groovylee

yep, just that. that said, ive been looking at the same kits, and I have to admit, it would have made this job much easier!

She's looking a bit sorry for herself right now 😢

Just waiting on a new bumper bracket (half of it was missing), two new pedestrian impact sensors, and a few new clips, then I'll be ready for paint. Thankfully there was no structural damage behind the bumper, so I can just refit and carry on as if it never happened! I also picked up the newly refurbished wheels. The guys had refitted the old tyres 🙄 but two of them have loads of tread, so two matching replacements have been ordered for the other pair with mismatched tyres, and then they can go on 😎👍

Next up, the bumper got rat shit strapped together, and got the plastic welding treatment. It's not bad, but I'll reinforce it with some fibreglass at the weekend and get the front properly rubbed down to try and do a passable rattle can spray job. Fingers crossed I don't hash it up!

And this is the end result! Not pretty, but functional again. I can order one second hand for about £40 if it doesn't last.

Took the bumper off and retrieved as many bits as possible last night, it was a bit of a daunting jigsaw... All of those bits on the bench seat were supposed to be in one piece, so I set to with the soldering iron.

well, lots has happened lately. as you may have seen, i put this up for sale to fund buying RichardKs MX5, but alas, it wasnt to be. with some help from richard we think the secondary turbo oil seal is the culprit for the smoke, so i am going to look at changing that out. i took the original wheels for refurb on monday, and should be picking them up today. the drivers side rear door has decided to stop locking, so i ordered a replacement lock actuator, and will fit that when it arrives. then, this morning, the shit hit the fan. or, to be more precise, the Jaguar decided to eat a deer. bugger. pics to follow, but needless to say, there is plenty of broken plastic 😰

ive been looking at something like this for trials use, as i have an on board compressor, so would be useful on muddy ground etc instead of lugging a 2 ton trolley jack around. i'll start having a look again

yeah, it really looks it. i couldn't have one before as two seats with two kids kind of doesn't work. but we have the mini at full strength now, so there are other options. it just depends if i can get the jag sorted and sold before it goes....

mine could be up for sale, as i fancy the MX5 thats up for sale at the moment.... need to spend some time sorting out some niggles first though i do really like it though, proper luxobarg wafting around

And some pics from the Falcon classic tour around Northamptonshire and warwickshire

some pics from the hitchin car meet.

little mini update time! just lately it has been running a little rough, needing choke more than normal, and sounding like it's not firing quite right. this was brought to a head when Mrs groovy took it to a show while i was away, and it caused her all kinds of grief, and ended up being driven back on full choke just to stay running. obviously this is not good, so i set about figuring out the problem. first off, lets check the timing. well, i would, if i could get it to idle. somethings pretty wrong here.... so, off with the grille, and off with the dissy cap. ah, that's not great, there are ali filings in there, and the rotor arm has just fallen off! I'd been warned by the guys at LynxAE to keep an eye on the accuspark dissy, as they have had issues with them in the past. so in preparation, i had bought a spare dissy from SimonBBC aka powerspark, just in case. these are also engine specific, so you have the correct advance curve, rather than the accuspark ones that are simply listed for the A+ engine. anyway, dissy swapped over, timing done, and it is running like a dream. better than it was before in fact. so Mrs groovy is once again happy. while i had the thing opened up and the tools out, i also replaced the missing lower ball joint gaiter, the tie rod bushes, and the engine steady bushes. all is well again in the mini world.

so, on the morning of the MOT, i drove the jag to the petrol station to get some fuel. on the way, i get a low coolant warning. must just be from where i refilled the system...... nope. pull up and theres steam coming from the engine bay. one of the funny spring hose clips had latched partially open, so wasnt holding the hose tight. great. thankfully the little petrol station had some of the right coolant, and let me use his tap to tope everything up. filled up with fuel, and drove it to the MOT place. now, i should mention at this point, that i was preparing for the worst. at times the car would drop into 'restricted performance', and would smoke if i gave it bootfulls. also, there is a bit of a knock from the front suspension. the latter isnt a worry, as i can replace bits myself, but the smoke and the restricted performance had me worried. there could be all manner of reasons for it (hence me replacing a load of seals etc, and ordering a diagnostic thingy). so imagine my surprise, when i got the call that it had passed! advisories for a minor oil leak, and a coolant leak that they couldn't find the source of! (i forgot to tell them about the hose, but explained after and they were all happy). so there it is - the jaaaag lives for another year! when i get back im going to have the wheels done, as i need some new tyres anyway, so i will be back onto the original 18s. im also going to plug in my new thing and see if i can get to the bottom of the restricted performance issue. its ok if you drive normally, but give it loads, and it doesn't like it. i'll update when im home and i know more. cheers!

well, its been a while since ive updated on this, mostly because ive been working in the US, so have only been home sporadically. The jaaag has been doing just fine as an car, but then the MOT was due to run out while i was away, so i sorned it, and decided to sort out the cambelt etc before I MOTd it when i came back. i never want to do that job again. i think it took me 8 hours all told. a few pics to follow in a bit when i can get my phone to work. so much stuff has to be removed, it's ridiculous. anyway, cambelt duly changed, some of the seals for the intake pipework changed, and a few other odds and sods, and i was off to bed, with the MOT booked for the next day.