CAR INSPECTION AT MIKE S AUTO PANEL & PAINT WORKSHOP IN BENONI 19 JANUARY 2008

We had an overcast day for this outing, whichwas held at Mike s Auto Panel & Paint in Benoni. Due to the inclementweather, Sara Harper for one didn t come through from Pretoria and possiblyothers were put off by the rain.

The purpose of holding the event is so thatour technical boffins can inspect the Minors which will travel to the National Rally in April this year. Many Minors are driven by people such as myself, who have limited technical knowledge to say the least. The boffins ( CharlesGardiner, Neville Josman and others are on hand to test the motors (I think this is done on a Dina machine) and report if the plugs, timing and electricals are in order or not. To me, their advice is invaluable, as one never knows whenone s Minor is about to break down.

When this has been done, the Minors are then jacked up on the lift so that Tommy Smith, Mike Del Frate and others canevaluate the condition of the vehicle. Many times, crucial rusted parts areidentified and these have to be repaired before a catastrophe strikes.

A general check is made of the enginecompartment to identify loose exhaust manifolds and other irregularities requiring attention. I for one am most grateful for the advice, assistance and time given by these guys. Due to problems identified on the cars, John Lawton s Minor and mine stayed behind to have the problems rectified in time for the Rally.

The outing isn t one the ladies enjoy too much, as evidenced by the turn out. Norma Del Frate was there to provide coffee, tea and rolls etc for the lunch time braai and her efforts are much appreciated. Norma had a fall during the morning and in falling, bumped her chin. Maybe her coffee was different to ours? We hope that there were no further complications. Lorna van Heerden was there (probably under duress),because Albert couldn t drive yet. Sharon Bedford arrived during the morning to fetch her grandchild who had been there with John.

Those who turned up for the day were Albert and Lorna van Heerden, John Bowes, John Bedford, John Webb, John Lawton withhis son Mark, Rusty Clover, Mike and Norma Del Frate, Chris Spinks in his newlycompleted Traveller, Neville Josman, Charles Gardiner, Lawson Flint in his recentacquisition, a white 1962 2 door Minor, Tommy Smith, Lawry Bartle and yourstruly. Gary Dodds also joined us in his 2 door maroon 1950 Minor for a while.There were a number of  Benoni Heritage Club members who visited us during the day as well.

At lunch time, we all joined in for a braai and a few beers and had anenjoyable time chatting about our Minors and the other cars in Mike s workshop.Of particular interest was Charles Gardiner s 1930 Morris Minor which is in for a refurb. He is going to have to hone his driving skills when it is ready, because the accelerator is placed between the clutch and the brake! The other one is Mike s own 1940 2 door Morris 8,which is in for bodywork. By coincidence, I had been speaking the previous dayto Anton Weingartz, one of our members who has recently moved to Centurion. He mentioned that he has the workshop manual for a Morris 10 and that news caught Mike s attention!

Once again, our thanks go to Mike for the useof his workshop and the other guys for their time and assistance with theinspection. This is something that should form part of our calendar every year, as we always travel some distance when we have our weekends away.

BAREFOOT DAYS TEA GARDEN

Well, this outing once again proved the fact that you meet the nicestpeople in a Morris Minor. There is not enough one can say about our fellow enthusiasts Joanne and Shaun Steyn, They not only volunteered for us to sharetheir premises for the afternoon, but also supplied mouth watering scones andcoffee, tea and cold drinks.

After charging only R 10.00 per head for the tea and scones, theypromptly donated the healthy sum of R 365.00 to the National Rally, which was extremely gracious of them. My biggest criticism of them is that they have been so scarce and it took this show of kindness to uncover them. To Joanne and Shaun, a really big thank you!

Of course the other unusual happening which was totally out of context,was when Paul of Pretoria demonstrated the etiquette of lifting his little finger in a genteel way when drinking tea. However, he used a beer bottle to demonstrate this finesse.

The big excitement of the day was and is the hype of the Nationals with everyone trying to get their MM s prepared and  discussing what is going to happen. Clive s cylinder head gasket was on display and thanks to Neville and Mike s alert observations, a major engine overall and greater costs wereaverted, This is another good reason why you should attend our outings,especially when you get these boffins to listen to and inspect your cars.

In all, 14 Minors and 3  modern tin  cars attended the outing. This wasan ideal venue for children (a number of children who wanted to stay longer,had to be dragged away screaming). And adults, if your friends or family arelooking for an excellent party venue, you need look no further than Joanne and Shaun s Barefoot Days. It has plenty of space and secure parking and looks overone of only a few protected vlei areas where Bullfrogs breed in an idyllic setting.

Some of those who attended were: of course Shaun and Joanne, Mike and Norma, Neville and Stacey (Laura was sick), Chris Spinks, Paul, Sarah and theirboys, Noeleen, Terence and grandson, John, Sharon and grandson, Albert, Lorna and 2 grand children, Lawson Flint, John Webb, John and Heather  Lawton, Keith, Merle, Doug and Shaleen, Tommy, Sharon, Ashley and Adrian, Dave Smith, Paul and Linda Watmough and Dawn and Rusty.

The afternoon run seems to be an enjoyable outing and the folk grudgingly parted from their good friends at around 18h00.

(Thanks to Rusty)