Mid Life CrIsis

 This is a bit of a sad post, as I let Myrtle go this week. Both my dad and myself had put so much work into that old 65 Bug and I guess part of us feels like it's lost. Even my dad I think was a bit sentimental about Myrtle, he actually drove the car more than I did in the time we had her.

  

Bye Bye Myrtle

I can't believe how much money I had invested in the old girl, so when her bodywork was the next stage I had a tough decision to make, and decided to allow someone else to care for her.

Within days of Myrtle going, and with me being off work, I took some annual leave, because I've had this goddamn cold for going on 5 weeks, well I found myself looking at other cars  " No Glenn you don't need 3 cars", so I kind of agreed with my inner voice and we came to a mutual agreement that maybe two is enough.

That saidI think I'm going through some sort of mid life crisis, as I began looking at convertibles, Yes even bright RED ones. Things got so bad I even checked out a few Porches, second hand with a few miles on them.

I then got my mince pies on an Abarth 124 Spider, they have stopped making them, Ooh! a future classic. Trawling through the interwebs, there was only about 45 for sale, and of them about 18 or so automatics.

I quite liked the look of either a red one or a grey one, thing is none of them for the money had the visibility pack, or the higher spec'd Bose sound system.  The only car that was pretty much fully loaded, apart from the Heritage pack, which is the Matt black bonnet and boot lid, a throw back to the rally cars of the 70's was at Motorpoint in Derby, and it was metallic Blue, called Isola D'Elda Blue 1974.

Abarth 124 Spider Isola D'Elda Blue 1974

Mmmmm!  Not sure, checked more images on line, 

Mmmmm! Still not sure.

  

Growing on me

My dad and I then went to check out a red Abarth 124 Spider at Birtley and Ronald Clark. I had a sit in the car....I fit..... It actually felt massive. The bonnet feels very long. That particular car wasn't for me.

Record Monza Exhaust Sounds Great

More looking a blue 124's on my return, oh and of course potential mods, what can I say but Petrol Head. So far even without the car I've spec'd up around £10k of stuff I'd like to do.

One of the things on my wish list is air suspension. I just loved the look of Myrtle slammed.

More looking I think I'm coming around to Blue. So a trip down to my local Motorpoint, a valuation on my wee Abarth 595, which if I could also afford to keep I would.

 

I now have a deposit down to get the car up from the Motorpoint in Derby, so maybe by next week I'll be driving an Abarth 124 Spider.

Tomorrow is Make or Break Time for Myrtle.

As many of you will know Myrtle is my beloved little 1965 VW Beetle. I have had her going on 3 years now and in that time only been out in her a handful of times. This has been due to a number of things. When I bought her I couldn't drive her due to my amputation, and Myrtle being an old school 4 speed manual gearbox. Plus upon buying Myrtle and getting her home she struggled to get over our large speed bumps, as she was on static suspension. Upon checking her suspension set up, well let's just say it was horrendous. Im then spent a fortune getting an Airlift Air Ride set up installed and for around 2 years, we were on constantly taking apart her suspension, measuring and then rebuilding back up. Myrtle just never drove right. It wasn't until the Airlift manifold stopped working that we discovered it had actually been broken from brand new.

 

Myrtle sitting pretty

Anyhoo long story short I got a new manifold and eventually got a semi auto clutch adaption fitted and I was able to take Myrtle out for a few drives. I love driving the wee car, I mean she is very underpowered, as she only has a 1200 cc engine, so I constantly felt like I was thrashing her, but the driving experience was great.

Semi Auto Clutch Motor Hides under the Back Seat

Recently Myrtle began having problems starting and ticking over. I stopped driving her, as every time I went to pull away her engine would bog down and stall. It takes a bit getting used to the semi auto clutch. 

I had the wee car for a service at LVH Engine and Resto's, the great guys who had fitted my Air Ride. When I went to pick her up, Paul the mechanic informed me that Myrtle had very low compression. Following Ern home as he drove Myrtle I could see every time he changed gear, puffs of blue smoke coming out of her exhausts, Not Good.

Oh and whilst Myrtle was sitting in our yard Ern came up with the bright idea of re-routing the brand new wiring harness and airlines inside of the heater channels so that they were hidden from inside of the car. This was okay as the heater channels are no longer used due to the Airbags being fitted and I couldn't run heater exchanges. So Ern began doing this job when I was at work. He had been on a couple of days re-routing the lines and wiring, then I came in from work one day to discover he had been hacking bits off Myrtle. He had gone and literally hacked off the end of the heater pipes where they come out from the inner sills. I can tell you I wasn't best pleased and we are still having heated arguments over it. I mean come on the car has survived 57 years, only for someone to come along with... well not sure what he used a chisel, electric saw or a grinder and starts butchering my wee car. It's a total mess. Ern's way of thinking "Don't worry no one will see it, it's under the back seat". If ever I wanted to put heat back into the car, it's now impossible, without major reconstruction.

  

Myrtle and her hacked heater channels

Poor Myrtle's been attacked

That is not the end of my woes with Myrtle. During the Summer I was on giving her a polish and the plastic vinyl body strips that someone had put over her roof guttering came away.The glue keeping them on had heated up under the sun and the sticky residue was melting all over. As the passenger side strip came off I discovered a huge split between the guttering and roof. Awwww man! It now has me totally stressed. I mean my plan was always to have Myrtle restored, but this looks like a major repair job.

Awww Man!!! 

Drivers side starting to crack Too!

With Myrtle standing out during winter other areas have started to appear, that need attention. She desperately needs a Resto job. I have so many new parts for her in the house. New Front Windscreen and deluxe seals, pop out rears. A new deck lid, rear wings and exhaust apron. New headlight surrounds, Chrome blade bumpers, under my bed, rear light surrounds and a new VW logo Badge whose price was extortionate. 

 

Rear wing rust

More rust coming through

Poor Myrtle

At the rear, deckled been catching this built up area.

I actually did a quick paint over on this bit, but its come back through

Tomorrow I am off to a place to see if they can sort Myrtle and at what price. Hence the title of my Blog "Make or Break Time for Myrtle".  

This little slot was where the custom quarter bumpers fitted.

Seat Belt mounts welded in

Doors Been Catching

You see it is not just bodywork and paint, after that I need to also save for a new engine and interior. So Mega Bucks. If it's good news tomorrow of Course I don't mind investing in the wee car. I always had my eye on a bigger engine, and I also had an idea for a custom interior.

So I guess I will know tomorrow, where I go from here.

 

A Wee adventure in Myrtle to Druridge Bay.

 John and I had thought about heading out for an overnighter, taking Myrtle on a kind of road trip, just for a few days. Thing was that we had left planning a little late, and as I explained to John, Myrtle hadn't really been on any far-flung road trips since having her fuel starvation issues sorted. I am pleased to say, that this does appear to have been remedied by the fitting of a fuel regulator and a Facet electric fuel pump, which my dad very kindly installed and plumbed in. In mentioning the Facet fuel pump, I do also have to say "Man it's loud". I can hear the bloody thing "Tick, Tick, Ticking" away, hopefully when I get around to fitting the sound deadening and rugs this will quieten things down a fair bit.

  

Myrtle looking all shiny

Oh! And as John and I, had talked about wild camping, which isn't so bad when taking the bikes, as you can go covertly, when thinking of taking a small car, it's a little bit harder to be inconspicuous, so Scotland would have been the best option as you can wild camp, within the law. I did a little research, and you need to apply for a permit for Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, however if we were to go over to the Forests of Galloway there is no permit required, it's a canny old trek, especially in an old car, and we would need a lot more planning.


I know I have posted a lot in the past about all the problems my dad and I had with Myrtle's suspension. I lost count of the amount of times Myrtle was up on stands with her wheels off and both my dad and I removing, and then replacing, her various suspension components and then measuring stuff. Anyhoo you know what I think was the cause of all her suspension problems? In fact, I now know. It was a faulty Air Lift manifold. I bought the complete setup from Limebug, brand new and had it fitted by professionals, however the car never felt right from day one. It always rode, how can I put it, "Wonky". It wasn't until a few months ago, upon having to use Myrtle for work as Tango, my beloved Wee Smart car was off the road for repairs, that I started getting an error with the driver's side, rear bag not fully deflating, when using the remote control. A long story short I contacted Air Lift, sent a few videos and within about a week I had a brand-new manifold. Now that the manifold has been installed by my dad and I, Myrtle has been spot on, and I am no longer stressing about every time I come to a speed bump, or in having to worry about her looking and feeling "Wonky". Now when I get in Myrtle and I check in her glove box, looking at the Air lift controller her pressures all remain where they should be, and she goes up and down, on the touch of a button.


My dad and I have been out for a few short trips in Myrtle now, mainly going shopping or to pop to Costco for fuel, over at the Metro Centre, and she has driven spot on. So I was quite confident taking her for a drive up as far as Druridge Bay yesterday
 

I awoke relatively early with the plan of giving Myrtle a wash and trying out this new Meguiar's Hybrid Ceramic Wax that I had looked at on YouTube and then bought from Costco. I quickly read the instructions which are pretty straight forward, wash the car, rinse the car, apply the wax whilst the car is still wet, turn the hose on again, and allow the wax to spread over the car, then using a micro-fibre duster dry the car and buff up the paint work. I am actually quite impressed with the stuff, it's so easy to use and Myrtle was all washed and polished and gleaming in under an hour. Apparently the first application is the most difficult, and then you can just use a liberal amount of the wax as a top-up. Any water on Myrtle no just beads off her, and she feels slick, and looks glossy.

 

Meguiar's Hybrid Ceramic Wax Good Stuff This

Myrtle done, I popped up to Stanley for a quick haircut, then came back home and got sorted ready to go and pick John up. I popped my cooler box into myrtle and the vintage boom box Ern and I made which was connected to my Mp3 player which had loads of songs on for the day.


Once I had picked John up we headed to Stanley and Home Bargains and bought a few bits and bobs for the day then we were off, following directions using Google Maps on John's phone.


The A1 North bound was as frustrating as ever. Even though it was stop start for a while and a very hot day, Myrtle never flickered, she just kept plodding away. She did stall on two or three occasions, however that was more to do with me and still not having the semi-auto clutch control down.


The drive on the lonelier country roads with the windows down was awesome. It can be really pleasurable just to drive an old classic car with no mod cons, you know a simple dash, with one clock, no air con, no electric windows and the sound of a little 1200 cc air cooled motor plodding away, yeah not for everyone I know, but for me, now that Myrtle is running sweet, it's a relaxing experience. John and I also noticed just how many people smile as they see Myrtle, well most, I mean you can get the odd irate driver who has to be somewhere that is really important, and you know getting that one car space ahead of you will make all the difference.


Once at Druridge Bay, we discovered it was really busy. I had to park Myrtle on the grass and there wasn't any great opportunities for photo's, hence not many here. We took the cooler box and headed down to the beach.

  

Druridge Bay Beach sea fret coming in

John and Me

Me on the beach

 

It started out really hot and then a weird sea fret blew in. We decided to have a walk along the beach, and before long you couldn't see more than about 20 to 30 meters in front of you. 

It was like walking through a cloud. In fact, that was what it was, as we soon discovered we were quite wet. I am not sure how far we walked, however it must have been canny far, as it felt like it took ages to get back to the trail where the steps took us off the beach and past the Highland Cows, which we had seen in the field as we approached the beach. I was thinking to myself, "poor things, they must be so hot", what with their long fury coats.

Poor cows must get so hot

 

We then had a walk right around the lake at Druridge Bay, it was a lovely stroll. 

 

Druridge Bay Lake

At one point, two robins came within about 3 feet of us and sat perched in a tree nearby. They appeared unfazed and sat as if waiting to be hand fed. I have never actually seen a wild bird this used to people. One of them actually sat whilst he/she had their picture taken, which John captured, such a pretty, happy looking little bird. We continued our walk around the lake and then headed back to Myrtle.

  

Pretty little Robin

 

   

Walking around the lake trail

Myrtle started first click, and we were soon on our way back home, again with no dramas. Myrtle plodding away, showing between 50 mph and 60 mph on her clock, which I think was more like 40 mph to maybe 50 mph, lol. She is what she is, not a supped up race car. Now she is more like a reliable tortoise that will get you from one point to another. And so goes another mini adventure.

Ooh! I did have one little problem. I think when we have fitted Myrtle’s steering wheel on, or the steering column, that the indicator stalk mechanism is getting stuck as I put weight on the steering wheel, like say turning a corner, Myrtles indicator tends to come on unexpectedly. My dad was on the case upon my return when I told him, he loves working on the old girl LoL

Myrtle's Manifold Malfunction

As I wrote the other week, poor Tango has been laid up after breaking a spring, and then requiring some extensive TLC. She is getting on a bit now, so replacing almost everything suspension wise was the best option, as after all she is my daily go to car for getting to work and back.

So whilst Tango has been out of action I have really enjoyed using Myrtle, my 65 Bug, to potter about in and get me to and from work. I am still getting used to her clutch, so have been experimenting with different routes, not so much going to work, but on my return. So far I have not been brave enough to tackle Watergate Bends LoL.

Anyhoo the other day whilst arriving at work and parking up on Richardson Road I decided to air Myrtle out. It's fun seeing the wee car sitting on the deck as she looks tiny compared to more modern cars, and she gets some admiring glances.


I used my mobile phone and the Airlift Performance App installed and selected my low height preset, which is "0" psi in all four corners. This is when I noticed that 3 of the bags had completely aired out, however my driver's side rear was still reading around 20 to 30 psi. As I had to go into work, I just had to leave Myrtle.


When I finished work upon getting in Myrtle, I used the AirLift controller which I have situated inside Myrtle's glovebox. I selected my high preset, which is roughly 95 psi all around. I noticed that the two front bags went up to the preset pressures, as did the passenger rear, however the driver's side bag was bobbing up and down on the controller screen, going way past 95 psi and then dropping back down to a lower pressure.


Fortunately I was able to drive Myrtle home and upon arriving at our street get over the giant speed bumps...fucking hate those things.

I then had a little mess around with the controller as Myrtle stood in our backyard, to no avail. That driver's side rear bag was having none of it. I then went on to try different fixes, such as recalibrating the system. Resetting the manifold, by removing the plug on the manifold. Removing and replacing the fuse. Releasing all the air from the tank and then trying to reinflate the bags. Well nothing worked.

Following all of this I went online to try and get in touch with AirLift Performance, however I couldn't find an email for them upon their site, just a telephone number.

Fortunately, I had an old email address from when I had a problem with my phone connectivity through the app, and the guys at AirLift were trying to help me. It was something to do with the Samsung updates and the Bluetooth connectivity. So I fired off an email, keeping my fingers crossed that someone would reach out.

I tried calling the supplier where I got the Airlift system from, Limebug, however there was no answer and I also emailed Limebug, that was on the 31st May, and they still haven't responded.

I got a pretty quick response from AirLift, so was well pleased, as like I say I wasn't even sure I had the correct address. So over the course of the last few days I have been corresponding with a very helpful guy named Kevin. Kevin has gone through my problem and suggested I try a few things to establish the fault.

My dad and I swapped the RR & RL lines on the manifold as Kevin suggested, and immediately I got a pressure sensor fault.

Upon sending Kevin a few small video's of the fault and what was happening, he asked me to send my original receipt and informed me a new manifold would be sent out under warranty.

So that is where I am at with Myrtle. Hopefully it will just be a case of fitting the new manifold and jobs a good'un.

Getting back to Tango, what a nightmare with delivery of parts. UPS, better known as "Useless Parcel Service" has fucked up yet again. The last 4 deliveries we have had off them, we have had issues each time. This time they haven't even bothered delivering the parts, instead they have decided to send them to some Amazon delivery depot. That is after sending 3 emails of course to say that the parcel was at a local pickup point down at Tanfield at some shop. Go down to the shop and guess what, no parcel.

Back in August of 2020  my mate Brian, the designer of the Bartlett Tendon, sent me a knee over to trial for a few weeks. It was delivered by UPS, well kind of. Now, this knee is probably in the region of 8 to 10K. The delivery driver thought it would be a good idea just to leave it at the back gate.

 

Oh! I will just leave it here, should be safe???

It's soooo far to walk all the way to the door, I will just leave it here

 

A week earlier, he had not delivered a parcel, or even bothered to slip a notice in through the letterbox, so I missed a parcel and the sender was not happy as they then had to pay the import duty. Oh! And he also came back with another parcel and decided to leave it on the spoiler of Grandma, my Beetle. The DPD man who was delivering actually saw it, picked it up and delivered it to our door. I mean, imagine if I had gone out in my car, I would never have known it was there.

The bloke down at UPS now knows my dad by sight and just sights when he sees him, LoL.

Myrtle over the Winter

 So as we are in the colder wintery months, Myrtle has been put away under her car cover. My dad and I don't have any plans to mess with her, as it is just too cold to be tinkering on working outside with no garage for cover.

An old picture of Myrtle, I think I will get her new Smoothies done black again

 

Saying that, next pay day I do intend on removing Myrtle's front 17-inch SMA alloys and getting her new tyres fitted. The 165/35/17 Nankangs which are on at the moment I am replacing for the same tyres, however a 40 profile, the same as the rears. I know it is not much, but those 35's just look way too thin, and I am constantly in fear of buckling a wheel when hitting a bump or a pothole, of which there are loads around here. I am also looking to get Myrtle's Steel Smoothies powder coated.
 

Smoothies to get powder coated gloss black

 

Sometime ago, I bought a pair of 8 x 15 steel smoothies. Pleased I got them when I did, I mean I waited ages for them to come in stock, but I see they have now shot right up in price. I wish I could have bought 7 x 15's as I think they may have fitted better, but hey ho. What my dad and I have done is seen what the fit was like with the 8-inch wide rims alongside the 1-inch rear spacers on Myrtle's narrow axles. We then had the 1-inch spacers machined down, so they allow the wheels to fit a little better with the spacers in place.

Milled down Spacers, I think they are now 19 mm

My only concern now is that I hope the new Kumho tyres I bought look OK on the wider rears. I have opted for 205/60/15 Kumho Ecowings on the back end and 145/65/15's for the front.


Back in October, I had ordered some parts for Myrtle, this way to try and solve the cutting out issues we were having. My dad worked on Myrtle mostly when I was at work, he fitted a completely new steel fuel line from the front to the back of the car, and we decided to fit a new electric Fawcett fuel pump, and filter alongside a regulator. My dad went one step further, fitting a custom-made cut-off valve, which makes it easier for removing the fuel tank. At the moment I haven't got any real sound deadening in Myrtle, and man that little petrol pump is quite noisy. I also have not had the opportunity to drive far in the wee car, so not sure if it has resolved her cutting out problem.

Ern has been hard at work installing the new fuel system under Myrtles tank

I have just got Myrtle back from Bewick Mobility, actually, on Tuesday 4th January. You see, has been away getting her semi-automatic clutch adaption tweaked. What had happened is one day I went to drive her and the semi-auto clutch would not operate correctly? I couldn't get her in gear. Upon inspection, the cable that works through a pulley system driven by a motor under Myrtle's rear seat to the clutch arm appeared frayed and stretched.

I contacted Bewick, and they suggested I pop the car down and then got to work on her, putting a different cable in place that is more durable and also sorting an issue with the magnetic sensor pickup. Long story short, Myrtle now drives a lot better and the semi-auto clutch, although it takes a bit of getting used to, works well.
 

Whilst I am on about picking Myrtle up, it was a bit of a nightmare when we did go to collect her. She had been standing for some time, so her battery was dead, so she needed a jump, then she tried to cough into life and I could hear the electric fuel pump going like the clappers "Tick, Tick, Tick". The fuel gauge isn't the most reliable, so I suggested we dip the tank and low and behold poor Myrtle had no go go juice. Once we put so fuel in she started after a few clicks and I drove her around to the nearby petrol station to pop £20 quid in her.


The drive home from Blaydon was fun, however as Myrtle has no heating it was bloody freezing, another reason Myrtle is a purely nice weather car LoL It is the first time I had driven her since my dad had done all the work on her track rod ends and steering. You see, part of the problem with the 4-inch narrowed beam and the air ride dampers was that Myrtle's steering had to be limited by a stop to prevent her track rod end on the driver's side rubbing against the airbag. After some time experimenting with various track rod ends from Hyundai's and other makes of cars, my dad was able to fashion a shorter track rod end with a curve that cleared the Bag, and I think he said it was from a Peugeot. Anyhoo Myrtle's turning circle now feels a lot better, no longer do I have to think where I am going and panicking in case I cannot get around a corner without having to do a 9 point turn. Really, she was that bad. I think I could just do a full circle on a football pitch.

The Track rod end now misses the Airbag

 

This year I am hoping to enjoy driving my wee car a little, of course she is an ongoing project. Things that are really annoying me are her rear wings. The passenger side appearing narrower than the driver's and the rear light looking wonky. I am hoping I can get either a new passenger wing or tow matching wings to even her up. Then I will need to get her painted. I would also love a bigger engine and free way flyer gearbox, and lastly to get the custom interior I have had in mind done. So as you can read, all these other jobs come at a huge cost, so for the time being I will just enjoy her the way she is. Even had her up to 57 mph the other day. The speedo was reading about 70, but my Dash Cam said 57 mph LoL

Misbehaving Myrtle

Myrtle is still misbehaving! She starts first time and is quite happy to plod along for a good few hours, then will mysteriously start coughing and spluttering, lose all power and eventually cut out. If I then leave her for say 30 seconds, she will restart and drive along as if nothing was the matter for a few more miles, then do it all over again.

I thought my dear old dad "The Ern" may have sorted her out the other day, but apparently not. Ern bought a laser rpm gadget and he re-timed Myrtle and adjusted her carb, thinking this may be what was causing her issue.

Myrtle 65 St Mary's

Well, when John and I decided to head out for an adventure as we were both off work today. We drove towards Gateshead/Newcastle, planning to head to Whitley Bay. I am now expecting a ticket for driving into and through a bus lane. I mean, what the F#@K which muppet decided to change the whole road layout on the approach to the Swing and Tyne Bridge. You are right on top of the bloody thing before you know it, and there are so many sign posts, traffic lights and road markings. Now that I am home and thinking about it, I still don't have a clue how the hell you are supposed to get onto the Tyne Bridge. I think it is just a ploy to get as much revenue in as possible, as when I panicked and checked my rearview mirror, there were about another five cars behind me doing the same thing. I mean was I even in a bus lane, it definitely said so and there were these big camera warning signs, but that wasn't until I was actually in the lane and by that time already potentially nabbed.

Anyhoo...

Myrtle was super well-behaved right up to Whitley Bay. We parked up at St Mary's Lighthouse to go for a little stroll and whilst there, had a chat with a few people, including a very friendly couple who had a Morris Minor 1000.

Moggy 1000

Checking out the Old Morris Minor

St Marys

It was a lot hotter than it looked in the picture

 

As we came to leave, Myrtle just did not want to start and was making some weird noises from her engine. At first, I thought the new fangled Cooler Box I had just bought the day before from Halford's had maybe flattened her battery. My dad had wired the cigarette socket in with a separate switch and I had made sure I turned the Cooler off as I left the car just in case it did drain her battery. Anyhoo Myrtle eventually decided to start and again drove perfectly, with no issues.

Handy Cooler box fits in behind the back seat

John and I didn't really have a plan of where we were going, heading up towards Blyth. I then suggested we go to Amble and John whipped out his phone to see how far away it was. For some reason we totally missed Amble I think we drove through it. Our aim was to find a nice bit of beach, so we continued up to Alnmouth.

We had a few tunes in the car today as we drove with the windows down as it was so warm. Ooh and I actually got to try out Myrtle's windscreen wipers today as it started to spit on to rain, they work and actually park, man it's the little things that make you smile.

A few tunes from my wee case

At Alnmouth I was able to park for free, the benefits of having a leg off. It was chocka block, so we had to wait awhile to nab a prime spot. I wanted somewhere I could get a few pics of Myrtle.

John happy, we found a canny spot

  A lovely day, good company a few tunes and a bit bait

       

Beach Combing for an appropriate pebble

Me

Myrtle 65

Myrtle 65

 

It was red-hot sitting on the bankside right next to the beach. We took my vintage boom box out of Myrtle and sat and listened to some music whilst we ate our sandwiches and snacks, the Cooler box has been a good buy the pop was lovely and chilled, as were my yoghurts I had brought along.

I had a bit of a beach comb looking for a pebble for John and presented him with a small one just big enough to keep in his pocket. I told him all about the gratitude stone I keep in my pocket and how it helps me to be grateful and put things in to perspective.

a wee gratitude pebble

After a while we packed up and drove out of the car park, Myrtle didn't half catch the speed humps on the way out, weird as she was okay coming in.

  

Warkworth Castle on the way there

Driving past the castle on the way back

After a little bit more Googling, John being my navigator, we found the A1 South. Myrtle was cruising along nicely at between 40 and 50 mph. Then, as we went to climb up an incline, she decided to try and do her dying swan act. "Oh no, not here Myrtle, come on just a little bit further please". Fortunately, we had just passed a sign for Parking and a lay-by, so I pulled in. Myrtle proceeded to cut out. I waited about a minute and turned her key, where she proceeded to burst into life and was fine. We managed to get all the way along the A1 turning off for Consett and Myrtle was fine until we hit Rowlands Gill bank where I had to pull in again. Actually we had stopped in Rowlands Gill just before that as my memory serves as the bloody speed hump had attacked Myrtle's front number plate. John had to get out and pull the remaining hanger off as it was dragging along the road.

The main thing is Myrtle eventually got us home. Once home, I was telling Ern about our trip, and he immediately went and had a look at Myrtle. There was a little bit of oil lying in her engine bay, we think it has come from the oil switch, so I am going to order a new one. My dad has also pulled out her back seats and unbolted the inspection cover to look at Myrtle's electric fuel pump. I personally think this maybe the culprit, because I just feels as if Myrtle is loosing fuel when pulling hard, like on the motorway or when going up a hill. So we are investigating getting a new fuel pump, regulator and bracket to try and reposition the fuel pump and also put hardlines in, as Ern doesn't like the idea of a rubber line being so close to the engine where it gets hot.

We have also had Myrtles passenger side rear wheel and brake drum off to check her brake shoes. We were just about to do the drivers side when it started raining, maybe we will get it checked out tomorrow or Saturday. When I reverse in Myrtle, there is a sound coming from somewhere. I thought she may have been picking up a brake shoe, but the passenger side looks ok.

Ahh! the joys of owning an old quirky car, huh? My pulling on Myrtle's rear wing to no avail has now resulted in a crack in her paint work, so I guess that is an excuse to have her re-painted sometime in the future...