Snow? What snow? Oh… that massive foot-deep layer of snow covering the whole of Reading. Thanks to the bottomless positivity supplies of Doctor Johnson, the snow and negative temperatures did not stop further progress on The Duke.

Johnson with a chopped off outrigger.

The job in hand was the replacement of the two fuel tank outriggers. We managed to chop both of the old ones off and welded the passenger side back on. At 4pm the lengthening of the shadows and the call of the beer finally lured us back into the warmth.

Here’s the hole that failed the MOT. Doesn’t seem much does it? Not that I’m bitter… With only one grinder available, I ended up doing more digging than ‘drovering!

Johnson welds on the replacement outrigger.

Pretty lights! Jason popped round and helped out by undersealing the fuel tanks. They now look smart and will hopefully be protected from the elements for a good few years. Here’s the new left hand outrigger welded on and undersealed. Looks smart huh? Still a fair bit to do - the front dumbiron still has a big hole in it and the right hand outrigger needs welding back on. After that I need to fix the driver’s door lock which came back from the garage with a loose (and useless) handle.

Fuel tank seals are sorted and a completely new set of brakes are fitted but need a bit more bleeding to firm them up.

I’ve also ordered a set of new front springs after the good Doctor Johnson managed to snap the bracket when attempting to split them. In a way I’m quite pleased to have an excuse to get new ones. The work involved in a refurb would be far from minor and I’d much rather go for a quick fix and get the MOT done ASAP!