Spurred on by the thread about blogs in Blatchat (started by moca2cv), I thought I would make a few short notes about this past year.

I got a new heater matrix for the 21 from Clayton. They were very helpful; it is a custom item but they used their modern design to fit the tiny space available in the 21. It is very effective, provided you are not travelling at speed. In traffic you feel that your shins will cook, on the motorways there is only just enough heat. The oversize fan on the radiator keeps the coolant temperature stable, which is good. If I could restrict the airflow over the rad at high speed, I would be warm all the time.

BPB did spend several months off the road this year, a recurrance of the much discussed starting issues and a problem with oil pressure (or rather of no oil pressure).

GJT meanwhile got through two distributors. The original had been on the car for a while but it's replacement only lasted a few months before some internals wore out. It's not the first time that the spares available today have not proved as reliable as their equivalents from 10 or more years ago. That and the increasinng prices demonstrate that it is long out of production.

Before I start stripping GJT down to the bare chassis (a project I have been talking about for years but am slightly scared to embark upon), I am going to put new, LED, lights on at the rear of the car. The parts were bought at Stoneleigh this year. My plan is to fit them to the rear wings before the rebuild, so that I get the fit right using the old, tatty wings, in the hope that I can get it right first time when I have some new, immaculate ones.