Tuesday, July 08, 2003
Kam’s Column - 08/07/03
Hello Again!
I don't know whether you have seen the news about the two conjoined Iranian girls who are undergoing separation surgery. I've been following the story with great interest - not that I'm any good with blood and gore, but I am totally fascinated by the complex medical procedure. Joined at the skull, although sharing two distinct brains, the girls have lived as a pair for 29 years.
How will they cope apart, I wonder, if the surgery goes successfully that is?
Modern medicine is full of miracles, I hope that this is one of them...
If you've been down to any of our workshops in the past few weeks, you'll know that we have been extremely busy, especially here in Heanor. Some days I've felt like I should have a spanner in each hand and a screwdriver clamped between my teeth just to get through all of the jobs! Not that I'm complaining, as you know regular reader, none of us at Kam are lay-about types and if we wanted a quiet life we'd move elsewhere. But I've never seen demand like it in all my years on the workshop floor!
I'm putting the blame squarely at the door of our free MoT offer (available with every major service) and the increasing popularity of the Stunner tyres. It seems that pretty much every motorist in this area has their MoT coming up around this time, so wants a full service as well! And while they are at it, they decide to try out a set of these fabulous Stunners too. I don't know, sometimes you can feel too popular...
Take Mrs King for example (name changed to protect her innocence). She brought her Austin Maxi into the workshop for its yearly inspection and service.
"It isn't quite right, Dr Kev," she said when she dropped 'Doris' off. "I've been having trouble seeing at night and she doesn't feel quite as responsive as she used to. The steering is... slacker if you understand what I mean."
"I think I do Mrs King, leave Doris here and we'll get her back up to speed for you."
Now, there are things that we regularly fail cars on in their MoTs. Steering, lights, brakes, suspension and wiper blades are the most common culprits and, on a quick test drive, it looked as though 'Doris' had pretty much all of these factors working against her! The steering was pulling hard left, the suspension was wallowing like a hippo and the brakes were so soft they could have been a fluffy kitten for all the good that they did. Back at the depot, and considerably paler, I teased Doris onto the ramp and sent her up into the air.
Incredibly, she didn't need any structural welding or reinforcing as so many cars of this age do, so it looked like all we'd have to fix were the things I've already mentioned. I gave Mrs King a call to tell her the news.
"Oh, that's quite a lot of work isn't Kev? Do you know how much it is going to cost?"
"Not at the moment Mrs King - I'm about to do a price check now for you. We will need to replace both the front shocks I'm afraid as yours will never get through the ticket. The steering box will either have to be stripped or replaced as well - it as simply worn with age. I'm going to have a word with one of our specialist supplier now for you, see what I can do."
As it turned out, the supplier we use for all of the vintage cars that come in had precisely what we need and at a really good price. Once I'd got the go-ahead from Mrs King, the bits arrived later that afternoon and it was time to get down to the dirty to prise off the nuts that hold the shock absorbers to the bodywork.
It took most of my body weight, a thump from a hammer and a blast from one of the torches to free up the first nut. I don't know who (or what) put it on, but it may as well have been welded to the bodywork! Thankfully, the steering box was easier to replace and I only lost the skin on one knuckle doing it.
With these task accomplished, it was time to look at the brakes, which had far too much play in the mechanism. Thankfully all that was needed was to get the mechanism tightened up a bit - the rest of it was in good condition.
As you well know, lights are an important part of the MoT inspection - and it was obvious that Doris' were going to fail - one pointed straight down and the other straight up! On all cars the alignment gradually goes out of sync over the year, and this being an older car it had just happened a little more noticeably!
With all of that accomplished, it was time to put 'Doris' in for her test - which I'm delighted to say she flew through with only an advisory on the rear tyres (which Mrs King has arranged to be changed to a set of Stunners on Friday)! A good job well done. Of course, most of the things like brakes and lights were done under the major service plan, so we didn't really have to do that much extra to give 'Doris' her ticket.
Even if your MoT isn't looming, we can give your car a check for the most common MoT failure items, for free as well! If you aren't sure about how well your car is stopping or are concerned about your suspension, bring it down and we'll give you a full report on what needs doing or not, as the case may be.
Well, that's it for another week regular readers. I can't sit here enjoying myself any longer; there are cars to attend to!
Until the next time,
PS While writing this column, I have been told that both of the conjoined twins have died during surgery. My heartfelt condolences go out to their families, friends and the medical team.
