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General Matra related => General Discussion => Topic started by: suffolkpete on April 16, 2009, 09:06:30 pm



Title: What are you doing on April 26th?
Post by: suffolkpete on April 16, 2009, 09:06:30 pm
April 26th is the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs "Drive It" day when owners of classic vehicles are encouraged to take to the roads to show that classic vehicles are meant to be used.  A number of events are being held throughout the country for classics.  I will be travelling on an organised drive starting near my home and going via a picturesque coastal route to the East Anglian Transport Museum near Lowestoft www.eatm.org.uk  When my ticket came through today, it was number 13  :(


Title: Re: What are you doing on April 26th?
Post by: Titus on April 21, 2009, 08:47:57 pm
Sounds like a good day out Peter. Your French classic will surely stand out of the crowd.

That one is a little too far for me to travel but I will be attending the Footman James Bristol Classic Car Show, held on 2nd. 3rd. and 4th May. I'll be there on Sunday 3rd. if anybody is interested in meeting up. I believe they have a separate car park for anyone attending in a classic.


Title: Re: What are you doing on April 26th?
Post by: suffolkpete on April 27, 2009, 06:43:16 pm
Well, I set off on my run, car running well, sun shining and lots of quiet country roads.  Everything was right with the world.  That is until I started the second leg of the journey, from Dunwich to Southwold.  The voltmeter was hard up against the left stop.  It appeared that my alternator wasn't alternating.  The battery was well charged so I pressed on and duly took up my position in the display, dwarfed by an Armstrong-Siddeley Whitley saloon.  After a day spent fielding the usual "Is it a kit car?" questions and being interviewed by Classic Car Weekly (their reporter had never seen one before) I arrived home and set about finding the fault.  After removing the alternator and finding nothing wrong with it, the fault was eventually traced to a connector under bonnet.  The one next to the LH upper wishbone mount.  It appeared that there was a break in the connection between the warning light and the alternator.  Note to self: Most French car electrical problems are due to connectors.  Second note to self: Be more methodical in fault tracing in future.