As reported the BX 1.4 Leader was collected from Brislington yesterday. Bit of a nightmare trip with failed equipment in repair having to be liberated from the workshop of a mate in the opposite direction of collection. Bumpy roads knocking the lights out. Knocking the replacement light board off and general traffic generated by schools meaning the trailer was invisible despite being wider than the towcar
.
Got down to the lock-up which was being handed back to the council. Report was the car would not start. Fortunately I had put my spare Ex van battery in. That resolved that issue to be replaced by the main feed into the thermostat housing, I assume, failing - chucking water out. This reduced the number of minutes engine time we could use. To get out of this 'garage' meant negotiating a drop of some five inches down a wedge of concrete. With no suspension, a failed high pressure line under the cars waistline, this was a problem. I had bought my bubble planks ex of the van for loading small cars in the back. However they had to be placed on the descending edge of the concrete wedge so as not to catch under the low BX. I therefore had to stand in half splits on the ends of the plank waiting to jump out of the way of a brake-less BX running poorly. I am not built for gymnastics but accomplished the task
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Loading was much the same problem but my trailer is an ex twin axled racing car one and on 10 inch tyres. This means it is low slung, though a tonne is as much as it will carry safely. So just the height of the planks gave clearance a more normal trailer might not have afforded by its height from the ground to bed. Here the problem was to get Gary out of the car, as the doors became trapped by the trailer wings. Strapped on the car filled the trailer as a max load. A bit nose heavy by choice but the Merc could cope with that. Proof was it towed beautifully
.
This is Gary Hares' last BX. Sounds like he is not planning on another. It is so that Sandre got her green Estate from Gary. I think he could have created a good BX in fact. He has to buy skills in and since he did not concentrate on one car effectively the effort was defuse over a number of cars, none of which yielded reliable transport. Bit of a shame as he is a nice guy and deserves a bit of luck in his life. His dog got killed by a pit bull attack in the park and it seems he has had a bad time of it. He now has a ZX which is proving a better bet.
The trip back could not be on the M4 as the trailer was not a finished item and technically illegal if a Policing person applied his rule book. There is a weigh bridge VOSA station at Swindon and they like to use it. Trailers are an easy nick, so regularly pulled if they look interesting. Therefore I elected to go A4 and then north through the downland Lanes through Aldbourne, Lambourn and Ashbury. Well I met everything that could get in the way. Even a Copper on point, a rare sight these days, directing traffic around a stranded truck on a mini round about. Deep joy for all involved, including the Copper who had to dodge the larger vehicles whilst maintaining control. He did very well, actually, as the situation could have got out of hand with the aggression from further back in the queue, which is so prevalent in modern driving. I suffered the after effects as the 'next slowest thing' thereafter, with some bloody dangerous overtaking and unnecessary chopping from traffic coming passed on a modified, wide but superseded A road. No excuse. So it was actually pleasant to take to the lanes and the far more challenging driving conditions. (Something of a joke as the paranoia of a criminal record from the revenue collecting arm of policing pushed me onto far more challenging and dangerious roads when I probably need not have been there). That is until I realised it was a last rush to get the late harvest in. Being from the countryside that was dumb. I always let tractors go this time of year, as they need to get on. This is normally reciprocated but it made for slow progress
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In the end it took three hours to do the 60 miles back
. However no pulls
. Why do Mercs have American hand brakes? You know, the ones you cannot tell if there on or not. During unloading, I assume I had not got the hand brake to lock on, as instead of the BX moving off the trailer, the trailer and Merc moved from under the BX and the front wheel of the Merc over a drainage void. That made the Merc immobile as it has not subtle suspension nor a diff lock leaving the lighter rear wheel spinning uselessly. To add to the fun the out of control movement trapped the front of the BX over a jack stand on the rear of the trailer. The whole blocking the lane passed my 'new' house. A right old mess to sort out
. These trials are best done a bit at a time. So BX off first to free the trailer. Off with the spoiler, Ah ha. I had the correct tool with me as I saw that one coming
! Then trailer off. Would the Merc come out. Would it buggery
. I had to get the neighbour to pull it out with his car. Fortunately he did not seem greatly put out by it and chat ensued leaving the road blocked. Ah, this country life!
So what of the BX you cry
. It is a plain white 1,4 from Feb 1989. The V5 says its a Leader but the car makes no claim of being anything. It is effectively 'barn find' condition with no suspension and a water leak. No doubt other issues will reveal themselves. It has a slightly bent rear wing and a nasty after market glass porthole sunroof. This had its glass broken by a kid standing on it and a plastic replica put in place. Its a mess. The car seems relatively rust free and in good unmolested condition otherwise. It came with a boot full of new boxed spares, books and some misc handy knick nacks along with a packet of unused mudflaps. All in all a bargain for £130. F883 PLU becomes Pluto and will go into storage round the back of the new place, free storage - important, till I have time to do something to get it on the road again
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A long old job in the end but worth the doing.
Calls for some extra beds and a barrel of beer I think 
. Ooo, so many to choose from..... 
