October 12th, 2008

Cruising down the M4 towards South Wales on Friday night all was well, the fore-warning of hold ups displayed on motorway signs apparently a left over from an earlier rush hour well behind us, Jade was snoozing and the radio was low, all was cozy; in an instant the engine noise changed form a well tuned purr to a Grunty Roar! I pulled over on the hard-shoulder to investigate, a weld had broken on the new exhaust and the pipe was just dangling below a nice big hole in the engine block. So with another 110 miles to go I proceeded gingerly at a reduced speed of 70mph and increased volume of 120dB. I was worried the lack of back pressure from the detached exhaust system may upset the mechanics of the engine at such a prolonged and sustained speed but we made it, although 25 minutes later than planned and attracting more odd looks from motorists and drunk pedestrians than were necessary.

I have found an autoparts place in Cardiff that has my exhaust in stock! (Gasp!!!) Though slightly expensive I expect to get a refund from the Unipart center in Hastings where I originally bought the one that woke up the entire population of Caerphilly at 2 o’clock on Saturday morning. I can’t pick it up till Monday morning so I will have to ring work and explain..ooops!!! Initiative will come into play to get the job done, I need to get the car up on ramps that at present don’t exist, luckily I carry my own tools with me for such occasions but I know the nuts on the engine block are an odd size and I don’t have a socket to fit, hmmm. I expect to be back on the South Coast by the evening as I need to take my guitar round Chains and teach him a few learning techniques, may show him some stuff on the guitar too 😉

Entry Filed under: Personal