Turned the car over and sat anxiously watching the dash to see if any warning lights would come on during the warm up phase. Nope, good to go Mr Sulu. Engage. (and yes I know they are from different generations of Star Trek. This blog is about cars not Star Trek so please read on).
Pulled into the petrol station to fill up. Remembered to open the fuel cap before switching the car off. Filled up, paid and was back on the road. I think I’m beginning to get the hang of this.
Cruised along the freeway at speed and turned off to take the windy road back. When driving through corners with gusto it is amazing at how well the car grips. No doubt, having a low centre of gravity, wide tyres and firm suspension all helps but there is something more here.
While accelerating back onto the freeway was finally starting to get the ‘whiff of enjoyment’ one comes to expected with the car. There is still some way to go to achieve complete enjoyment and probably the next project is to get the exhaust by pass valve repaired so engine makes a better noise at high revs but that doesn’t prevent having the enjoyment of driving the car.
It was a good feeling to switch the motor off not having seen a warning light or having an ‘incident’ (self induced normally). It also didn’t hurt that a few people took some shots of the car, from their cars, as it cantered down the freeway. I certainly get the impression that the car likes the attention and maybe this is what it had been missing with the previously owner? Have not fear oh red one, as long as you start and keep running you can look forward to many driving “exposé”s and fuel infusions.
One of the other things you need to remember about these sort of cars is that generally they don’t have a spare. Yup, that’s right, no spare. Not even one of the ‘dicky’ space savers. If you get a flat then you are suppose to use the puncture repair spray that comes with the tool kit. The idea is that you use this to fill the tyre and it allows you to limp to somewhere to get the puncture repaired. Now Sal from Racing Red, said doing so ruins the tyre, which is certainly understandable, but sometimes a ruined tyre is a lot better than not being able to get back home. With this in mind it was probably time to have a look at the tyre repair ‘kit’.
This kit is normally found in the car’s tool kit which is located in the trunk at the front of the car (remember the engine is in the back). So I opened up the kit and found the repair canister.
Problem is the expiry date is Dec 96! So, will need to add one of these tyre repairs kits to ever growing shopping list. Wonder whether this old one is worth anything on EBay? Every dollar helps you know.
Love the F355 