Some mad fool has an MG Midget in his collection too. I measured it and the Vanguard fits into the garage - just!
Every time I want/need to get the MG Midget out though, I have to re-arrange the cars on the driveway and then I have to manually push out the Vanguard, drive out the MG Midget then push the Vanguard back into the garage. Perform the reverse when wanting to put the MG Midget away again.
Things were a little tight, but I was managing to get some small bits of work done.
The major flaw was the car was just too low and I was not able to open the doors properly to do the work on the electric windows / actuators/door poppers. I did some work, but it really didn't progress over the 6 month period.
I was getting grouchy with myself at this point. If anyone asked about the car, I ignored them. I locked the garage door for several weeks at one point, not wanting to even see the car. It was a dark time. Again, I seriously considered throwing the towel in and either scrapping the car or selling it as an un-finished project. I tested the water on the selling as an un-finished project and the most I was offered was 6k. I seriously considered taking that offer, just have something rather than (in my depressed vision of the world at the time) having the worlds most expensive car-shaped door stop.
And then it happened. I was getting rid of the old used V8 engine and I managed to dent the bullet in the front grille - garage door came ajar, slammed and whacked the trolley jack handle that then smacked against the bullet. Was really not happy about that. I know how much time / effort Valley Gas had spent making that custom grille (and how much it'd cost me to get done).
Ten minutes later I reversed my Jaguar S-Type into the front wing of the Vanguard. I literally bounced off it at 1/2mph. It was enough to dent it though. Some action needed to be taken. I went for a long walk. Today just wasn't my day.
Whilst searching for a larger space to work on the Vanguard I did manage to get some pieces of work done on the car. I decided to tackle the electric loom first as that was the least impact on the car.
I made some minor progress on understanding how the door actuators worked - I wired them up to the controller box. I also fitted the passenger electric window.
I also started to make progress on the brakes. That was when I decided I really need a bigger space to work in. To jack the car up, I had to remove the bumpers. Then get axle stands under one end, then switch to the other, jack that up, put it on ramps, then switch back to the other end and jack that up and stick ramps underneath.... that gave me about 18" of clearance. (Oh, for a pit or a 4-poster lift!)
Now, I'm not saying I've eaten all the pies, but 18" of clearance is very tight for a 40yr old to wiggle about underneath this car.
I did get the 3/16" copper brake pipes worked out and put into place ready for flaring and fitting. It was whilst laying underneath the car that I was then reminded just how much work had been done to the car and just how "clean" it was. As Suzanne can now quote me, "Most of the money has been spent on the underneath, unfortunately where you cannot see it - but it really is wonderful underneath there". "Sure", she still says.
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