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judow

judow

Darth Vader - R.I.P
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this silly grin off my face. I know it is in poor taste to brag but...

Agatha has spent most of the summer on the lift in the garage with many problems. The major problem was a cracked head. There were such things as the distributor, ignition and so many other wrongs that I can't even remember what they were. All I knew was that I couldn't take her out with coming back attached with a tow strap to the back of either our SUV or the neighbor's pick-up. Was so disheartened that I seriously considered just selling her and be done with it. To have a really great car and just be able to look was eating me up.

I am pleased to report that she is now purring. The cracked head is no longer cracked and for that I am grateful as I tend to be a purist and wanted to keep the original head and not have to go to something else. There was one problem, at least to me it was a problem - that of a 'noise' that I never heard before. While her performance was grand, this noise bothered me. Turns out it's a 'sound' - lashing was the phrase used and perfectly normal. A professional racer and a really knowledgeable Healey guy (on this forum and not using his name as I don't have permission) assured me that all was well and that her performance was really pleasing to the knowledgeable Healey guy and to the racer whose comment is "My 100 is the fastest in the country. Yours is the second fastest! Now drive it like the high performance vehicle it is!

Suggestions of booking track time were made.

Okay I know, bragging but I still can't get this silly grin off my face and well enough of this gushing. I had to share this. Maybe it's a female thing - the excitement of it all or just maybe it's me being proud of Agatha.

Going out to take another drive. No wait, I still have to finish the Fall decorations. That's okay, tomorrow will be a great trip to Madrid and the coffee shop. I think maybe we will be tooling even in my dreams.

:banana: :driving:
 
Hey Judy,
Just read the article in Moss and like Rick said, really enjoyed it. That is really cool that you may have the 2nd 100M produced. Do you have it registered with Bill Meade and the 100M Registry ? My 100M is car F45 for the 45th registered but was built towards the end of the run of 640, March 1956. You are right that they and all Healey's can easily earn the nickname "money pit" but we can't take it with us so might as well enjoy them while we can still get in and out of 'em. I have heard the term "lashing" but cannot recall what it means. What did it sound like as I am always trying to locate any new noise.
Regards,
Mike
 
Lashing is the hitting of the tappets on the valves. There is supposed to be some noise but too little or too much is bad. I, of couse, happen to be just right. (lol) Seriously I never heard this sound before so I was really concerned. Obviously I had no yard stick to judge it.

As to the Registry, the answer is yes. Agatha's build date is September 6, 1955.

Thank you for the kind comments on the article.
 
Great story, both here and on Moss Motoring. Quite a find, and just super the car found such a fine owner to appreciate her. Congratulations.

Your statement at the end of the Moss story (And yes, she still takes my breath away.) is exactly how I feel every time I go out into the garage and see my BJ8. Nothing so valuable as Agatha, but hard to drive it without a HUGE smile on my face.

Hope you enjoy the car for many, many years to come.
 
Thanks for the kind comments. As far as Agatha's being valuable, she is only worth what a person is willing to sell for or pay for. She is to me just a really great car. The two of us just tool all over the place and that is what I inteneded to do with her even before her lineage was found. I truly believe that most of us have really strong feelings for our LBC's. My hope is that our sons/daughters will feel the same way so that we can pass them on to their care. My daughter is a lover of all cars so I suspect she will take good care of Agatha when husband and I are no longer here. Got my fingers crossed.
 
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