The new owner of the Hillman Special is having fun!

This was the Bugatti GP in Zlin, Czechia. The run up to the event wasn't without its snags - a core plug started to leak and had to be changed. Fortunately, it was one of the ones that was easy to get at and a replacement of the correct size - probably a Volvo part - was to hand.

Suitably attired for the races, I imagine Jano gave good account of himself as some of the pictures demonstrate an enthusiastic driving style. Excellent!

Another event on Jano's and the Hillman's schedule was a rally in Palavsky, held at the grounds of the Winery Zajeci. All exiting stuff and I'm delighted the car isn't gathering dust languishing in some shed.

Meanwhile, The Special Builder's Breakfast Club badge is finally in production. Spurred on by Mr Laken's fabulous oculus (see 'Our World') another friend sorted out the .dxf file that was needed for the laser cutting process. They'll be 87mm diameter and made of 2mm copper sheet which should be easy to gently conform to the curves of a scuttle - or wherever someone chooses to fit it. More news in this regard anon.

A quick arc-welding job in the week - the fabrication of a rake to go on an Avant Loader. There's nothing more satisfying than seeing the slag curl up and fall off as you proceed along the join. Henry certainly approved.

Finally, I have all the parts (I think) I need to complete the Megajolt Lite Jr ignition system. Awkward rightly proposed that I set the whole lot up to test in the lathe before I get too far down the line. The set is old and may need some attention - it would be a nuisance to have to dismantle it all again. I've called on Awkward's talents to direct the wiring ops. I remember he looked in horror at my first stab at the Hillman wiring and redid the most of it.

In preparation, I separated the components of the EDIS and coil block plugs. That was a bit of a game and I'm pleased to report that I didn't break anything in the process.

Then on to the heater pipes. This was going to be a problem as the chap I knew with the 180° tube bending facility, couldn't do it with such thin-walled tube. I had to think of something else.

The first thing I needed was a 3/8"BSP tap and die. Happily, the local army surplus store had a good stock of tools, and whilst I could, I scooped up these three dies The oil pipe fittings and the carb bits and pieces are all BSP. £10 for the lot wasn't painful!

This was the solution incorporating the all-important tap, though it took me the best part of a day to get there.

After a false start (ruler gremlins caused a breakout in the rebate). I got there in the end, but it was a bit of a palaversky.