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My we have been busy, AndyR proudly showed off his new paint job and his improved seating arrangement, we didn't get to see the lights though. Martyn has been busy getting hot and Dave sounds like he is just getting busy, very busy. It's a good job Trevor came, everyone else had a red car, I thought yellow was the popular colour We picked up AndyR at the petrol station and met Trevor and Big Andy and Debbie at Matlock before going to Ashbourne on the cold, wet roads...steady. Martyn and Sue were only just sitting down to breakfast in the M&S cafe as the road they had come to Ashbourne on was closed and a numpty had set the diversion route. I love driving in the big circle to nowhere but it is better when you can choose to do it. Plus the lost key, oh my we have all done it. That was it then, everyone grabbed a coffee and set to warming up, we were never getting to the car show for 10.30 now. We drove the 20 minute journey to Froghall station on the Churnett Valley Railway. Good job we were booked in as it was nearly full, we went down to the far end and found just the spot. Shame about the photographer hey Julie, well the sun was in my eyes. We had a good view of the steam train though. One had just pulled in as we were leaving, it must have been quite a sight for everyone as they got off the train and all these beautiful cars drove slowly past. After a look at the steam trains and cars, and a refresh in the quaint station cafe it was time to drive. So funny, I briefly explained the route to the other drivers, just so they have an idea of where they are going, it's only polite I think. I get these dozy faces looking at me, smiling, saying 'we haven't got a clue where we are we will just follow you Julie' Well it is a good job because as we were driving along towards Leek I had a brainwave, if I can find the right turn I can cut out Leek all together and get the scenic route up past Warslow and come down to The Roaches. Yep, I found it and suddenly we were on empty roads, more twisty, more hilly and thankfully drier. So my instruction of Left, Right, Right, Left was utter rubbish in the end, good job nobody listens to me AndyR had to get back on his mammoth journey and left us at this point, we soon arrived at the Roaches Tea Room. We didn't get parked on the front but this was the view from our table over Tittersworth Reservoir. Our table, you may laugh at our blankets but at Stickle Barn - a cafe in the Lake District - they provide you with hot water bottles and blankets..mmm...hot water bottles...now there is an idea! We managed to park at the side of the Tea Rooms Cake is never far away either Golly, the conversation, how do we get onto these subjects, we are mad I am sure. After much merriment, and this is on tea, can you imagine if we went to the pub and got drunk, as I said after much merriment it worked out that to avoid closed roads it would be better for everyone to go down the Via Gellia road and split up at the traffic lights. Next weekend is the Matlock Mystery Tour, some people can only make Saturday and some people can only make Sunday but the day will be chosen by the weather forecaster, biblical and torrential rain is NOT invited this year. Thanks for coming everyone and hope to see some of you next weekend.

Fixing the car has proven to be quite a task - big surprise! The chassis needed repair and modification to remount the diff, motor and new prop shaft and to add fixings for the new rollover cage. This involves welding - and a lot of it. So far I've used the services of an expert welder but this is expensive. This time I elected to do it myself - how hard can it be? I bought myself a Clark 151TE welder, some CO2 and Argon mix gas bottles and various wire sizes. After two months practice and a load of scrap metal, I can just about weld - as long as I have the grinder handy to smarten it up. I then set about making the brackets (and some more scrap in the process). First, strip the car down to the chassis. The electric motor needed new mounting brackets to remount it at the front and I had to make the Freelander diff mounting brackets from scratch since Westfield had no stock. I had these parts designed by a colleague at work using CAD. The brackets were designed as assemblies and were cut from 2mm and 6mm steel sheet by a local water jet cutting firm. I initially tacked together the brackets and checked them for dimensions and fit. Once satisfied I fully welded the assemblies. The motor brackets were linished to remove excess weld and create a good finish. Then it was just a case of painting the finished brackets. I had about a dozen or so brackets and frames to paint so these were sent away to be powder coated. A new two section prop shaft was made to order and a centre bearing bracket welded in place. Over the summer I was unable to do much work on the car due to other commitments but with the new brackets finished and the chassis repaired and rebuilt, new propshaft in and a roll over cage fitted, I've able to reassembled the chassis. With the addition of the cooling system I now have a complete rolling chassis. The cooling system has been upgraded with a much bigger radiator - high power electric motors need to be cooled! The power controller is mounted low down in the engine bay with the charger and power switching box above. The original bodywork was badly damaged. Luckily Potenza had lightly damaged and hacked red and black FW body kit from one of the early prototype cars gathering leaves and slugs behind the factory. Potenza Technology (not Westfield) are unofficially sponsoring this rebuild so this was donated to the cause (along with the roll cage, wheels and suspension parts). When the car is finished it will look quite different with it's new red bodywork. Then next stage is to either fit the body work or I start the body electrical and power train wiring (at last). Another 6 months of effort probably.

Thanks for the great day out ... I had a really good time and luckily got back before the heavens opened. On the way back I ended up going through Matlock Bar and saw a lot of lovely motor bikes and then went up a VERY steep hill in Matlock where some very crazy bikers (pedal ones this time) had an uphill race!!! After Rotherham I passed about 10 different groups of kids who all shouted out how great the car was ... so naturally a lot of wheel spinning was required to say thank you Finally when I arrived home my son was waiting and wanted to have a spin in Roary! He's autistic and while he loves the car he's never wanted to have a ride. We spent 10 minutes going down fast country roads and he loved every minute. The perfect end to the day. Can't wait till the next time.

Police breathalyse a female driver who had "a couple of bottles", drove with no license, no tax and no insurance on her car, then they let her go without charge. That's some fine police work there, Lou! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-37734883

b*******, more re-wiring than I remembered needed, plus once I got the nose off I seem to have sheared both upper rad mounts! Doh!! Ah well, at least I've already got a spare set of mounts - I knew one side was on the way out. Will get those on as a temporary fix this afternoon. But looks like it'll be out with the welder in the near future, I'll copy current Factory practice and make some steel weld on mounts. Sorry I couldn't make it, but at least I found out before the rad fell off!!!

Add me to the list Dave.