yesterday i came home after four & a half months overseas. i'd left lucy the valiant tucked up in the garage, under her silver blanket, and with the battery hooked up to a little solar panel that i left in the window of the garage. despite wellington having extremely bad weather during the last couple of months and lots of rain (i.e. very little actual sunshine) the solar panel has done the trick and this morning the car roared into life on the first try : ) i've just gone out to put petrol in the tank and air in the tyres, and it's almost as if i drove her yesterday. tomorrow she goes in for some mechanical loving - a service and lube and whatever she needs for her warrant of fitness, which expired some time ago.
while away, i'd been thinking about the rust which needs to be attended to - the left side is the worst, with spots appearing at the bottom of the rear passenger door, around the rear wheel arch and the rear column which i know is a tricky and crucial place to repair. from a distance (and hearing about the general wetness of wellington) i'd been imagining the rust running rampant, erupting orange through her smooth grey flanks. but today i'm happy to say that it's not as bad as i expected. the boot is starting to bubble a bit so i'll need to look at getting all of it done pretty soon, but generally she looks grand.
for a 44 year old car that's been sitting unused for four and a half months, she's fantastic! : )
