March. On the road for the first time this year! I'd forgotten how nice this car was to drive. After a few runs out I changed all the oils etc. All was well and it was good to be out and about again. The new exhaust is really good. A bit quieter and much more mellow than the previous one. Certainly haven't needed to use the earplugs yet anyway!

April saw a trip up to the North East to help out a guy having a bit of electrical bother with a Hood that he'd recently acquired. Quite a band had assembled and we soon rolled up our sleeves and set to. It was good to help and although we didn't quite fix it for good, it gave the new owner the impetus he needed to cut his teeth on some real spanner work.

May saw the first Kit Car Show of the year for me - Stoneleigh. A good trip down and a good show. Overnight though was a real lesson for me. I can honestly say that I've never been so cold in my entire life. I only have a summer sleeping bag and to say it was inadequate for the literally freezing conditions through the night, was an understatement - Brrrrrrrr!

Also, May saw the first Hoodie Trip out. "Wales Weekend" - In the Dales. A long story, but the organising NorthWest Bunch just fancied a change of scenery! We were staying in a Bunkhouse just outside Settle. I got there late on the Friday afternoon and we had a good evening. As usual, lots of camaraderie and banter. Saturday brought rain though but with spirits high (from the night before!) we set off for a trip around the Dales. Nearly my neck of the woods but for sure, some roads that I've never been on before!

The car had run well over the weekend, but there was a niggling issue - Gradual Coolant loss, but I couldn't fathom quite from where. On the trip home on the Sunday though, a quick underbonnet inspection revealed the cause - Water Pump.
Now, changing a Water Pump is straightforward enough. However, I determined that the Front Crankshaft Oil seal was in need of replacement. This is where the trouble began... Firstly, I had to make up a puller to get the crankshaft sprocket off, which was on solid. I then tried drilling the seal and putting self tappers in, but the seal wouldn't budge. I then tried to remove the housing. I got a selection of wallpaper strippers behind the housing, in all areas apart from the half moon section of the sump, but didn't want to lever it too much though as it's only alloy. So... Removed starter motor. Tried to drop sump - Oil Pump in the way and wouldn't clear the plough. Undid nearside engine mount and jacked up engine - sump still wouldn't clear the plough. Undid steering column - Removed Exhaust end-can and pulled headers out of the way. Jacked up engine again - Sump off!
All this due to me having to simply replace the Water Pump but then deciding to change the crankshaft oil seal at the same time! As I bought this kit part-started, this was stuff that I've never seen in this engine. I wanted to drop the sump so that I could have a nosey and see that everything was OK? although it's proably not easy to tell eh? Anyway, I was now at a point where I could start assembling again and as per the hallowed Haynes Manual, refitting it all was a reversal of the above procedure! All done and sorted now though - Phew!

So, that was a bit of unscheduled maintenance, but I'm sort of glad it came to light. I've a fairly long trip coming up soon - The Nurburgring! Yes, my longest trip so far. I and a small band of Hoodies are venturing off deep into Germany. If you're reading this, I don't need to tell you any more...