Things with the Mustang 289 engine did work out much as expected, the entire engine was coated in a horrid mix of burned carbon and oil, the bores were worn, the cam gear was almost bereft of teeth, just about at end of life. I picked up the assorted engine parts from the machine shop just before Christmas and had the crankshaft, rods and new pistons balanced to ensure smooth running. The heads have new guides and exhaust valve seats, the block was bored out +0.030", the cran

This Chevy C10 came in today, the owner hasn't had it long and wants me to look into a transmission leak. It's got a 283ci V8 but it's mated to the 2-speed which, from past experience, is prone to leaks. It's also got a tiny steering wheel, massive front tyres and no power steering, needless to say the drive isn't as much fun as the looks.

At the end of last year a good friend of mine got in touch as he'd seen a car for sale that he was most interested in and asked if I would go and take a look, what with it being so local. He's been drawn to the Lorraine Dietrich marque for many years through his love of all things mechanical, they made trains first, then cars and aero engines, amongst other things. To give an indication of the popularity of the marque, by 1909 they'd built 12000 cars. Post First World War the

The last time I wrote about the Morris Marina I was about to take the B-series 1800 engine out, now it's at about the point where I can put it back in. The block has been totally cleaned, skimmed and bored out to +0.020", the crankshaft has been polished and left at standard, and it's been assembled with new pistons and bearings. The cylinder head has new valve guides and hardened exhaust valve seats, and new timing gears, tensioner and chain have been installed. The next ste

This TR6 was dropped off this morning, the owner wants me to overhaul the engine and fuel injection system and add a couple of small upgrades. The car spent a lot of time off the road, then was freshened up and sold on to its current custodian. Having had a half shaft snap on the M6 recently he has decided to make sure the whole car is safe and reliable for the foreseeable future. Once I've got the engine out and stripped down I'll know what it's going to need.

I have a strong tie to this Lancia Augusta, I spent a lot of time working on it for its new owner when I sold it several years ago. He's now had it and enjoyed it for a year and wants me to have a look at a couple of issues that have arisen, the main one being the clutch. That will mean removing the gearbox but it comes out without removing the engine so should be straightforward. I don't want to do anything with the engine, I completely rebuilt it and the owner reports that

Thanks to to the assistance of some very kind associates/friends I've been able to finish off the work on my Jaguar X200 rear subframe. It all went together easily and putting it back in the car was straightforward as I already had most of the parts lined up. A set of black coated rear discs & Mintex pads have been fitted and I took the old struts with new springs and Bilstein shocks, along with new spring insulators, to Billy Smith in Galgate, he did all the heavy lifting ch

The VW Beetle 1303 I put up for sale has found itself a new owner. I didn't think it would take so long but the first to come view it did buy it, it sold itself. He's restored a Beetle in the past so knows his way around them. I'm sure he'll be very happy with it.

A bit of an update on one of my cars, the 2000MY Jaguar S-type. When I last wrote about it I was about to purchase a rear subframe from the US, that went ahead as planned and is was just a matter of getting it here. My pal in Ohio got it boxed and I found a shipping agent to help me out with the door to door delivery, at a cost. And then another, and another, but £900 later and it was picked up from Akron and dropped off at my place after only 3 days. It was in as good a cond

It appears word has got around that I have some experience working on the Sizaire Fr è res 4RI, today this rather delightful Vanvooren bodied example was dropped off. It's come from Germany, the owner would like me to go over the entire car to make sure it is 100% and ready for the next 100 years. I might already have mentioned the specification but it's worth going over again as it is so technically advanced for its time: 2 litre, 4 cylinder, single overhead cam engine givin

The Microcar that I saved from being parted out found itself a new owner this weekend. It's gone to a local guy who's only got a bike license but needs something with good range and performance to get him about in the winter. He's got a new Ami but that can barely get him to Milnthorpe and back. I'm really pleased with this, exactly what I was hoping for.

I made a start on the '66 Mustang today, after an initial look over and a chat with the owner we decided to at least have me remove the cylinder heads to take a closer look at the engine. Turns out I didn't need to go that far, the amount of carbon that's been deposited in the V and on the underside of the intake manifold is enough of an indication that the enigne will have to come out and be rebuilt. Most of the removal work has been done, it should be on a stand in the morn

The last time I wrote about my Porsche 928 was to say it was finally running, what I didn't know, but found out quite quickly, was that the clutch hydraulics had given up the ghost in the interim. The master & slave cylinders and the flexible hose were all original, I sourced a new master cylinder and hose and a rebuild kit for the slave and whilst they went on ok bleeding the system was a bit of a pain. Unfortunately it still wasn't fixed, it appears the inner plate of the t

This rather tidy '66 Mustang was dropped off this morning for some work. It's a very nice example, as clean under the hood as it is outside. The owner wants me to take a look at the engine, when the car was restored the engine was pretty much left alone and as it's a relatively recent purchase he wants to build in some reliability. At least I won't be getting dirty.

This Series 2 E-type FHC was dropped off today, the owner's insurance company has asked me to provide an estimate for repairs required following a meeting between the sump and a kerbstone. Needless to say the sump came off worse but fortunately the engine was switched off before it could cause any further damage, other than to the environment. Other than a bent baffle plate, which I can see through the hole, it doesn't seem to need much more than a new sump, some gaskets, a s

Funny how it goes, one minute you've barely even read about the Sizaire Fr ères 4RI, and even then only as an aside (and I do a lot of reading about old cars), now I've had two in the workshop. This one's owner is in the UK and he's had the car for a while, a lot of work has been carried out on it but it needs some finishing off. I'll be sorting out and setting up the brake cabling and I'm going to replace the broken starter foot switch with a solenoid and dash mounted switch

The time warp Golf CL I've had up for sale for a little while found a new owner this week. It couldn't have been a better fit, for him 1994 is modern, he was pleased to find it had wind up windows and manual heater controls. If he looks after it it'll last for ever.

What a delight, an early TVR Grantura was dropped off this morning for a little work. And by early I do mean it, it's registered as a...

The Morris Marina that comes in every once in a while was dropped off yesterday for some investigation. It had a leaking carburettor jet...

One minute you've never heard of a TX Tripper, the next you find you've got two in the workshop. This one has a 1600 Triumph 6 cylinder...