjustment and the usual fluids check was made. Another quick test run to the petrol station confirmed all was in order. We were ready to go.
On the Firday morning, our tent, sleeping bags, etc were loaded ready for the off.
The planned route was a straight forward run to Abergavenny, A465, A49 and the A5, a route of around 130 miles. A couple of stops were made, one near Ludlow for lunch and two in Oswestry, one for fuel and one to look at the building that was once the Cambrian Railways Headquarters.
Having filled up in Oswestry, it was calculated that Lizzies fuel consomption was around 35.8 miles per gallon. From Oswestry we diverted slightly so we could catch a glimpse of the inpressive Pontcysyllte Aqueduct before continuing to Glyndyfrdwy Station, where we would be camping and the main show would be based.
On arrival at Glyndyfrdwy, we stopped for a look at the signal box where a friend, who was the signaller, popped his head out and invited us in for a cuppa.
Above: Glyndyfrdwy Signal Box. This was a posed picture taken by William on a 1964 Zeiss Ikon Contraflex Super B using Kodak 400 35mm film. This shows to good effect the difference in the colour between the wing and the rest of the Maroon, something that we will start to tackle later this year as part of a paint refresh.
Above: Lizzy parked up next to Una, the Consul Capri. Lizzy would occupy the same spot for both days.
Above: A couple more of Williams 35mm film shots, Lizzie alongside Una this time.
We left teh site just after 15:00 taking the reverse route. A5, A49 and A465 to Abergavenny before heading home. The aprox 130 miles took not far off three and a half hours. Lizzie’s performance was faultless, other than a slightly wheezy horn and a rattle where the oil breather pipe is loose, both small issues. A replacement breather is on order.
That wasnt the end of the trips, as we took Lizzie to our Car Club Meet, as seen here. We took Paul, our bodywork guy, who was in his element looking around what was a very busy meet.
In less than a week, Lizzie managed to clock up over 300 trouble free miles, lots of 50-55mph running with the odd 60mph sprint thrown in. Not bad for a 69 year old car.
Like we always do after an event, we trawl youTube looking for footage of Lizzie, this video did not disapoint.
