SafetyFast! Notes – Feb 17

Recently, 39 members and partners enjoyed a three course Christmas meal last December at the Ring o Bells, Compton Martin. This Natter is held in the evening of the first Tuesday of the month and new members would be welcome. On to future events, which are also detailed on our website:

South West Centre Dinner and Presentation of Awards will be held on the evening of Saturday 25 2017 at Limpley Stoke, near Bath

South West Centre AGM Tuesday March 7 at 8:15pm. Come along to the Natter at the Ring o’ Bells, Compton Martin, and its a few hundred yards’ walk to the Old School Room next to the church, where the AGM will be held. Please come and support your committee and let us know your views as, after all, it is your centre.

Wye Valley Social Run Sunday May 7. Start at Symonds Yat in the beautiful Wye Valley.

Kimber Classic Trial Saturday May 13. Start at Lanes Hotel, West Coker, Yeovil. Marshals are always desperately needed on this event for a few hours only, so the rest of the day can be spent socialising or spectating on another hill. This event is great fun in glorious countryside with a very interesting collection of cars.

For me personally, 2016 will definitely be remembered as the year I restored my wife Sue’s MGB GT. For those readers not familiar with this car, we purchased OGL 863L when it was five years old with 50,000 miles on the clock. It has served as Sue’s everyday car ever since and the mileage now stands at 290,500 miles. The engine is still the original which I reconditioned back in the mid 1980s. By November 2015 the tin worm was at work in several places, particularly the rear wings and wheel arches, and so it was off the road for partial strip down and repairs.

As is so often the case, stripping the car down revealed matters were much worse and it soon became obvious that a total rebuild was requires. So the early part of 2016 was spent as a full time welder with all the usual panels being replaced, including the floors. With a job like this, the heritage panels are an absolute godsend, as was the basic rollover from CJ Autos for supporting the car on its side, which kept overhead welding to a minimum.

The car was professionally resprayed last April and the time since has been spent overhauling the mechanicals and re-assembly. Hopefully, by the time you read these notes the car should be nearly ready for the road and the next 300,000 miles.

Andrew Owst

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.