My sad news day

I went to my local garage this morning - the one that has looked after MOTs and welding on all my cars for the last 33 years - and it has changed hands.

The mechanic who has looked after my daily driver Triumph since I bought it 24 years ago, (and done most of the repairs for the last two after my joints got a bit too creaky) has retired. Instead of someone taught in the traditional ways, who really liked to work on pre-electronics cars, I was meeting someone who reminded me of a Qu**k F*t fitter.

I have booked the 2000 in for an MOT anyway, but whether he knows that the test is to different standards for pre-1974 cars remains to be seen. Whether he wants to do any work on it if any is needed remains to be seen. Whether I trust him to do it properly at a reasonable price if anything needs doing is also bothering me.

How does someone find a garage that can be trusted with old machinery these days? Any suggestions?

Jim

Reply to
Jim Warren
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Tell us where you are Jim, someone may know of a trustworthy garage in your area. Personal recommendation is way better than any advertisement! Badger.

Reply to
Badger

I am in Bath. The garage I used is Midland Car Company, so recommendations wanted other than that one.

I have a couple of options. There is a body shop in Bath that specialises in MGBs but will tackle anything of similar age, and he doesn't do MOTs so he must have someone he uses for that. And there is the Morris Minor Centre that has recently moved from Bath to Bristol, but they might have a recommendation in Bath. So I can ask around, but any suggestions from the NG gratefully accepted.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Warren

I bought a used Moggie traveller from the MMC in Bristol - and based on that experience, I'd thoroughly recommend them. Much more 'traditional ways' than 'quickfit'....

Equally - anybody in Bath that they were to reccommend should be OK...

Hope this helps Adrian

Reply to
Adrian

I will see what the MOT results are, and get an impression of the mechanic from the way he describes what he found. And if he doesn't find anything unaffordable wrong, I am inclined to let him do the work and judge him by how it is done. After all, he will be putting his name on the MOT certificate afterwards.

But if I do think I have to go somewhere else, I will speak to Charlie Ware (he lives in Bath, and I often see him around), pass on your appreciation, and see what he has to say. Thanks for the recommendation.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Warren

No problem. To jog his memory - it's the Almond Green '64 Traveller that he sent to the stained glass guy in south-west Ireland...... ...that should narrow it down a bit

Good luck Adrian

Reply to
Adrian

I met Charlie on Monday and passed on your message.

He didn't say anything apart from Oh yes I remember that one, but he looked really pleased.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Warren

Ah - that's nice..... Never met him in person - but we've spoken several times on the phone, and he seems like one of those people who knows their stuff on Moggies...

Thanks Adrian

Reply to
Adrian

He is a very interesting man to talk to, though he always seems incredibly busy and never chats for long at any time.

He was once a millionaire who fought (and won) a running battle with the council who wanted to demolish a row of Georgian houses that they had deliberately allowed to go derelict to make them worthless. Charlie stepped in and bought them from under the council's nose, restored them and then forced the council to rethink their development plans because what they intended to demolish was no longer unfit for habitation. He sold them on and used the money to buy up another set of derelicts and restored them. Unfortunately at that time there was a property price crash and he lost most of his money because this latest batch sold for less than it cost him to restore them.

Having found himself with insufficient cash to restore property he decided to start restoring something else and settled on Morris Minors. And as the business grew and became more profitable, he bought another Georgian terrace, restored that and used it as his business headquarters. He also started up a factory in Sri Lanka which now makes his parts for his restoration business.

Before the second World War, there were several garages named Ware's, most of which got bombed. I don't know if they were his family or not - I have never asked him - but my guess is that they were, and he grew up in an environment where cars were repaired. He certainly knows a lot about classic cars which would have been current cars when he was growing up.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Warren

Sounds like a man after my own heart ! I'm running a campaign at the moment the bring back the Swansea-Cork ferry - which is a vital link for tourism & industry out here in the South-West of Ireland

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with an online petition if you or anybody you know is interested....

Ah - that's interesting - have heard mention of a factory out that way that's making Moggie spares - didn't put 2&2 together though....

One day when I'm rich I'm going to get Charles's organisation to biuld me a new Moggie - but then - that'd take away all the fun of patching up the odd hole in my 'original' one

From the few chats I've had with him he's certainly a mine of information on the Minors...

Regards Adrian - West Cork, Ireland

Reply to
Adrian

Ooh I used to use that "quite often" because a good friend of mine lived at Ringaskiddy. His family were a bit famous around those parts since they had an Island named after them.

Just as long as it's not an aging Greek reject this time and hopefully the loos won't asphyxiate people in their sleep or the windows in the bar break during heavy weather.

Reply to
Steve Firth

Sounds interesting....

Well yes.....

On the website we _do_ say

==Just to clarify one thing - we?d all like the Swansea-Cork link to be restored, preferably with a modern, comfortable (different!) boat, operated by a responsive, efficient company. This may or may not be ?Swansea Cork Ferries? - but, whoever is involved in operating it, the Swansea-Cork ferry service and the onward ?land-bridge? must be restored as soon as possible!==

Even though the last boat was a bit of a tub, it was, at least, a link.... and without that link which gave easy access by car from the UK / EU to South-West Ireland - many holidaymakers are simply not making the journey.... - and the tourist industry out here is suffering.

As I say - all e-signatures are very welcome !

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Adrian

Reply to
Adrian

I used to make quite a lot of use of it for work-trips - I'm involed in a joint project with UC Cork and it was just dead easy to get the bus to Carmarthen, train to Swansea and then catch the ferry over to Cork overnight. Getting there any other way is a PITA.

In justice, I think the last one was an aging Japanese relic. Still, I've travelled on worse, and you were generally OK if you could get an upper-deck cabin.

Reply to
Andrew Robert Breen

Agreed..... We moved out here about 18 months ago - just before the ferry ceased. Nightmare of a journey from Suffolk to Swansea (2 dogs, caravan, gigantic removals lorry) - sleepless night on the boat, inedible food.... BUT (and it's a big 'but') it saved us two extra days' worth of the removals guys time, and a rotten half-day journey from Rosslare this end...

The annoying thing about the whole SCF business is that nobody's giving a straight answer. There are all sorts of stories and rumours - but nothing seems to be getting done! (meanwhile the tourist-related businesses are suffering - read the stories on the website!)

That's why we started the campaign.....

We paid 2 x £10 for our two dogs to be housed in 'kennels' on the journey. Turned out the kennels were simply metal-and-fiberglass crates in a corner of the car deck - poor creatures were terrified, but, of course we couldn't visit them during the journey... one of them's still phobic about the sound of running water 18 months later

There was an awful lot wrong with the previous boat, (and the company!)

- but at least it was a link......

If you'd like to add your e-signature to the website then that'd be great

Regards Adrian

Reply to
Adrian

I think nowadays the Island is under the Ringaskiddy terminal. It's certainly not in the harbour. IIRC there's a plaque to the family in question somwhere in the terminal. They used to have a really nice cottage a few doors down from the pub.

That's a shame. I've still got fond memories of weddings, wakes, nights out at the pub and cheese making.

I shall probably endorse your petition.

Reply to
Steve Firth

Have you thought about approaching LD Lines? They recently re-opened the Porsmouth/Le Havre ferry which takes a similar time to the Swansea/Cork route and are providing a good quality service at a reasonable price.

Reply to
Steve Firth

Many thanks - it's appreciated Adrian

Reply to
Adrian

Alternatively, have you approached DFSD? They are popular for routes across the North Sea, and according to my brother who used them once, a nice comfortable boat at a sensible price. If the channel tunnel has made a dent in their passenger numbers, they might have some spare capacity to move to Cork.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Warren

OK, I haven't done it. I don't want to subscribe to a newsletter and the "code" whatever the f*ck that is isn't visible so the website won't accept my comment.

Another triumph of fuckbugwittery over common sense when it comes to website design.

Reply to
Steve Firth

Now this will sound like a cop-out - but I'm hoping that the actual chatting with ferry compaines can be done by somebody more experienced than I.

Our situation at the moment seems to be that the people in the Dail in Dublin either are unaware of the problem or don't care about the problem

- either way - we aim to highlight the situation...

The website's full of reports from people whose businesses are suffering from not having this link in place. I came from Cornwall - and it's like digging a great big trench across the A30 and the A38 - having the same impact on our tourist industry. Thing is - it looks like such an easy problem to solve - get a boat! - but for some reason whi we aren't being told, it's being made more complicated...

Anyway - off the soapbox and out to sell some stained / fused glass to the few tourists who have got through the 'blockade'

Thanks for the signature, Steve

Adrian

Reply to
Adrian

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