1972 ST Clone

[BILLY BEAN]

This afternoon was dry and sunny if a little cold. No heat in the car. Finally pulled off the cover and got the car out of the garage. Hibernation is over. It was an odd feeling sitting in the car as I have done very little mileage in it. Engaged the enrichment lever for the MFI. Forgot the hand throttle was now working so did not engage that. Ignition on and waited a few minutes to let the fuel pump do its thing. It's quite noisy for a new pump. Turn the key and the engine turns over but no signs of life. Pause. Another go and a bit of a 'cough'. Has it been affected by Covid? Third turn and the engine bursts into life. Engage gear and pull out of the garage. Remember the hand throttle so adjust that to increase engine speed. I left the car running for five minutes and then dropped the fuel enrichment off. SWMBO appears. To say she is not a car fan is something of an understatement. Says I am anti social and polluting and the inside of the house is full of fumes. "Lovely" I say but I need to get the engine up to temperature. "Well drive the bloody thing" says she. Well she is not regarded as SWMBO for nothing. So strap myself in and off we go for a 40 minute drive. I am fortunate to have some very nice roads close at hand. Pretty empty twisting roads with mostly good surface quality.
Re aquainting myself with the car did not take long. Short shift gear lever still not to my liking. Front end seems better in that it appears less heavily damped than I remembered. It's a reflection but not a conclusion. The tires are quite 'sticky' so grip is good. Quite how long the TBs will last I don't know.
I am still limiting the revs but got to 6000 RPM on a few occasions. With no sound proofing to speak of and no 'under seal' the interior is quite noisy but not excessively so. Being totally deaf in one ear probably helps. It's raw and exciting to drive and feels much faster than it actually is. Acceleration in 5th gear is impressive.

The time went by very quickly.

On our Whatsapp group "Cars and Cabbages" ( don't ask) a member queried the qualification to have an ST. My reply?
Be an expert at Man Maths.
Have around seven years available to build one.
Have an understanding partner.
Stupidity.
All true but what a car.


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[keith fellowes]

This afternoon was dry and sunny if a little cold. No heat in the car. Finally pulled off the cover and got the car out of the garage. Hibernation is over. It was an odd feeling sitting in the car as I have done very little mileage in it. Engaged the enrichment lever for the MFI. Forgot the hand throttle was now working so did not engage that. Ignition on and waited a few minutes to let the fuel pump do its thing. It's quite noisy for a new pump. Turn the key and the engine turns over but no signs of life. Pause. Another go and a bit of a 'cough'. Has it been affected by Covid? Third turn and the engine bursts into life. Engage gear and pull out of the garage. Remember the hand throttle so adjust that to increase engine speed. I left the car running for five minutes and then dropped the fuel enrichment off. SWMBO appears. To say she is not a car fan is something of an understatement. Says I am anti social and polluting and the inside of the house is full of fumes. "Lovely" I say but I need to get the engine up to temperature. "Well drive the bloody thing" says she. Well she is not regarded as SWMBO for nothing. So strap myself in and off we go for a 40 minute drive. I am fortunate to have some very nice roads close at hand. Pretty empty twisting roads with mostly good surface quality.
Re aquainting myself with the car did not take long. Short shift gear lever still not to my liking. Front end seems better in that it appears less heavily damped than I remembered. It's a reflection but not a conclusion. The tires are quite 'sticky' so grip is good. Quite how long the TBs will last I don't know.
I am still limiting the revs but got to 6000 RPM on a few occasions. With no sound proofing to speak of and no 'under seal' the interior is quite noisy but not excessively so. Being totally deaf in one ear probably helps. Its raw and exciting to drive and feels much faster than it actually is. Acceleration in 5th gear is impressive.

The time went by very quickly.

On our Whatsapp group "Cars and Cabbages" ( don't ask) a member queried the qualification to have an ST. My reply?
Be an expert at Man Maths.
Have around seven years available to build one.
Have an understanding partner.
Stupidity.
All true but what a car.


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That does look good Kirk, very good. Did you take any more photos to give me more inspiration?
Two things though, isn't it a bit shiny and didn't STs have chrome light surrounds?
regards

[stretch]

Don't do it Keith.
www.cartoonstock.com/cartoonview.asp?catref=jfa2492 by stretch1985, on Flickr

[BILLY BEAN]

Keith,
Yes the lights should not have black edges. However, they are original Bosch lenses in good condition which came with the original pile of rubbish that constituted the car. In addition I like the black as a contrast against the yellow. It does shine but given my lack of car care it will soon lose some of that gloss.

[keith fellowes]

Too late Dave, I'm on the slippery slope!

[BILLY BEAN]

Too late Dave, I'm on the slippery slope!

Hopefully you are not emulating 'Eddy The Eagle'? He went down some very steep slippery slopes.

[keith fellowes]

Too late Dave, I'm on the slippery slope!

Hopefully you are not emulating 'Eddy The Eagle'? He went down some very steep slippery slopes.

Not sure whether Eddie was brave or stupid but he lived to tell the tale. I hope I do too!

[Darren65]

.....All true but what a car......

....glad you love it Kirk.....it's all that counts

[Madjad]

Seeing it finished, makes all the welding I did for you seem all for a purpose.

[BILLY BEAN]

.....All true but what a car......

....glad you love it Kirk.....it's all that counts

Thanks Darren.

[BILLY BEAN]

Bad boy. And I am not using the modern parlance for "good" either. Sun shining SWMBO out and I thought f**k the ironing I was supposed to do. A woman's work is never done......or in my case old bloke. Time to get the ST out and go for a little jaunt. Accelerator pedal definately does not feel right. Something broken or disconnected? Heart sinks. The car that keeps on giving. Check the engine end of the throttle mechanism and all appears well. Can't check under the pedal boards as I have three cars crammed into a two car garage with only just enough room to open the door of the ST to slide in. Can't push the car out either.
Call 911 International Rescue. OK it was Autofarm who are three miles away. Not long later and Mike the Mechanic ( Not Mike and the Mechanics) arrives and the bad boy is pushed into the light. Passenger side pedal board lifted and ......

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[BILLY BEAN]

.......the little bugger below had popped off. No clip to hold it in place. Indeed looks like there was never a clip on the part. Indeed the part looks well used with lots of 'patina'. How this manky thing got in the mix I don't know? Well I do know as Fennlane assembled this bit of the car.
Mike the Mechanic supplies and fits a new bit and we are cooking on gas again. Bottled gas where I live.
Out for a blast.....sorry a nice steady drive around the Oxfordshire lanes. Engine cuts out. Turn ignition key and sweet f.a. Decide to push as there is a gentle slope so maybe get lucky and bump start? Door open and start pushing get up a bit of speed and jump in. Except I don't. I slip and almost run myself over. I pull something in my upper thigh. There goes the nuptials. Compose my self and see ahead the slope gets steeper and more in my favour. This time limping at speed I get in the drivers seat without creating a hernia and wharoom! Success. The planned gentle pooter commences. Enjoyable 40 minutes thereafter.
Starting to wonder if the lightweight battery is not up to the job or maybe the rebuilt alternator is not doing its thing properly?
And finally......the needle on the speedo decides to stick. A tap on the glass and it drops down to zero. Restored instrument faces clearly not assembled well. The rev counter performed the same trick some time ago. Thank you Reap.
Still these issues are soon forgotten as
A) a drive in the car banishes negative thoughts.
AND
B) given my age I don't have time for dwelling on small stuff.
Yep the car that keeps on giving.
Happy pootering.

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[anglophone1]

Kirk- I can just see this - you need to have a GoPro running all the time- pictures would be wonderful.
I’m at Bicester doing HERO novice trial in Tango 914 in two weeks time and down in Sussex in Jaffa 911 the following weekend for Graham’s breakfast meet and the Retrothingy at Goodwood.
Hope to see you?
C

[inaglasshouse]

Hold on just one moment.... you don't wash your cars... but you iron your clothes?

WTF*????

Clive is right about the GoPro. Could have been worse (or funnier) though, had you already got to the steeper bit. Bye bye ST, heading off unaided....

* as my children would say. Possibly even a WTAF in this case.

[BILLY BEAN]

Kirk- I can just see this - you need to have a GoPro running all the time- pictures would be wonderful.
I’m at Bicester doing HERO novice trial in Tango 914 in two weeks time and down in Sussex in Jaffa 911 the following weekend for Graham’s breakfast meet and the Retrothingy at Goodwood.
Hope to see you?
C

Clive,
No GoPro as I would definately confirm that I am accident/ problem prone with the ST. Not going to Graham's breakfast meet as I don't want to catch the indiscriminate car buying disease from Graham. No retro thing either as it does not appeal. Happy to meet up after your Hero Trial if you are still in one piece. Thought they only tried criminals?
Regards,
Kirk