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Had a fantastic drive out today, despite a few gremlins, taking in some of my old biking haunts in Northumberland. The main reason it was so memorable was that I had a chance to take a close friend out with me who has been diagnosed with MND. I was hoping to do this before it was too difficult for him and so was relieved that the weather held up and that he was up for it. The best part was near the end after an hour around the twisties when I asked what he thought. He just said "well, I haven't stopped grinning from the moment we left, and it has been quite a while since I've had something to smile about". Job done. Made my day.

Well done Chris, really good first use for the car.

We went through the tunnel, I went first and boy, there was a lot of noise behind me, the teenagers on the Duke of Edinburgh trip at the other end loved it too. Just further on we picked up 2 very old cars who had obviously just done the same thing. We drove through the very tourist laden Ilam village and on to a very tourist laden Tissington for a quick cuppa before tackling the ford across the stream. Daft, or brave, I am not sure, but we made it. The car behind was not so sure and waited for us to do it first, watch the video at the end and see what you think. We finished off at Monyash bikers cafe for tea and cakes. Monyash Thanks to everyone for coming today, my brakes work and my wheels lock, on junctions with no Give Way signs or white lines don't they Steve! We had a lovely mix of old, new and inbetween cars today, great to see them out, I hope you have enjoyed it, we have. The video of the ford across the stream https://youtu.be/3jX9X_NrYg0

Buy a plate, cable tie it to grill and remove after test.

Sally’s scribbles (non technical): Having risen bright and early (4.45am) Stephen and I arrived at Aintree at 7.25. John Loudon and Garry Bunn were already there and Stephen signed on getting back in time to get the car ready for scrutineering. Lee Smith and John Williams were further down the paddock together. The loos were locked and there were only four portaloos by the office. Fortunately the loos opened around 9am. The weather was brilliant. Fabulous sunshine all day and just a head wind down Railway Straight. Deciding to have exercise Stephen and I walked round the course taking in the damp patches – which would dry- and new patches of tarmac which weren’t quite on a level with the old. There were three in John Loudon’s 2A class, six in 2B with Stephen, Lee and John W. and two in Garry’s 3G. I was taught to remove the battery from Garry’s car and take it the least distance possible to wait for him to come round and pick it up again. Enjoying a bacon bap and coffee after P1 we spotted the only other WSCC member, Andy Lowe in a Megapin, being towed back into the single seater paddock. Stephen’s enquiries ascertained that Andy had broken his drive shaft on the first corner. So that sadly was the end of his day. Considering there were 136 cars including the Caterham Academy there were very few off’s and P1 and P2 progressed smoothly. Lee Smith discovered that his 5th gear produced an ‘I’m falling apart and disintegrating noise’ which was somewhat disconcerting. He ended up going from 4 -6th gear. John Williams did his personal best but with a target time of nearly 9 seconds less he felt he had rather a lot to overcome! At 11.30am the timed runs started with a very efficient commentary which wasn’t interrupted by the big equestrian event going on the other side of the Melling Road. The only real stop was just before 2A and 2B set off. The Course car went round with water for the Marshalls. Stephen, Lee and John W, all had a new PB whilst John L. broke his own class record with a 46.18. Stephen stayed in front of Nigel Fox in his Caterham – an important challenge. John L. had a look at Lee’s car and agreed that a tooth had probably fallen off 5th gear. He would have to continue with 4th – 6th. Unfortunately the car bogged down after leaving 4th and crawled slowly back up to speed. After T1 there was a forty minute break for lunch and there was a convivial gathering round Garry’s trailer. All went smoothly for T2. Garry, John W. and Lee did their best runs whilst Stephen, John L. and Nigel Fox didn’t. T3 produced a PB for Stephen as did P4. Sadly Garry developed a wiring problem with his flappy paddle gear change between P3 and P4 and was unable to do the last run. The runs finished around 5pm. John L. broke his previous lap record from 46.51 to 46.18 Garry got first in Class with 46.10. Stephen received first in class. It had been a fabulous day with personal bests all round and with great weather – a bit too great at times! – minimum hold ups and once again brilliantly organised by the Liverpool Motor Club.

This video is worth a watch. Really simple http://blog.caranddriver.com/its-simple-really-how-a-differential-works-explained-in-a-vintage-video/?src=spr_TWITTER&spr_id=201502965

Right you lot up here in the gorgeous highlands who is interested in having a mini meet and a blast somewhere? Have we all gone on holiday???

anyone else notice the white elephant in the studio !!!!

If I am sat here squeaking about how great these pictures are I can imagine to actually be there was amazing. I am glad you managed to see it. The pictures are very, very good and you are so kind for bothering to share them with us. See, you picked one other car up, keep plugging away at it. Don't take it personal if no-one turns up, especially where you are. I am just thinking about you and Carol because we are packing to go walking in the Lake District tomorrow. Golly I am being very ruthless with what is going in the boot bag.

It was nice to see it again and a bit sad the way they just said goodbye and there wasn't any end credit music. You had to laugh at JC saying he hated Top gear.

It's having a bit of a re-vamp (I'm afraid). It's going to have a more modern look generally, more dark and moody like me! Think darker colour, black front to back stripe, spare wheel gone, black wheels, all the horrible tread plate replaced with carbon.....then they might make sense. And I promise, if it doesn't work, I will pay to put it back to the 60's 7 look!

Well done Chris, shows how much fun these are if it can make someone facing such a cruel thing smile. I've been sulking about with my car not road worthy, but when you hear of people facing things like that it really does make you realise how lucky we are to have good health, and stupid things like the DVLA etc should not bother us!!!

The track looked so bumpy it was ridiculous and so narrow overtaking was almost impossible

Thankyou for the comments men.. Just to confirm that they are my own pictures that I took and I am pleased that you like them. Here are another two for you.

What Nick said. After all the troubles you had getting there, the first proper run really puts life in perspective. Well done, a really moving post, thank you.

Yes, I agree. This was one of the reasons I was anxious to get the car on the road as things are progressing quickly in a downward direction for my mate. Life can be cruel sometimes

I was thinking that the workings of a differential was complicated and 'magic' in some way. I was wrong The invention of the diff is really clever.

Hi Julie, And thanks for the welcome and the invite, I am working on the Webers at the moment, once we have the old lady running correctly,plus I am in for my M.O.T. next Saturday. I will look to get over to the local meet. I am still getting used to a crowd gathering around me when I stop, every one waves and smiles and kids keep shouting "Nice car mister" Cheers for Now

Thank you to Sean/Emma and Steve for swapping things around at the last minute and making today happen. We were rewarded with unbroken sunshine, I even removed my hood bag, how confident is that. Today we have been on Julie's 'Everything Tour' , so called because we seem to have done everything. Big windy roads, little windy roads, at one point very little roads, a tunnel and a ford across a river. We had lakes, trains, sausage sandwiches, ice cream and cake....with cream. I am exhausted just thinking about it. Summer finally arrived at the Strines and we sat outside enjoying warm sunshine before heading off to Rudyard Lake, going past the Dragon' Back and Ramshaw Rocks. The Dragons Back is a hill near Earl Sterndale, actually called Chrome Hill, and it is very beautiful. The Strines We arrived at the Hotel Rudyard. The Lake The train then we went through the tunnel.......

I've had this with two Westfields, both were bought with low mileage but the steering did not want to keep the car straight, on the motorway it would weave in the lane slightly. The second time around I pinpointed the problem quickly. Lift the front of the car up and feel the travel on the steering wheel, chances are it will be ok, undo the track rod ends and check the ball joints can move freely, do the same with the ball joints at either end of the upright, with the track rod ends removed you can check if the wheel moves easily. You can now check the steering rack travel is smooth and isolate the problem. With the first car I replaced the lower ball joint on one side that was almost impossible to move and found the bearing in the steering rack pinion was also almost seized, I upgraded to a 2.4 quick rack and the car was fine at well over 100mph. The other car (that I bought last week) needed a new pair of track rod ends but I'll also change to a 2.4 rack too but only in preference. Both cars had done less than 1000 miles and were in good condition. The ball joins are very cheap around £10 - £15 each. Hope this helps.

Could you post up a picture of your plate ? See the following link to the MOT manual : https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/429032/mot-inspection-manual-classes-3-4-5-7-vehicles.pdf Page 146 says words to the effect that plates should only be failed where spacing and character sizes are clearly incorrect , I assume the plate is not trying to read something else , on something like this it should really be common sense as testers as noted are not required to physically measure the characters or their spacing - yes it also says this on the notes in page 146 . Hope this helps . Julian Edited to add , I would have a chat with them if you think it is unreasonable after reading the manual , or directly email me info@aerodynamix.co.uk and I will give you my opinion as to what I would do if I was testing it .

As above and return from it too

Hi bud I have a pair but you will need new blades from halfords. £15 plus postage if you interested. Can send you a picture if needed

For anyone with even a general interest the Sprint School is well worth attending just so that you get an idea of what it is about. Sprints & Hillclimbs are one of the easiest forms of Motorsport to get into and having a Westie makes it even easier as they are a great car for it. Having read some of the comments I thought I would try and explain what I find so enjoyable about it as so many people think we are nuts spending all that money to have so little track time. Having previously raced and done loads of miles doing trackdays I really enjoy the purity of Sprinting despite what has been said about always being at 100% when racing you can still make a mistake and generally recover from it. But not Sprinting & HIllclimbing the tiniest of mistakes will give you a longer time and can therefore potentially instantly drop you a place or two behind your competitors. You have to be 100% on it right from the start and this is with cold tyres and brakes which means that on a double lapper you can brake later and go faster round the same corner the second time round, difficult to judge exactly right but a brilliant feeling when you do. The aim is the Perfect Qualifying Lap and you only have to watch Quali 3 of F1 to know how exciting that can get. So do you always get it 100% right, nope you don't but when you do the feeling is fantastic especially when you just drop the perfect time in and beat your competitors. Remembering you have normally only got 4 to 5 runs in the day to do this.