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It seems that a British summer no mainly consist of rain as it has done nothing but rain over the last few weeks. So much so that when Pete and I went over to visit Snoopy we found the garage submerged in a big pool of water.
Snoopy is kept in a garage I rent off the council and we have complained about the damp before though it hasn’t quite been this bad before, usually it pours down the walls and through the roof collecting calcite on the way and leaving paint eating deposits on the car, which is why the car has to be covered up in the garage. Sadly as Snoopy is not road legal at the moment and finding another garage is fruitless, I currently have no choice but to leave her in there.
Pushing Snoopy through the small lake and to a dry spot we aimed to reattach the dynamo until we realised that there were no bolts in the car for it. There was a box of bits that Terry left in the back though to protect them from the damp, I moved them to the other garage. Undeterred I did have new engine mounts with me and so we set about changing the passenger side engine mount. The bottom nut came undone a bit to easy despite banging my head several times on the chassis. Then when the rubber broke off the remainder of the mount, we thought we were in for fun and games though I noticed that the engine mount bracket actually bolts on (it doesn’t on later models) so undoing the two bolts (banging my head on the chassis a few more times) the bracket was soon off and we managed to remove the remainder of the engine mount with ease and then fit a brand new engine mount.
We also put a new fully charged battery into Snoopy though resisted all temptation to try and start her up. That is something I want to save until the Tamworth Heritage Day on September 14th.
When the 14th came I had hoped to take Snoopy to the Heritage display myself though as Geoff was delayed I didn’t have time to fetch Snoopy before 10am. Instead after everyone had arrived Pete and I went off in Pete’s van and hooked Snoopy up to a towing-dolly to take her down to the Heritage display where she also got to meet her previous owner Terry O’Keefe again.
Having found the bolts for the dynamo, Pete attached the dynamo and then after a check of the electrics and hooking up a battery it was time to turn the key. We had thought about asking Terry to turn it for the first time though we wanted to see if it would actually turn over first, that it did. With fresh fuel poured straight into the carburettor Geoff turned the ignition key a few times and the cough spluttered, popped a few times and chucked out a lump of debris from the exhaust. It wouldn’t start though.
By now a crowd had built up and Geoff and Pete tried various things though she just wouldn’t start. We then tried spraying damp start straight into the caburettor and still nothing though at one point some one did shout “fire” as a little fire took hold in the carburettor. Thankfully this was put out immediately and was not a repeat performance of what happened to Ole Blue.
Geoff was determined to get Snoopy going though talking to Terry he mentioned that before Snoopy was laid up, she was having problems with the carburettor so we think this may not have helped. So, having tried everything possible, the tools were put away and we shall have to try and get Snoopy started another time.
Snoopy did get to meet Lucie and Gwenn though. It was the first time that all three cars have met since I have owned them.
Sadly due to continual damp problems with the garage and as I am having problems getting another, I’ve decided that the best thing for Snoopy is to pass her on. As a result of the garage, the interior now smells very musty and I worry about what is happening underneath the car as a result of the damp. With Terry’s blessing, I will be passing Snoopy on to Pete Gnosill who has been helping with it over the last couple of months. Better still, Pete has said that he will provide updates on the restoration so that I can continue to plot Snoopy’s progress on the web site. It was a tough call to make though in the end, it will be better for Snoopy.
Elvis Payne
September 2008
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