Dear All,
As some may recall, A good friend of mine has rebuilt an "L" type Magna.
He has recently put it on the road and interrupted my labours in the
workshop this evening with his arrival. It was chucking it down with
sunshine and his visit was all the more welcome with the offer of a lift
into town to pick up some stainless steel I'd had welded. I could not think
of a better way to spend an hour or so away from the cares and worries of
an election night so off we went. We were bowling along at a fairly sedate
running in type of pace and mounting the brow of a hill when I caught sight
of something chrome flashing throuigh the evening sunlight, past my head.
It took a few nanoseconds for me to realise what it was and decide whether
or not it was vital. Now, it might bb just me and we all have or own
opinions, but I consider a hub spinner fairly vital, especially in the area
of holding wheels on. Just as I screamed a terrified "stop" off came the
wheel. It bounced twenty feet down the road and into a ditch and the care
ran for a few yards on the nearside brake drum. David manfully wrestled
with the steering and we safely halted. Happily all was well with the only
casualty being a fractured lower cycle wing strut. We surveyed the car. I
strolled down the road in search of the recalcitrant knock off spinner and
was rewarded with finding it miraculously on the edge of a very overgrown
verge. I flagged down a car and got a lift home and returned in the Range
Rover with my trolley jack. We effected repairs and limped back happy in
the knowledge that it could have been a lot worse.
The is the latest in a series of mishaps with this car and I've advised
David to repaint it as I'm convinced that the cause lies in the fact that
it's painted green. Easily the unluckiest colour possible.
Yours verdeaphobically, JH
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