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I engineered some up the shed time and set to with completing the o/s rear quarter of Boris,it's annoying that little patches and repairs take far longer than anticipated a days gone and there's little to show for it. I have boxed in the missing spring hanger to boot floor corner and a couple of scabby bits of the wing mounting flange (that has been replaced before in the cars life) also needed cutting out and renewing. I was trying to tack up a patch half way around the arch when it sort of melted,I think there must be a leaded joint there so I'll revisit that when the filler/paint come out. I loosely fitted the wing and it didn't fit within a mile so ignored it and continued replacing the rotten chassis box section and missing floor under the back seat so that I could patch in some more of the inner wing. I can't weld this final repair panel in until I fit the rear wing (without it overhanging the rear valance) so I ended up having to trim back the mounting flange on the back edge of the wing so it could be pushed down and forward more and I think I am about there now. This wing was an unknown pattern part that i picked up last year so i think a bit of trimming and cussing is allowed. So it don't look like much but it's moving forward.

not much to report, been using it a fair bit recently such as today, i had to go and collect something from Facebook marketplace.....yes, an actual pleasant marketplace transaction anyway, decided to go in style parked opposite a long japanese car i'd bought myself from halfords a spinny electricity polishing device i'd never used one before cue electrical humming noise and spinning, i had absolutely no idea what i was doing, i just put a couple of blobs of autoglym polish on it my god, these things are useful takes all the pain out of polishing and the results.... i think it looks quite good!

https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/2171974199.htm

Clamped up the a-post and got welding. Welds started to go really spluttery. Flumuxed me for a bit but carried on. A few welds longer and realised the problem... It's not done too bad though and must be nearly 2yrs out of that reel now. Okay I had big gaps between welding sessions, but it's done a lot of welds. This is a 5kg roll and the biggest my machine can take. But does mean a 15kg would be overkill. Removed the supporting pillar And painted. This panel is warped quite a bit. Mostly because I was running beads and not spending long enough cooling off with the air line. It'll be behind a panel anyway, so won't be seen. Also these welds were awkward and not the best. But a grinder makes you a welder that you ain't. 😁 Still need to grind these welds back a bit. These actually turned out really nice and almost seems a shame to grind back! But they'll likely get in the way of the wing. Still need to fold back the other edge. Been looking at door skin folding tools, but they're all blimming expensive for something I'll rarely use. You can get metal folding pliers which are a lot cheaper, so may go down that route instead. Or just hit it with a hammer into place. 🤔

That's 1800 miles done in the first month. Overall averaging 53.6 mpg, though the last tank was 56.6 brim to brim. Its grand. I picked @davehedgehog31 up from Carlisle station on Saturday and in 90 minutes I was able to drive in city traffic, motorways, fast twisty A road up over Hartside, then single track down to Garrigill and over to Nenthead before climbing a rocky track up Black Hill at the Northumberland border. The kids fit in the back, the boot is perfectly adequate (though not furniture moving size really, but I've just had two vans), it's 4x4 when I need it, has roof bars for the roof box and should be able to tow reasonably once I've got a bar on. To drive it's very acceptable. Compliant, well damped. It rolls a bit around corners but actually I quite like the feedback that provides. The steering is OK despite being stupidly light. Once it's out of warranty I may try lowering the assistance. The pillars are wide but the blindspots aren't all that huge. We have the driving seat quite high as it gives better visibility which is essential on the roads here. Downside is the rear view mirror is then in the way of the road for me (5'10". Mrs L1 is, er, shorter) Spec wise it's about perfect. AC, cruise control, android auto, reversing camera, 6 speed manual. Full size spare wheel. Keen to get the tow bar fitted, some skid plates so I can stop worrying about the adblue and EGR being the lowest parts of the car, and a dashcam since we're keeping the thing. Hopefully I'll still feel pleased with it in 5-10 years time.

Had a week off work, due to quitting. Spent it doing car shit. Firstly wrestling with these horrible door seals. The rubbers slot into a channel on the door frame. You can slide the rubbers on along the top and inside edge and then the rest has to be poked into place with a blunt screwdriver a few mm at a time. Both systems of installation are tedious to the extreme and by the end of door one the act of sliding the seal into place had torn the edge of my nail off my thumb. The blood wasn't even good lubricant. Repo seals aren't shaped to the door like the originals and are just cut from a roll, reputedly they're even shitter to fit, hence my reusing the originals. With rubbers installed I got the doors more or less lined up and adjusted the door latches appropriately. I then spent an age fitting the door handles. The rear examples aren't too bad, the fronts require child hands which bend backwards in order to get at the required linkages. It'd be much easier if I was to removed the window mech, which wasn't going to happen. O/S/F needs to come up at the front a bit, O/S/R needs a bit of tweaking but it's passable and crucially all the doors now open and close without having to lift them into position. I briefly considered replacing all the door membranes and then couldn't be arsed and taped the old ones back on. I then swapped out the rocker cover gasket and set the tappets. Also removed the temporary fuel pipe installation draped over the rocker cover and replaced it with a slightly less temporary length of hose running along the bulkhead. I then went for a run out to @320touring's unit one eve, about 40 miles away. Firstly the engine was pinging like crazy under throttle so I pulled over and retarded the ignition timing. Then it bogged like fuck under throttle. So I pulled over and advanced the ignition timing. It then ran pretty well for a few miles until I gave it some boot and it went "pop" and died. That was due to the coil earth cable coming adrift somehow. Don't have a timing mark on the pulley, being from a fwd engine, so it'll be a case of tweaking it until its as advanced as it can go without pinging. The book figures are largely redundant when running modern fuels anyway. The the unit @320touring and @blackboilersuit couldn't be held back and some fixing occured. The rocker cover was loose as one nut was completely jammed onto a bent stud, this stud was flipped upside down and some rubber grommets were fashioned up to go around the nuts as oil was pissing out. A breather system was also rigged up, namely a length of fuel hose leading to a Coke bottle, to check that wasn't spewing oil. Originally that pipe would go to the carb, but this carb doesn't have a point for the hose to go to. Anyway. The journey home was completed with no real issues. Our fixes were highly successful*. Still pissing out the rocker cover, and I think the fuel pump gasket. I swapped the oil cap for one with a better seal as that was leaking as well. The dash also fell off when I hit a pothole. Apparently a bolt fell out, almost like 2 hand tight bolts out of 4 aren't enough for rigidity or some shit. Then @davidfowler2000 and @Inspector Morose popped over for dinner one evening and aided in fitting the front bumper. We couldn't get the rear one on due to lack of long enough bolts. Then I saw the car in proper sunny weather for the first time. I also took it for another local run to take me and Girlfriend_70s over to Mugdock Park. It drives pretty well and can now be fine tuned with road use. Can get a bit grumpy and develop a miss when sitting hot in traffic. Usually I'd say that's fuel starvation but it starts first turn of the key if it cuts out rather than needing to be cranked so it could be toasty ignition components. With the choke disconnected the easiest way to cold start it is to jam the choke open with a screwdriver for min or so until there is a bit of temp in the engine, then wind the idle speed up a bit until it's properly warmed up. I also pulled more bits of Volvo off. Having pulled all that shit off, prodded out drains, scooped out moss and dirt and pulled off/re-seated grommets... It still leaked. By the method of pouring water on the car from a bucket and then watching it from the inside I found it was running into the footwell down the A pillar under the rubber seal for the door. It is actually coming in somewhere near the middle of the windscreen and running along the plastic trim which leads the headliner like a gutter to whichever end is lowest. At least I now know which location to fuck more sealant into, all other more minor leaks seem to have been sorted... However I started my new job today, so progress may slow a bit.

At another car show yesterday at Backworth golf course organised by the North East MG club. A decent turn out and a fiver for charity to get in.

Back from the holibibs to Sweden and Norway the other day, and the Rover performed faultlessly. I think we topped the oil up once and the water a couple of times. Nothing fell off, either! Norway in particular is fabulous and I would highly recommend going if you can. On our way home, we found the terminal velocity of a Rover 820 on the autobahn in Germany - 206km/h! Here's some pix;

Has anyone else sprung for the Bremen yet? If you're thinking about it, fucking do it. They're class.

Wasn't previously the keenest bus enthusiast, but I enjoyed a trip to the Bridgeton garage in Glasgow for their open day yesterday. I took the 240, which got a fair bit of of attention as I got the last parking spot outside the entrance. I mostly went to travel on the free shuttles to the city centre every 30 mins, operated by a pair of Leyland Titans. It's good to get a run on some vintage buses, it's a completely different level from just looking around static exhibits. Might go along for the West End Festival later this month.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115412882334?hash=item1adf24d39e:g:RVEAAOSwhKBinPpQ Same owner since 1987

LDV400 campervan spares or repair | eBay 'A neglected, run down, miserable old fashioned shit hole that nobody would want to say they stayed in. But that's enough about Wrexham, here is my LDV camper...'

I went out for an illicit run in the Cav at lunchtime there (still on SORN), it drives perfectly and is surprisingly torque for a 1.6. No suspension knocks or anything, gears and brakes bang on. The only hiccup was when I was testing the heaters were hot and wasn't heating much air out the central vents. I blasted it up to setting 4 and was showered with what felt like a ton of dried up foam crumbs, and over the freshly hoovered interior. The directional flap seals have likely disintegrated over time, a bit like the Audi. Outer vents work fine and the heaters are roasting so it's all good! I'm reet pleased with this car like. Time to get a timing belt kit ordered.

Probably due for an update. Done a few bits in a few hours spare I had over this weekend on some evenings. Decided to drop the tank. A number of reasons to really. Primarily as I will be welding in that area. Also wanted to clean off the underseal and grime to check it out and repaint. Plus have a look at the sender condition to see if that gave a reason why the fuel gauge stopped at quarter rather than empty, even empty. Removing it straight forward. Top of bolts on the boot floor and nuts on the bottom. Had one fixing that was a pain. Due to the tank being offset (exhaust goes down one side), the symmetrical locations meant one was under a chassis rail type structure. Of course accessibility was compounded by access covered by filler. I chipped out the filler and got a pair of long nose mole grips to hold it tight. The nut side wasn't easy either as the car is jacked up on its side. Extensions and impact wrench are the handy tools for this sort of job. Tank was loose but fixed in place from underseal! Kick and it was down. The foam on top thankfully hasn't rotted out the top. Tanks are readily available but I'd rather not spend £150 on a new one unless I really need to. Drained the last lot of fuel out. This stank. Inside the tank looked in excellent condition. Sender looks shot though. I ordered a replacement from Moss but unfortunately it's the wrong one. The one I ordered is correct for the year but this looks to have a later tank on. I gave the tank a damn good flush through with the hose to try removing any sediment left at the bottom and remove any petrol vapour. Then pressure washed the remains of the underseal. Using a scraper I removed the worst of the paint and rest of the underseal. Finally gave the rust a scrape with a wire brush. This did reveal a pin hole on the top, made worse by me poking it. That was the only casualty of the process and seems a shame to scrap a tank because of it. I didn't want to weld it for obvious reasons, so instead I used some steelstik or whatever it's called. Apparently this is petrol safe. I plan to paint the tank with some Lidl direct onto rust metal paint. But I think its saveable. Potentially may replace it later on once the car is back on the road.

Taking a break always works! After eating I went back out to it having narrowed it down to a distributor problem. Knowing @SiChad fitted new points and condensor, I had basically ruled these out as it has covered about 100 miles since. When will I learn my lesson about Chinesium components! The condensor and points looked perfect (and new) but I went rummaging in the darkest recesses of my shed and eventually I located a new old stock condensor and points set - still in BMC packaging! These must be over 40 years old, but after cleaning the anvils on the points, fitted them into the distributor. Of course, I could not find my feeler gauges so set them by eye. Popped the cap on, switched the ignition on, pulled the starter and after less than a single turn it burst into life! Very happy with that. Looking at the points I removed, there is nothing obvious except the difference in quality, but the results speak for themselves. And what was the item of goodness I collected this morning? Yes, that is a Riley 1.5 differential for it. Should transform long distances in it. Back to normal tomorrow I hope.

Some pics of the high up countryside from an afternoon delivery mission. Even under the clouds, it's a far better place to be than at work.

Been another unproductive day, but it is not over yet! Went out this morning to collect some goodness for the Moggy but it failed to start. A few quick tests suggested coil failure, but no more time so rolled it towards the shed and went out to do the collection in the Hyundai as that was next in line. Twice before (in 4000+ miles) the immobiliser has played up and required a lock and reopen cycle to reset it. Today it did it 3 times within 2 miles, but has then behaved itself perfectly. Got back with goodies and went to see what is what with the Moggy. Of course, my multimeter decided the battery had had enough, and my spare meter had the battery die a couple of months ago. Off to the shop for new batteries, this time in the Disastra. A quick check showed 12V going into the coil but only 0.4V coming out to the distributor. Dug out what appears to be a new coil (but of unknown origin - it came in a box of bits) and swapped it out. No start. Cap off, no spark at the points, also 0.4v coming out of the coil. Another rummage in the shed and found an old coil that was working when it came off the donor many years ago. Swapped it and - nothing. I find it hard to believe 3 coils have the same fault so tested the internal resistance on the original coil and all in spec., so it was replaced on the car. I undid the distributor wire from the coil, and 12v at both sides of the coil. Reconecting the wire saw the voltage drop to 0.4v again. In case it was the recently fitted chinesium tacho causing problems, I disconnected that and 12v at the lower terminal, but still no go. A check with it connected to the dizzy showed 0.4v. Reconnecting the tacho but disconnecting the dizzy saw 12v at the terminal so it is not that. It is obviously someting in the distributor shorting, but at this point hunger got the better of me so I came in for lunch (yes, really) and I have typed this whilst it is cooking. Once eaten, I am going back out to continue investigations!

TD Volcane. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1658351004530042/

I had a local company fit a new screen into my work Sprinter today and saw this image on their website.

The combination of the 205 and the chrailer gets absolutely loads of attention on the road. It's such a great little thing, you can park it up almost anywhere. The 205 plus trailer is shorter than a lot of the motorhomes we saw over a few days. Cheers for the company @davidfowler2000

I have long thought that you were a 40-year-old stuck in a 20-year-old's body. Now I realise that you are in fact a 40-year-old stuck in a 40-year-old's body, so the balance in the cosmos is restored.

Little bit of diagnosis this morning. Cylinder 7 has come back around and is now a healthy 125psi. Cylinder 3 is still low at 95; brought the engine round just past TDC on compression on #3 and poured the cylinder full of Berryman. It promptly all drained out until it got to the top of the cylinder. That stayed there, so leaky valve. I can pull the head off and lap the valves in again, that's fairly easy. Polished the wheel trim logos- the red lacquer was looking dull, I had forgotten to do it when I did the rest of the car. Now, relaxing on the front porch swing with an iced tea. Mais cher, welcome to de South, yeh. Phil

My spoils of the day. Drove 720 miles between 06:10 and 21:47 in the Panda 4x4 including 240-ish miles on the last tank-full in one hit on way home (after less than 5 hours sleep last night!). Bit tired now.

https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/2172104256.htm

there's a bit of it hanging off https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205266204033

Today I had to get on a bus. It was crap. So crap I didn't even bother taking a photo of the outside of it. It was a 61 plate Enviro 400 with all the power of a garden mower and suspension so bad it felt like the entire rear sub frame was trying to make a break through the floor going over any sort of bump. It dropped me at a grim place... And I then walked 10 mins to pickup Autoshite #1... Bodywork repairs carried out by RM Bodywork in East Kilbride. I also got the wiper arms powder coated along the road at EK Blast and Powder although I couldn't get the headlight wipers coated because the plastic cap at the base is riveted through and won't come off so they just got blasted and I'll paint them satin black. Home... Wiperseses... Shiny... Painted bumperses... Little wipers stowed until paint can be applied... After a quick refreshment I brought down all the stuff to wash the car to get the dust and bird stuff off. After results... And then I broke out the autosol to give the wheel centres a final going over, the front grille a tidy up and the exhaust a second right good going over... Time for a Chinese dinner then up to the lockup to swap it for the V70 which is going for service and MoT tomorrow. The 205 is staying out on trailer duties...

@AnnoyingPentium I got a reply from the seller of the above garages, he has just bought some 1.64 cars and is going to rescale the garages and offer them at some point: "Hi I've just ordered a bunch of Hot Wheels 1:64 scale vehicles. They should be here this week so I can use them to help me rescale it. I'll push it up the to do list and see what I can do.It'll probably be done from MDF rather than card so it's more sturdy.Thanks" I am definitely going to be purchasing the garages if he can do them.

This is the laserwheels I bought last year but didn’t pay the ticket price for it, I paid a fiver.

Morris Marina Coupe 1.3 1972 | eBay

Because it's the law

https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/2172311106.htm 1 500 €

I'm coming in a banana powered 22ft coachbuilt Transit with a burst manifold gasket so I'm up for a race if you are

AA...your renewal will be £333 this yrar on auto renewal. Will it really? For what recovering APC's? Trains? The fuckong Space Shuttle? FRO.

Thanks for all your prep work in the container. The next step is to cut down the shelving uprights so they fit. The other thing I would like to do next time is empty and clean the Vauxhall Royal. Also to see if we can start it. I will then decide if I am going to get it back on the road myself or sell it on.

Tried to give my cat drops in the neck against ticks and as a typical man I did not read the instructions. According to this I should wear gloves that came with it something I did not see. So this with the fact that my cat would not cooperate we are both protected against ticks now.

How long a tongue has your cat got 😲😲😲

Significant amounts of want for this. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/776230383738324/

I dare say this is discussed elsewhere, however... I'm a lazy sod. If something is arranged and stays arranged and the lights come on, the credit card keeps working and the cars stay legal then I'm not going to shop round. I can't be arsed to save a few pence flitting from one service to another. I'm also happy to tick the "recurring billing" box if it stops me needing to remember something. I really think I'm the sort of person you want as a customer. Uncomplaining and lazy. So why is it that there are some that just take the piss? More specifically why does the RAC always take the piss? I've paid them money for the past twenty years and called them a sum total of four times (not counting the European hiccup but that was paid for separately). On one of those occasions (too embarrassing for words) you were unable to help me so I had to sort myself out but I still carried on giving you money). But no, each year it is the same - send a renewal notice with an odd "administration and what the fuck ever" charge of between £50 and £60. Every year the person on the end of the line mutters something about introductory discounts not applying anymore and offering to knock it off the bill. I mutter something about if you do that again I'm cancelling it, rinse and repeat. Only this year the same thing happens, I go and see what the cover I think I've got costs me on line and I see that the renewal this year is cheaper. Ah well, that's nice. Then you notice on page 2 in quite little letters is a description of your cover which is not national recovery but instead roadside assistance with the promise of a 10 mile tow. Hang on, I've been paying you, or at least assuming I'm paying you to get me home. Forgive me for being a smart arse but if you can mend it then so can I so all I want you to do it recover the twat if it is broken in a need to get it back to the workshop sort of a way. It now appears that when Dearheart called to complain about the spurious admin charge last year they made it cheaper by reducing the cover. Gee thanks. It turns out that you now want to stiff me £20 more for useless cover than you charge on the internet and if I want the cover I need you want another £35 or so. I know that it is my fault for not reading what I am supposed to read but it still struck me as what my Grandfather would call "sharp practice". It turned out that the AA was having a "Jubilee Sale Now On" so national recovery for two people was £106. Why do this? It hardly presents an impression of a company that is going to be around for the long haul of you are constantly trying to nickle and dime people. Whinge over.

back again with an overdue progress update, she’s cleaning up now! fitted some Cobra motorsport springs, now sits 40mm lower. can scrape some important bits but only if youre rushing, so its no bother! spacers too. looks better and handles with more stability. Dunlop street response2 tyres all round, Black diamond discs and Yellowstuff pads, good braking from cold but especially with some temperature, then, really superb. and no surprise, the dunlops perform amazing. most recently did a bit of a half assed paint job on the steelies but they actually tidied up pretty solid. still rocking the 13”s! refreshing the engine and clutch will be the next big things to get done!

With cats it's usually their own.

https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/2172328326.htm

A little bit more catching up is in order I think. As the Zastava needs a simple compression test in order to establish the best way to move forwards, I obviously haven't done this job. Work has been getting in the way of play time a little lately, as it's been trade shows... And for a bit of variety, more trade shows... So for about 4 or 5 weeks I was just bumbling around the country living out of hotels and the Insight. I definitely need to get a proper repmobile as whilst the Insight is good on fuel it is not the most comfortable for long distance driving. With that out the way it was time to mow the jungle lawn that had been neglected in my absence, luckily I had the box trailer at hand as there was a hell of a lot of grass to dispose of. With that dumped up at the farm, I thought it might be time to get rid of the christmas tree 😯 Once I started, I couldn't help myself for launching crap into the trailer. Really handy to have a box trailer at hand to use and abuse, I wouldn't mind a larger one at some point. One last non-car job stood in the way before I could play with the proper toys again: Sorted. First up on the car front then was some small works on the Favorit in readiness for MOT. Earlier this year we found out that my partner is pregnant, and now we are getting closer to the due date (October 31st!!!) I need to get one of the wagons back on the road, as the Insight is no good for a baby seat as you can't turn off the air bag. The only main thing the Favorit needed was some attention to the washer pump and the wiper stalk which made it a prime candidate for returning to daily duties. The pump had disintegrated, and for some reason the stalk didn't work correctly - turning the wipers on speed 1 set off the washer jets, pressing the stalk in did nothing. I had been making do with it like this for ages until the pump broke, but seeing as I had to order a pump I may as well get in the stalk too. Much better. There's some bits of the bodywork to tidy, and I'll put it in for a ticket closer to October when I'm going to need it. Light work was in order after this - sticker application Very good. More to be applied, but that means cutting back vegetation to open boots so that's fun for another day. Best go look at the Mitsi then, as the £13 o rings landed from the dealer... More light work on the way, as I noticed something not right on the horsebox as a suitable distraction from the task at hand. All good. Best tackle the truck then. The offending o rings have been fitted back on the cross pipe, and with the help of some ky jelly we're in. Painting by numbers... As I didn't realise the lead numbers were cast into the upper half of the plenum! Oh well 😅 Where's the spill free coolant kit when you need it: Couldn't drive it as the horses were on the yard for the evening, but I left it running for about an hour and it sat at temp happily. I was worried about a leak for a bit, but it was raining and I suspect the open bonnet was directing water down the back of the block. Proper kit brought back the next day: It will get a coolant change before seeing the road again. In the meantime, the stress test was some field work on a hot day. I'm pleased to report that all went well. I deliberately drove her hard and left her running the whole time I was working, and the coolant temp didn't waiver once. I'm calling this one fixed. There's a couple of niggles to sort and she is ready for MOT, however I'm not sure I really need a 3 litre V6 with the price of petrol currently! Farm duties only for now then. Car play was briefly interrupted again by a dog injury - sticking your face in bushes after rabbits can be bad for your eyes apparently. The green alien goo coming out of him is fluorescent dye, turns out he got an ulcer from a scratch. Luckily he's food mad, so eye drops were easy to apply as he associates medicine with being given treats. That was £120 out of the rainy day fund though and a Saturday morning gone! Back to the cars, and good* news about my Dad's merc - it didn't pass MOT. Failed on brake pipes and some welding. This required some car shunting, as most of my tools for working on brakes are at my house, and I'm at maximum capacity. By bye Subaru! Hello Mercedes! The action happens behind the gate, so the BX TZD was ejected for my neighbours' viewing enjoyment. I try to keep scruffy shite out of sight normally. I enjoy the view from the living room now though! Before I got into pulling the Merc apart, my mate brought round his Disco 3 which had some* play in the wheel bearing. That wasn't a bad morning's work, and a nice warm up for further rolling around on the driveway. That's both pipes done on the driver's side. The main ball ache was just removing undertrays and heat shields. The running of the pipes wasn't too agonising, luckily. Just the other side to do, then the welding, it'll get rear brake hoses too as they're ancient and I'm going to do a bit of cleaning and rust proofing. Sorry for a bit of a long read again, but it's rare for me to find time to sit at a computer and write things up these days - I fear it's going to get even worse come October!!

Misses stuboy went to Laughton fair near lewes.. and sent me these pics..

First outing with the trailer this weekend. A wee tour of Angus and some Aberdeenshire with a visit to Mr @Tickman with @320touring, @jaypee, @captain_70s, @sdkrc and @juular on the way back. Also a little meet and greet with Mr @Inspector Morose during a recent delivery.

As it was performing well, I treated it to a posh wash and some hilarious decals. It scrubs up well. A local tourist attraction and feat of ancient engineering, seen here with a lighthouse.