Saabnut

Yesterday the oil leak was sorted on the Disco by tightening the hose from the filter housing to the oil cooler which had come loose. Roughly a gallon was added, so that will do istead of an oil change! It then chucked it down with rain for the rest of the day. This morning started off dry with a bit of sun. I have been home a week, 4 days of which I have been on the road and 3 fettling cars. I am away back offshore on Tuesday so decided I was having a day off today. Fired up the recently returned P5b and headed to the Fennel V8 breakfast meet in Inverurie, via the petrol station and jet wash as the windscreen was covered in Disco engine oil! I was a bit late getting there but still plenty of interest, although rubbish photos as usual A very rare AC 428 Dodge Charger A modern Mustang An AC Cobra Fibre Street Racer A 1962 Genuine AC Cobra 260 The two Cobras are owned by father and son, and in the barn at home they also have a '65 Cobra hard top and the 1958 Lemans race Cobra! All bought many years ago when they had very little value. This green thing (not sure what it is but modern) After that I took the scenic way home which meant by the time I got home I had covered over 120 miles. The car ran great, and makes me reluctant to sell it, but in truth it just does not get used much as the Bentley does the same thing. No rush, but it will have to be sold sooner rather than later. Once home, I had a load of visitors (ANY visitors here is unusual) so the rest of the day was spent drinking tea in the sun and talking shite! Great day, must try doing this more often.

The Durham police were so impressed with my driving in my old Disco they have written and told me I am getting some points. Not just any points, these are special and are going to cost me £33.33 each and I am getting three. I am excited! Oh, wait......... Possibly the wrong thread here.......

F&F Contribution made

I will probably take you up on that when I get back from the next trip

Last night I dug out my Saab 9-3 'vert for the first time in a couple of months due to work and took it for a run to test out my wind deflector. Verdict? Excellent! However the dash kept reminding me a headlight bulb had blown, so when I got home I checked when the MOT was due. I was disappointed to find it had been expired for nearly 18 hours! Swapped the Saab for the AX and went to see my MOT man who said if I dropped it off with him tonight he would take it to work and test it for me on Friday. Very much a mixed day today! First was a trip south to make a collection Yes the brilliant @GingerNuttz had finished my Rover so time to fetch it back home. What started as a small couple of weld repairs mushroomed into a huge rebuild. At least now it as solid as a solid thing and once my work steadies down, after over 13 years ownership it will be put up for sale. The old Disco performed great until I stopped at my local shop about 3 miles from home. On returning to the outfit I noticed an oil trail on the road and a lot of oil on the trailer. Worrying. Carried on home keeping an eye on the oil light and at the top of my track had a look underneath to see a veritable water fall of oil! Made it home coasting with the engine off where possible, and a closer look at home and it appears one of the hoses to the oil cooler has worked loose but will investigate tomorrow when it has all cooled down. Next job was to change the headlight bulb on the Saab and to get it over to my MOT man. Opened the bonnet and noticed the rust stain on the top of the offside front suspension tower looked to have grown a bit. Whilst I know better than to poke, I also realised my MOT man would have no such reservations so a poke it got. I have cancelled the MOT and am now drowning my sorrows!

That was one of the harder trips I have done for a while! Too many chiefs onshore who have suddenly become experts despite never having set foot on a rock dump vessel. Ho hum, 'tis the way of the world. I managed to escape on Thursday arriving home on Friday having been told I would probably be required back for another boat this Friday! So, Sunday saw me taking the Disco for its first proper run since its rebuild and I headed off to Sheffield to collect a new trailer for behind my Kubota and Grey Fergie. Of course, this is not a road legal trailer, so as a deal came up I bought another trailer down there and towed them both home. The Disco behaved perfectly. The main trailer there is a 2010 Ifor Williams 14ft flatbed complete with headboard, ramps and 3 tonne winch rated to 3500kg GVW. Bit of overkill and I don't really need another trailer so this will go up for sale soon. Today the trailer was turned around and unhitched, and one of the other trailers hitched on ready for the morning. Yes, off to meet a shiter for a collection tomorrow!

Where was this spotted? That used to be mine many years ago (we restored it to a fantastically high standard) so sad to see it looking a bit forlorn. I wonder if he wants to sell it?

The 20/25 would not have a kneeling one, just a standard. Last time I looked about 10 years ago, an original SOE was around a grand, with made in taiwan type replicas at around 2-300 quid. The SOE on both my 34 Sports Saloon and my 35 Limo are identical. Will take pics when I get home for reference.

No updates for a while as I have been back at work in Norway so I can afford the repairs this winter! Things have started to settle down now, so a chance to post. This was the view out of my office window this morning: Yes, back on Subsea Rock Installation (it used to be called rock dumping but according to the high ups we are not allowed to dump anything on the seabed). Calling it a different name apparently fixes everything* For those interested (not many I am sure) I am on the Nordnes* this time, more info here Flexible fallpipe vessel | Van Oord Mind, changing what you call things matters. The Nordnes used to be called the Rocknes. A google search will show why the name was changed.

I am guessing a Defender of some sort

Nothing compares 2 U a Jim Bell collection thread. Worth waiting 18 months, but can I be the first to say buy more shite more often!

I am going to call dibs on this one! When you get bored with it, let me know and I will see if I can find something older hiding in a corner.....

I am not an expert on these modern things but a friend has an Aston with a Jag engine (we refer to it as his Jag!) so it might be right (or the DB9 uses a different engine and I am talking bollox again)

Have you left yet?

Oh yes! This has the FULL Saabnut seal of approval 😀

The circles will be where the baffles have been spot welded to the end plate during manufacture. The heat from the welds destroys the galvanising so it leaves rusty marks

I have no idea yet where I will be and when, but I am determined to make it down for at least one meet.

Tow balls on bumpers used to be common, but they all consisted of a shaped proper bar that fitted behind the bumper. Two holes were drilled in the bumper blade, and the tow ball was bolted to the bar behind the blade. It gave a neat finish and made it appear that the tow ball was bolted just to the bumper. Used to have a few, will have a look see tomorrow if it ever stops raining!

Managed to collect my Disco this week inbetween booking/cancelling/booking/cancelling/booking flights and hotels for work. Today had a nice surprise as a shiter called to drink my tea....

I had been hoping to be a last minute attendee this year, but this afternoon I received the call to say I am needed in Stavanger on Friday. Hope you all have a great time

An update on this is as usual way overdue! The job was hectic and involved long hours, coupled with a slow internet connection meant updating from offshore was not an option. The job finished only a couple of days late which meant a dash back to France for the Le Mans Classic was on the cards. Midnight Tuesday saw the boat in transit to Stavanger and by 1700 I was at the airport. A flight direct to Gatwick was organised and my brother picked me up at the airport. Thursday morning saw us on the 0730 shuttle and heading back to France Lunchstop was the usual place at the side of the Seine Once back at my place, beers were consumed and the next morning we went to collect my car back from my friends, after which most of the weekend was spent in the square in the centre of La Chatre sur le Loir near the Hotel de France watching the cars and enjoying a beer with friends. With the weekend over, my brother left for home Tuesday morning whilst I spent the day cutting grass and sorting the house. Early Wednesday morning I left the house and for a change headed to Dieppe to get the Newhaven ferry, and got very wet for the last few miles. Typically, the only real rain I saw the whole trip was when I was in slow moving traffic Good crossing but slow, an hour plus beforehand, a 4 hour crossing and an hour to unload. Don't think I will do that one again. Once back in blighty I had the usual rush hour traffic around Heathrow on the M25 to contend with but eventually made it to my hotel for the night near Preston Thursday morning after a good breakfast, I had a clear run and I was home admiring* the long grass by 1330. So the results. Approximately 2400 miles covered over a couple of weeks. 12 tanks of fuel. Average consumption 16 mpg. Two litres of oil consumed. No FTPs The car is going to need some TLC this winter. Obviously it is going to need new discs and pads, and the rear shock absorbers have reached the end of their useful life. In addition, the rear diff is starting to grumble (not surprising after 32k miles with 498 ft/lb of torque going through it. I think the obvious thing to do is drop the lot out and replace everything including the callipers. Might as well do the front suspension and brakes so it is ready for another 30 years. Oh, and a new speedo cable and a handbrake cable as one of the adjusters has broken. I think it is not going to be a cheap winter!

There were 75 of them in Le Mans last weekend

Glad to see they made it, they were at my French local (Hotel de France) for the Le Mans Classique 24hr

Parkd in the car park in the centre of La Chatre whilst going for dinner!

I will have a ‘68 Rover P5b expertly made solid by @GingerNuttzof this parish available soon