Classic car mechanic’s weekly motoring – ET

‘In the corner of the workshop, Olli Ragbin sits watching events unfold before him’

Tis the holiday season and both Eric and I have managed to get away to warmer climes. Not together I might add.

Eric’s trip to France was relatively uneventful, other than driving into the water tap at the camp site. Tricky things to see water taps. One moment they’re not there, the next they spring out from a nearby hedge and resolutely plant themselves firmly in the ground exactly in your blind-spot. Humankind has been looking upward for alien life for centuries when the answer may actually be a little closer to home and hiding in a field in plain sight. That’s my theory anyway. And like most of ‘em, it’s solid.

I went away to Crete for week and we travelled as a party of 7. Like the efficient organiser I am, I’d made sandwiches on the day of the flight for everyone. I’d figured there was little point in getting hammered by either Gatwick or EasyJet for sub-standard over-priced fayre, so what better way than to ‘stick it to the man’ by making my own.

Empirically speaking the sandwiches had a take-up rate of only 27.5% and the apples did even worse at 14%. My constant crowd-pleasing barrage of Dad jokes however was probably my worst performing metric. Even my ‘why-did-the-monkey-fall-out-of-the-tree’ gag was met with stony silence before the punchline, and blank stares afterward. What is wrong with people these days, honestly.

Back at CCM however things are a-buzzing. Expansion is potentially in the offing with some space at the next-door unit freeing up which would mean the evening Jenga game with all the cars could be a thing of the past. A significant step-up in facilities we can offer to our customers. Just got to make sure we can afford the heating!

And so to keep things nice and tight this week, let’s have a look out our usual gallery of pics from this week at work.

The Spitfire is finally in for paint with our good friends over the road https://candscoachworks.co.uk/

Wow. This is going to be stunning. Duncan's meticulous bodywork preparation is paying off spectacularly. He's smiling and so he should be. A craftsman and his work

Most of our work is classic-focused. We love a modern classic too. Will's about launch into coffin arm replacement fun

The weather is hot, so the obvious thing to do is to light a fire. Izzi flippin' an imaginary burger. Tasty and very low in calories

Alfie checking the temperature of the manifolds ready for his signature 'eggs-al-a-rocker cover'. Tasty with the addition of a little grit

Will 'I am' bears a spooky resemblance to Johnny Depp's character 'Whitey Bulger' from the gangster flick 'Black Mass'. He's not a man to be trifled with (Whitey B that is, not Will)

I bloody love an XJ. I used to have one of these in the gorgeous hue of Nautilus blue. Loved that car. Secretly fantasise about getting another one. Make it a V12 please and thank you

Jake giving a little polish to the windscreen with a clean elbow. It's the little touches. It's what we're about

I told Siobhan my monkey joke. She looked at me like this in complete silence for a full 5 minutes. In the end I just left, embarrassed and perhaps a little frightened

It's a pass!!! Well done Jack. A great achievement and a proud father. Balancing a statue on your head a worthy bout of show-boating (quick shout out to my eldest, Will, who also passed exams this week... go get 'em kido!!)