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Wigan warriors

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A trip up the road to Wigan today, venturing into LM territory with a visit to see Debbie & Darren in an attempt to figure out what is going on with my temperamental passenger window. With the LM500 already gleaming in the sun outside the Morrisons’ house I pulled the Mantis straight into their garage & it was up on the ramp in a matter of minutes.

Where the magic happens…

After some social pleasantries the door card was removed (not something I was keen on doing for the first time by myself but a well practised move for D & D) the prodding & poking commenced.

Passenger door with door card removed. The micro-switches are behind the circular holes.

After considerable pondering, some WD40, a mirror & a hammer(!) Darren’s fault finding prowess paid off with a diagnosis of a suspect micro-switch for the ‘up’ signal. A brief chat with Guru Chivers confirmed the findings.

The micro-switch contact poking out from behind the internal aluminium door panel

A plan was hatched to purchase several switches (avoiding Chinese sourced units) with a return visit to Wigan to swap out the micro-switch. Amazing how something that costs less than a quid can be so disruptive! The passenger door card was reinstated and then a final check the window was behaving itself still. Some TLC on the driver’s door card & replacement of some missing rivets on the sump guard Darren spotted, then it was time to head home. A good result & it hardly rained. Thanks to Darren & Debbie.

CMI Rally 2024 Part 3: “The morning after the morning after”

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Sunday morning was glorious weather. The CMI rally agenda meant a trip to the Concorde Museum in Bristol. However, despite a decent night’s sleep (& having bailed too early to earn a hangover) I was still apprehensive about the throttle cable & decided to forego the pleasures of a Marcos convoy to head home – still a three hour plus journey. I have to say the hotel car park was an impressive sight in the morning sunshine. Probably a good thing the hotel was in its own grounds as the peaceful Sunday morning was ‘enhanced’ by the noise of various Marcos starting up. The actual journey back home was uneventful, although it would have been more fun with the two other North West cars along. Another ‘story’ for the Marcos collection, but to be honest I would have preferred a more straightforward weekend for a change. On the other hand it was lovely to see other owners, & I finally got to see the Morrisons LM500, newly roofed & painted. It looked rather good! (For an LM)

Hang ’em high

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After a little negotiation & some saving, I have now purchased the picture of my Mantis that adourned the MOC stand at this year’s Classic Car Show at the NEC. It’s an interesting combination of a photograph & arty ‘touching up’. The detail is very good close up, with the wheels coming out particularly well. Not too bad given the pictures were taken on a very grey, drizzly day.

Self-opening door fixed, but… Ouch!

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Well who knew that replacement door latches from the 1986-1989 Escort/Orion are like rocking-horse shit?! Getting a Google Whack when looking for replacement bits for your car is not a good thing! I finally bit the bullet & ordered an offside latch from Marcos Heritage Spares, but not cheap. You would think with it being from the Ford parts bin (& God knows how many Escorts & Orions they sold in the late eighties) there would be plenty but it seems thirty years ago is now considered ‘ancient’ in the world of car parts. Oh well! The local garage, Needhams, replaced the latch but was unable to swap out the striker bar as it is well & truly stuck in the bodyshell. The great news is that the problem seems to be fixed & I can go round corners without being tensed up to grab hold of my door on left hand bends or exiting roundabouts! Fingers crossed that is the last of this summer’s ‘hiccups’ & the car will pass its MOT to usher in some summer motoring.

The 1986-1989 Ford Escort/Orion door latch. Hard to source after 30 years…