Before introducing my new toy, yes, as you can see I have the Elise back.  It needed a new twin plate Super Clutch, new master and slave cylinders and a new alternator. Those new windows for the house are never going to get bought at this rate.  I need to drive the Lotus a bit on the road this weekend to make sure it’s all OK, but it should be ready for Loton on 14/15 May and then Saint Goueno at the end of the month.

So what’s with the Renault 4? Well, one thing all this hillclimbing has highlighted is my complete lack of mechanical know how.  I work in a university as a educational technologist and my working life is sat in front of a computer dealing with words like these…

All the work on the Elise is done by someone else and I am very envious of people who can maintain and fix their own cars.  So I’ve decided to teach myself some new skills.  I reckon with my knowledge of the internet and how to connect with the right people online and find the information I will need, I should be able to do it.

So the plan is to deconstruct the little Renault (though how large it looks next to the Elise!), fix anything that’s broken and then put it all back together.  It’s a bit daunting, but I like a challenge and this 4L is certainly going to be one. It’s been sat rotting for a few years and has been home to some mice, but it cost less than the clutch on the Elise and if I had bought a good one, what would be the point of taking it all apart?

I explained all this to Jacqui who reminded me of my clocks phase.  That was about 30 years ago and it is true that I deconstructed quite a few clocks back then and not one told the time afterwards.  But this will be different!  I have the World Wide Web and am going to learn a new language. Watch this space.

And why a Renault 4? I like them. They’re simple, have a separate chassis so you can lift the body off and most parts are readily available. Also, they’re small and light (600 kg) so it will fit in my garage.