Progress has been made but a couple of issues are still challenging me - the speedo and the key situation being two of them, a knocking exhaust being the third. Mike, the previous owner had told me he backed in to something or someone - can't remember which. The result was the same either way, the driver's side exhaust got bent, it looked quite obvious from the rear of the car. I had adjusted it and it looked better but now it knocks when driving over bumpy ground so it needs a different fix. I'm hoping I can do it without having to purchase exhaust parts with their associated Bentley tax. I have an idea of what to do but it's still 30 degrees outside and I find that very draining these days. I might wait until late this evening when the heat has gone off a bit.
In other news I have discovered something rather shocking and shameful about Bentley / Volkswagen and their attitude towards customers. Bentley and Rolls used to make their own unique keys - they had a machine to do it, none of the other key manufacturers saw advantage in spending fortunes to copy said keys as the market was small, Bentley had it covered, it wasn't worth getting involved. One day Bentley decided the Arnage was old, there was no point supporting it any more and so they stopped making the keys. This left any Arnage or Rolls Seraph without any options if they lost or broke a key. There have been a couple of enterprising individuals that have produced small numbers of blank but the prices are beyond eye watering, one Russian "gentleman" charges $1500 for his keys. He started doing them at 1000USD but because people actually bought them the greedy c*** put his prices up. I have looked far and wide and only found one UK based supplier, they want 250GBP plus VAT for just a blank blade. For a bit of perspective here I can buy a key blank for a mondeo or just about any other car for that matter for 10 pence if I buy in big enough quantities. Even as a one off purchasing in the UK will be under a fiver with the postage and packing. I don't have a solution I can live with just yet but will continue my research, maybe a CNC specialist or hobbyist can help. I will work something out but have to accept it won't be easy.
The queue of people wanting a ride in Betty seems to be getting longer by the day, I am taking her to the Stickney automobilia show organised by the Mablethorpe and District Motor Club, I was a member and on the organising committee at one time but it flet too much like business so I stopped doing it. The shows are great though and I am quite looking forward to it. It's the Boston Bowl car night on Friday too, I haven't been for ages so I will definitely go to that too. The next outing will then be the following Sunday when the Wainfleet show is on. I love doing car shows and talking to people, the last few years has always been with one or more of Malc's cars, it will be nice to show one of my own again.
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