The 4x4 Ferrari's Engine Leaps into Life

Regular readers will know that during the past couple of years I have had three vehicular projects on the go, punctuated with cancer and a busted Achilles tendon.   Both are now history but they have slowed progress on the three vehicular projects.

Today they all met meaningfully for the first time:

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First there was the four wheeled trailer, made from a caravan chassis.   Today I towed it to the far side of Preston to collect the 4x4 'Ferrari' three wheeler truck from Paul Child - wizzard with Villiers engines and boss man of Meetens Ltd.   http://www.meetens.co.uk/   Here is the man himself, basking in the glory of having got the 55 year old engine back to life:

40 years of this sort of thing enabled him to diagnose a faulty ignition coil, new HT lead and the wrong carburettor jets, all fixed to perfection.   The engine was, he declared, otherwise good as new with very little wear at all.   His firm has a mountain of genuine Villiers engine parts along with the factory's records of every engine they built - including those supplied to the makers of our Geest auto truck, seen here sitting on said trailer.

The third of the triumvirate of therapeutic wheeled vehicles is the Yanmar diesel mini tractor.   I have equipped this with a front tow ball - a push ball really.   This enables me to manoeuvre the heavy four wheeled trailer to the millimetre - much as you see those airport tugs positioning jumbo jets so delicately.   Not only that it sounds like a canal boat - chug, chug, chug.

Anyway, the three wheeled 4x4 Geest-Ferrari is now very much a going concern, though presently stranded on the trailer whilst I sort out its gearbox:

I think these three projects have been occupational therapy with big boy's toys as a theme.

Our local fish and chip king, Richard, happened past this afternoon and casually enquired "Mark, what the heck's that?"

"Ferrari" I replied, which seemed to impress.   I shall expect Ferrari sized fish come Saturday.

NEXT DAY UPDATE

The final drive chain fitted this morning and the gear box works!   It had probably gummed up a bit with standing unused for so long.   Her maiden voyage was a couple of circuits of the station car park.   Great fun.