Pleasant as it sounds, this wasn't where I wanted to be. The pub in question was the Kings Arms at Portesham in rural West Dorset. A significant location in a way, it was the furthest I had driven Jezebel from home to date. Just under 5 miles. With a new battery under the drivers seat, I was out cruising the shire to charge the battery and to give the engine a bit of welly as it had remained static for so long.
All was going well as I entered the village. All was still going well as I turned right and noticed the admiring gazes of the pub garden full of lunchtime tipplers. All was not going quite so well another 30 metres up the road when she stalled for no apparent reason and ground to a halt in the middle of the road, under the less admiring gazes of the tipplers. Turning the engine over just wasn't working and strangely it was sounding like it was flat again. Time to test the Green Flag recovery that comes free with my bank account.
Mike from Marsh Road Garage turned up and did the usual mechanics thing of tutting and pointing out various cowboy repairs that had been made. He jump started Jezebel and we let her run for a bit before he announced it was probably an alternator problem and, 'oh, by the way, I think your big end is going' .
A big end ? This will, I have no doubt, mean something to about 10% of readers. It's an engine part. I have no idea what it looks like or where it was planning on going to. All I know is that it's an important thing in the engine and when someone mentions your 'big end' it usually prequels them asking for a wedge of cash the size of a small village. I gulped and nodded knowingly. Fear not I thought. All of the blogs and web pages I had read mentioned how easy it was to get a T25 engine out and how many other engines it was possible to substitute for a T25 engine. "Get a Golf engine, no problem, drop it in." Mike advised me. "Shouldn't be more than a few hundred quid".
So, I spoke to Chris at Class Bodyworks. He suggested getting a second hand diesel, or a reconditioned petrol engine. Advice from other mechanics was to recondition the current one, buy an engine from a reputable company, buy a cheap written off car, buy a Subaru, browse the net, phone around. The cheapest quote I found for a reconditioned T25 engine was £1800.
Well, finally, after a fair bit of trawling, I think I may have found one. £500. The problem is, I don't know how good or bad it is. The bloke selling it tells me they have got it going and it doesn't smoke but he can't do a warranty. It's a gamble. It could be in just as bad a state as mine. Oh decisions....
In the meantime, having had yet another group say they would love to put in a team, but couldn't stretch to 3 weeks off work, I had a brainwave and came up with the idea of the Windy Lite. A two week version including the Transfagarasan Highway and the Stelvio Pass. It will mean two hefty drives at the beginning and end but is just about doable in 2 weeks. It's launching tomorrow. I need bunting, champagne and fireworks !
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