Page 56 - IT'S A RUM LIFE BOOK TWO "BOSTON 1960 TO 1970"

They had a radiator in the very front and air came in
through the normal smart slotted grill in the front to keep it
cool.
This grill in the mini range of vehicles did not actually
influence or assist the radiator which was at the side of the
engine and had its own air inlet.
I suppose it was to allow air to flow past the engine and
anyway as most other cars still had their radiator located in
front of the engine, it was what folks were used to seeing.
This nice slotted arrangement brought with it untold
problems in the rain. It quite simply allowed all the rain and
spray to pass into the engine compartment, duly propelled by
the forced current of air.

This very quickly saturated the whole engine electrical
system and caused the engine to cease creating a spark and
consequently became a dead lump of metal in seconds!
Add to this my problem of excessive rain forming the lakes
in the road. The mini was so low to the ground, it ploughed
into the deeper water, difficult to see due to the darkness of
the storm and sheets of blinding rain.
After the first two or three sessions of getting out of the
truck in the deeper water, lifting the bonnet and trying to
shield the distributor from the driving rain while holding a
torch, removing the distributor cap and all the spark plug
leads, then taking them into the truck to dry with rapidly
saturated handkerchiefs and shirt tails.
I should really have realised I was beaten, and headed for
home.

As I mentioned before, I was in love and my love I thought
was still accessible even if just for a few minutes. Foolish
impractical thoughts those were! It took me four hours to get
to London and even then only because the rain began to ease.

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