Blackbushe Loop

On this trip we were joined by the abominable snowman

After my "Tour of Kent" last week was a bit of a let-down, this week's "Blackbushe Blatt" seemed to be going the same way, firstly, I woke up thinking "it looks quite light out there - strange" then realised the alarm hadn't gone off & it was already past the time I'd planned to leave. The when I got outside the garage door had been open all night, then the throttle started sticking on the A331.

I just got to the departure point with enough time to open the bonnet & see the return spring on the pedal was broken - not too big an issue as long as I was careful, there are at least another 6 springs closing the taps.



The air was cold, but warming rapidly as the sun came up, there was NO traffic, we didn't get stuck behind a single car in 65 miles, there were no speed humps. The route (courtesy of David T) was superb. David is fond of the birds & has been known to pick one up on a blatt - this time he nearly picked up a whole flock of pheasants.

After a while we stopped in a lay-by with a pleasant view & passed the time of day (had a wee) before heading off to the final destination.

Which was "White Lion Antiques" an ex-inn where they have car meets once a month & collect money for charity. This being late in the year & dry the place was packed - both fields full of interesting cars (and a few Porsches & BMWs). So here are the pictures I took:-

This is us, having just occupied some of the last available places in the second field, we walked down to the antiques shop / inn only to find they'd RUN OUT of bacon & buns! Disaster!

They did later come up with more sausages & buns so we were not left hungry & the hot chocolate was selling like hot cakes.







Pretty model A cabrio, one of two standard Model As

I'm guessing this guy has no trouble getting out of junctions.

The attention to detail was good - the German "jerry cans" were better than the allied ones, so the allies would pick up the German ones where they could. this Jeep has a German one behind the front wing, painted in German camouflage - nice.






Good to see a Morgan 3 wheeler without sharks teeth & mock RAF roundels












Equally, a Cobra - not blue with white stripes & not clean.


Good show that man!

Interesting cars should have names - not necessarily THIS large.

Now that's got character!















A row of Caterhams all looking exactly the same. Not sure if this was before or after they polished them (a speck of dirt will affect the re-sale value doncha-know).

After a while they all processed off in a sensible manner so as not to get any insect's ingredients smeared on them.

Mmmmmm MkI Escort RS2000 - probably the most expensive car in the field, seen here just before it got given some beans as it pulled out on the main road.

More character, the banded wheels, checkered grill & pillar mounted spotlight suggest there's more to this old MG than the words "barn find" might suggest.

No, I've no idea what it was either, other than it was Italian, prepped for racing, had Campag wheels .........













....... and a V8.

That my friend is styling

Yes, I know it's horribly slow, won't handle & will use more fuel than a super-tanker.
I KNOW that given half a chance will rust away in a week & desperately NEEDS an engine in the front, but will you just LOOK at it!







And speaking of which, I've seen this before & the detailing is fantastic. It's actually in perfect condition, all the rust, all the staining, even the chrome trim & the riveted patches on the body are PAINTED on. The fact that it'll run a 1/4 mile in 11seconds is a bonus.

I still cant make portrait orientated photos appear the right way on here, so you'll have to turn the screen round to see the engine bay of the Willys pick-up above.

Yes, Willys, as in "Willys Overland" the bunch that made that Jeep, then after the war, changed the Company name to "Jeep" presumably to stop the sniggering that driving a Willys caused.





Like I said all the dirt, even the smudging round the painted on "repair" at the bottom of the door is painted on.

I do like a big Healy, black over red for preference, but old English white is good too.













Hot rods are increasingly in the mainstream of car shows now, here's a couple of Ford '32 "Hi-Boys" (it's a description, not a greeting).....


What bad luck to have all eight mudguards fall off on the way to the show ... both front number plates too. Honestly, there's no pride in workmanship these days.

.....& a couple of Model As to compare & contrast with the standard one at the top.













Before the F1, road-going McLarens looked like this......














Stunning isn't it? - maybe lose the Capri tail lights? But a very good looking car.

The other standard Model A, a five-window with a "dicky seat" if you're English, a "rumble seat" if you're American.

An in-line four of course as the flathead V8 appeared the following year with the Model B

(sorry - geek-mode off)






Ascari parked next to the McLaren, the front's almost as attractive ........

The back erm -  less so.

I've left this photo small for those of a nervous disposition.

The boys are back in town ....

The green one is an early car (says "Consul" on the bonnet, the grey one is an "airflow" car, says "Cortina".

Both owners have had the good taste to not paint them white with a green stripe.

Daimler SP250 (was called the "Dart" until Dodge sued them) a car so ugly it actually comes back to attractive from the other direction.

Also the first GRP bodied production car unless someone knows different.

An actual '50s kit car, a Turner is it?

Another arrived as I was leaving, but I'd put the camera away by then.












Someone let a damn BMW in.

Fortunately there was a Riley (RM?) there for balance though.

I always fancied one of these with proper modern suspension, brakes engine etc.

How many of you have just said "I / my Dad / Uncle had one of those"?

Integrale - group B stylee.

Very very nice, but no seat belts?

Maybe that's why the interior is that colour?

Doesn't show the blood stains.










Was there ever a better looking cheap family car than the MkI Escort.


Yes I know they're an arm & a leg now, but that really is a good looking car.

Here's a puzzler, what's this ^^ I've never seen one before.

It appears to be a coachbuilt MGB.

I couldn't understand why someone would do that, until I searched the coach builder's name.

There was a badge on the side.........

..... which reads "Jacques Coune - carrossier"

I turns out he was a Belgian who employed a lot of Italian panel beaters & sold 54 of these MGB Berlinettas before BMC bought out the BGT. That punch a bit of a hole in the market as his offering was £1300 & a new BGT was less than £700. Apparently BMC looked at productionising this design, but decided it looked "too Italian" which is a little odd bearing in mind how many Farina designs they used.

Almost as obscure, an Austin Atlantic, look at those front & rear windows - I can just imagine the meeting - "those American Johnnies are putting highly curved screens in their cars, we can't be doing with investing in that sort of frippery, make a curved screen out of three pieces, no-one will notice the joins ........"

Another dull BMW ......

Aw - don't you just want to give it a cuddle (the car, not the old geezer)

I went to Surrey Street Rodders' "Wheels day" once. There were TEN of these, every last one painted like the General Lee from Dukes of Hazzard.

Strangely, I haven see one in that livery since that day.











Yes OK, this one's a Road Runner & the General Lee was a Charger, but you know what I'm saying ......











This couldn't get in because the fields were full - THIS! - they refused entry to THIS!!



With THOSE wheels on it!!!

Of course I always knew the original 500 wouldn't have much luggage space with the engine in the back.

What I didn't realise .......

..... is that there wasn't a lot of luggage space in the front either.

The other '50s kit.

I'm guessing that if this was a person it would NOT be a vegan?

Jus' sayin'

Now there's a car to waft along the Cote D'Azure (spelling?) in.

If you've broken down by the roadside, there's nothing more reassuring that a cat / dog skeleton ty-rapped to the tow-truck.

(It's just above the spare wheel.)

Come on then, let's have your guesses ........

No idea?





(Me neither)

Said "Healey" on it
















Now there's a Statement Of Intent if ever there was one.







That's all folks, there are a few more photos, but frankly - I'm bored now & I need to go mend that throttle pedal return spring.

New For Next Season

It's that time of year again, it's almost the winter, the Fury will come off the road at the end of October & I'm planning the winter mods.

Highest up the list is a cockpit refresh, I've de-rusted & re-painted the rear chassis & the engine bay, so this year it's the tubes in the cockpit. that'll require all the inside to come out, so I'll be tidying the wiring & cleaning the carpets & maybe recovering the dash - but that's all dull. I also plan on some metal cutting.

As usual this has been preceded by some designing & drawing. Nearest to getting done is the fuel filler cap. Before the car had a boot lid I wanted an "aero-cap" as the car has some aircraft parts, when the boot lid got cut out, the aero cap was an inch inside the bodywork, so I decided to swap it for an Aston-style flip cap & last weekend, while completely failing to get to France (long story) I called into Car Builder Solutions & tried a cap for size. It's a lovely cast & machined alloy item the same as is fitted to modern Morgans - but - it weighs 3/4 Kilo!

Obviously I can't be doing with that, so plans are afoot to have it machined down & do way with one part altogether leaving it at a more respectable 580g. It should look like this:-


Also with an eye on the next Blatting season, I've replaced the rack mounts with a new type that uses Pip-pins to hold the rack in place.

Pip-pins are cool.

Next on the to-do list is a folded aluminium "glove box" which will fit in the top of the transmission tunnel. I have an aircraft trigger latch & an aluminium hinge, so the surface will be completely smooth & flush, but will open.
Not very clear, but you can make out the lid between the seats, the hinge will be at the back.




Possibly best (assuming I can get a large sheet of aluminium) is the last of the undertray. The car is flat-floored from the radiator back to the seat bulkhead, the final section will cover the rest of the underside, right back to the rear valance, but immediately behind the differential it'll be stepped to break up the airflow & stop the exhaust fumes being drawn round the back of the car. It's all amateur aerodynamics, but my aero-guessing has been quite effective so far.

In theory, this will smooth the airflow under the car, but around the centre, the flow will break away into vortices, taking the exhaust fumes with it. Will it work? Well I pop-riveted a section onto the valence & it's stopped the fumy smell I was getting above 70mph, so I'm hopeful

Renderings I've done using the CAD model suggest it won't be too visible from the back either - if you see the car in spring & I've painted the undetray black, you'll know it was too visible.

So that's the plan for this winter - wish me luck!




 

Not In France

Mrs Blatter & I were supposed to be going to France with the SKCC this weekend, but family problems meant leaving the country wasn't a good idea. I cancelled the French hotel & postponed the Tunnel but couldn't cancel the Folkestone hotel, so rather than just lose it I drove into Kent & paid a visit to Car Builder Solutions to try out a new fuel cap (which I bought - Mmmmmm, shiny), then headed to Folkestone for a very pleasant evening with David T, Crunchie & their respective wives.

As I parked the car, I noticed that my new fuel cap was exactly the same as the one on Crunchie's Morgan & hatched a plan. I found them in the bar but completely failed to convince Crunchie that the filler cap in my hand was the one from his car.

This morning I woke at a reasonable hour & had a filling breakfast, thinking "the others must be in France by now" (sounds like they weren't), then set off on a tour of the Kent coast as I'd never been that far east.

 

Who knew that just outside Sandwich was a village called Ham?

 

 

 

After some satnav strangeness I found myself in a long winding tunnel which came out by Ramsgate harbour, which was nice - all cafes & boats & stuff. A wizened old chap sauntered over & said nice things about the Fury, "how old is it?" he said, "2009" I replied, "no - how old is the car" "2009" I repeated.

 



It seems the people of Ramsgate had a drug problem some time ago

By the time I got to Margate it had started drizzling & with no sign of it stopping I headed straight for my Son's house in Swanley. Just before I arrived I realised I'd left his Wife's birthday present in the hotel Fortunately (for me - less so for my Son) she decided that Folkestone was close enough to the shopping outlet centre in Ashford to make it worth them going to pick it up tomorrow, so I didn't have to go & get it.

The view immortalised by Vera Lynn in the song "There'll Be Bluebirds Over The White Cliffs Of Ramsgate"

Getting The Average Up

So far this year my Blatting average is pitifully low. Before August I'd been on only one SKCC run + the Rogue Runners trip, but my score is improving with three runs in August. Today I met some others at Buck Barn & we headed west almost to the A3, before heading back to finish at "Billy's On The Road" not far from Buck Barn.

The roads were wet when I set off, but it seemed pretty localised & by the time I reached Buck Barn (only a little bit late) they were dry. I was, as I mentioned, a little late & as I pulled in I assumed I'd missed them, but the sneaky crew had parked to one side of the usual spot, behind a headge. Soon after me, Russ arrived, so there would be two Furies today, about as different as they can be, as Russ' is a spyder done in a stripped out style which made mine look almost luxurious.


I ended up leading today & for once didn't immediately make a wrong turn, the route was excellent, the weather was dry & the traffic was light, so we made good progress. After 40ish miles I was looking for somewhere to stop for a break (& a leak), I rejected a couple of places, couldn't stop in time for another couple of places, but eventually spotted a field entrance with a pull in large enough for all the cars to get off the road & crucially - it had a hedge. As soon as we all got in & off the road, the very next car squeezed in between two kits & turned round to park in the field. We were all expecting a "GET ORF MOI LAAAAND!", but the chap got out waved a cheery greeting & wandered off.

After we set off, there was the inevitable closed road. I passed the signage hoping we might be OK as the SatNav was saying turn off in 0.3 miles, but it was not to be, the road was properly closed after 1/4 mile. So we deleted a couple of waypoints & turned round, only to find the main Horsham road closed by a fallen tree! Fortunately it was a very considerate tree & had only fallen across one side of a triangular junction, so after a quick diversion round the other two sides, we were on our way again.

Then all too soon we were At Billy's for Breakfast, where we ate a hearty full English over a train set mounted in a table. Sadly the trains weren't running - presumably due to the wrong kind of model snow or something.

When we left it was raining, but it soon stopped & I had a pleasant ride home
 

Wings & Wheels '18

The annual Dunsfold car / aeroplane / military mash-up, & again the SKCC had a stand there, for no better reason than we get in cheap & can find our cars easier at the end.

As Mrs Blatter is a big Red Arrows fan & had missed seeing them in Whitby when she was oop narth, she came along too, so the Fury's rack was loaded with two collapsible chairs, a golf umbrella, two rain coats, two cool bags, a flask & the picnic hamper.

The other SKCCers would be breakfasting at Box Hill, except while the café was open, there was only one staff member who was unable to cook & serve at the same time, so they left hungry. Mrs Blatter & I had arranged to meet them all at a large church in Rudgwick - it was there on Google Maps, but nowhere to be seen on the ground, so we met up at "The Three Compasses" just outside the Dunsfold gate. We were ushered in to a rather large stand just outside the motering paddock, so we got a lot of public interest even if we were rather spread out.

After the first "wheels" section, I wandered round the paddock with the camera.






There were four NASCAR racers there which were incredibly LOUD in the paddock, but less so out on the runway (I was expecting them to turn left 1/2 way along, but they avoided the temptation













I really should hate this - but I just can't













Allegedly, this is a genuine barn find one of those "fresh battery & petrol & it started" jobs, an Aston Martin DB2 barn find!!










Nykilodeon was probably the first world class HotRod built in the UK (in 1972), nice to see it's current owner uses it on the road & looks after it










Three aero-engine specials were running on the runway, the Napier Railton, once succinctly described to me as "a car built by the toolroom" because there is no attempt at lightness whatsoever. The chassis is made from large SLABS of metal, the rear axle is mounted on FOUR (count them) multi leaf Transit van sized semi-eliptic springs, each of the three banks of cylinders has it's own complete exhaust system of about 3" bore, the car is a complete monster - and it's street legal - though small indeed is the No. of people brave enough to drive it on the road.

The next one was a modern take on the classic 1930s aero-engine special running a Merlin (more likely a Meteor) engine& was perhaps foolishly equipped to take passengers.





Last of the three was a car made to the same formula, but a different time frame, using an engine from about 1910 with highly polished copper work

This guy is pretty determined not to wheelie.












Then the first 1/2 of the airshow, there were the usual treats including a Chinook - which I felt was more restrained than in previous years - perhaps because they now use the fly-by-wire Mk 6?

You really shouldn't be able to recover an aircraft from this, but a Pitts Special is no ordinary aircraft

Mmmmmm Hawker

The BBMF put in a nice appearance















Then back to the displays in the "wheels Zone"



The Americans don't do good styling often, but when they get it right - they get it SO right. Mid '50s Thunderbird.







Absolutely fantastic Fordson, proportions, style, drive train & engineering all spot on.














 Described by the commentators as a Ford model B, but we know it's a model A don't we?

Again subtle with just perfect stance.










If you don't want to get cut up on the daily commute, you need one of these.

Who has right-of-way at any junction? why the big Land Rover with two machine guns of course











Mmmmmmm - 53(ish) Chevy.











Back to the aeroplanes for part two of the airshow

I'm sure last time I saw B17 "Sally B" the nose art had had a swim suit painted on, She seems to have lost it now - which is a good thing, the politics of now shouldn't change history (in my opinion).
















There were a couple of Vampires from the Norwegian historic flight, apparently painted in RAF markings to honour the 100th anniversary of the RAF.












Not having anything to do with the RAF was this MiG15 trainer. Nice to see though













The Red Arrows were every bit as spectacular as ever



















  And finally the show was closed by the Blades. Mrs Blatter & I loaded the car & decided to wander back to the show centre & have a drink to let the traffic clear a little, but when a Pimms & 1/2 pint of cider came to £11 it was clear why most people had done a runner!
 

Sunday Blatt

The Start

Only the second Sunday blatt this year!

What with one thing & another, I've been a bit remiss with the Sunday drives this year & what with one thing and another I nearly didn't do this one. I was tromping along at a goodly rate on my way to the amusingly names Pease Pottage services when I came up behind a vintage something-or-other & realised the Fury wasn't slowing down. An experimental dab on the brakes slowed it - then it speeded up again.

This was not good.

I found somewhere to pull over, dropped the clutch & switched off the ignition. I jumped out (only a couple of minutes to spare before the departure time) & found a screw had unscrewed itself from the throttle linkage & was jamming the cable quadrant. Fortunately I had some tools with me so it was an easy fix. Just before I arrived at the meet point I passed a group of yanks & hotrods, the leading three of which were 100e Anglias (possibly Pops), they were all obviously tuned but tatty - in the current "rad rod" style. As I passed the leading one on a dual carriageway I heard the unmistakeable rumble of a large V8 as the driver stamped on the throttle. I stamped on mine too & the 100e stayed very definitely behind me.


The Middle

I arrived just after the "we'll DEFINEATLY be leaving at" time to find that not only were the cars still there, but the owners were still loitering about casually, but soon enough we all headed out.

The roads were pretty good, but we were unlucky with the traffic, getting stuck behind supermarket delivery vans & a sess-pit emptying truck. When we're in Scotland or France, folk driving slower things pull in to allow us to pass - not in the south east. Add to that the current trend for spending Sunday mornings dressed entirely in lycra & riding £8000 worth of ill-fitting carbon fibre at least 4feet from any curb (but I'm not bitter). When I did cycling properly, I had a bike custom made for me for a fraction of the price & to ride on the road I had wheels with a decent amount of strength so I could ride safely about a foot to 18" from the curb without irritating other road users or risking a shattered wheel (and, BREEEAAATH).



The End

Rant over.

These minor irritations did not spoil my enjoyment, & soon enough we were tucking into a sett of full English breakfasts & enjoying some first rate banter - which it what it's all about.