Bank Holiday Monday. A quiet evening, less traffic on the roads. An ideal time to move the ‘B’ the 9.5 miles to it’s future home to undertake repairs and mild restoration.
The original plan was to drive the car (slowly, as ever) as much of the way as possible, with a ‘support’ car for assistance and towing if needed. The car wouldn’t start at all, suffering from a seriously flat battery, so towing was the only option. Hooking up to the lead car, the journey began.
Now, I’m not a master at being towing, or being the ‘tow-ee’. I can safely say this was one of the scariest journeys I have ever made. Despite the battery failing on ignition, the lights were working on the car, the hazards were on, and more importantly the windscreen wipers were working – particularly useful given the near-torrential downfall outside.
No more than 10 minutes into the journey, the battery started to die for real, the wipers being the first to go. Not helpful on a night like last night. The heater was also not working, so I had no visibility on the outside, and misted windows on the inside of the car. Then the hazards cut out, leaving just enough power to keep the headlights on in some degree until the end of the journey.
Being towed so close to a brand new car (someone else’s car) without clear visibility (or any visibility) and no electrics was ‘rather interesting’. To complete the journey, I had my head out of the driver’s side window, squinting through one eye to try not to blind myself from the constant rain, and keeping an eye on the car in front of me, following it’s path. My foot was on the brakes a fair portion of the journey, as due to the weather and the fact I didn’t want to slam into the back of the car in front, I was being overly cautious.
We had made it to our destination, and as soon as the cars were parked, the smell of brake pads came emanating from the poor MGB. Worked to ruin, but in all honesty, I’d rather buy and set new brakes/pads than have rear-ended a car on a night like last night.
A bit more work ahead of me now. The battery should be on charge fairly soon, and no doubt I’ll end up buying a new one at some point in the near future. The heating panel and matrix will need looking into, as well as the electrics. Good times.
No Comments on "All systems are “No”"
Hey Matt – Sounds as if the fun has started! I would have changed the discs and pads anyway… its not expensive and is very easy… good luck with the heater matrix (notoriously bad design, although you can buy uprated parts for it). The bulk of electrical problems on these cars is grounding… everything needs a good ground. Looking forward to future installments and pictures! Cheers, Rick.