[Mgs] First drives.

[Aaron Whiteman]

Poor Mr Robinson may not have gotten out today, but I did.

If you recall, I had a bit more than the standard "diff clunk" issues last
fall. The felt washers were completey gone and the brass washers were well on
their way. And of course, none of the local operations would even touch this
little weird sports car.

Fortunately, I had a friend that would do it. "Ahh.. it's like a cute little
version of a Dana. No problem."

It took several months, but the axle was back in my possession on Saturday and
the car was back together that evening. I was able to do much of the work
while listening to a very entertaining match between Seattle and Portland (go
Sounders!), finishing in time to enjoy a very quick test drive before calling
a day.

The test drive revealed a terrible rhythmic squeak on the driver's side. So
Sunday, before I went off to enjoy some single track on my Trek, I took the
drum off, wiggled things about, and put it back together.

I couldn't take a longer drive after that until today, when I called my
insurance to "take the car out of storage." I didn't go far, maybe 5 miles
total. But like always, the first drive of spring reminds me oh so clearly why
I own this little car. Driving home tonight under the stars while piloting a
simple car that connects the driver to the road so strongly... I'm still
grinning hard.

Thank you British Leyland. You may have cut a lot of corners in the mid-70s,
but you still made a car that "feels right".

--
Aaron