I'm sure you'll fettle the Spit' in good order Sarge and those jobs will take your mind off your ailments, hopefully

As for batteries I've had this Skoda for 18 years and still on the same battery,disks and clutch, changed exhaust at 15 years even though only the front pipe was blowing.

I used to change cars every two years (MOT hater)
but this one is so damn comfortable when trekking to Norfolk and so reliable I kept hold of it and frankly it owes me nothing.