Counsel and I started the week with the task of getting to run for the owner, five cars. We kicked off with the easiest - or so we thought - first.

I've never understood the appeal of Morgans - three-wheelers aside - and it's always amusing to see the contortions that the average sized owner has to perform to get in one. They're a bit of fun for short journeys on sunny days in my book - may your God help you if you're caught in the rain and have to put the hood up and get the side-screens to keep the water out.

The MG VA - next on the list - was a marginal improvement - again, once you're in. Fuel pump problems necessitated ordering an SU fuel pump refurbishment kit. Slightly seized through lack of use, the back brakes soon responded to brake cleaner and then bleeding all four wheels. Incidentally, a brake bleeding kit incorporating a one-way valve on the end of the tube was something I should have invested in years ago.

The Alvis Speed 20 had a beast of an engine which reminded me of my short ownership of the later TA21 engine...

... though mine didn't have the distinctly barmy valve spring arrangement. Stale fuel removed; the carbon bush in the distributor cap replaced and a new solenoid cable was all it took to get this monster roaring.

A Barker-bodied 20/25 Rolls Royce presented no such problems once the old fuel had been drained. It whirred away like a sewing machine in very short order. A twin-cam Lotus Europa is probably going to give us the most trouble as the distributor cap is buried beneath the inlet manifold - I haven't actually seen the dizzy, it's just where the plug leads disappear to. The battery is handily placed behind some water pipes.

More easily maintained would be this gorgeous KSS Velocette. I would happily walk away from the cars taking with me this prettiest of motorcycles. I shall get this going and slip down the lane and back if I have the chance.

In the evenings I began to attend the rest of The Great Collector's 1919 Humber timing chest casting. Another sleeve was turned up and the flange reduced to around 1mm.

I carefully ground away the worst of the corrosion, so the sleeve sat squarely in the orifice.

The foundation for the finer 'white' Milliput was a solid layer of the coarser-grained black putty. I've always had excellent results with Milliput, but it's definitely not something I would use in load-bearing areas. Belzona would be my choice in those circumstances, but even then, I would exercise caution.

The finished article, with a quick blow-over of aluminium spray paint, looked the part. A good helping of clear instant gasket on all the faces (the orange stuff is a bit of a give-away) and a new key filed up for the Dynastart drive, saw the reassembly completed, though the silicon will cure for 24 hours before vital fluids are added. With luck, the Special will get some attention this coming week.