Morris Minor

Great fun.

A Morris Minor 'broke down' a few streets away. The poor owners gave up pushing the poor beastie outside our place. Don't blame them. We're on the only flat bit in an area surrounded by very steep hills. Even our back garden slopes.

There was a knock on the door "Can we use your phone please ?".  Normally I'd say no. But looking at a wet dishevelled and exhausted elderly couple on my doorstep with the fog blowing behind them, well, I just couldn't.

Craning my neck, I saw outside - a Morris Minor! By golly that brought back memories. So ignoring their plight, and lost in wonder, I wandered up the path. I know. I should have asked them in for a cuppa, but....

I got him to try starting it, theory being that all that pushing might got something into the carb, but nope. So a quick twiddle under the bonnet and knock on the carb (an empty carb sounds different than a full or flooded one) I decided he probably had a flat battery. The Morris was a pain for electrical leakage on cold damp mornings.

"Have you" I asked, against all hope "got a starting handle?"  "Heck" he replied "I might have had once"

I did! A quick dig around in Jabba (my hut) I found the mangled bit of iron work that has been used for just about everything but a starting handle for years. A quick modification with some insulating tape on the business end, and a few taps with something heavy to get it through the rust in where it was supposed fit, and we were in business.

I don't suppose many people don't know what a starting handle is? I'm not going to go into technical detail, but it was once the standard way of getting cars and tractors to start. Stick it in the front, jerk it around a couple of times, swear when it kicks you back painfully somewhere delicate, try again. Car starts, what's left of the battery charge takes over.

So I asked him to turn the ignition on to enable the pump to fill float chamber, then turn off, pull out the choke then I turned engine over with the handle to 'prime' the cylinders leaving the engine at the approach to a compression - then turn on the ignition on again.

I gave a smart pull on the handle, got a kick on the shin and my thumb from the handle for my trouble.

Started first time. They were chuffed. With some sadness I gave them my handle, told them collect some petrol in a canister (petrol stations don't like you to keep the engine running)  and keep the old girl running for  at least an hour.

And buy a new battery and a modern alternator.

Girl? All cars are girls.