...as folks take a car that has survived, do the maintenance and spanner work to get it back in good order but not really a restoration.

Those cars keep their history and the story of their lives can be found in every niggle and wart, but they still look good and drive as they should.

This notion in America that one buys one, tears it down to bits, then builds it back restored as it came to the dealer from the factory, and that is the only proper way to do this, just annoys me. The car's history has then been lost, its character destroyed; it no longer is a car manufactured in Abingdon but built in someone's garage in Cleveland.

Mine have their lives intact and I'm merely adding my chapter to their history book with what I do with and to them. They have never seen the inside of a trailer, and they are driven.

Went to see my good mate who knows competition tuning inside and out and he gave me a better insight into the nuances of the carburettor I'm using. His council is to reduce the diameter of the intake orifices rather than play with jets, and the physics make sense to me. Might lose a little top-end which I don't need but gain in the mid-range by so doing. These have the ability to swop out orifices to adapt the power curve to different circumstances.

These carbs have just a whole lot of play-value!