Tricks that old racers get up to after retirement

[shadowcat]

I second that- well except the age part- Happy Birthday-

Happy Birthday Jackie!! We are NOW the SAME age!!

[jackiewilson]

Morning people, just arrived in Antigua------bit of a dump, but hey who cares, we got the dot dot for just $10 an hour-----been pigging out for ten days and got the waistline to prove it.

Many thanks to all those people who sent me birthday greetings 74 in all, you will always be senior to me Gene------will get. Around to replying to one and all soon as we return!

[jackiewilson]

Now in St Maarten------last stop before heading back home.
All cruised out. Can't believe how much I've drunk and Easton over the last two weeks, may have to jog the 25m. To the shop for a while, just to burn off the calories.
Do miss chatting to you guys on a daily basis-----love you all in bunches, but not to the tune of sixty bucks a day. ,!!

[jackiewilson]

Morning people, normal service will be resumed later in the day------been a horrendous few days, got an "ILIAD" to tell you-----spent the last two hours trying to get reinstated at S &F.

[jackiewilson]

never ever leave your vehicle in the long term car park directly under the flight path---------planes coming in under 50' trigger the alarm.
Would be nice if someone had informed me of this fact earlier-----but with an income of $2,000,000 per week-----WHY BOTHER. TBC.

[jackiewilson]

Insanity reigns once more------finally made it home-----Sunday was a "forever" day.
Boat docked at 6am, we had to be off the vessel by 9am-----our flight out of there was 9pm.

Brand fire new all singing and dancing Double Decker Air Bus 380-----still felt like a Gypsy Moth at 50,000' said something about turbulence -------always thought that was when you belched a lot !

Arrived Heathrow at 10am, just one slight problem, doors on the luggage compartment were in lockdown ------it took em all of two hours to find the key!!
By now I'm tired and well pissed at the world.
Arrived at the long term car park only to find the battery on the trusty Lexus was flat as a witches tit.
Called the car park office, told them the problem----voice from the Punjab told me not to worry sir we will be with you within the hour!
Little chap from Lithuania arrived with a set of jump leads and a rapid charge/starter device, somewhere along the way he flashed across the terminals-------that's when the problem started!

If you ever want a bill for over $3,000----- all you got to do on any modern jam jar is flash the terminals.?.???
First thing that does is fry the fuse box , burn out the regulator, barbecue the alternator

Not to worry-----we are AA members------they can fix everything -------get you home------ERR ! !only if you have the top of the range with all the bells and whistle add ons, that costs damn near as much as the trusty Lexus.
The call out and get you home cost $350. Car hire for a Barbie Doll Pram type $200
estimate for alternator $1200' fuse box and regulator $1250-----these are just " GUESSTIMATES"

Arrived at the house a tad after 7 pm-----I have had better days?

[seeroy]

Jackie - Glad you are back home and in such a good mood. We all love you anyway. - PBS

[jackiewilson]

Saga is over-----life's back on an even keel-----Trusty Lexus back to full working order and parked outside the workshop.
Promise never to mention incident ever again-----end of, (as they say)

Had a good day in the shop------making a triple axle, stainless trailer for the next project, will keep you informed------must be jet lagged or something, anyway I'm knackered, night all, MYGGWY .J.

[jackiewilson]

Morning all, was bloody Thursday yesterday , rent day as my sainted MA used to say------never made the car boot sale.
All systems go today------bright eyed and bushy tailed -------as they say, (whoever the hell "They" are).
Her who shall be obeyed at a butterfly farm in the Carribean .

[ron54]

Jackie welcome back.. I have to say I bought a Lexus on the strength or your say so... but umm! Anyways I have just been thumbing thro' a 74 Windermere programme and you are down as a 5litre Ford in Jones hull could you tell us the history? Phill.

[jackiewilson]

Simples! As the Meercat . Com says
remember Bill Brown, (Billy Two Rivets), he was running an inboard Ford 1600-- but without much success.
He talked about putting a two litre BDA into something!
He would provide the motor if I did the rest. New Miles, rigged, ready to run complete with Zed Leg!

Flew over to Oshberg -------GG sold me a Jones KT complete with a Keith Black Ford, trailer, cover etc. All ready to go for the princely sum of $3,000.

No matter what we did to that rig, it refused to run even 70 mph. A half decent Levi could do that with a full payload.
We only ran it twice, once at Chase and again at Windermere .
Intended to strip all the gear out of it and burn the hull but my mechanic Chas Shooter offered me a big bag of gold------he was deep into racing Range Rovers in OFF-ROADING ------he just wanted the V8 Keith Black lump to stitch into his off-roader . The rest is history.

Chas did race it in the first Thames race------the destruction derby------the boom across the Thames let go at the two hour mark, ,Twas said a good logger could walk across the Thames on the debris.Saw a dead donkey float on by !

I saw Chas being towed in by one of the rescue boats and asked what stopped you?
Chas-------a door handle !
Jack-------was that all ?
Chas-------Was attached to a door !
Jack--------That all ?
Chas--------Was still fixed to this damn shed !

Peter Inward was declared the winner in a Hodges/Mariner------think it was 1972/3

There you have it Phill.

[ron54]

Good story,sends all to bed with a smile on our faces......just as it should be....Thanks J.W.

[jackiewilson]

Good story,sends all to bed with a smile on our faces......just as it should be....Thanks J.W.

Thanks Ron, love to start and end the day with a good tale or two. Mostly I try to keep to a boating theme, but sometimes I take you on a ramble. It just happens that way.
not a lot of time spare this morning, need to make a trip to the recycling facility ( scrapyard), need to construct a third axle for the trailer-------could make it out of brass, but this one has to be a bit special, so best I keep them all the same.
Made a couple of spare wheels-------eight wheels in all------not just plain and simple either------these wheels were meant for rolling, and that's just what they'll do----and one of these days those wheels will walk all over you ----------BOOM BOOM. It's the way I tell 'em.
Have a great weekend peeps.

[jackiewilson]

Got all the alloy rods and enough half inch plate to make twenty gearcases and a dozen axles and ten sets of wheels plus all the angle for another ten trailers and much much more.
I got orders for a pair of V8s and an offshore rig with ARNESONS-------a 1950s blown hydro plus finishing a couple of concepts I started and left half done.
Upshot of all this is, I need to get a wriggle on and I'm up to my fetlocks in projects and concepts.

[jackiewilson]

Went to Jillys granddaughters first birthday this afternoon----was held at Shorehams Lifeboat station where her dad Keith is the engineer.
We have all Ivans kids and wife kate staying with us for the weekend-----makes for a real pleasant change.
Got a full day in the shop tomorrow so should make big inroads into outstanding projects.
Will be back to normal by Monday .
Changed six light tubes and starters this morning ------if another one blew I was down to candle power!