johngarty

Minor update: a new PCB arrived for the rear light cluster. It fixed the brake light issue, which is what I expected, but also still kind of confusing. I don't get how the old circuit can have continuity but still not work. 
The parts supply for DeLoreans is amazing. Not only better than any classic car I've owned, but better than most moderns. I can actually get more spare parts for my DeLorean than my Saab 9-3. 

Replaced the coolant header tank today as the original had perished with age.

Unfortunately, the only available replacement is stainless steel. This is a common theme with aftermarket DeLorean parts - everything must be stainless! It adds unnecessary expense and weight to everything. It's even less functional as I can't see the coolant level without removing the cap. 

Better than letting the original go pop I guess. 
Right, onto the Ford. 
The fuel gauge stopped working last summer. Got the sender out of the tank today and found a pretty obvious cause - the float doesn't float. 

I've ordered a plastic replacement. It was for a Triumph or something, but should be the same size. 
 

After all that build up, I don't actually have any good pictures of it yet. I just rolled it into the garage and disconnected the battery. 
More will come in due course once tinkering begins. I'll probably sort the Ford out first though. 
I've wanted a DeLorean since I was a teenager. It's my dream car, so this is a really big deal for me. 

I think I've finally woke up since the trip... Caught some grim Welsh illness and feel like death. Anyhoos.
The journey started with me waking up at 4:15am, having gone to bed at 1:00am, which was shit. Convoy assembled at Cairn Lodge Services just after 6.

4 Volvos and a German interloper.
We headed South

Had a pitstop at Tebay (tradition, old charter, something) for breakfast and then ventured to the Commercial Vehicle Museum at Leyland.









Arrivalised at the campsite in the late afternoon.




On Sat we ventured to a local aircraft museum.







I reckon the Welsh hillsides had a higher kill count than the Luftwaffe...
I came distinctly middlingly in the night's TV Themes Quiz. Headed home on Sunday and was home for around 7ish.

Steed of choice was the 740, because SVM REPRESENT.



It got 35mpg-ish and didn't explode. BIG WIN.
Big thanks to all who organised things, especially @Sunny Jim being able to convince the site owner we were worth having again. Was good to see some familiar faces again despite the near constant rain. Thank fuck for @binhoker668's gazeebo or we'd have been fucked (or at least wetter).
 

We're safely back to Malhamdale, having done a job on the way. Sorry to have had to leave before the group pic, Lin did suggest it to me, I should have listened. 
Anyway, just this side of Preston, we came across this old boy, stranded in an awkward spot with his 1275cc Moggie boiling over. Let me introduce Colonel Thomas Eccles (89):

He was out of water and it wasn't starting, so ARSE kicked into gear once again. We had about two gallons on board which it took after letting it cool for a bit. Then the car would fire up then stall, like poor fuel pressure, there wasn't much in the lines. The electric SU pump on the bulkhead wasn't doing very much.

While we were talking about towing him back to Blackburn, he tried it again and it sort of ran, long story short, we found a water supply and then nursed it back to his work shop.

Brace yourself, this place is a bit special: 






He was suffering with his COPD but we made sure he was well enough to take himself home in his SAAB daily.  But not until he'd spent 20 minutes trying to find a business card for me.

During which time I'd found him in his own yellow pages. 

In the bottom of a filing cabinet he found me one, check out the phone number!

He says he's still there most days with his son.
What a joy to know we still have these places tucked away down cobbled back streets behind red brick terraces. Brilliant 😊
 

One Shitter here caught on CCTV filling up his renner. Anyone ID this deviant?
 

A bit late posting here but I thoroughly enjoyed my first Shitefest. I arrived late Friday afternoon a was able to park on the field with some of the others who were staying  off site for a couple of hours before we had to move to make room for those who were camping.

The ride on the train was fun if rather hot and the slate museum was very interesting.


Being a BL licker my favourite car of the weekend had to be the Marina but the Hondas and SEAT Ibiza ran it close.

It was great to meet everyone although I must make more of an effort to introduce myself to people next time. The Rover performed well all weekend without any trouble although on the way home the fuel gauge did pretend that it was the speedo and dropped to empty a couple of times when i stopped for traffic then went back up when I moved off again. 😕
Thanks to @Sunny Jim for arranging it and to everyone else for making it a great weekend. 🙂

Convoying with @jaypee, @Supernaut and @320touring it was good to have their company on the way down the road. But I got sick of the slow traffic and clusters of lorries and ditherers at some points, booting the Expert TurboD through and past them. 
Excellent to put some faces to names, lovely place and lovely people with lovely vehicles.  Thank you @Sunny Jim for hosting, organising and sending the autoshite signal with a BX on ramps near the entrance. 
What a beautiful place North Wales is, would like to visit again. 
On the way back I convoyed with @juular and Mrs juular through the mountains, enjoying the odd aroma of unburnt hydrocarbons from the 240 then went back via Shipley to purchase a spare gearbox. Despite needing three fuel filters on the way back due to not very well settled vegetable oil the van was great, had the tyres screeching and what felt like wild roll angles on the mountain roads and it managed an indicated 102mph on the M6 before I bottled it. 

Quick roundup for the weekend.
As usual, Shitefest is always a fucking tremendous activity even if your only activity is sitting about drinking tea. Seeing loads of friendly faces old and new it's always a a fucking hoot. As everyone else says, big thanks to @Sunny Jim for organising it / conversing with Ted the site owner and helping out with the brekkie on the Sunday morning. And bringing a Shitefest doggo!
I wanted to convoy for the simple reason that heading around Manchester / Wigan / Warrington / Lymm / Chester at any time after lunch time on a Friday afternoon is grim. Noone else was up for leaving at "Railway time" (I suggested 0630 meet at Cairn Lodge services) so I ended up making my own way.
0620 departure from the parents' house 'cos that's where the trailer lives...

A Tebay breakfast was had and the next stop was the British Commercial Motor Museum. It's a cracker wee wander about and it's only about 5 mins off the M6 at J28. Well worth the £8 to get in.

There was lots to see from horse drawn stuff to steam stuff to petrol stuff to diesel stuff to modern hybrid stuff. I'll post a miniscule selection...
                
They had a few engines on stands which always catch my attention. This Cummins L10 is a truck variant (you can tell by the way that it is) but it's the same engine my bus had. Mines was 180bhp and this one is either a 180 or 215bhp just by looking at it. The ratings plate was missing. For more power you need an intercooler which would designate it a LTA10.
       
Then there was this. Something quite special.

A Gardner straight 8 diesel engine. I'm personally guessing it's an 8LXB although one of the volunteers at the museum said it was donated recently by a random person who had it in their garden and they reckoned it came out of a boat which would more likely make it an 8LW. Thing is, though, 8LWs have individual cylinders and individual priming pumps for each cylinder on the injection pump. This one does not. The other thing that makes me think it's an 8LXB is...

...it's fucking turbocharged! Which would make it an 8LXBT or 8LXCT. Rare enough seeing an 8 banger never mind one with added windy pops. Oh and it's also got a radiator fan and a compressor mounted to it. You don't get those on marine engines.
Anyways onwards to Shitefest. I took the wiggly road toward Wrexham then Llangollen then the A5 to Bethesda then the REALLY wiggly road straight over the hill to the site. It was quite nice...

And onwards to the festivities.
As the first to arrive I was tasked by the other Scotoshiters to set up "Scotch Corner"...
  
@juular and WOMAN_juular were the next diciples of Scotoshite to arrive before being joined by messyrs @320touring, @jaypee, @Supernaut, @cms206, @aldo135 @sdkrc and @captain_70s(very laterer on)...

And then the rest of Shitefest happened (Not all the photos I took)...








@binhoker668 even had an art gallery installation set up at the bottom of the field...

@cms206 turned up a couple of hours later than most of Scotland in what can only be described as a mobile mansion...

And in typical, hundred year old buildings, it wasn't 100% structurally sound...

Nice view though from the roof

Once it was shunted up to Scotch Corner, we rolled out the welcome banner. @Ghosty has been custodian of the banner for a few years now. I've heard through the rumour mill it may have accidentally made it's way to Scotland in the back of said mobile house...

@cms206 also bought me a present!

Fucking ace! Disappointed though as the 205 has a tape player. Will need to get it on to the computer and in to MP3 format before I can listen to it.
Next day a railway and slate museum happened...





 

To be honest, I couldn't be arsed taking any photos in the museum because I was too busy looking at stuff, it was hot and I was tired. So have a gratuitous photo of a dog instead...

I think that's everything. Oh aye the 205 shat a fuel leakoff pipe on departure from SF22 on the Sunday morning so it was leaking to outside the car rather than back to the tank and I reckon I lost about a litre. It was replaced with a section of newer hose from between the injectors and the old hose was long enough to be swapped in to that position.
Even pissing out as much fuel as it did, I still managed 46.8mpg on the way back to Scotlandland at a steadyish 60mph towing the trailer. We used the A55 rather than the wiggly road this time. On the way south I only* got 41.7mpg.
Right, I think that about covers everything.

 

It started on Friday, left the house at 8am, was at work by 9:45, finished at 13:30, got home for 16:45. Vehicle prepped (I threw a suitcase of shit and an untested air bed and some bits of cardboard in the back) and hit the road just after 17:00.


Traffic was great* on the M74 as a BMW had converted itself into a fine paste somehow.

An X3 also shat itself and had to be pushed out of the way of this monster:

An N reg Atkinson with some sort of APC on the back. I later encountered him doing about 65mph on a downhill stretch. Legend.
Once the traffic cleared I had the idea of "making time" using all of the redblock's 120bhp. I passed @sdkrc in the Insight. By the time I reached Tebay the fuel gauge had dropped from full to 2/3rds. I decided I couldn't be trusted and phoned @sdkrc and asked if he wanted to convoy down. He was aiming for mega mpgees and was sitting at a steady 58-62mph and I figured using him as a rolling road block would prevent me from using all the petrol in the world.
A cheeky remortgage saw us fed with a sandwich and artisan cola.



The north of England was everything I expected and more.


We arrived at around 00:15 on Saturday morning. I still managed a beer before going to sleep, dedication.
My accommodation was the height of luxury.

The following morning I beheld the sight of the first Shitefest I'd attended since 2018. My car definately didn't* lower the tone by looking like a tramp's home.

Some prime chod was in attendance. This Marina arrived with a idle speed of 3,500rpm but was soon fettled into submission.


This Seat inspired much rubbing of thighs.

Iconic AS vehicle.

The weird Honda section.

FRENCH.

Some people came more prepared than others. @cms206 also used the kitchen of this to prepare the traditional SCOTTISH BREAKFAST, with extra grease for sealing those internal systems up right good.

Attempts were made to rid this of rattles. The light trim was wrestled back on successfully only to find that the "rattle" was actually the horn ring jiggling and causing the horns to "pop".

A BX on ramps marked the site enterence having blown it's LHM return line on a half line journey. A dog used it for shelter.

Air conditioning re-gassing was on offer for those lucky enough to have FANCEH CAURS.

Chats were had, old magazine ads were laughed at, dogs were patted I got pissed and spent all of Sunday morning with a cracking headache.

Also on Sunday morning the 205 shat it's diesel return hose.

An enshortening of the hose and some rerouting saw that fixed. Then my Volvo didn't start because I'd left the ignition on and the running lights flattened the battery. So that needed a jump.
Then @davidfowler2000, @320touring, @jaypee , @Supernaut and I hit the road homewards in convoy. Unexpected drive through the alps was nice.




Home. I'm fucking shattered, reckon I had 8hrs sleep over the two days and the heat was intense.

Big shout out to @Sunny Jim for sorting the site and the site owner for allowing a bunch of weirdos with shit cars to temporarily ruin a picturesque bit of Wales.

Also @davidfowler2000 for supplying traditional Scottish breakfast items and @cms206 for cooking it in his camper, forever making it smell like a catering van. Also @catsinthewelder for lending me a mug so I could have a cup of tea instead of dying of not having a cup of tea.
Some more random pictures/videos:



 
I think Volvos outnumbered every other marque by a fair margin. @Jim Bell left a dog poo bag of melted  Twixes in my car. @aldo135 consumed more cans of Tennants than should really be allowed under then Geneva Convention. I don't think @binhoker668 was sober for even a single moment over the full weekend. @maxxo gave me a lift in his XM and now I kind of want one.
Was a great time. Would attend again. 11/10.
 

Epic one day weekend. 
Thank you to @Sunny Jim and to all the glorious bastards too numerous to mention that made the craic HEAVY with win. 
 
Piper at the gates. @Cord Fourteener playing fantastic pipes. 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 

 
 

 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Some of the cars were so hot that they needed their own towels and everyone was cool.
Great seeing you all. 

It did take 9 hours
But I stopped 3 times so maybe 8?
Filled up in holyhead yesterday did maybe 30 miles in that and it still has one square left
Sainustys next door so fk frog petrol
 
 

What an awesome weekend!
Great fun, great cars, great company.
Thanks for organising @Sunny Jim and to the scotch for the square sossy!

There were many Volvos… 

Only needs a regas mate… 

Oh… it actually did! 
 
views…. Badly timed first attempt… 

And I ventured down the road to find… 

That’s my shitefest virginity done… 
1100/10 would shitefest again. 

Mr @320touring is indeed correct, is this the first ever shitefest where we had to work out provisions for an electric car? Is this the end?
@Kiltox you'd have been alright! Guy wouldn't take the tenner Keith offered him, he had to tuck it into his top pocket in the end 😂
Talking of parents_beko, they are home now after 4 hours in church Stretton. Longest they've ever been in the scalextric car. They had a lovely time, so much that their original plan of doing loads of walking during the day and using the tent as some digs went out the window as they started to enjoy themselves, plus the heat knocked the walking on the head, although they did do some. 
I'm sure @Six-cylinder is not looking forward to their next slimming world meeting (they are in the same village and the same group), I saw lots of photographic evidence being taken from both sides 😂 They would like to come to shitefest again, plus I might try and bring the kids next year. But it is nice to be child free and just drink year out of date lukewarm Guinness all weekend (and some mega cold ones thanks to @davidfowler2000s freezer 👌

Another cracking AS weekend, thanks to all who came but particularly @Sunny Jim
Weather was glorious although a bit hot for some.  I only found it too hot in the train as one of the windows was taped shut.  Otherwise it was best dealt with by a combination of sitting in the shade, eating ice cream and drinking lots of beer so I can't think of a better bunch to be with (apart from a few of you who couldn't make it).  Even had a swim in the river this morning which was a little scary as it's 14' deep by the campsite but ideal for jumping in once we were feeling more confident.
I came back via Beddgelert for a slight change of fantastic scenery which took about 3 hours.

Avoid. Always. 

Tea has been achieved
 

Lmfao
Sayin  nuithin:D
 
 
 

Hurrah! Shit! Wow! Etc.
I never, ever win anything. Now I have. Hurrah. I think this’ll eventually be transport for one of my three impoverished kids. I might just drive it myself for a bit. I like Pandas.

He chooses not to medicate and says he's in total control and habitually drives stoned/drunk. 
Concern was shown at the start and was rejected, he shows little regard for anybody else so it's little wonder people aren't being too charitable. 
Hopefully he's got himself committed rather than anything more serious

Lovely.  How about 'wind your fucking neck in man'?  If Mr Morris wants to show more concern for a shiter (with known health issues) than you're clearly capable of, he's entitled to do so.
Thanks for calling.

In respect to H-K and his mental health I’m going to lock this thread to new replies temporarily, to give him space. 

Crikey. If my sums are correct, this little beauty

is £230 and according to the vendor "will get you where you want". Do you think I could hold him to that?