Today we woke late again and had a slow breakfast while the boys wrote an email and entries in their diaries. After breakfast we visited the Helsinki cathedral before returning to the hotel. Then we packed everything up and walked back to the train station. The train was already waiting at the furthest away platform. It was very comfortable for an eclectic commuter train. We bought tickets from the conductor. Six year olds don't seem to need tickets for anything here so Michael rode for free.
We got off at the last stop and asked the chap we had been sitting next to if he could telephone Jyrki. Jyrki came with the Imp on a trailer just a few minutes later. He showed me the head gasket that was close to failure and gave me the exhaust valve from cylinder number 3 which is quite distorted from the heat. Jyrki and Timo surmise that the oil loss was mostly through the valve guides as the seal were hard from age. They had another valve made to fit and readjusted the valve clearances. They have replaced the rear brake cylinders and shores and bled and adjusted the front brakes. They have also replaced the gearbox oil and swapped front for rear tyres. The car drives like new. It is much smoother and is willing to rev.
While Jyrki and I talked and I fiddled with few things and tried to work out where to store all of our stuff, the boys explored the wood behind the workshop. Eventually I called them back and Jyrki offed us some coffee and cake. He then led us to the old highway to Hameenlinna. This is a really pleasant road that runs parallel to the new motorway but has an 80km/her limit. Perfect for the Imp. It still runs hotter than I would like - up to 90°C on the tiny hills. About half way through the 77km journey it became cloudy and some rain fell. Then the engine temperature dropped to around 82°.
Timo Saaristo, the UK Imp club contact in Finland, met us at a petrol station just before the entry to town where we filled up and then followed him to his house where we stayed the night. He then cooked us a delicious lunch before taking us to a nearby military museum. Here we met Sami Paavilainen who toured the museum with us. The museum specialises in tanks and has a large variety of them. Many are Russian but there are also British, American, German and French tanks.
On the way back to Timo's house we stopped to buy the boys a football. They have been aching to be able to kick one around all week. Meanwhile Sami and I fitted a left hand door mirror that he had acquired for me.
We then had a great dinner and chatted about Imps while the boys played. Then they showered and got ready for bed. But we decided to let them try the sauna which was comfortable at 80°C. The boys have had trouble settling to sleep again with what seemed like an hour of giggles and shouts. Another late wake up I expect.
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