Six-cylinder

This morning was Milton Keynes Classic Car Club gathering, cold and wet and as expected half the usual number of cars turned up but still good. The starter of the 480 still does not turn first time every time and sometimes needs several tries before it turns. Mrs6C suggested I should take the V70 today for a reliable dry car without flaky electrics and rain leaks. I likened it to the young girl who goes out on a freezing night with little clothing because she looks good like that! Yes I look good in a wet steamed up unreliable Coupe! My pick for the car to drive home in if not mine was the Princess 3 Ltr. One upset was another member came into the pub to say somebody had bumped my car and driven off. Turns out he had mistaken the Mercedes E320 Coupe belonging to another member Kevin as being my Ex Richard Morris E320 Coupe. A relief for me in the Volvo 480 but sad for Kevin with his lovely E320 that now needs a grill and bumper.

No this is better, tomorrow when I open the curtain there won't be another broken car on my drive!

Saturday just got much better.

Back when I was selling Citroens the husband of one of our customers had a nearly new XJR and I persuaded him to take me out in it. I loved it but my overwhelming memory is the belts squealing when he floored it.

Your MPG is better with the supercharger, than the 4.0 Sovereign I used to have that was only doing 21.5 mpg.

I forgot to say our ZX TD Estate has a fresh MOT. It needed a bit of work. Lower ball joints, wishbone bushes, welding on driver’s side chassis, headlight alinement and an oil change. Today Mrs6C has it traveling hundreds of miles again.

Excitement! Strangely I get just as excited about the low cost cars I buy as the more expensive ones.

I don't know what you mean!

Late afternoon I risked the 480 again and went to a car gathering in Milton Keynes in spite of the grey damp cold weather. Usually this meeting is 50+ cars but today I counted just 18. The good news is the 480 behaved perfectly, restarted to get lined up for a photo without any issues and again to go home. The car I most wanted to take home other than the 480 was the Ford Anglia van.

Listed as 4.2 V8, I thought they always had a 4.2 XK straight six!

The continuing story with the Volvo 480ES is @Andyrew came and saved us. I had another go at wriggling the starter Motor into place and Mrs6C had a try but we failed. Andyrew turned up in the freezing cold and dark and after a bit of a battle got it into place. And all for a cheesy chips supper! Saturday all I had to do was tighten the 3 fixing bolts, connect the main power lead and connect the starter solenoid wire. I just could not get the starter wire connected on the blind side of the solenoid, it just seemed too short so I made up a short extension wire. The starter now worked. @Prince_of_darkness91 and I went for a ride, toped up the petrol and it started fine. We then took the long way home and returned to the drive. I went to test restart it and it just clicked, we turned the engine on the alternator and it started. We turned it off again and attempted a restart and this time the starter spun but the engine did not fire. We rested it and it started if a bit rough at first. I then took it to the FoD but did not switch it off until I got home. At the FoD I noticed the n-s daylight running lens had fallen off and the o-s was very lose. I found evidence of previous glue so to keep water from rushing into the bulb holders I have glued the coves back on. At home there was ignition lights but no turning or even clicking of the starter so I moved the gear selector from park to neutral and it started instantly. I then retried it in park and it started with a wiggle. Now it started perfectly in park or neutral.

We moved the Citroen XM off the Grass this morning at the FoD. It had a flat battery, but with a jump pack it started straight up. Unfortunately Mrs6C found mice in it and managed to catch two but the third is still in there. It is waiting for an MOT but is in a queue.

We have had our Activa for 2 1/2 years, it was Mrs6C choice. It has not needed much so far. Manual Xantia’s make my ankle ache on a long drive. I have had many Xantia’s as company cars when they were new, working for a Citroen dealer. I also got to play with the dealer launch Activa frightening friends with the amazing suspension! Our red one has quite a lot of lacquer peel. It often but not always sits a bit lop sided and one day needs that sorting, but no rush as it still seems to drive well and passes its MOTs ok.

The new starter for the 480 arrived today so I attempted to fit it. Andyrew had warned me it was very difficult to wiggle it out from the rear bracket and he was not wrong. To put it straightforwardly I failed! I have also lost a torch, and two levers down into the engine bay somewhere and as it was getting dark I gave up..