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Saabnut

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Everything posted by Saabnut

  1. The plan was to put a few* miles on it over the next few weeks then take it to Lemans for the Classic Unfortunately I will be away working so will miss both LM24 and the Classic but might make it back for Shitefest so we will see.
  2. Sorry for the lack of updates! Left the hotel at 8am, filled up at Asda Patchway - yes, further from home - and arrived at the chod supplier by the back of 9! We then spent far too long talking shite but eventually got around to loading Yep, that one I eventually left at 11:30 and my satnav told me I had 502 miles to go! Stopped at Carlisle Tesco again to refuel and arrived home at 8:30pm. Averaged 27mpg but the check engine light came up on restart at Carlisle, but apart from making the dash look prettier there was no other effect. The Hyundai tows better than I ever imagined it would. Now safely back home, but not yet unloaded as I am knackered!
  3. Ooooh, excited! Always good to get a new toy. I owned one similar to this many years ago and liked it, but as usual got offered a profit so it went (in my defence it was in my dealer days) and always fancied another. Very strange doing a collect 500 miles from home and yet starting off 45 minutes away, although I need more diesel!
  4. Accident on the M^ at Birmingham saw a 45 minute delay on the boards, but the faithfull old TomTom took me around it. I think I may have upset a few people on Walsall High Street but it saved me 20 minutes! Saab dropped off in Monmouth in deepest darkest Wales, no pics as a fairly recognisable location. Now at my digs for the night at Michaelwood Services, with the excitement building for a collection tomorrow! Distance to Saab drop off point 484 miles with the diversions, and from there to my digs 48 miles. Tomorrows collection point is showing as 36 miles so a reasonably early start should see me on my way to get loaded and head home. Did I mention I was doing a collection tomorrow? The view from my bedroom window:
  5. Next fuel stop Tesco Carlisle 177.9 lost some time as the A9 was closed
  6. Whilst at the NEC in March, a new home for the Ruby was arranged and I agreed I would deliver it in May. It is now May so it is about to happen. As with all these things, the destination is nice and handy* being a mere 470 miles and 3 countries away in south Wales. As it would be a waste of diesel to travel back with an empty trailer, I am collecting a new toy on the way back. I would make this a live thread but being Billy No Mates I am travelling on my own so will just update everytime I stop so you can enjoy* the journey and tomorrow this will turn into a collection thread! This is the state of play as I prepare to set out at 6:30 am on a Sunday
  7. Day off enjoyed! The Rover needed a test run as it had sat in the shed for over 7 years until woken from its slumber a few weeks ago where a total of 21 miles was covered. The tyres were far from round, it would not tick over and it kept dropping a cylinder or two but I counted that as a win. Today I took it to Morris Leslies and back, a 120 mile round trip completed without fuss. She is now back to its best, running well and ticking over nicely.
  8. Now back home, tomorrow is a day off so loaded the boot of the P5b with some autojumble and tomorrow I will be at Morris Leslies classic auction at Errol. Say hello if you are there.
  9. The start of a manic week, shitewise. Thought I would have 4 weeks at home, but turns out I only have 2 so everything has to be compressed into the remaining week. Today was the first delivery, the Disco 1 project has grown a bit with the discovery of more rust (who would have seen that coming!) so the welding is beyond my capabilities. Fortunately my friend in Perth has just completed his classic Range Rover project and volunteered* to take it on. First problem, how to get it there? I have a trailer but my tow car is the dismantled Disco, the Hiundry only has a towing limit of 1600kg, the Disco weighs 2000kg and the trailer 700kg. Spoke nicely to my next door neighbour and borrowed his 69 plate Toyota Land Cruiser L150 van. I covet the Toyota! Safely delivered, first job was to get it up in the air and prod it, to see if it was worth going any further. Fortunately the rot I had found was almost all of it so the bridge has been avoided! Interior was stripped out and the photos tell the story
  10. 320bhp 498lb/ft torque 1075kg. Scary fast! 0-60 3.8 secs, top speed around 185 mph but most I have seen was 155 on TomTom on a private section of dual carriageway. Plenty enough for me!
  11. It is a small block Chevrolet 400 bored and stroked to 427cu in which converts to 7 litre
  12. Monday saw a visit to a friend to drink his tea and raid his split pin collection. Back home and refitted the linkages. Applied duct tape to the top hose and it started first time. Still smokey and the duct tape slowed the water leak to a mere torrent. The moment of truth, would it drive? Answer - yes, absolutely fine with a silent gearbox and steering that lacks play. By the time I put it into the other shed, the smoke had reduced giving me hope for the engine. New parts ordered incuding hoses, cap, leads etc and I splashed out on a new grill and a pick up hitch. With the Fergie out of the way, time to move the Cobra so I could get the Discovery of Doom onto the ramp as I think 2 years in the naughty corner is enough. Cobra fired up first time but whilst building oil pressure, it stopped. Repeated attempts to restart, including adding more fuel, failed to produce results. Eventually proved there was no spark and as it has a Mallory electronic distributor fitted more research was needed. Put the battery on charge and called it a day. Some googling of the distributor followed, and the third hit was fault finding which worried me. Next morning, armed with the fault finding guide and my multimeter I was back at it. First find was no power at the coil which cheered me up. Next a check on the ballast resistor showed 12v at one end and 0.02v at the other. Aaaah! To prove it I fed a 12v supply direct to the coil and life was instantly restored. New ballast resistor on its way. The next week or so is going to be hectic with 3 vehicles to deliver and 3 to collect, so will try and keep an updated stand alone thread for those, first delivery Friday.
  13. The friend referred to works as a plumber in Perth but a gentleman from Practical Classics did pop in by a few days later to buy a car off me. He may* have taken a few photos whilst here and he found the transit amusing so fully expected it to appear at sometime! Before I left for offshore I did attempt to get the Fergie running. The old oil/petrol mix was drained from the sump and fresh oil installed. The spark plugs were a mix of 3 makes (including a Volvo branded one) but a quick search on the shelf produced a new set of the correct champions but still no spark. Cleaned the points brought a spark but no life. The grey fergie has a provision for locking it at 10 degrees BTDC so this was set but stll no life. Chucked some petrol in the bores and it fired once or twice but that was all. Gave up. Next morning went to check the timing again and locked the flywheel to find the distributor rotor arm in a completely different place. Removed the distributor to find the dog had not been seated right on the drive (the tractor had some engine work before laying up including new pistons) and I think the distributor not being seated properly is what made the PO give up. All reset, more fuel in the cylinders and it fired and ran briefly. Encouraged, I filled the radiator with water, a considerable amount of which made a bid for freedom via the completely knackered top hose. Deciding what remained would do for a brief run, I tried again. Nothing. Gave it a sniff of brake cleaner and away it went, but stop the sniff and the engine stopped, obviously no petrol getting through. Removed the carb, stripped it and cleaned everything. Of course I could not find my stock of carb gaskets so a cornflake packet was sacrifices and a new one made. Refitted the carb, and absolutely no difference, so again I gave up and went offshore. Got back last night, and whilst I was away I had ordered an ultrasonic cleaner (as per my ask a shiter thread) which arrived yesterday along with some expensive solutions to use. A very good friend had recommended the fluids, but at £20 delivered for 1l of carb cleaner and 1l of deruster I was unsure. My friend was adamant so thought I would give it a try (they dilute at 10:1 so not so bad. Today I set up the cleaner (I bought a 6l one) but stuck a 2l ice cream tub in for the additive mixture so only used about 0.2l. After a 30 minute blast, I was amazed at how black the fluid had become as I thought the carb and bits were clean before putting them in. Re assembled the carb, sacrificed a bit more cornflake packet for another new gasket and refitted the carb. Of course, near my carb gasket stock must be where I put my split pins, so the throttle and choke lever connections were just assembled loosely until I find mine or buy some more. Connected the battery, turned on the ignition and it started first time and continued to run fine*. The engine is very smokey, but hoping that is the pistons still bedding in, the top hose reminded me that I have not bought a replacement and then the throttle linkage fell out so turned it off. Tomorrow I will find/beg/steal/buy some split pins, do a proper* repair on the hose with some duct tape and see if it will drive. The ultrasonic cleaner with the solution worked well so happy with that purchase.
  14. I know Karl well, and it is not what it seems He does declare and pay tax etc, the reason for the cash has a lot more to do with a vengeful ex than the taxman!
  15. The last Midget I had painted before I quit the trade was with a top notch (and so expensive!) painter. Delivered as a primered bare shell. Came back superb and with a bill for £3k! This was 2011.
  16. Bit modern (post steam) for me but I think that is the drop link
  17. Keep the Disco! It will be rusty underneath the paint but at least the electronics will mostly behave. I had both, sold both and now have 2 Discos, one of which (the TD5) will go. The TDI is staying, and I have just spent as much on repair panels as I paid for the car, but nothing with 4x4 and a 3.5 tonne towing limit is as practical as a Disco. The P38 was a better car to drive, but for everything else it is the Disco. 8:7
  18. I left home a week ago. I am in the middle of the North Sea where I have been for 5 days. So how the hell have I managed to buy a shite car that I have never seen? I know it is OK however. Firstly it is a modern. Secondly it is a Vauxhall. Most importantly I had it inspected. Well, the previous owner did. By an insurance company. Who wrote it off. WCPGW? Fortunately it is nearly 600 miles from my house.
  19. I have had far, far too many over the years. From memory, and I am certain to miss a few: American: Corvair ('65), Buick Electra 225 ('62), Pontiac Cruise ship (,72) Cadillac ('69 I think) Vintage: Humber ('28), Austin 10, Austin 12, Austin 7 Pearl, Bullnose Morris Oxford, Model A Ford, Model T Ford European(ish) VW Golf ('72), Saab 900 Turbo ('99), Saab 900 Turbo ('89 LPT, FPT, i), Pug 306CC, Triumph Spitfire (Mk1,2,3 4 and 1500) Triumph Herald, Triumph Vitesse, MR2 (2000 and 2001 both new), MX5 Mk2, Mini ('79) MG Midget (x a few) MGB (x many) Ford Corsair, and no doubt many others. Currently on fleet: Saab 900i ('90) Saab 9-3 ('05) , Morris Cowley flat nose ('30 - special, no roof!), Mini half converted badly ('81) and of course the Cobra which in 10 years of ownership I have never driven with the roof on! Think it is fair to say I like a convertible. Edited to add Land Rovers (S1,2,3 and defenders), TR7, TR7V8 - OK going to stop adding them now.
  20. Once plastic lights have been polished, they need a coat of UV resistant clear laquer on them to stop them going the same way in short order.
  21. Brilliant! Thank you for doing that, I am sure it will be well appreciated.
  22. That is looking SO much better than at anytime I had it. So pleased it went to a good home.
  23. Has the spare not arrived? It was posted Monday morning first class signed for.
  24. Sadly looks unlikely for me now. I was due offshore last week for 2 weeks so would have just made it baring problems on the job site. It has been delayed a week so I will likely miss it, but if things go well and I am back in time....
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