So having spent a chunk of money on a new starter and wrecked my vacuum advance tube in the process of installing it this happened when I tried to start the car:

I am pretty sure it is earthing related but I am not definite so it will take some investigation and that will be another time as I had no desire for it today.  I do know that I attached the earth strap to the starter and that is the first thing I will check when I do attack it.

Anyway, I mentioned in the last post that I was concerned with the car being so dirty from the spraying / filler process so today I washed it.  Actually I washed the inside of it which felt really weird.  It felt weird for several reasons, initially because I have spent the last 10 years keeping the car as dry as possible and also, how often does one hose down the inside of a car?

I'm conscious that this photo is out of focus but it is the only one I have of the cute-off switch compartment full of water.

The doors made for good water traps as well.

Once done the car looked much cleaner and I am pleased to have done it.  This will definitely be the last time I ever hose down the inside of the car.

I decided to paint two of the wheels satin black whilst they were off so I could see what they look like on the car.  When I was a kid working at my dad's yard he would cover tyres with rubbing compound before spraying wheels so the paint didn't stick to the tyre, hence the following.

I have been having a battle with myself about this for years.  It started about 12 years ago when my brother in-law and myself went to Classic Le Mans for the weekend and I saw a Healey that had coloured wheels, they were actually dark green.  I loved it and thought I should do that.  Since then I have been keeping photos I have come across on the net of cars with satin black wheels, including these:

However, I keep imagining me driving to an event and somebody saying, are those wheels original?  And I know it will annoy me.  So I keep having a battle with myself.  I put the following two pictures on Instagram and the feedback was 75% in favour of black.  Damn, why I have done this to myself?

However, when I locked up the garage today I took this final look at the car and well, I love it.  So for today at least it is definitely going to be satin black for the wheels.