I arrived back in Wellington at the weekend, having been away for four & a half months this time. Before I left, I took the battery lead off and covered the Valiant with her silver blanket. Yesterday I uncovered her, put the battery lead back on, & turned on the key ... but no knocking noise from the electric petrol pump told me the battery was flat. With the help of Lilicherie's car, she started easily, however the battery (now 5 years old) was really really dead & as soon as I stopped it there was nothing again. So this morning I called the AA who confirmed that the battery is on its way out. After a charge from the AA & a drive around the beautiful southern bays (unfortunately too overcast to see the Kaikouras looming out of the South Island) there is now enough charge to start her.
I called by my mechanics, the great guys at Newtown Auto Electrical, to book her in for her warrant of fitness & a new battery, and asked them what they thought of my electrifying project. Not surprisingly, Glenn and Rob were horrified. They've worked lovingly on this vehicle for many years now so the idea of tampering with such a classic beauty is sacreligious, scandalous and downright silly, in their eyes. Glenn assured me that it's possible to run a combustion engine on fuels other than petrol, such as water, for example. So I've challenged him to find out how I can do that. He's concerned that anyone who knows how to do it, mysteriously disappears off the face of the earth. Perhaps it will have to be a Secret Project.
