Sarah and I went from Great Missenden to Lands End to John O'Groats and back to Great Missenden in my 1952 Flat Rad +4....a distance of well over 1000 miles.
Did it go well.....of course it did!
Our Morgan was running its original Vanguard engine of 2088cc with single Stromberg caburettor. A dynamo and distributor with points (more of that later). 16 inch wheels, drum brakes and a new set of crossply tyres.
The run down to lands end was without drama and we happily signed onto the 1993 MCC End to End trial. The weather was fine and sunny afterall it was the 1st of June. There was a short trial around cones overlooking the cornish coast and then onto the open road.
We did not have a care in the world....and than it rained....and rained...and rained.
Within minutes the wipers packed up so Sarah had to resort to manual mode....we had only gone a few miles, don't you love Morgans?
The MCC had thrown in a couple of hills (start stop events) which despite the weather the vanguard engined Mog took it all in its stride.. the next 8 hours were largely uneventful as we passed and were repassed by Nortons, pre war Alvis and Bentleys .
After 8 hours (it was now mid night) we stopped for a coffee and bite to eat....it was still raining and headed for Yorkshire!
At Backup (his is a place) the Morgan stopped....it just stopped! Crikes what's going on?
I lifted the bonnet and looked hopefully for something missing. It was beyond me. I tried restrating the engine....and nothing. Sarah looked knowingly on but said nothing.
I did then what all knowledgeable men do....I called the AA!
What seemed like after an eternity a real man arrived and asked whats up? "it doesn't go... that's whats up" . The AA man tried the starter, lifted the bonnet and removed the distributor cap...he then threw out the bob weights saying you don't need those. WHAT??
The timing was reset and we were on our way....Sarah looked on steadfastly and resumed with wiper duties.
Next up was the Kielder Forest for a timed stage. Heavy acceleration and braking (plus a bit of reversing) and we were no our way towards Edinburgh It was still raining!
The wind had now become a menace and crosing the Forth road bridge warning signs were illuminated.
The Morgan started to move erratically all at a heady 50mph. "This doesn't seem right" so I pulled onto the hard shoulder and got out to brave the wind and rain. The rear tyre was flat....we had a puncture! My first in 18 years. Because I'm a real man I set to jacking the car up and removing the wheel....I was soaked.
Driving through Edinburgh it was now rush hour, onwards and upwards towards Perth.
After 26 hours of non-stop driving we arrived at our hotel, beers and bed!!
The next day was fine the wind had dropped and no rain
We arrived at John O'Groats in brilliant sun, we dropped the hood and smiled. The odometer read 1010 miles. We now had to drive home....
cheers
john
