Blogs. Never read any, written any, so give me a while to get the hang of this.

OK, summer hols nearly over. Time to get back on track with Barry's car.

Just written a piece for Septembers Low Flying. Here's a sneak preview...

"As we have previously reported, a group of volunteers have taken it upon themselves to repay in some small way the years of dedication which Barry Sweeney has shown towards the Lotus Seven Club, by working to bring his Seven back to life. The offers of help, of parts and of money so far received have been greatly welcomed, but there is still a long way to go, as project coordinator Adrian Elkin reports:

"Progress on Barry's Seven has somewhat slowed this this month, due to the summer holidays and various other goings on. In some ways it's just as well, as now we have the chassis in its fully stripped-down state, it has given Barry the opportunity to have a good think about any fundamental changes he'd like to have made. Our ability to proceed will also depend on available funds; as it currently stands, we could certainly do with a healthier budget to cover the restoration of the chassis and of various other components by Arch, as well as the replacement of other worn out or corroded parts. If you would like to make a contribution to the budget to help thank Barry for his years of unstinting service to the Club, including running its IT systems and web presence for so many years, please see below for the account details.

"As for parts donations, big thanks this month go to Ben Girling who has donated an aluminium fuel tank to replace the old stainless steel one. Last month, you will recall that Club member Jeremy Auton donated a set of A021's. Unfortunately, after examination once removed from his own wheels, one tyre was found to have a nail in it, so if anyone has a spare Yoko AO21 185-70R13 going spare, please do get in touch. 

"Again regarding tyres, we were delighted to receive the offer from a major UK tyre manufacturer of a brand new set of anything from their range that Barry would like – very handy as Barry has a spare set of rims to which they will be able to be fitted.  We will provide more details of this very welcome offer in a future update…

"So – hopefully, we will soon be getting towards the stage where the chassis is able to go to Arch and will come back “better than new”. However, there are a great many component level tasks which we are looking to have completed in parallel.  I would therefore ask for any Areas or individual volunteers with the appropriate skills or connections to come forward and take on the following various parts of the car for refurbishment.

• Spax competition shock absorbers
• Seats and various other parts of the trim
• Rebuild of the carburettors
• Rebuild of the engine
• Check & clean of the gearbox (an Escort Sport 4 speed) and Sierra differential
• Refurbishment of the wheels prior to tyre fitting
• Check & clean of the steering rack
• Refurbishment of instruments & switchgear

I'm sure there'll be more as the project progresses but if you can help, please email me at adrianelkin@yahoo.co.uk with "Barry's Seven" the subject title.

"Financial contributions to this worthwhile project would also be very much welcomed

"Bank: Lloyds
Sort Code: 30-91-72
Account no: 02122679
A/c name: Lotus 7 Club North Kent Area
IBAN: GB53LOYD30917202122679
BIC: LOYDGB21151
Please use the reference: PBS – followed by your name/area"