A Mostly British Obsession
The cars on show at Carillon Point are there by invitation only–and the show tends to feature what the folks with real money would call “proper classics.” Truly a wonderful assortment of machinery, this year focusing on vintage Mercedes, “orphans,” classic hydroplanes and motorcycle/sidecar outfits. It was a treat to see these fantastic machines…I more or less took random photos, and there are a lot of them below.
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This can’t be good–most bikes don’t use studded front tires. The Triumph is now seven years old and on its original tires, though they have accumulated only 2600 miles. I suppose this will get me to replace them. (I’m not quite sure what I’ve collected, here…I thought it was a bolt, but on further study, I don’t think it is.)
I discovered this on the ferry, headed out to Kirkland for the Carillon Point car show today, so I had 50 miles of riding to contemplate my unwanted companion.
I have the fenders, valance and rear hatch off the GT, preparing for a few minor patch panels and then paint. Car is remarkably good, all things considered. Most painful is going to be getting all of the red overspray off of places I will not be painting, like the underside and inner fenders, which all still have very intact undercoating.
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Alternative Blasters in Marysville finished their work on the GT–they were quick, friendly, and reasonably priced…definitely going to use them again. They did not do the bonnet as they were uncomfortable with blasting the aluminum.
The car is really very good for a 42 year old MG. The passenger dogleg (just behind the door) has a couple of holes (which we’ll patch) and the lower front fenders are rusted, with some associated damage to the front of the sill. I have new lower fenders and I think (hope!) the sill can be patched.
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I put the GT on the car trailer and drove it to Alternative Blasters (in Marysville) to have the cruddy paint job removed. I left the glass in, as it makes life easier for blaster, but will remove it when the car is back. Then it’s on to rust repair (lower front fenders) and new paint in the original grey (which you can see a glimpse of where the tail lights were).
The Ford put in yeoman service (yet again) hauling around my other machines.
Thoroughly enjoyed a ride today with my friends in the Vintage Motorcycle Enthusiasts club–it was our annual “Isle of Vashon” outing. For me, this means four ferry rides, which is good, and a trek down 99 through the strip-mall wasteland that stretches from Mukilteo to West Seattle, which is (thankfully) forgettable.
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I cannot tell you how big a difference replacing the spark plug leads has made to this machine…it is a first-kick starter now no matter how warm or cold the engine is. This is an unbelievable improvement and makes the old girl a pleasure to take out. She’s shown here next to the ball field at the beach just down the road.
Here’s a short video I shot aboard the BSA…bouncy, terrible audio, I should have switched out of auto-focus…but it’s literally the first time I’ve fooled with any sort of on-vehicle camera. I was trying to keep my leg out of the way (with mixed success) and so my riding isn’t going to win me any awards, either.
On my way to the All British show in Bellevue I stopped to gawk at the Flying Heritage museum’s fly day…they were going to fly the Hurricane and Spitfire, but the Spit was grounded, so they flew the P51 in its place. All Merlin power, in any case, and I can’t say I feel too slighted.
I got the newly cleaned-up magneto bolted back on and timed, and the bike fired even though one of the plug leads wasn’t connected. Wisdom point for today: Check if both spark plug leads are connected when you wonder “why is this reluctant to rev?”
I haven’t been able to do much riding yet, though,as it won’t idle. It won’t idle, because, as it turns out, the throttle stop (idle) screw has fallen out of the carb. Bonus wisdom point for today: Check that the throttle stop screw hasn’t fallen out when you wonder “why won’t this idle?”
My friend John has offered to lend me a spare stop screw until my Burlen Fuel Systems order gets here from England; I’ll pick the spare up tomorrow when I’m on the mainland. So, perhaps, finally, I’ll get some riding in on Tuesday to see how well the “hot start problem” has been neutralized by the mag work. Fingers crossed for “completely”!
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