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JayPeG's DIARY 2003 |
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| January 2003
November 2003 December 2003 |
January 2003
A damp start to the new year and we were over at Brooklands for a soggy day. Hardly any cars bothered to brave the weather but a few of us Runnymede MGOC stalwarts splashed through the floods to be entertained by our chairman, Tony, giving us an insight into the Brooklands Library. Events has the full story. There was a Runnymede meeting at which we indulged in the infamous annual quiz night - a lot less MG related questions this year but both teams did very well - our team lost by just one point. JayPeG has been in the garage most of the winter tucked up under a warm blanket to keep the worst of the salt and water off. This is the first time we've been able to do this thanks to our daughter going to university and donating her Peugeot 205 whilst she is away. Very considerate !. I've decided to change the polishing regime this year and move away from auto glym. This year we will be a Meguiar car - yet to try it but I have some Scratch X - to get rid of those swirl marks and Meguiar gold to put the finish on it. Hopefully I'll get some polishing done towards the end of the month. Second event of the year was the Valentines Day treasure hunt and we did pretty well this time - third with a grand total of 25 points - as always read about it in events Busy weekend to start the month with the MGCC South East Annual Awards Dinner Dance on the 1st. It was a rotten day and we didn't bother getting the F out of the garage but set off in the Punto instead in the rain for the trip around the M25. Having just got it back from the garage having had it's heater matrix and radiator replaced it needed a little run anyway. The Fiat has undoubtedly caused a lot more trouble than the F has in the same period of time with at least four visits to the garage - for suspension renewal, EMU re chipping, Head Gasket Failure (isn't that supposed to happen to the F ?) and now the latest coolant leaks and it's nowhere near as much fun to drive ! The dinner itself was a good night out and an excuse to put the bow tie on. We ended up on a table with some old friends both F and non F people - although Phil Bicknell - a rival in the premier concours with his MGBGT has just brought an Abingdon MGF - good luck with the F Phil !. Elaine , Lesley, Angela and Neil as well as us held up the F flag and fired off the squeaking balloons across the restaurant. Various awards were given out and I watched my Car of Show award from last year go elsewhere but we did pick up a small trophy for the Autumn Naviscat. Too much wine was consumed and Liz had to drive home in the early hours with the surprise closure of the M25 meaning using the old route back home (amidst much muttering). A good night was had anyway - thanks Doug and the MGCCSE crew. The following morning, nursing a small headache, the sun was shining in total contrast to the day before and we set off down to the Cobweb Spin near Winchester. We met up with Neil again who had ventured down from Didcot at the beck of the nice weather. A few Runnymeders had also ventured down for there early spring picnic in three cars - Step forward Tony, Derek and Ken (plus other halves of course !).
On the 16th we entered the MGCC South East Spring Naviscat - it meant getting up a bit early as I was on nights the night before and didn't get to bed until about 4.45am. But after the initial struggle it was worth it. Met up with Nick and Trish again in their B now resplendent with new red race seats and a roll bar ready for the hill climb/sprint season. The day was lovely which really is boding well for the coming season of MG Events. The start was in Rabies Heath Road over at Godstone -they have a strange council over there , who else would name a road after a virulent disease ! We did well though and won class D (the biggest class including all B's and F's) but it was a bit of a rush to get back on time. Full report in Events of course.
Maintenance and clean up work began by re spraying the undertray with smooth Hammerite. No sooner had I done it than I scraped the bottom once more on the driveway hump !.
Sent off the MGOC National application for the MGF concours this month so it's time to get down to some serious polishing. Giving the car the Meguiar treatment this year so I've rubbed the body down with Scratch X to try and get rid of some swirl marks. Then it's a coat of Deep Crystal polish to give it the underlaying shine before topping off with a coating of Meguiar Gold polish to hopefully give it that mirror shine !. Also had the the problem with a couple of stone chips in a prominent place on the offside front wing so JayPeG took the trip down to "ChipsAway" in Woking for some remedial treatment. They used a two pack paint with a Mirra clear finish. Certainly the chips have disappeared completely and at first glance the finish as new but being a little picky there were a couple of small "spatter" marks on the finish which whilst being a lot less obvious than the stone chips are still just about noticeable on close inspection. I'm going to have a go at scratchXing or T cutting them out to see if that makes an improvement - I think it might - then again it might just completely ruin the finish !. Finally found a supplier for the Meguiar Deep Crystal Polish and Quick detailer - CAR Motorist Supercentre in Guildford Took JayPeG on a trip down to Dorset for the weekend staying at Greenwood Farm at Higher Brockhampton just down the dusty lane from Thomas Hardy's cottage. Very nice place with Gym and swimming pool - reccommended. Picture below was taken at the Hardy Monument (that's the other Thomas Hardy - the Nelson one).Second picture at the Green Dragon in Brook near Bramshaw in the New Forest.
Runnymede MGOC Outing to Uppark On the 27th April the Runnymede group had an outing down to Uppark in Sussex. There were a good selection of B's to chose from , a midget and two F's to choose from along with a Focus and Rover 220. The day was threatening rain but in the end it turned out just fine, if a little windy and I managed to persuade Liz that the lid really should be off on JayPeG about half way along the scenic route through the Surrey and Sussex countryside. We followed Tony's plans meticulously and although Tony couldn't join us we were admirably led by Derek and Angela at a reasonable pace enabling us all to keep in convoy. We were joined at Uppark by Kevin in his F and Eric in his midget to make up a good selection in the car park. We picnicked in the cold wind blowing across the Downs, some of us were not hardy enough and took shelter in the restaurant or museum before venturing around the house - you may remember Uppark from 1989 when it spectacularly caught fire and was completely gutted. It has now been restored to it's former glory but much is made of the fire as you tour the house.
14th - Knuckling down to some serious cleaning and detailing now. Completing the three stage waxing process on the bodywork. Also tackling the under bonnet and engine bays before doing the wheels and wheel bays, suspension etc. Underneath is not too bad and a quick clean should deal with that. It's useful having a few days to get it sorted out prior to the 18th and Brands Hatch.
20th - Well it didn't do me much good, I even took all the wheels off at the showground for the first time and cleaned all around again but Elaine still managed to win the concours as well as the Autogylm competition in her class. I hadn't entered this one as I thought it would be out of my league a bit - in hindsight I should have gone in for it. Autoglym actually judged both competitions in any case. In consolation they gave out a nice three product gift pack and an Autoglym Classic concours plaque. 26th - Went to the Southern MG-Rover show at Bentley in Sussex yesterday which was a nice event for performance Rovers and MG's but didn't attract many F's or older MG/Rovers which was a shame. However I did the thing that you must never do when driving an F - locked my keys in the boot. It was easily done - I put my jacket in the boot as it was quite warm carefully taking a set of keys out first. Then closed the boot lid to take a photo. Returned to the car to get my wallet out of the boot and retrieving the keys from my trouser pocket only to find the house keys - the car keys remaining firmly locked in the boot with no way to get them out. So there we were 70 miles from home and stranded with dark clouds approaching threatening to pour water into the cockpit. luckily Liz had her mobile so a frantic phone call on the off chance that my daughter, Sarah, had got home from her University Summer Ball the night before and wasn't feeling too delicate. Thankfully she was there and two hours later we were rescued with me feeling like a right fool. It did rain as well but the couple in the other F lent us there tonneau so JayPeG was saved getting wet. Thanks. It hadn't to happen some time though did't it and at least we were still in saving distance - thanks to Sarah and Michael.
Liz with Michael and Sarah rushing to the rescue
We started the month off with another New Forest run - excellently organised again. This year it took us through some of my old ancestral homelands in the North of the Forest so we stopped to take some photos by Bramshaw church and Stocks Cross where the family lived late 19th and early 20th century. Events has the full report. Unfortunately Parham was cancelled due to a mix up over bookings so I had a free day on the 15th. This coincided with the inaugural meeting of the South East F'ers group so I spent a pleasant sunday afternoon at the Grasshopper in Westerham with about nine other F owners. Looks like this may become a regular thing. See F in News for a report on F splinter groups. After that it was time to concentrate on preparing the car for Silverstone on the 22nd. I've been using the car to get to work a fair bit this month as Sarah returned home from Uni and laid claim to her Peugeot again but still managed to get the car up to a reasonable standard only for it to pour with rain as we travelled up to Silverstone itself. Typical. Nonetheless we had a good day and came away with the Winner's trophy for the MGF/TF Pride of Ownership.
The July edition of Enjoying MG popped through the letterbox and we eagerly turned to the Brands HAtch report and there we were - a microscopic dot on an aerial photo. Elaine and Phil got there pictures in accepting trophies off Roche Bentley - so well done. However turning a few more pages I found the Regency Run report and there we were - In full colour climbing Ditchling Beacon - at last a photo in Enjoying MG. A couple of nights later whilst the mag was on the garden table my neighbours sprinkler got stuck and liberally soaked the entire magazine open on the very page of course !! The Nice people at MGOC have kindly sent me a replacement thankfully.
The first weekend was busy with Liz and I spending two days at Guilfest enjoying the delights of Alice Cooper etc so the sunday I joined the Runnymede Groups run to Hollycombe on my own whilst Liz recuperated and tidied the house up after two days worth of teenagers had hit it. Full report has moved to Events as a lot of MG's turned up thanks to the MG Car Club having a run in on the same day. Here are a few more of the more personal Runnymede Group Photos though......
The following weekend we made our way in glorious sunshine up to Rousham House near Bicester via a fantastic run through the Chilterns from Henley. The Abingdon Works centre annual summer outing was another great day out. Full report can be found in events but here are a few extra more personal photos of JayPeG and us enjoying the sunshine.
The 19th July saw the Runnymede MGOC annual charity fund raising effort in aid of the Thanes Valley Hospice. We run a tombola and put the cars on display. It was a lovely sunny day on Windsor Race Course and we had nine cars on display ranging from Bob's immaculate MGA to JayPeG. After much shouting and rattling of the ticket box we managed to give away all our prizes by about 2.30pm. Unlike this year they couldn't find a celebrity to open this years Summer Fun Day but Cedric the Dulux Dog turned up to rival Moggles and pose with the kids.
The following Friday I met up with some of the other South East F'ers at The Plough in Bletchingley for The Red Eye Run to the Market Diner in Brighton for a full greasy breakfast at midnight. It was quite a fun run despite being a wet day it actually perked up for the evening and we all managed a topless blast down to the seaside. - full report on the South East F'ers section under Past Meets. Went down to Plumpton for the sunday of the Country Weekender. Full report in Events. I was working nights so couldn't get down for the Saturday events. It really was a gorgeously hot day and everyone was seeking shelter from the sun under umbrellas or in the lee of the bar. We entered the post 2000 class of the POO but unfortunately got beaten by a brand new Trophy Blue TF. Not that I'm bitter or anything ! Never mind it was still a good day out in the Sussex countryside and thanks go to the East Sussex MGOC for the organisation.
The 17th we set off for Penshurst Place in Kent for the South East MGCC summer gathering. Another hot and sunny day - we tagged on to the end of the concours line just in the right place for a bit of shade from a small tree in a dusty field. We were in the Post 1960 premier concours which was won by David Ethelstone again with his MGBGT. John Hergren won car of the show with his TC Police Car. The judges spent ages examining three MGA's and ran out of time when it came to the Premier concours so it was a fairly quick glance around all three cars entered at the end of the day.
Had a few days away camping in Suffolk with JayPeG. Yes we did manage to squeeze in most of the camping gear but had to put a couple of sleeping bags under the bonnet. Car was great and so was the weather - lots of driving down little country lanes and we even paid a visit to the beach at Aldeburgh. Have to give JayPeG a thorough hosedown when we get back though. DISASTER - opened up the garage door to find that the bike rack normally hanging on the wall had fallen off throwing four collapsible chairs, two buckets and a bicycle over the front of JayPeG. !! Liz respodned to my calls for help and gently eased the car out from under the mess as I held on to the bike to stop it falling further. Luckily the rack had snagged on a wire so the bike didn't completely fall off but lodged with it's back wheel resting on the front wing. After getting the car out a quick look showed that, surprisingly, not too much damage had occurred - some scratches and scuff marks on the nose and a small dent on the bonnet. The scratches were soon dealt with by a bit of T Cut and polish and I managed to suck most of the dent out using a vacuum "puller". Somehow we got away with it !!. Lesson learnt - the bike is no longer hanging on the wall !
The next show was The Anglia Centre's Queen Victoria Concours at Chigwell on the 31st. After a couple of rainy days which made it difficult to get prepared the sunday turned out to be another fine day. There were seven cars in the post 1960 premier concours including Elaine with WOF. After the initial judging was over a second batch of judges turned up after we'd packed everything up in the boot again and taken JayPeG off full display mode which was a bit strange. They were judging for seperate awards which meant that JayPeG won the Premier Concours with Elaine as runner up but she won the Ballenger Trophy for best MGF which neither of us could quite work out ! I think it shows that both of our cars are pretty close though.
Had a South East F'ers meeting on the 4th. Not very well attended unfortunately - just the four of us but we have decided to publish dates for meets further in advance and are still coming up with ideas. Bob's doing the Cannonball Run so I've been heavily involved in setting up and running the web site which will have daily updates from the trip - all connected to the SEF website. The 14th was the Runnymede MGOC's 10th Anniversary run to Nuffield House - see full report elevated to EVENTS. Still keeping the car off the road as much as possible ready for the MGCC SE Autumn Gathering at Chiddingstone Castle in Kent on the 21st. The day turned out to be gorgeous but Liz had a stinking cold so couldn't come down on the day. Met up with some fellow F'ers, Kieron & Heather with their youngster and Leslie in her low mileage TF. Tried to convert some other F people to the South East F'ers - got rid of some SEF business cards so you never know. JayPeG was in the premier POO which was self judged so we didn't come anywhere - the rosette going to Richard Clark's MGCGT. Picked up a stone chip on the bonnet on the way down and the rubber trim from the drivers rear wheelarch fell off on the motorway !. Got to try and remedy both ready for Totally MG next week.
The day before Totally MG was my duaghter, Sarah's, 21st Birthday party. It was a fancy dress affair with a "superhero" theme so of course I had to go as "MG Man" armed with trusty pliers and polish coming to the rescue of all those with non shiny cars !
It was grey day at Epsom but I managed to avoid the showers on the way to the racecourse. I had painted in the stone chip and rubbed it down so it's just about invisible now and picked up a bit of trim for a fiver at Trident. So that wasn't too bad. Full review of Totally MG is in EVENTS. The concours ended in a dead heat between JayPeG and Leslie Mile's Anthracite TF so we got a winners trophy each. I was pleased with the score of 156 out of 175 points which is pretty high.
That's it - show season is over now - it's been hard work this year and very time consuming keeping JayPeG in show condition. So much so that I'm thinking about retiring from shows for next year. I've been given a coupld of extra responsibilities for next year in the form of being co-opted on to the F register committee as Rep for the South East as well as the South East F'ers group and running the websites. We'll see but I'm sure the lure of the polishing rag will win again ! October 5th saw us in The Cotswolds on another fine but slightly chillier day for the F register Run. Over 50 F's turned up which is very good. Met several of the committee members and some BBS'ers to put faces to names. Full report in the usual place.
The following weekend I finally managed to get the Tunnel King Tour off the ground and we took six F's around the coast of Kent going through eight tunnels en route (five of which were different !) It was a little chilly by the time we got to Dover but it was a good tour nonetheless - Full review on the South East 'ers site. On the 19th we did the Autumn Naviscat. Once again Liz drove and I navigated and it worked very well with us managing to technically be joint overall windows except that the couple before us handed their papers in a fraction of a second earlier so they get to organise next years event - never mind !
NOVEMBER 2003 The weather finally started to draw in but nonetheless we still managed to get one more decent run in at the beginning of November. The SEF Tiny Tour 1 took us from Wray Lane at Reigate to Oakwoodhill near Horsham for a pub lunch at The Punchbowl Inn. It was a bit damp but the trip through Weare Street at ockley was worth it. Full reporton SEF site. I've been using the car in the bad weather to get to work towards the end of the month so it's pretty filthy at the moment unlike it's summer condition !. We took a short trip to Northern France at the end of the month for four days - again it was a bit damp. Stayed at the Hotel Du Parc at Hardelot Plage and the Chateau Clery at Hesdin L'Abbe near Boulogne. Here's some F Pics from the area.
December 2003 The last month of the year and little happening on the MGF front. We had the SEF awards dinner at the Plough early in the month where I hot footed it down to the local toyshop to buy some Hot Wheels cars and make up trophies to present to some of the members . Full details on the SEF site. We had an almost empty pub and a seperate room which was nice. We also went along to the Runnymede MGOC Xmas dinner at Rumbles in Shepperton which was an enjoyable evening. Other than that there wsa little more on the MG front - rest of the month taken up with Christmas and trying to get Parcelforce to deliver a parcel (that's another very lengthy story !).
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