We all set out at 7am to meet up with other club members at the Hong Kong Yacht Club carpark in Causeway Bay. On the way down ( after 1/3 mile ), Daisy started to judder a bit. I thought it strange and was a little concerned but carried on thinking she just needed a good run to clear out all the ticking over of the past few months.
Then we all went in convoy through the harbour tunnel and headed off to Shatin to meet the rest of the members at the University. The juddering progressively got worse and at one point I was having real trouble to keep her going. Then all of a sudden everything was fine and we made it to Shatin.
There were about 30 club cars there ( mostly a lot of fancy expensive cars ), but also a Triumph Herald, Riley Sprite a nice looking Jag E type and many others. No other Moggies....
The club members were busy taking photos of Daisy and having a good chat....
We then all headed of to Sheung Shui ( the boarder with Mainland China ) where the Hong Kong Jockey Club has a very nice Country Club....the idea was to go in convoy and arrive in convoy and then have a nice brunch.
A few minutes after leaving Shatin, the stuttering came back with a vengance, to the point I had to stop in a layby. All the club members passed by except a Chinese chap, his wife and son with the Triumph Herald. He's a mechanic by trade and wanted to help out.
So we had a good look. He thought it was mechanical, but I thought it was electrical. He pointed out the connector on the top of the oil filter housing was dripping a little oil, so I pulled out the tool box and tightened it up......which stopped the leak.....then checked the oil level which was fine.
Convinced it was an electrical fault, I checked all the wires leading through the screw type terminals, the HT leads, etc which all seemed fine. Then I took off the dizzy cap and there was a little black marking on the rotor. I then inspected the points which had clearly been sparking as they were full of crud. I cleaned them, checked the gap but the engine was still just as bad.
I keep a new spare set of points and a condenser in my tool box, so replaced the condenser, then cleaned the points and reset them with a piece of card !! Bingo......Daisy fired up and was a sweet as a nut.....
The chap with the Herald told me to follow him through a short cut to Sheung Shui and we arrived at the Country Club 5 minutes before the rest....much to their shock who thought by now I would have been on the way home on the back of a tow truck !!
Brunch was excellent.....superb sausages, eggs, baked beans and all the trimmings.....all for about 7 quid a head ( 4 quid for Matthew ).
Afterwards, we headed off to Mong Kok to the Police Safety display. Going through the heart of Mong Kok drew a lot of attention.....which was so much fun. Whilst we were going down the back streets, a line of Harley Davidson's arrived who were also invited to the event.
In total, 20 classic cars and about 20 Harley Davidson's.
We didnt win the most popular car prize.....that went to a tiny little BMW one seater with the door on the front ( a bit like a bubble car or a mecherscmitt ).
So leaving at 3pm, we decided to take full advantage of the days movement licence, and took the easter harbour tunnel over to Hong Kong Island, and cruised along the eastern corridor down to Wanchai. We drove through Wanchai, up through the wet fish markets, and over to Queen's Road East heading for Stanley on the South Side of the Island. We drove over to Stanley but when we got there I heard a strange noise from the front of the engine....so stopped somewhere quiet and had a look. The four bolts holding the fan and pulley in place had come loose and were rattling.....I could not understand how the hell that could have happened, but tightened them up anyway and off we continued.
We headed back down to Wanchai, then into Central Hong Kong, driving through Lan Kwai Fong on the way ( that was fun......a lot of people thought it amazing ).....and then drove back home to Western Mid Levels.
All in all, we did about 100 miles today. Two incidents which should not have happened. The condenser and points were brand new and should not have failed......and how the bolts came loose on the fan blades I will never know, but I will take the bolts out during the week and put in some new locking washers and a blob of silicon too, just to make sure.
Matthew ( our son....aged 9 ) was busy with the video camera, so I will see what footage he came up with and make a youtube vid later this evening.....will post the link.
2 things........
(1) Im glad I keep a full oolbox in the boot.
(2) Im glad I keep a spare set of points and condenser in the boot.
Will change the points and condenser to electronic ignition after Christmas....Im not having that nightmare happen again.
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So I had to fill up the jerry can and then fill the tank via the jerry can filler nozel which did fit.
Carrying the working old parts is a good idea.