It has
been three and a half months since I last posted. Yes, it is uncharacteristic
of me to have such a gap but there was a reason. I was bored of me saying (and you probably were, too) that I still have to have “Old Biddy” color sanded and registered
all the time and it never actually happened.
I waited until I had good news and real progress before I posted again.
Here is the good news, bad news…bear with me.
First, I
wanted to get the car roadworthy in case there was going to be a Dept. of Motor
Vehicle (DMV) inspection on her. Therefore, she needed a couple things buttoned up. One thing was that I had
to have rear view side mirrors installed. Holding true to my goal of keeping
“Old Biddy” the same configuration she was when she arrived ten years ago, I put
them on the front fenders (wings). This seems to be a love/hate thing with
British car enthusiasts. Whatever anyone else thinks, I bowed to her original
condition.
The car
had no title when I bought it out of state in New York. To make a long, long,
long story short (which is one of the reasons for not posting in a while), here
are the papers I ultimately needed for the State of Connecticut to officially
register the car. A Q-1 form (in lieu of a title and bill of sale), her
insurance documentation, and a registration application that they wanted me to
fill out each time I went to the DMV (four to be exact). Then they finally issued
me a temporary plate which gave me permission to drive the car to the shop get her
Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) inspected.
After all
that…She was finally issued her license plate!!! This, too, is temporary as I will be getting vanity plates in the fall.
Last week
when I drove her to get the VIN inspection done (with her temporary license
plate in the back window), the ride was only a 6.2 mile round trip. At a top
speed of 58mph @ 3800rpm she ran great. Four days later, the same evening when she got her permanent
plate issued, I decided to go for a longer ride to bond with her and do a
“shake down” cruise. All went well, except that the next morning I noticed she
was leaking oil out of the front of the engine. We will need to investigate.
There is
still a punch list of things to do. One item on the list is to modify her spare
tire hold down clamp. The screw is not long enough to thread into the bracket.
The tire was clunking around a bit in the trunk which made it sound like the
wheels were falling off! It should be an easy fix with a big enough drill bit.
That is
the good news…and here is the annoying news.
Al, the
guy who did all the bodywork on Old Biddy, was already paid to color sand and
buff the car a few years ago, has not returned any of my calls since I started to contact him last summer. I have decided to take
Old Biddy to a local fellow who has been detailing cars for thirty years to do
the job instead. He is very honest, and is a great professional at what he does.
He is excited to help me out any way he can as he loves cars and takes pride in what he does.
I have all the receipts and invoices and paperwork needed to go to small claims
court if I do not receive a refund from Al. How can people do business like
this and go to bed with a good conscience?
Thanks for visiting,
Toddy
