BB September 3

Whoa, no updates for quite a while now so thought I'd better assure everyone that I am still alive and kicking, and let
you know what is happening with the car. August was a complete wipe out as far as the car was concerned as I spent
the first week in Finland, flew back to UK and then straight out to the US just to ensure that the jet lag was real, and
when I got back I went on holiday with my family (NOT by plane!)

When we got back I did get some time on the car, but to be honest a lot of it is now tinkering rather than full blooded
building. This is probably a good sign as it means the little problems are getting ironed out.

The first job was to look at the front brakes as the last time I'd used it they were grinding when applied strongly.
Getting the pads out took all of two minutes and the problem was just a stone caught between pad and disk - both were
undamaged so a quick de-glaze and all put back together again.

The second thing to address was the fact that gears were getting harder to engage and there were all sorts of squeaks
and rattles when doing so. The first thing was to adjust the clutch - I overdid it the first time and whern accelerating
the engine revved but the speed didn't increase accordingly. This is just like the original variable transmissions and it
feels very weird. Having got two points of reference (over and under adjusted) it was easy to get it just right, but still
with resistance and annoying squeaks when engaging reverse and second.

This resistance and squeaking had me scratching my head until I noticed some marks on the underside of the bonnet.
On closer inspection the mechanism where the change rod connects to the gear lever via a rubber bushed link was
hitting the underside of the bonnet when the rod was pushed forward for reverse and second. This was because the
bushes allow the change rod to rise vertically before the gear lever itself is forced to move. I started to think about
cutting and filing, rose joints and other major work, but in the end the solution was very simple. The change rod runs
through a panel I made up that limits sideways movement but allows vertical movement – all I had to do was bend the
bearing plates to force a limit of upwards vertical movement and the problem was solved.

There are still a few jobs I want to do, probably over the winter. Modify the headlight mounts and front wing stays to
allow a tighter turing circle (at the moment it has the lock of a super-tanker), make the rear seat cover and associated
gubbins and get a tonneau cover made up for the main cockpit. I also need to re-string the steering wheel as it has
come loose, attend to the bonnet where I managed to drop it (d'oh, d'oh!!) and go around for a general service – check
nuts and bolts, grease where necessary etc.

As it stands, the tax runs out at the end of September as I only taxed it for 6 months (OK, I'm a tight-arse), however I
am coming around to the idea that I should tax it over the winter as a) the old idea of warm summer and cold winter
seems to be questionable, so I will be able to use it b) it would be good to be able to drive it legally to test changes
and c) because I think that cars that are used regularly will be more reliable than those that get laid up. These are the
excuses I am using to cover up the truth - I don't think I could go 6 months without my Brooklands 'fix'.