Blake's Den

I've said it a few times now - these are very under rated cars. My old Outback was easily the best car that I have ever had, it did everything and didn't grumble about it either. Rust killed it in the end

I've had the Defender back on the road for a year now. However that mean't taking it the local garage and passing the palms of the MoT with silver. Unfortunately I musn't have gave them enough as it failed :-(. Nothing too bad, a dodgy ball joint on the front and a bit of welding to do on the rear. The welding was fairly easy to do. I am in no way a skilled welder but I find that my RTech Mig 180 is a great bit of kit, I would without doubt recommend it to anyone who has a rusty car. The ball joint was a different story, it turned into a whole world of pain! But more on that in a seperate video...... I've obviously hit the YouTube algorithm sweet spot with the words "Defender" and "welding"! The video has been published for 20 hours, my typical views are usually somwehere been 30 and 60, at the time of writing its on 329 views, madness! I don't upload the video for self gratifcation or to make money from them. I enjoy making them and if they help one other person out then I'm happy.

That's a great video, thanks for sharing. From the occasional tractor and JCB driving that I have done I would agree that they are dangerous things. Just because they are slow doesn't mean that you can't get yourself into trouble pretty fast.

Yes, they were sold alongside the hatchback and the coupe. And of course the scenic. To be fair, a Mark 1 Mégane is a rare sight these days

After a raid of the scrap yard last weekend I know have a fully functioning clock and cruise control 🙂. Two small wins but enough to improve my commuting experience. I robbed the parts from the only dead Santa Fe in the yard. Which got me thinking.......have they all already died and have been turned into tin cans? Or do they run forever? Or did nobody buy them in the first instance?! There were plenty of parts left on the scrap Santa Fe, in fact it was in surprisingly good condition. It was tucked right at the back of the yard so is unlikely to be squahsed anytime soon. I was also amazed at the number of R50 Mini's in the yard. Which of course lead me straight to seeing how much they sell for on ebay 🙂

Agreed that farm stuff does lead a hard life. My defender was used intensely for the first 4 years of its life. It went all over the counting auctions and dragged stuff back that it probably shouldn't have towed! After the first owner retired it got passed down through the family and has lead quite a sedate life since then. Once it has passed its MoT my plan is to give it a good service as nobody can seem to remember when it was last done. That probably means that I'm playing cambelt roulette too!

I decided to try and film something different the other day. I realised that I spend a lot of time filming me working on my minis but I don't actually show me enjoying them! So I decided to film some action shots on my Mini Cooper, here is the result: Just a short video but I do love the sound of an A-series and an RC40. This car never fails to put a smile on my face 🙂

I've had this back on the road for one year now which is great. But that means another squeaky bum MoT 🤣. Not surprisingly it was a fail but only on two things. A ball joint in the steering arm and a hole in the chassis. The ball joint was replaced last year but something is a miss, it's as sloppy as anything. It also snapped when I was re-torquing it up. Obviously made from the finest Chineseium. A new one is on the way along with a new bush for the steering arm. The hole in the chassis wasn't too bad. I desperately need to fit a new rear cross member with chassis leg extensions, I think that I'll farm the job out as I'm going to struggle to find the time to do it. Anyway I made up a patch and welded it on with my R-Tech MIG 180 which is a fantastic bit of kit. Just waiting on the ball joint now.... Video update coming soon.

A minor update. The air con has been working just fine so I'm happy with that. I'm using the car more and more as part of my commute and I'm really pleased with the way it drives. Its very smooth, very comfy and can get 26-27 mpg on my commute which is a mix of a roads, b roads, motorway and city driving. What has begun to irk me is the clock which sometimes works, sometimes doesn't and the cruise control cancel button which never seems to cancel when you want it to. I did a bit of investigation on both and I was expecting to find dirty contacts or corrosion on the wiring plugs but they were both as good as new. Put it all back together and they both seem to be working for now. I'm planning on going to the scrap yard to rob a clock from another Santa Fe as the ebay prices are ridiculous. The last time that I was at the yard they had another Santa Fe tucked well away so I doubt that it has been turned into tin cans by now. Video update - like, comment subscribe etc etc...

Blake Street in York?

Two photos of West Street in Gateshead with the infamous 'Get Carter' car park in the background

One random please 🤣

I used to have one of these too. Nice revy engine and great handling. It was a good whip! The one that I had us still out there in the road somewhere, I have an eBay saved search set up in the off chance that it comes up for sale

I saw that for sale on the mini kits FB group, it looks like a lot of fun!

I wasn't convinced that was Whitehall road as I never remembered a bridge going over it. But after a bit of googling I realised that it's the end at the Durham Road. https://maps.app.goo.gl/DSs4KiGJCkTHWSzo9