Aston Martin Rust Oration

Well, there I was, on the farm again for four glorious days, with grand plans to finish the brake system.

So, I started where I had left off – making the new brake pipes. I had all the old pipes that we cut off originally – so that I could get a rough idea of what was needed – then using a nifty bending tool, made the shaped pipes – allowing for excess legnth to be be cut down. (In my enthusiasm I made a couple too short to start with.)

I then tried to fit the pipes – only to find they didn’t fit, and hand to rebend some of them by hand. Long fiddly job.

Next thing to do was put on the fittings and flare the pipe ends.

Once I’d got all the pipes done and in place I started to strip down and overhaul the master cylinder – and this is where it all ground to a halt. I needed a 13mm allen key to get the tipping valve out. And I didn’t have a 13mm allen key. Nor did Malcolm, Gary or John, or the farmer next door….

So I decided to stop doing the brakes and to think of something else to play with.

Air filters. That seemed a good plan.

I stripped off the rust and old paint off one airfilter housing. cleaned it up, painted it, replaced the old padding where it attaches to the chassis, and discovered that to fit it I had to remove the brake servo and all the pipes I had just made….

Damn, damn, damn.

I will also have to drill out the rivets on the hose brackets I had made to fit the plastic hose – which I split while trying to compress it…

So now my shopping list for my next trip includes – one 13mm allen key and two pieces of flexible air duct in black plastic.

What I love about the farm is that each time I visit Malcolm has a different project on the go – he’s almost finished the Renault 4 – and has a R5 outside waiting for an engine swap,

…..and he does not look at all happy about the state of the roof of this 70′s Datsun 240 – it appears to have been damaged in a roll, cut off, sort of bashed into shape, and then really badly welded back on out of alignment. That really deserves to be on the ‘There, I fixed it’ website.

At least it looks as if Gary’s finished the Alfa track car.

 

You won”t find  Nemo – he’s Sushi

After the farm on Monday I dropped into the RSA for a screening of Charles Clover’s excellent film ‘ End of the Line’   A harrowing tale of the effects of over fishing  on the world’s oceans.

Marine conservation has long been a passion  – I was  for many years a trustee of a marine research foundation in Oxford.  I am really pleased that such a highly respected journalist has taken up the campaigning banner - although the task ahead is huge, especially in taking the message to the Far East.

Back in the 60′s  my Father used to complain about the Japanese long line trawlers around Mauritius taking all the fish – admittedly because it meant there were less of his beloved marlin for him to catch.  China and Japan are the largest consumers of the world’s fish stocks – and as prosperity grows in mainland China more people will be able to afford to eat the fish once reserved for emperors.

Good luck with it Charles – and I shall urge all my fellow Aston owners and enthusiasts to ensure that the dish they choose to accompany that bottle of viognier or Krug, Clos du Mesnil is from a sustainable source.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 at 1:32 pm and is filed under ROJ - The Rowan Atkinson Car. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.