Chapter 3 : Daily Driver
Daily use brings it's problems though. The car started wearing perfume to mask the normal healthy odour of Duckhams 20/50 leaking from the engine and we were greeted with the faintest aroma of Shell Premium in the mornings.
Yes, we had another leaking petrol tank. (the Elan tried the same trick in the 70s)
At the time, new tanks were unavailable from Lotus and those you could find were silly prices. I didn't really want to fit a secondhand one so the alternative was to make one. Or, as it turned out, two.
The car was needed as daily transport so I bodged the leak with body filler, bought a MIG welder, a cylinder of Argon, several sheets of 1 & 2mm aluminium and learnt how to weld.
It wasn’t too big a deal as I already knew how to weld steel and after all I am supposed to be a metallurgist, so it was time to walk the talk.
A week later the four star perfume is replaced with the more normal oily aroma, we have 2 shiny petrol tanks installed and I’ve learnt a new skill.
The final shot here shows the benefits of living close to the Yorkshire Pennines.
No, we didn't make it to work that day, but once we'd dug a way out we were in the next. Snow "tunnels" up to the doors, the only problem is that the spoiler acts like a snow plough and when there's enough there to form a little wall, the rear wheels spin.......
