Well, only 3 and a bit years since I last updated this! Much has changed in the meantime but the one constant has been good ol' Black (Still ain't got a name lol). She's been with us through thick & thin, a hugely busy 2021 with eldest lad's mental health & home schooling the youngest since C-19 became a "thing" saw no time to really get online much but Black served well, alongside the rapidly multiplying other cars. Finally when things seemed to be calming down a little, Our youngest son Ryan mysteriously collapsed one evening after Christmas. Despite numerous trips to A&E they were adamant nothing was amiss, despite our worries that he'd also begun losing weight rapidly & being unusually tired all the time.
Finally, after ECG's, X-rays & blood tests either "normal" or no follow up from the hospital we were concerned enough to make the trip up to Manchester children's hospital A&E as opposed to our local one, within 24 hours he was diagnosed with CCTGA (rare congenital heart defect wherein the ventricles are effectively twisted round & plumbed backwards) and resultant tricuspid valve leak and late-stage heart failure. People born with CCTGA are normally diagnosed at birth, and don't generally make it to their teens without intervention, Ryan had just turned 12 at time of diagnosis in Febuary '22!
He was immediately taken to Alder Hey for surgery & while Emma stayed with him I was blasting from Congleton to Liverpool & back a couple of times a day to take clothing/food etc. After a few days we were granted a place in Ronald McDonald house (The charity you see boxes for on the drive thru window, allowing parents to stay close to the hospital while their children are inpatients) so I ended up sleeping there & just doing the L'pool-Congleton-L'pool run once a day to look after the animals.
Money was tight & fuel prices stupid during this time, so I was at Tesco filling up on £1/litre sunflower oil every few days in order to be able to also eat. On one of these pit-stops somebody found amusement in me tipping gallons of veg into the tank & filmed it. Said video went viral on facebook, which would be OK except for the circumstances & some of the hassle it caused. Eventually the MoT expired & having no time or money to get it booked in we were reduced to borrowing a car for the rest of the duration of Ryan's stay in hospital.
Ryan's operation was a success, and despite many hiccups and scares along the way he was well enough to return home at the end of May '22 but obviously car stuff was way down in priorities for the moment & Black sat, and sat. Come October '22 another blow, our landlord decided he was selling up & wanted us out stat. (nothing like kicking a family when they're down, eh!) so we had a little while to arrange a new place and how to shift all our stuff.
We managed this, found a house in Knutsford and moved in around mid-November. Eldest lad was having increasing mental health issues at this point aggravated by the move, so cars again took a back seat whilst we tried to settle into our new home. Things were OK for a while, but eventually we realised that the neighbours either side of us were not as nice as they tried to appear & cracks started showing. That place never really felt like home, long story less said about that the better but by November '23 we had found a new place in Manchester & agreed a moving date, much better suited to us & the neighbours are human to boot
By this time, Daniel's mental health had deteriorated & he's now in the care of his grandparents (again less said about that, & them, the better). Time finally allowed to resurrect Black before the move, she'd been sat patiently now for over 18 months with a leaking pump (one of the non-viton O rings) and clattery drop links amongst other things & last run on 100% veg. Walked up, said hello again to my old faithful friend, threw a battery in & she fired right up in 5c drizzly weather & sat there loping along while the oil warmed up. Suspension came up only to reveal all 4 spheres had ruptured despite being stored depressurised
Oh well, I had a set of new HA ones in the stash so that was a "free" fix (even though it's non-HA car). Pump resealed, tank topped off with dinosaurs and other suspension/steering bits attended to just in time for the booked MoT. Turn the key & she cranks forever, OK it's still got a bit of air to get through & the diesel needs to mix in thinks me.
By the time we get to the MoT station she's still surging & spluttering like a cold engine on veg, blowing little puffs of grey/white smoke as she ticks over. Tester was OK to continue the test despite it stinking the workshop out (I did ask if he wanted to abandon but guy's a legend) so I thought may as well see if there's anything else too. Ah, NS inner sill needed a patch too
I'd noticed the square plug had gone AWOL and resealed that but I didn't think it'd been that way for any time, evidently salt spray had got into the sill though so back home that was attended to first off. Fiddly little patch & blast oil inside the sill/reseal again and job's good. Door jamb is also still holding up OK.
Onto the running issue, only thing I thought it could be was I'd got the timing a tooth retarded. Attempting to pin-up again that was indeed the case so that was sorted. Passed 5 days later & small list of bits (other than a couple of tyres) of to-do this year. Onto the house move, 6th January & although we had a hire van for most of our stuff Black was pressed into service moving smaller/more fragile or valuable items as well as pulling a twin axle trailer carrying Ryan's Blaze Yellow 306 project to the new house, and taking 3 of Daniel's various other cars to a storage yard. 1.9D auto FTW, never gonna set the world on fire but she gets the job done as long as there's no big hills (fortunately these runs were fairly flat).
Since then she's been providing sterling daily service & has gained 4000 miles since the new year, and has a c.250 mile round trip to complete tomorrow (the return journey carrying a ZX sans-engine/box/brake system). The year's not been without issue mind, the cooling system is in need of some serious love now. The thermostat jammed open so I swapped in a new one but the housing is now distorted and leaking slightly, and the radiator is also on it's last legs with a few missing fins and a weep low down on the NS (Good job I know how to check my fluids!) plus it seems I damaged a rear ram boot when changing the spheres and that's now got a small drip after sitting overnight.
So, before I get too stuck into the ZX project I think Black is due some serious love & appreciation for the loyal service she provides. Well that was somewhat of a flipping novel, maybe I should release it as a film next year haha! Hope everyone else is enjoying their Frenchies just as much & really pleased to see lots of familiar faces (read- profiles) still active. All for now I think
Dan
