The three-inch wheel on the Dynastart didn't really make a whole lot of difference. It looked promising, and although it got over the third compression, that was as far as it was going to go. I did some rough calculations after finding out that the Dynastart was only 0.9Kw, which translated to 4Nm torque - at least double that was going to be nearer the mark.

Plan 'B' was to investigate the fitting of a proper starter motor; one of those high torque, lightweight jobs that produces at least 10Nm of grunt and replaces original equipment on MG's and the like. I popped along to The Great Collector's emporium where I thought the Straker Squire could provide a few pointers. Its flywheel is fitted with a ring gear from an unknown vehicle and a starter motor for a 3.8 'E' Type Jaguar nestles between the crankcase and the block. This was a bit more like it.

The Buick flywheel is 17" in diameter and the internet threw up a Mercedes part number for a ring gear with exactly the right i.d. and was a bolt-on fitting. Perfect - except the local Mercedes main dealer couldn't match the part number to a vehicle or a superseded number, which suggested that it was for an export van or truck sold to the Middle or Far East. Even if it existed, the part would be unobtainable in the UK. The other problem would be to determine the method of removing the flywheel to fit the ring. Was it engine out or, as the Buick has a torque tube propshaft arrangement, would the rear axle need to be withdrawn, then the gearbox, before access could be gained?

Whilst I was pondering all this, The Great Collector reminded me that his 1914 3L Darracq has another arrangement altogether. A 12v DC motor mounted some way back under the floor, drives a thin propshaft with fabric couplings on each end, the whole aligned to drive a rubber wheel mounted in an aluminium casting that pushes up against the flywheel. The device is activated by a pedal on the cockpit floor - much the same in principle as my plan 'A'. This seemed a more convenient and much less complicated solution than a conventional setup. All I needed to do was find out what sort of HP a 12v motor needed to produce to get the Buick's engine turning.

Mr Laken has started to convert his 6/80 engine to accept a Wolseley 1500 gearbox. I'm not up on the gear ratio comparisons, but it gives him a floor shift and a hydraulic clutch.

A 6/80 bell housing mounting flange has been cut off from a spare and is to be welded to the 1500 box. When I adapted the T9 box for my MS engine, I had to replace the gearbox input shaft with a longer one, and then convert the female spline on the clutch plate to a Ford pattern. I expect Mr Laken has all these extra details in hand.

Some progress on the Riley Special saw the beginnings of the boot floor.

Cutting the shape for the spare wheel and letting it take up a set flatter than the rest of the floor, will give Miss X more room for her travel requisites.

With the 1919 Humber back together and running, there was time to whizz along to Hawkedon's monthly VSCC meeting. Pa always hankered after a Scott, but never took the plunge. I have an LP of a TT in the 50's and the Scotts' exhaust notes are easily distinguished from the rest of the field.

More pipe-dreams have had to be overcome in The Other Wright Brother's build of the Precedent Bi-Fly. The interplane struts were clearly an afterthought on the part of the designer. The new setup should work well.