Hello again!
POG (and driver) have survived the trip back today, mainly unscathed. The left side wing mirror had set in place and broke when I tried to move it to a suitable driving position, and I had four rather disconcerting times with the power dropping off, usually after sustained climbing. I'm not sure if it was misfiring, timing or a fuel supply issue (I'm no expert) but all I know is when I pulled up and stopped, even for 30 seconds the problem went away! Talking to the previous owner it sounds like it hadn't done more than 10 miles at a time for ages, so maybe a 100 mile trip was a bit of a shock! It's now wiped down and garaged.
I should probably apologise to all those I passed, or held up, with cheesy grin plastered over my face! (As yes, I was burning up people at the lights... I'd forgotten how good the 126 is for a standing start.) Tried to keep to no more than 55 on motorway and 50 otherwise, as I had an unfortunate episode in my car as a teenager with nearly shaking the engine off it's mounting bolts from sustained high speed driving!
Bodywork looks good. The respray is obvious, but seems well-done, to my inexpert gaze. Gearbox felt good, although dropped out of first on a couple occasions (is that not unusual for a car of this age?)
Anyway, I said I'd report back, so I have....
