June 3
Spent a happy weekend making a wallboard to hold all the shiny new tools I bought at Stoneleigh.
Big bit of MDF, painted white, covered in masking tape. Lay out the tools, drill for the dowels, draw round the tools, cut round with a Stanley knife and peel off the (siluet, silouett, sillywet) shapes. Paint over with red gloss to match the doors and peel off the rest of the tape. Leave to dry.
Frame with old battens left over from some other project and hang on the wall. Top job. (Photo)
Kitkat turns up two weeks next Saturday (oh, alright, three weeks this coming Saturday or nearly four weeks now).
Bought a two tonne trolley jack from Macro - a tenner. Can't be bad. Well I suppose for a tenner, it can be, but it looks OK. Turns out it lifts two tonnes, not weighs two tonnes. That made getting it home easier.
Discovered I'd been bumped from the Tiger news group for some reason. Re-subscribed - all better now.
17 June
Newark kit car show. Met Ben Marriott (of garage fame) and pumped him for advice on building a Cat. His is a couple of weeks off being SVA ready and expects to have the Cat at Donnington, so I hope to see it there.
There were a few other Tigers around, though not many. Sue and Jim were in one of the halls with the new bike engined Tiger chassis AND MY WHEELS! Sue had asked if she could use them for the weekend and I agreed so long as she didn't get them muddy - that's my job. Although I haven't paid for them yet, they are still the first bit of my car that I've seen. And photographed, of course.
Spent more money on tools.
19 June
Was advised by Gordon that, innocent as it might be, swiping Nestle's Kitkat logo was inviting a writ, so I designed my own and replaced all instances on my web site.
A couple of days ago I'd spotted an email on the newsgroup from someone called Matt who had mentioned that he had seen a Super Six in Sheffield. I wrote asking him if he was local, which he was, and he invited me out for a 'blast' in his cat. Went along tonight and met him, looked the cat over, admiringly, jumped in and was treated to an hour of asphalt tearing, back end sliding, carbs popping, peace shattering, teeth rattling, ear splitting fun. Photo here (with my tin top Rover in the background).
Thanks, Matt. What a great evening. Cheered me up no end and gave me dozens of pointers on which bits go where and in what order; what to avoid; what to make a point of doing (like fitting the front wishbones on the right way round); and even more tools I might need.
20 June
Made arrangements to pay Tiger for my kit so they have the money a few days before I get there. Saves the hassle of getting a bankers draft. Wonderful thing, PC banking.
22 June
Changed the web site to include a note on the front page saying when it was last updated to save people the trouble of wandering all over looking for anything new. Changed the pencil buttons for little pictures of Matt's cat (had to flip the picture, paint out the carb inlets and add an exhaust system, but it looks ok as a button). Also added a scrolling cat to the index page as a bit of swank having worked my way through the Complete idiot's guide to HTML (recommended reading).
I'm also going to add a feedback form page so that people can 'register' with me and I can then email them when I update the site.
On the newsgroup was a request that Phil start a website up for his GTR Phantom build diary. Can't see him having the time, so I'll probably start a GTR section in here. What am I saying.? When will I have time? Kitkat arrives NEXT SATURDAY!
23 June
I got the carpet tiles for the garage today. Tomorrow looks like being a sore knees day - that's if I survive the spray glue overdose.
Funny sort of day, today. Had my Vauxhall Corsa stolen by joy riders at lunchtime. Reported it to the insurance and police, and had all the house door locks changed (the house keys were in the car) by mid afternoon . Got the car back by tea time (minus the driver's door handle, steering lock and ignition key, four toothbrushes, one bottle of nail varnish (my daughter's in case you were wondering) and a pound coin used to liberate trolleys at Morrisons).
Which reminds me, I must sort out a proper alarm for Kitkat. You see - everything in life is a learning experience.
A regular little Pollyanna, aren't I?
