Blake's Den

Not much to report on the Defender lately as it has been running fine and not needing any attention. The only problem that I have had is that it failed to start in the really cold weather, I think that was due to the veg oil solidifying. All good now since I topped it up with diesel. Anyway, I put the Defender to good use today to pick up a new toy - a Bateson 27-16 tilt bed car transporter trailer. I've been after a big trailer for a while and after a couple of false starts I finally managed to get this. I've got two AS worthy things to transport on it in the very near future so stay tuned!

I'm still using this regularly. Now onto 35000 miles! However winter driving has highlighted the fact that the headlights are quite crap. I'm guessing that they were average when new, even with upgraded bulbs, mainbeam on and the front driving lights on it still isn't great. Anyway, upon inspection, I noticed that my headlights and clouded up again, the passenger side being the worst. I quikcly attacked them with some T-Cut and they are much clearer now. See for yourself here! I drove it in the dark yesterday and the brightness has improved a bit. It still isn't as good as these modern LED projector lights but at least I can see a bit better now.

Erm, it came with no instructions! I couldn't see anywhere obvious to add oil too so I will assume no. Yes, the decibel scale is logarithmic (so not linear). Using an aribitary value of 70db (equialvent to the noise inside a car on a motoray), then a whisper (other chocolate bars are available!) at about 30db is 1/16th the loudness of 70db. Foing the other way, a thunder clap at 120db is 32 times as loud as 70db.

I'm just happy that it's louder and a better sound 🙂

Another small video update on the Rover Mini Cooper MPI. For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to have some air horns on a Mini. When I got my MPI nearly 14 years ago I didn't think that it would be possible to fit any as the engine bay is so cramped. I recently acquried a set of small air horns that my dad had fitted to his Suzuki Swift Sport. After looking at them I realised that they might just squeeze into the Cooper's engine bay. I butchered another Rover horn to get the wiring plug so that I didn't have to hack into the MPI loom and I managed to get the horn to fit nicely. It is a snug fit but it is a fit! Also it is about 6 decibels louder than the old horn and quite a sharper sound so overall I'm happy with the result.

It opened in 1986, alegro's were made up until 1982. So entire possible.

Yes, I do want to do it. It actually doesn't seem to be too bad of a job to do at home. Just need to find the time and the willing!

This! Exactly, it owes me very little and I quite enjoy driving it. There is a smugness about sitting in traffic next to a £70k BMW knowing that I'm just as comfy as the BMW driver 🙂

Another Santa Fe update. During my winter commuting I noticed that my mirrors we not clearing in the cold weather. I assumed that was because I didn't have heated mirrors. However when I popped the passenger side mirror glass off I found to my surprise a heating element! A quick test with the infra red thermometer showed that the passenger side was working as intended, the drivers side was not. They should both turn on when the heated rear window is active. A quick strip down of the driver side mirror revealed badly corroded contacts on the 12 volt feed to the heating element. A quick clean up and hurrah it now works! Obligatory video update and click-bait thumbnail below:

I'm not sure what the long term plan is to be honest. It's a survivor so it does warrant some money being spent on it. But at the same time I do fancy changing to something else which is more suited to my needs.

Yes I've watched that one!

I'm not sure what the purchase price was new, I haven't been able to find that in the history that I have. But I suspect it was the most expensive Hyundai that you could buy in the UK at the time. The coupe must have been a close second. Yes it is quite a dated design. Whilst mine is a 2005 model it was launched in 1999. Given an average 36 months design and development period that means that the concept was laid down in 1996! It doesn't feel old though, it is quite refined and very comfortable. The styling is very late 90's early 00's and it has a face that only its mother could love😆

Yes you could get the CRDI in the Santa Fe, it was a popular choice. More popular than the 2.7 V6 anyway!

Seeing this prompted me to Google search for this Closely followed by this

The fuel leak which first took the car off the road returned (again!), I was driving the other day, stopped and jumped out to post a letter whilst leaving the car running. Round the back there was a strong smell of petrol but no visible leaks. Further investigation during daylight hours revealed that the fuel line had fatigued due to it being tightly routed. There was a pinhole leak where fuel was squirting out at atomising hence no visible puddle under the car. I think that I caught this almost straight after the leak started. The temporary fix was to relocate the aftermarket fuel non return valve from the engine to the back which increased the pipe length and reduced the bend. I replaced this today with a 90 degree quick fitting as per the original Hyundai design. I also had a leak at the front after I moved the non return valve. The drive to work was uneventful. When I started the car to come home it was running lumpy and had a very strong smell of petrol. I popped the bonnet to find fuel squirting all over the engine and the battery! Luckily I had some tools to fix it there and then, cut the pipe a bit shorter and remade a join which solved the problem. I'll be replacing the join at the front with a quick fitting too. I also took the opportunity to test how smooth the engine is. I balanced a £2 coin on the intake manifold (no expense spared) and it didn't fall over! Who needs a Rolls Royce when you have an old Hyundai 😅