Midlife crisis update....

[expat]

It has been a while since my last update of this project. Life has got in the way at every corner. However, last weekend I managed some real progress. Brakes are installed, wheels are on and engine and gearbox was installed. That last job, a complete and utter nightmare. Enough to say every word I read on Internet forums about this tasking is true.....anyway a few pictures......

Matt


From this



To this



To this











And to here

[Fozzer]

Hello Matt... ...!

Watched a very interesting program on the 'Tele last night....BBC 4: "Magnificent Machines: The Golden Age of the British Sports Car".

..the birth of the English Sports car after the War, in the 1950's and 1960's...

Austin Healey 100, Frog-eyed Sprite, Triumph TR 4, Jaguar E-Type, etc, etc....

And I was thinking of you when they mentioned the MG B!

The 1950's and 1960's was a magic time for English Cars and Motorcycles!......I remember them well!

Paul...enjoying them since my 16th birthday in 1950!.... ...!

"Timeshift sets its rear view mirror to look back at the golden age of the British sports car. It's the story of how - in the grey austerity of the post-war years - iconic marques like Jaguar, Austin-Healey, MG and Triumph sparked a manufacturing frenzy that helped to democratise speed and glamour. From the MG Midget, much loved by American GIs, through to the more affordable Austin Healey 'frog-eye' Sprite, and the E-Type Jaguar, seen by many as the ultimate sports car, this is a tale of how, for a brief time, Britain was home to two-seater heaven".


P.S. the old MG is coming along nicely, Matt...Don't forget to let us know when she is on the road, complete with its proud driver cloaked in leather helmet/flat cap, goggles and silk scarf and gloves...!

[Fozzer]

I have many interesting and exciting memories of all my British Motor Cars, and Motorcycles, and Motorcycle combinations, that I have owned over the years.
...Much laughter...and tears...mechanical breakdowns.....and tyre punctures...!

A time for nostalgia!
My oldest Motor Car: 1932 1087cc Brooklands Riley 9.
My first Motor Bike: 1948, 350cc Royal Enfield Bullet.
My biggest bike: 1948, 998cc twin, Series C, Vincent-HRD Rapide. (With/without side-car).
My best British bike: 1958, 650cc twin, BSA Super Rocket, Café Racer.
...and lots of stuff in between!

I gave up on Motor Cars in 1990 due to modern traffic congestion, and now concentrate on Motorcycles only...with their; "freedom"!.... ...!

Now with Japanese Honda and Yamaha Motorcycles!

Paul.... ....!

[expat]

I have many interesting and exciting memories of all my British Motor Cars, and Motorcycles, and Motorcycle combinations, that I have owned over the years.
...Much laughter...and tears...mechanical breakdowns.....and tyre punctures...!

A time for nostalgia!
My oldest Motor Car: 1932 1087cc Brooklands Riley 9.
My first Motor Bike: 1948, 350cc Royal Enfield Bullet.
My biggest bike: 1948, 998cc twin, Series C, Vincent-HRD Rapide. (With/without side-car).
My best British bike: 1958, 650cc twin, BSA Super Rocket, Café Racer.
...and lots of stuff in between!

I gave up on Motor Cars in 1990 due to modern traffic congestion, and now concentrate on Motorcycles only...with their; "freedom"!.... ...!

Now with Japanese Honda and Yamaha Motorcycles!

Paul.... ....!

That is a cracking list to have owned Paul. I just wish my dad still had his Vincent Black Shadow. It would be worth around a hundred grand Sterling these days.......

Matt

[Fozzer]

That is a cracking list to have owned Paul. I just wish my dad still had his Vincent Black Shadow. It would be worth around a hundred grand Sterling these days.......

Matt

The funny thing is, in those bygone days, Matt, 2nd-hand bikes cost next to nothing, and we constantly swapped different makes and different models without a thought as to their (future) worth!
My old bikes would be worth a fortune now.....but not at the time I bought them!
Interestingly....my Vincent-HRD was the most troublesome of all my bikes. OK when new, but many of its ingenious designs were asking for trouble a few years on...oil-soaked dry clutch, wear in the valve rocker mechanism, wear in the complex front girder fork linkages, peculiar rear suspension, and the bloody magneto which flatly refused to supply a spark to start the engine!
Kick-starting a Vincent-HRD is/was a magic art, mostly resulting in a heart attack...(similar to a 350/500cc, BSA Gold Star!).

I just wish I still had my 650cc twin, BSA Super Rocket café racer now, to terrify the local villagers on a "quiet?" Sunday afternoon!... ....!

Paul..Brmmm...brmmm.... ....!

[expat]

That is a cracking list to have owned Paul. I just wish my dad still had his Vincent Black Shadow. It would be worth around a hundred grand Sterling these days.......

Matt

The funny thing is, in those bygone days, Matt, 2nd-hand bikes cost next to nothing, and we constantly swapped different makes and different models without a thought as to their (future) worth!
My old bikes would be worth a fortune now.....but not at the time I bought them!
Interestingly....my Vincent-HRD was the most troublesome of all my bikes. OK when new, but many of its ingenious designs were asking for trouble a few years on...oil-soaked dry clutch, wear in the valve rocker mechanism, wear in the complex front girder fork linkages, peculiar rear suspension, and the bloody magneto which flatly refused to supply a spark to start the engine!
Kick-starting a Vincent-HRD is/was a magic art, mostly resulting in a heart attack...(similar to a 350/500cc, BSA Gold Star!).

I just wish I still had my 650cc twin, BSA Super Rocket café racer now, to terrify the local villagers on a "quiet?" Sunday afternoon!... ....!

Paul..Brmmm...brmmm.... ....!

That is funny Paul, my dad said the same thing about the Black Shadow. Starting it was akin to a good run around the park. I often look at things today and wonder what the value will be in 20 or 30 years. To think I had a load of the first generation Star Wars figures as a child. If only I had kept them in the original packaging and never played with them, again, worth a fortune today. However, a toy is to be played with. I am often on the look out for rare and odd model kits. I get them at expo's, if the price is right, I buy them. Often with the seller saying it will increase in value. No it wont I always reply, I am going to build it. The look on their faces is priceless, but that is what the kit was made for and it just becomes a box of useless plastic shapes if it in not put together......

Matt