Cardinal Wolseley

Oh was superb thread, those French models are especially nice along with that Farina.
 
Not my actual car but I had one of these another of the Ford Zephyr variants:
 

 
Taking a peek at what the interwebs has to offer I'm rather taken with these:
 
Jag X

 
Ford Corsair

Oh was superb thread, those French models are especially nice along with that Farina.
 
Not my actual car but I had one of these another of the Ford Zephyr variants:
 

 
Taking a peek at what the interwebs has to offer I'm rather taken with these:
 
Jag X

 
Ford Corsair

Seems unlikely...
I cracked on with sealer, but Aberystwyth yielded just one can of the stuff, so I ran out (hence why the door looks a different shade).

Got the matt black out on the bumpers. Looking alright I reckon. Now need to decide what to do with the hardtop, because I'm thinking too much blue might be a very bad thing. Black maybe? Or do I try and track down a cab back so I can keep it a pick-up? That seems a little restrictive in terms of load space.

I'd better not paint the roof white then...
Second coat is looking much better. Ditched the roller, went for a brush.

Yes, the art of an invisible repair is careful preparation and SOD IT JUST PAINT THE THING WITH A ROLLER.

 
Bringing artex back into fashion...

Well that could have turned out worse...

 
It isn't' completely smooth, but it does appear to be solid.

Today, I thought I'd better do something with the Fox. So I took its top off.

Naturally, it then started raining. 
The roof came off because I had made a key decision - sort out the paint! The buzzy sandy thing got a good workout.

Tomorrow, I hope to set about fixing the one or two fibreglass issues it has, before chucking on some paint. I was going to do the fibreglass stuff this evening, but somehow managed to slice my index finger open on something, which is making doing anything at all an absolute pain in the arse. I have absolutely no idea how I did it, just suddenly noticed that everything I touched seemed to turn red. UGH.

Norev's Jags don't quite have the accuracy and elegance of their domestic market efforts, but still, happy to add this to my collection.

On the subject of 1980's Hotwheels, here's a period 80's specimen I found in a local, newly opened second hand shop, which is run by a retired bloke who's happy to sell his stock at reasonable prices, so it actually goes out the door and doesn't sit about. How refreshing!
 

Looks to me to be a Chevy LUV rendition. Not the best snap but it does display that funny 3 stage lift rear axle that some if these came with at the time. Did the adjustable axle models have a name?
 

I also nabbed this Mustang with steering, since I've fond memories of playing with one round at my gran and grandad's house. I say fond; this steering one didn't actually roll very well, which is presumably why there weren't any more castings launched with steering.
 

Also of similar vintage is this white GT40, again something that used to live in the sagging old wicker basket of Matchboxes round at the grandfolks'. Seen here with my oft photographed Bulgarian version which, casting flashes aside, still compares nicely with its 60's brethren, albeit with clumsier wheels.
 

Pretty sure there was one of these in said basket, too, back in the day, though not in this colour. If they didn't do a Commer in a different colour, then my mind is playing tricks. 
 

I like this Dinky tender too (simply called Fire Engine), so home it came also. Reminds me of the 'hamster with stuffed cheeks' Karrier Gamecocks that the NZ fire service used to have back in the day, that operated well into the 1980's:

 
 
Lastly, I was very happy to bag another elderly Siku to my stash, especially as it had a full set of tyres, one of which can be donated to my Magirus dustbin lorry.

 
However, all was not done! Upon paying the lady running the shop, I saw half of something in a cupboard out back winking at me and it looked very interesting! It being her Dad's shop and him not being there at the time, I registered an interest and said I'd come back the next week, to see what he might want to sell it for.....

Hey hey small car renditions enthusiasts, I'm back with more stuff I've been buying that I really don't need but can't resist.
This time, it's a kit that I built*:
 

 
It's one of those motorised Tamiya 1/32 4wd things, which I found whilst checking out model shops in a large town close by. I'd spent a little too much time knocking about this place, despite it being more of a radio controlled aircraft kind of affair, rather than a 1/43 emporium, like I'd hoped.
I'd a bit of history with these contraptions, having bought one of these back in the 1990's (and which should still be in my UK stash):

 
However, I simply applied the decals and made up the boxes, rather than painting my orange Unimog, so it looks very plain, from memory.
 

Not so my Pajero! I thought this would be a good skill tester to see if I can be chuffed with trying to achieve good things with a spray can, before I attack any unsuspecting diecasts of smaller scale.
 

Overall, I'm happy enough with the results, except for the masking job I'd done with the wheel arches - and then the hand painted touching in of silver spray paint that ensued, with predictably crappy results. Plus, I gave more coats of body paint than silver trim, so the thicknesses are different. Good learning curve though and I may even give my 1/24 2CV kit model another go, although I think I'll stick with a single tone colour scheme for now.
Look out for more updates soon enough, as although I've been busy with work recently, it hasn't stopped the buying....

I was in the field. Made it!
 

Afraid is was all a bit of an anti-climax. I amazed tourists over Tower Bridge, but very hard to find anywhere to stop for pics and the traffic was just horrible.
TWC was unflustered though, and we only had several near misses. We celebrated escape with 70mph on the M23!

I haven't been on a motorway yet...
I did go to the factory though! There are two locations. We started at what was the office and spares department before finding the old factory.
The chaps at Endsleigh Invacar are ex-factory and own the one LightbulbFan spotted on Google Earth. It's an AC ringer on a G plate, and painted the wrong shade of blue. Hasn't moved for a good 15 years.
Even better, they had spares on the shelf! I bought two new pulleys and a new drive belt and we fitted them this afternoon. 
Wow. That's how an Invacar should behave! Much more like TPA. Much quieter. The incorrect driven pulley I was using was over-extending and smashing itself to pieces, hence the terrible noise.
50mph is now easy, 60mph possible with time. She can now accelerate uphill! Happy times!

Now who is for a game of spot the difference?
Also today I refilled the VP with petrol after 199 miles, guess the mpg? Mainly open road drive including a short spell at 70 mph on a duel carriageway yesterday.

 
 

And whilst the Triumph wheels were off I thought I'd give them a bit of a polish. The car is definitely not a show car but the wheels need a polish occasionally. When new they were lacquered but that all fell off years ago. Now they're bare ally so they need the odd polish, though thankfully less so now it's garaged. 
But they do come up lovely. Worthy of some pics on their own. 
 
There's actually two types of Dolomite Sprint wheels. 
The date stamps here show 75 and 76. The lower one has a GKN makers mark. It also has slightly thicker polished bits in the middle and the outer rim is a different profile. I have one of the upper type and three of the lower but it doesn't really show unless I point it out. 
 
I really should have cleaned the front ones too. Shoddy. 

Nice haul. The arrival of this has made my day...

Picked up

And dropped off

Mechanic suspects the issue is fuel related, but he’ll have a look tomorrow.
 
Bugger.

Some spots from a Dutchland tractor show. The Dat was in front me going in 
to the car park so I had a quick chat. One owner, 70k but not as good as the photos
suggest. Still, good to see. The yank tank was shonky with dents, dings and rust.
The 205 was nearly mint but a daily none the less.

1967 Austin 1800 Pininfarina design study. Where did it all go wrong? No need to answer.

It would appear that the last bit of motor-related life at Longbridge is on the way out. To be fair, I didn't realise that the remaining facilities were quite as swish; I assumed it was a couple of portakabins, a coffee machine and lots of empty buildings patrolled by an over-zealous security team. 
Sad times. Did it really need to end like this?  
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/business/axe-hangs-over-140-jobs-16257773
Here's a photo of the place just as the main artery went bang...
 

Today I finished stripping down the remaining small parts left on the sub frames.  All of that is now ready for sand blasting and powder coat.  As tempting as it is to start on things like the engine I stuck to the plan and put the diff on the bench for a look.  Its very rusty and I expected to have a few problems with it.

There is no drain plug on these and obviously I need to change the oil at the very least.  The car only did about 50k before coming off the road in the 90s so I expect the oil has never been changed.  I need to remove the bolts holding the aluminium cover on which will allow the oil to drain.  I can then take a look inside and make sure everything is rust free.  I've seen these get very bad internally if moisture has got in there.  One customers diff we had was so pitted inside we had to junk it and use a different one. 
Taking the cover off proved very troublesome.  Galvanic corrosion has ruined the bolts and six off them sheared right off.  The corrosion is so bad that the cover remained stuck fast to the remains of the bolts.  I can't get violent with the cover as it will likely break so the only option is to drill out the bolts and gently try to tease the cover away.
 
Its not something I enjoy doing.  Some decent drill bits, steady hand and eventually I drilled out the worst of the bolts.  I drilled a 3mm pilot first and followed with an 8mm bit to finish.  I find I have more opportunity to get the hole in the right place if I pilot drill it first.  You only get one shot at these sort of jobs.


After a few hours I managed to get inside the diff.  Was pleased to see that it was still full of oil which has preserved the internals.  I'm not looking for signs of wear as these are very heavily built units.  I was worried about corrosion from the years of sitting but the oil has done its job well.  I now have a new problem.  I don't really need to take this thing apart now I've seen the condition but those bolts need drilling out.  Crap and swarf will fall into the case and potentially damage things in the future.
So I decided to take the diff apart back to the pinion.  After I'm done with the bolts I'll thoroughly clean it out and re-assemble.

It didn't want to come out but after a while I did eventually persuade the main assembly to shift.  I'll replace the half shaft seals upon reassembly as they have dried out.  Apart from that its in good shape and I shouldn't have to worry about back lash or settings as I've left the pinion alone.  Two of the bolts did wind out with some grips but the rest remain stuck in there.  More drilling required next time.

Continued working on the mechanicals yesterday.  Main goal was to remove all the bushes/oily bits so I can send this lot for blast and powder coat.  Getting the bushes out isn't too difficult provided you have access to a press.


There are two metalastic bushes on the car that are quite hard to remove.  They only come out one way and that way is impossible so you have to grind off the top hat and then it will push out the other way via the press.  Even so they fought me for every mm.

With that done I set to breaking down the front and rear hubs.  Everything here is very rusty and many parts were stuck on.  I had to use the press to get rear back plates off after removing the bolts.  I'll be replacing as much as I can mechanically.  The rear wheel bearings were probably fine when parked but that was 25 years ago.  The seals are missing or perished and plenty of rust flakes were visible in the bearing grease.

The front hubs are also in a poor state.  The brake disk is part of the assembly and should separate with a tap from a screwdriver (after removing the bolts and hub nut).  These ones were so rusted I had to just beat the crap out of them with a hammer until they finally came off.


I continued to break further items down and now have a nice pile of stuff ready for blasting.  Looking forward to putting these back together.  Was hoping to take a look at the diff but ran out of time so will do that next week.

Saw this beauty rolling in to the petrol station, wandered over for a gander (waiting for the AA to pick up a very unwell Freeloader) and realised it's the same car I went to have a look at up in Doncaster either in 2003 or 2004. Still got the photos I took at the time somewhere. Anyway, what a pleasure to see it not just surviving but evidently cherished. 

Nailsworth Sunbeam.