Although some might say that my Chesil (Porsche) 356 Speedster is not exactly 'Classic'. The Porsche speedster, released in the 1950s attained a very high status was never officially made in right hand drive, and across the world many companies produced quality 'clones' of the original. In the UK and South Africa, many right hand drive models were made, but the best of these was recognised as Chesil, specialising in building a quality replica with the goal of being better than the original.

Using a combination of Porsche and VW parts, the Chesil speedster has become an iconic car in its own right amongst collectors, and having desired one for many years, I finally bought one last year.

Not a great deal about cars, but as always, willing to listen and learn, I investigated their practicality, cost, and reliability.

With many Chesil speedsters being used as every day cars, and using the same engine as a long distance VW camper or VW beetle, I was confident that the engine would be simple and fairly affordable to repair (with parts in plenty) if it ever went wrong, and with the rest of the car being simple in design, without ABS, power steering and other more modern luxuries, I was happy with the thought of enjoying this car  on a daily basis.

Because the Chesil donor car, a VW beetle chassis was pre 1973, this gave the car a road tax exemption. And with my 1967 car, this made the car eligible for classic car insurance.

So having a car costing under £200 to keep on the road each year, with a steady value, due to its desirablity, rarity, and non- age related depreciation, coupled with the presence of 2 small seats in the back (to take the little ones off in) I took the plunge.

I bought the car from a desperate man! Not wanting to sell his pride and joy, yet needing the money for his new business, he was reluctant to part with this Stoneleigh winner.

When I got it home I installed an immobiliser, a new stereo, a left hand wing mirror, and a handful of other mod-cons, and after leaving my lights on by accident, made sure that I bought a battery jump pack to jump start it on my own.

Not knowing too much about the engine but being re-assured by many current and previous owners, as well as the speedsters club, I decided to learn.

The tappets, responsible for coordinating the pushing and pulling of valves and cylinders in the ignition process within the engine itself need to be checked frequently (ideally every 3,000 miles for a smooth running car). With these not being done by the previous owner or myself for more than that, the tappets tightened, and the valves got a bit stressed, resulting in the car losing power and performance.

With Robert Tongue, a Saffron Walden dwelling mechanic based in Great Chesterford, we together looked at the car, and after checking/changing the points, changing the condensor, and resetting the timing between the two Dellorto carbs (responsible for fuel 'injection' into the engine), we decided the best thing to do would be to check the valves. Because of the small space around that part of the engine, it was decided  that the engine would have to come out. A compression test could be done it first, but by ruling out the other suspects the drop in performance was down to the specific valve.

So the next step is to take out the engine, and have the valve cleaned/repaired, and then put it back in again. And then we can get back to enjoying the car once again....

Photos coming soon...