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JayPeG's DIARY 2003 |
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| January 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.
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.
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