davehedgehog31

I think the reflectors are fucked tbh. I’m going to take them apart when I get a chance… 
However, there is now water pouring down my drive as there appears to be a burst pipe under the drive, so it might not be this weekend! 

I went and had a closer look earlier now all the heat has calmed down.
Prius has gone, the front corner and most of one side is smashed to hell on that. It’s ripped the front wheel and suspension out of it too and has pissed oil all over the road. Highways have just been out and cleaned it all up. 
The Mercedes is brand new! It belongs to someone a few doors down apparently and he’s only had it a couple of months. It’s absolutely annihilated though! The rear quarter panel is smashed right in, looks like a crumpled coke can. Both doors and the front wing are all smashed and scratched too. Round the back the tailgate is actually inside the boot now on one side! 
The Prius certainly wasn’t doing 30mph when it hit though looking at it.

Or adding puppy ears to their latest Instragram selfie.

Current estate car fleet;
Old faithful

Modern forum for this pish

And on the V5 this is listed as an estate...
 

Current estate car fleet;
Old faithful

Modern forum for this pish

And on the V5 this is listed as an estate...
 

50mm square block of aluminium arrived today, so I set to making the spacers for the carbs, went to cut it to length with my 2 years and 1 month old evolution saw to find it's packed up, turned out the stator has gone because this wire rubs on the rotor.







sent them a letter expressing my dissapointment and that I don't believe this is reasonable, we'll see how they reply.

so I dug out my old metal bandsaw,and cut it up with that.




drilled some holes in it then used the bandsaw to cut the sides at an angle.




to give me this.




checked the holes are square and parallel.




The bore is currently only an inch so I will either need to get a 1 1/4" drill or bore it out on the Lathe round my dads, the outside will probably be tidied up with the belt sander.

The studs I've done by hand are not true so I will do the new ones on the Lathe too.
 

Range rover MOT today, first time the certificate has run to 2 pages all 15  monitor advisaries though so it passed, 4x rusty springs, 4 x seat belts slightly frayed, 4x brake pipes covered in grease, one for minor engine oil leak, 2 for tyres with minor damage and one for corroson but not signifcantly affecting structue.

Out of those the last is the only one which really needs any attention, there is a blister in the chassis near the rear spring, I intended to have a go at this area anyway before I change the fuel lines so that can wait till it warms up, one of the rear seat belts has a small nick in it so I will change that the others are just a bit frayed after 38 years. Tyres are small cuts and cracks they are 4 ply BF Goodridge so nothing to serious but they are getting on a bit so I may splash out n a new set later this year, the rest is insignifcant.

emissions were pretty good at 0.13% CO and 79ppm HC !

Just crawled under the back of it, he's right, it's not the surface rust the nearside rear body mount bracket is cracked on the body side, not the end of the world and very localised will be a bit of a fiddle  to get to but I'll find a way.
 
Had a bit more of a play with the minor carbs today, cut a couple of 50mm spacers, made a couple of longer studs and mounted the carbs.





cut some of the heatsheild away to give clearance for the linkage.




I think I'll probably cut the centre out completely and replace it with a lowered section.

Tried fitting the manifolds on a spare minor engine today.




manifolds fit OK but the carbs foul the exhaust.




that is with the spacer combination that came with the MG 1300 set up.

Options seem to be a new maniflow fabricated manifold at around £240 or lengthen the studs and make some thicker spacers which will cost around £30, I'm going for the later! using the spacers I have this seems to work.




which is a 50mm spacer behind the heatsheild and the std minor plastic block in front of it.

I think a big stack of the plastic spacers is asking for trouble though so I'll buy a 50mm square alloy block to make the main spacer out of.

For the stud it needs to be 3/8 UNC one end a 3/8 UNF at the other, digging around I found these 3/8 UNF bolts.




Which I can cut the head off and tap the other end to UNC, they are series Landrover front bumper bolts so 4 new ones were less than a fiver.

Spent most of today with the family at the Harry Potter Studios, when I cot home a selection of connectors I ordered had arrived.  One of the things we want to do to the fiesta is fit mk7.5 heated seats, the seats and switch are easy enough to get hold of but the wiring connector for the switch is a problem, I thought computer ones looked similar and lo and behold they fit.

obviously don't lock in like the originals but they are a nice tight fit so I don't think that will be a problem, Using a multimeter and 9v battery I also worked out the pinouts.
Now just need to make a loom to go to each switch, decide where to put the switch (replacing credit card holder is favourite) and of course get some seats, that will be another summer project.

So what have I been doing recently, I learnt many years ago not to make too many plans for over xmas becasue I always failed to get most of it done, so true to form not a great deal happened on the cars,  On the mazda I stripped the painted dash back to it's original Tan colour, plan is to have a tan lower dash, and black crash pads, I've already fitted black mk2 carpets and black kick panels, Later this year I plan to splash out on new tan leather seat covers. to really tidy the interior up. 
On the Range Rover I took the washer bottle out and cleaned loads of horrible black gunk out of it hopefully it will stop blocking the jets all the time now, atfer I put it back together I realised the rear pump has also failed so I'll have to fit a new one at some point, gave aeveryhting else a quick look over before the mot next week, can't see anythin major, only thing I cna see is a bit of a leak form one of the swivel seals but I don't think thats an MOT item.
On the fiesta I fitted new rear light seals and replaced the damaged wheel nuts, not done the cruise control switch yet. ALs my Daghter borrowed it and buckled a wheel but I managed to knock it out with the  hide end of my copper hide hammer, as I think this is going to be a re-occurring issue I might look at making a wheel straightening rig.
The minor , it is a 1098 and when we re-built it we fitted a high lift cam , raised the compression ratio and did a bit of head and combustion champer porting but  it still has the original single HS2 carb and pea shooter exhaust, my son has been using it like this for a year and  it's certainly much better than it was (he was using for towing canoes over xmas). We have though bought a pari of twin SU's off a MG1300 and a LCB type exhaust, soI started stripping and cleaning  the SU's, the first parts are in the ultrasonic tank, now I did come accross one problem though, the heatsheild we bought for it was intended for Midget but the carb spacing on a midget appears to be about 20mm different to the MG1300, I'll probably cut it and rivet it back together narrower.
Carbs stripped from manifold and difference between carb spacing on MG midget vs Mg1300

In ultrrasonic tank
fluid was clear before
manifold afterwards.
As for the others appart form changing a worn tyre the Street KA has it's hard top on and has been running well, given the recent weather is not ideal for old british convertibles the TR and lotus have not been further than the end of the drive.
It will be an intersting year, It looks like I will be taking early retirement at some point so should have a bit more time,  None of the cars need  major work but there are quite a few smaller things which hopefully I will get the time to do, seats air con and timing belt on the MX5, changing the range rover fuel lines, changing the LCA's and rust proofing the fiesta etc, I'll also probably do a few things to tidy up the TR (mainly wheels and tyres) and sell it as it rarely gets used now as well.
 
 
 
 

Current estate car fleet;
Old faithful

Modern forum for this pish

And on the V5 this is listed as an estate...
 

Estate update time I guess.
This one works*:

 
These ones are all… Errrr… ‘Resting’:









I have an unhealthy relationship with estate cars.

So you can drive along at 25mph with the engine screaming its tits off, whilst having your arm out the window and looking cool as fuck 🤣

Ha, the jordans were a small clue. They colourway is called Taxi, the colours are styled on the new york taxi. I wear them any time im out in the cab, and they attract a lot of nice comments from customers. Bit of colour on a dull day is always welcomed. The cab is a bit of an oddball collecrion, but i knew it would go down well here

Been out and drove around for a bit tonight just to get used to it. First impressions are good. It has the agricultural feel to it that I remember from when I last drove one in 2013. That was a 2011 cab which had covered around 100k miles, this one I picked up today is a 2008 cab which has 400k+ on it. There is very little difference in feel between cabs, i expected this one to feel loose and worn but it just doesnt.
The rear passenger compartment is like the day it left the factory. Its clearly had a full refurb recently as the seats, floor and trim are all in unworn condition. Bump seats dont sag, the springs are nice and tight. 
Drivers seat has lost a fair amount of padding, but thats an easy enough job to tackle. 
Havent really seen it in daylight, so tomorrow I will have a good look over it and post up some more detailed pics. Will flip the ramp down and photograph it for @LightBulbFun

oi oi...............

Collected. Last minute call so mad rush to get down before closing. 
showing 280k but i expect its double that. Bonus EML on, just because
It goes straight out to work tomorrow morning. This is going to be fun*

Pickup apron on way past the lodge, roll up trouser leg, hop into a Ford StreetKa?

Collecting something tomorrow that I swore I would never drive again. And i am buzzing. Cant wait, and if it wasnt for the celebratory alcohol imbibed, I probably wouldnt sleep tonight. To say that this feels like xmas eve as a child is an understatement.....

Well, glad those hints have cleared things up 🤣

Well, glad those hints have cleared things up 🤣

Well, glad those hints have cleared things up 🤣

Well, glad those hints have cleared things up 🤣

Well, glad those hints have cleared things up 🤣

Well, glad those hints have cleared things up 🤣