Regarding the phone services, we are at resolution for the moment until such time as the new carrier might decide to become more than a mild annoyance. I don't mind the occasional hiccup as long as it remains a hiccup, gets addressed in some sort of reasonable manner, and everyone moves on. I very much mind their blowing smoke up my wife's arse to get more money or more convenience for them rather than address what really is a minor problem on their part. Their behaviour was beyond a little fibbing and well into the realm of greed and abject dishonesty.

As far as the Midget questions, I've neither changed gearbox nor differential. The former is properly ratio'd for b-road bombing about and the latter is actually the most desirable of the stock differentials. Some people put five-speeds in these cars but they also want to use it as a motorway cruiser for some reason or another I can't be asked to understand. As it sits now, I can run the American equivalent of an A-road in 4th at an unstrained 3200rpm and 60mph, good enough to get to the next little B-road where the play-value truly resides. Grin!

The dialling back of compression in both head and piston shape is a sop to the American's early adoption of unleaded fuel and cat-convertors. The seats are hardened as well for unleaded. As a classic, the regulations regarding emissions vary from state to state here. California, for example, requires annual inspection and emissions testing of cars 1976 and newer. Everything must be in place and the car has to pass the regulations for its year of manufacture. Other states you can modify and hotrod a classic to your heart's content.