Unlike My Alpine Journal, the running log, this section reads chronologically. It covers the period from when I bought the Tomato to when it went into Henry's to begin its refurbishment.

1997.04.21		$800 deposit to British Motor Group on $2995 purchase price.
1997.04.25		Balance of $2995 paid to BMG (Henry). Car used to belong to his son (Terrence). Bad clutch, rad and gas tank leak. Top is too-small and shrunk and split. No tach or speedo cables. Bad prior carpet replacement worn. Seats (cloth - original?) are dished.
1997.05.07		Clutch rebuilt. Gas tank cleaned, sealed and repainted.
1997.05.15		New tires from Wal-Mart. 165/80 R13 Ulysses ST.
1997.05.22		New battery from Sears. AC Delco still has a Sunbeam section in their catalogue.
1997.05.23		Radiator cleaned, sealed and repainted. I handed Joe, the counter guy, my card so he could make up an invoice, and he asked if I do anything with the Internet. I said I did, and had a web page for some time. He then talked about one he wanted to make, because he was a photographer, and asked if I wanted to see his portfolio. "Sure," I said, and he handed me a binder, which I opened to find various gorgeous young and not-so-young ladies in various stages of near-dress and undress posing on and around various classic American cars. He described a handy tip for getting dramatic spark-blast photos from an electrified fence at a local petro plant, then had a look at the car (everyone wants to know what a Sunbeam is) and said I should come back when the car is done.
1997.05.?		Rear brakes checked and adjusted. Disks, pads, drums and shoes appear OK. Driver-Rear bleed screw nipple snapped off.
1997.06.?		New rear axles limit straps mounted. Car had enough of one to make a pattern, and all original metal "lockwasher" plates. Used (?)-oz army canvas and fabric glue.
1997.06.19		Valve Rockers gapped. See Valve Rocker Settings. Notes from visual inspection of Head: Poorly-finished: tappet cutouts not edge-finished; 3E tappet nearly fouls head cutout; 1E cutout has a 2" "drip"; 3I spring needs renewal - loose; all adjuster screws have angled slots from use of narrow screwdriver blade (they are cheeseheads); cover bolts are only long enough for a thin (not cork) gasket. New Valve Cover gasket from 1/32" paper ("donated" by a guy at Norwesco Industries to get a nosy know-nothing out of the way), with a cork one used as a pattern. Used aircraft gasket sealant.
1997.06.?		Fuel Pump rebuilt (all but engine seals, because the pump can't be removed easily from an engine in situ). Tach cable installed (from Parts Car)
1997.07.07		got rear Bumper (from Parts Car) installed Speedo cable (from Parts Car) prepared front bumper mount
1997.07.11		Rear Bumper spacers (from Parts Car) installed - lock clearance still a problem. Re-gapped Valve Rockers again, .002 tighter (.010 in, .012 out) - still noisy but acceptable [09.22: could probably still be tightened but 1000 zoomin' miles later, who cares (much)?].
1997.07.21		Intermittent fuel supply stoppages checked by removing tank and swishing, also blowing out fuel line. No materials found..
1997.08.03		Gas line cleaner on fill-up.
1997.08.04		Wash car, clean chrome, Wax: 4.5h. The Tomato is a little less orange and more red now. mount Hood Badge
1997.08.08		wipe down and tighten carb bodies cleaned (mesh) air filters with engine degreaser and pressure wash appears to be a lot of brown gunk and black particles in fuel filter
1997.08.11		500 miles since speedo cable installed.
1997.08.12		$100 to Terry McKitrick for 1725cc engine (no carbs, rad, pumps?).
1997.08.17-19		On Parts Car: disconnected engine from chassis stripped oil/temp/speedo gauges pulled some brake lines engine damaged from crush: "Sunbeam" valve cover punctured by oil filler cap rad upper reservoir snapped off water pump oil drain plug rammed into sump (seal maintained)
1997.08.30		Top half of fuel pump has corrosion hole near intake port, found during a (vigorous) cleaning prompted by yet another FP gagging session. Swapped with one from the Parts Car and no bubbles!
1997.09.03		removed engine/transmission/OD from Parts Car.
1997.09.04		$20 deposit to Alan Jack on $450 for 1725cc engine/gearbox from a rear-ended Series V.
1997.09.05		Vacuumed interior Real Well.
1997.09.06		Scrubbed dash with household liquid cleaner and toothbrush, then applied Formula 2001 to dash and windshield rubber.
1997.09.07		Emergency handbrake return spring fouls tailpipe - handbrake doesn't return when released.
1997.09.18		Oil Change: engine cleaner (oil additive pre-drain) Fram PH-8A 4.5L Castrol GTX 325ml Wynn's Engine Stop Leak
1997.09.19		Started Jerome's Sunbeam Pages. See the Revision Log for details.
1997.09.22		1000 miles since Speedo installed.
1997.10.14		Cut apart the Parts Car with a 12" gas-powered saw. Cut just in front of the rear bench, ahead of the spring shackles. Will keep the rear bodywork as a spare, or craft any one of a number of suggested funky items: a barbecue a loveseat a flip-top desk a trailer Any Others? One cut along the top, flip the car on its side to cut what can't be reached from above, and a little more on one side (the "rolled-onto" side). Pictures in the Tomato Gallery.
1997.10.26		Today is likely the last day this year to have near double-digit (C) temperatures, and likely the last day the Tomato can be run comfortably just for fun. Quite by accident, ran in the Edmonton Classic Sports Car Club Econo Run: through the city, west to Spruce Grove, east to St. Albert then onto near Fort Saskatchewan (Alberta Hospital), south to 98 Ave., west to Groat Road and north-east to 129 St. 85 miles (136.8km), engine running continuously, just enough for the Tomato to crack 2000 (1500 since speedo connected) miles since purchase. Hadn't remembered the run was on, but coming back from breakfast saw a group of BritCars assembled in a gas-station parking lot near My House and decided to investigate. Saw some familiar faces and cars and knew a drive was imminent. Used 13.2 litres of gas (3.49 US gallons) for an econo rating of 24.35 miles / US gallon (10.36l/km, 29.06 miles / Imp gallon). The car (and me and junk in the trunk) weighed 1080kg (2462 lb = 2.231 tons) at the weigh-station near Spruce Grove. Don't remember the Start-Finish time. The northern cross-country legs were the best and I will definitely keep the route map to use for drive ideas next year. Hardly any traffic in either direction and the two-lane asphalt with rough overlays road cuts through farmland in a wide shallow valley populated with (leafless) trees. Skies were lightly overcast with dark clouds rolling in from the north, underlit by the low-angled sun (enhanced by the "later" non-DST hour). I was pleased enough just to complete the circuit. Oil PSI stayed "normal" except for a brief bit at the end of the leg from the northeast where idle pressure dropped below 25psi. Stick got a bit notchy then too for a while, especially shifting from neutral to 1st after a stop. Maximum peak 4000+ rpm, sustained 3500 (highway). Around 3000±50 the normal rocker chatter is punctuated by what sounds like one out-of-sync valve, something that's been happening for the last 200mi. Can you tell me what that might be? Temp was cool as usual, never getting above about 130°F. One-handed steering most of the way, passed more than a few people and kept pace with a '67 Healey 3000 and a '67 Alpine Series V at the head of the pack (until I flubbed a turn and had to correct* my course) except on the 110km/h highway parts where their overdrives and larger engines came in handy. Speedo is about 10mph high, as checked against Grant Bush's Series V on the way to Spruce Grove. Car was comfy to drive with the windows up, though everyone else was happy to run windows-down. * In getting from Fort Road to the Capilano Freeway, I thought I missed a turn and stopped to make a left to double back. Fort Road was quite busy. The guy behind me stopped. The guy behind him stopped. The guy behind him didn't. Crunch! American plastic on the roadway. I made the left with great dispatch, and proceeded to re-connect with the route. I was on the correct route all along, and didn't need to turn around. Fate is always happening.
1997.11.02		Wrong about the last entry. Have been running the Tomato nearly every day since. Today was Edmonton Classic Sports Car Club Final Run, to Fort Saskatchewan via a circuitous route. Less city, more rural and highway. 6°C, mostly thin overcast, little wind. No sun until we stopped. About the limits of lined jean-jacket driving (with gloves and earmuffs). Angela rode passenger, wrapped in a seatcover bathmat for warmth. A hood will be necessary for any lower temperatures. Ran the car at its fastest ever - 38-4000 in fourth, too busy minding the wheel to watch the speedo needle wobble, but about 110kph at most. Sounds like it's going to blow up any minute, but held steady. Sounds like a wrist pin is failing, and toward the end of the highway part of the drive home there was a lower-pitched clunking a la big-end. Maybe we'll find out on the streets in the next week. :) The car does not like strong winds, noticed during a run yesterday along the Whitemud out to Spruce Grove. Driving into a northwest wind of 40kph (60kph) was quite a struggle at freeway speeds (80+kph). Probably due to the too-soft suspension and loose steering.
1997.11.11		The Tomato goes into the shop for the winter. Daytime highs are near zero (C) and, while comfortable enough if dressed well, cold starts and running must exert some strain on the car that isn't worth a couple hours driving every other (or third) day. Might as well take it in under its own steam. Final Meters Odometer: 73878 Tripmeter: 843 + 1000 (once around already) + 200 (approx before speedo cable) = 2000 (or more) miles since purchase Got its berth all ready, and with a little more clean-up and organizing will be ready for strip-down. Have a parts list for engine rebuild.

3.5.1. The First Season JOY/CVP/YSEV/0.31 - November 7, 1999