Showers, Shims and Gauge Shenanigans

5:00 am start for me and Mr. E today as we're off to the Hampton Court Concours. Third time down there but not since 2019.

I took a different route and arrived about two and a half hours later. The E-type running well and with the exception of the ammeter [and now the fuel gauge] it gave me no concerns. 

Of course it rained - slightly at first and then heavily twice more on the way. It was even raining as James and I met up in the holding area after I'd slogged my way through the early morning Kingston traffic. Wax did its job though and it hardly looked dirty.

Quite cool and cloudy during the day but lots of interesting cars. We got a sneak peek at an Aston Martin Valkyrie - complete with gravel in the ducts - before the crowds turned up.

There was also the five Bentley's there that had featured in Octane so I had a good look at the Sports Coupe that looked a bit like TAS - it was huge though - much bigger in all dimensions and with a dark roof looks less svelte too.

Passing a company setting 'investment products' in cars James spotted a close replica of part of my collection. A Ferrari (well a 328) an Aston Martin V12 Vantage and an E-type FHC. 

The chap said that V12 Vantages were going up again - but I'm not sure - and the E-type is going down - but the Ferrari probably has some more headroom.

We also spotted a vintage car showing its shims - which excited me ! It was a 1922 Ballot 2 LS - a race car in its day with a 4-cylinder, twin-overhead-cam 1944cc engine. But it was the shims that got the picture.

It amused/bemused the owners wife who was standing by the car too - so I explained what they were and why I was happy to see them.

About 4:00 we'd had enough but were told we might have to stay until 6:00, but we pottered down the grass/service road and then out between the crowds and no one seemed to mind. I dropped James at the station, set the sat nav on the phone and went off. The route to the A3 seemed different - so different it took me directly to the M25. In the slow parts the charging did not seem to keep up with the fan draw - oh and the petrol gauge just hovered around the quarter to the half mark all the time.

The M25 was lumpy bumpy and noisy - but we sped along it - charging all the way until Junction 2 to 1a. Stop-start traffic and slow running had me a bit worried but we got over the bridge and away OK again. 

So what about fuel ? Well I thought we'd done 250+ miles before, so I decided to go for it and see what the gauge did ? Around Colchester it seemed to start working [well it went under the quarter mark at last] so I kept going. 

I got home as the daylight went but home at last - safe and sound around 7:00 pm.

Just shy of 240 miles and still petrol showing on the gauge - I'll keep running it and see what happens.