As I've remarked before, The Great Collector's MkVI Bentley is a wonderful car, but it's not without its problems.

Water was somehow escaping from the cooling system, and it wasn't until the cockpit filled with steam when the cabin heater was turned on that we were able to identify the culprit. The front passenger seat was removed, and the carpets pulled back to gain access to the works.

The heater's fan had been disconnected and the matrix was wet and obviously leaking. The whole was a rusty heap.

Disconnecting the water pipes was a bit of a game - the jubilees were only accessible from under the car - and the unit was only just clear of one of the twin silencers. The fan motor was full of water, but probably recoverable.

A new matrix has been ordered (an eye-watering £400) and the rest I took home to strip and restore. The motor went off to a local chap who normally rescues our duff electrical equipment - a new exchange motor is nearly £200 - so fingers crossed.

I'm not that good at painting and never seem to learn the lesson about not putting too much on too fast. There are some runs.

Meanwhile, the ROV sensor frames are taking shape. The wings of the frames are all mostly finished...

... and the centre sections were all lined up ready to go when I realised that my brand-new flexi-head TIG torch rubber gaiter was split, and I'd lost almost half a bottle of argon - it's an unhelpfully odourless gas.

That meant I lost a day. but with help from an ace welder chum in the village, we cracked through the remaining work in about six hours. I'm looking forward to next week having the time to make progress on the Special, though I've forgotten where I'd got to.

I'm getting to an age where moving heavy bits and pieces up and down the yard is proving irksome. The other day I spotted on the scrap heap an abandoned trolley. It's not exactly Roll Royce quality, but some new wheels and adjustments with the knock meter will solve all my transport woes in one.