Gaydon or bust ! Part 2
Posted: 15 Jul 2019 12:28
So, Sunday morning, carbs cleaned and adjusted, I set off early to ensure I get a good spot at the show. Things are going along nicely and I am enjoying the drive on A & B roads, avoiding the Motorways completely. The new wheels and tyres are a revelation as I check out the handling through roundabouts and sweeping bends. What could possibly go wrong ? Well, just over a third of the way of my journey at a roundabout on the 507 at Ampthill I accelerated out of the right hander and.......nothing! Engine running, but no go. I realised that the accelerator pedal had gone limp, nought to do but use the choke to aid the wedge roll into the layby on the left. This layby coincidently is the same layby that some 10 or more years ago I broke down in with a red Grinnall 3.5 V8 with john 215 in attendance. The Carb link had broken which was cleverly fixed with the use of a hairband and a stick found on the verge. Enginuity indeed. Well this time, the accelerator cable had snapped about 6 inches down from the carb link. I thought about using the choke cable, but this was too short. Then I realised that in the boot was a bonnet release cable that I'd been using from the Saturdays break down. So I poked the cable into the cover with the aid of some 20/50 which took some time as the end was a bit frayed. Using a twisting action to help the passage down the way untill it got stuck at the open end. I managed to overcome this with a pin found in the layby that manipulated the frayed bits through the hole. So I had approx. 2 inches of cable sticking out the carb end and the 'T' handle butting up against the accelerator lever. After some swearing I managed to tie a knot at the carb link and found a screw to help wedge it in place. Under the dash I had to cable tie up some wiring away from the 'T' handle so that i did not pull anything important and cause more trouble. So this fix got me to the show 2 and a half hours later than planned. 10 years and 2.5 hours late, but I got there in the end !
