Hi,
carrying a spare Petronix unit reminds me of a 1961 Rover 3 Ltr I
used to have, I bought it in a rainstorm in a pub car park. How it gleamed, the
leather though 10 years old still had that rich English feel and smell. I paid
the guy, cash about $300 which to me was a lot of money then. I drove home
feeling like royalty. The next day the rain stopped and I went outside to clean
the car.
The whole bottom section was covered with a black plastic material that I had
not paid much attention too. I pressed it and my hand almost disappeared. It
cost another $300 for new body panels and a respray. One night the car stopped
dead (it was raining again and I had the wife and three kids on board). I sat
in the car and read the one and a half inch thick owners manual. In the "tips
for the owner" section. I read if the car stops, check you have petrol, if
you have, the fuel pump may have broken. Under the dashboard is a switch marked
"Fuel pump two" flick this switch and the spare fuel pump will work. I did and
the car started ! The first fuel pump had done over 120,000 miles. Now that
was British engineering at it best .
I remember my father telling me about a friend who dreaded being drowned,
when war broke out in 1939 he volunteered to join the Air Force and the Army,
with typical British cynicism he was asked to enlist at the Navel Dockyards in
Liverpool. He spent all the war on trans Atlantic convoys and never once took
off his life jacket, his various ships were shot at by German aircraft and
attacked by submarines but he survived. Day and night he wore his life jacket
he
sweated in it, slepted in it and worked in it. Eventually the end of the war
came and he returned to Liverpool. As he left the ship he turned to his
shipmates and shouted " That is the last time I will wear that bloody thing"
and threw
the life jacket into Liverpool docks. It sank like a stone !!
Dave Latham.
1953 BN1 100 / 4. # 70.
Wales. UK.
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