vulgalour

Ah yes, I should have thought about that. I'm still pretty sure they're Maestro mirrors, all the casings etc. were identical to the mirror on the car. As I mentioned in the video, I'm pretty sure it's just the plastic insert that's missing. It wouldn't surprise me if Maestro and 213 mirrors are actually the same you know, they're such a similar design and it's not like BLARG were going to spend more money if they didn't have to.

It's definitely a Maestro mirror, the 200 mirrors are much curvier. What I reckon I'm missing is the plastic insert that the driver's side has.

10 working days so I timed it about as well as I could for those extra free days.

Have had a proper look at things, and a look through the spares. The only thing I was missing to fix all of this was the rear brake hose and I found a pair of those for less than £15 delivered so it seemed silly not to order that. They do look much more the length they should be too and suspiciously similar to the ones on the Princess. It might turn out I didn't need to order the rear hoses and could have just used the Princess ones I've got. Order of repairs will be the handbrake cable first, mainly because that's snapped in such a way that I don't actually have to open the drums to replace that bit of the cable, I just have to replace the bit that joins them to the front of the car which I already have a good one of. Then I'll probably do the welding on the sills. If that goes well, I might even do the door bottoms before putting the welder away even though their not an MoT item, it'd just be nice to draw a line under all the welding that's immediately needed. Front brakes after that. I found a caliper rebuild kit to do both front calipers that I totally forgot I bought so I'm even covered if it turns out I've got dodgy calipers. I've got a spare pair of calipers too in case the calipers need spare parts or replacing. I've even got brake fluid. I literally have no good excuse not to do this job. Then it'll be retest I guess. Emissions I can probably deal with the Italian way and if I can't find anyone to lightly bribe then I'll just thrash the nads off it for a bit before the test.

Decided to get some photos, have more of a prod. I've got no argument with the holes discovered, I think they must have found one and then gone looking, that's sensible really. I should have been more dilligent. Anyway, they are very small holes so I might just get away with some little patches. This is what I'm dealing with on the driver's side. Simple shapes, great access and doesn't actually feel particularly crunchy. So I can probably sort that fairly easily. Passenger side is a similar story, the outside hole at the front is a really easy fix. The inside hole at the back is a little trickier. I'm wondering if when this had underseal on it perhaps I mistook it for a drainhole and that's why I didn't do it when I did the arches. This might also be an old repair, it predates my work at any rate. The brake hose at the back is a bit of an odd one, it doesn't look damaged to me but I do agree that it looks far too long and does need replacing with the correct one. Lastly, there's no arguing with the snapped cable. I've got some cable that while not new, is in better shape so I can just swap that over in theory. It's all doable it really is and I know it is. I'm probably just being a fanny about it because I've got so much other stuff I need to resolve at the moment that I didn't really need this adding to it.

So much for an easy MoT pass and sell. I've now got some thinking to do on this one because I'm not sure what I want to do right this minute. Brakes, rust, and emissions were the failures. There's several little holes along the driver's side outer sill right at the bottom where the pinch weld is. Another in a similar location at the back of the passenger side sill. A small one at the leading edge of the passenger sill where the wing has trapped dirt. These are all very doable providing we don't get a can of worms situation. Emissions is probably because I took the car in cold and haven't driven it a lot lately. I should have warmed it up first. It's pre-cat and carbed, worst case I can lean it off for the test if I have to I suppose. Brakes are worn out fronts, which is entirely on me as I've new discs and pads to fit and just haven't. It also snapped a handbrake cable while on the rollers, I do have replacement cables I just don't want to do this job. It also has a chafed brake hose, something I didn't think to check for since the brakes hadn't actually been giving me any issues. It's all repairable, it's all doable. I just can't make up my mind whether or not its worth it for me at this point. I do need to sell it regardless. I'll have a bit of a think before I make up my mind, right now I feel like if I have to do a bunch of this sort of work I'd rather do it on the Princess which is the car I'm keeping and write off the loss with the Maestro.

I've been following a Morris Ambulance build over on the Youtube and it has encountered a bit of a mishap on the motorway recently and is in need of parts. Someone here probably have links to parts lurking somewhere. Absolutely terrible bit of luck for the guy, he's only just replaced the very rare screen and now needs to source and replace it all over again. He's also after some or a complete bodyshell to serve as a donor for repairs. It's an interesting build with some really good problem solving going on, I really hope he's able to find the bits and pieces he needs to sort it out.

It's still not going to get me to go in there and spend my actual money.

But I don't want to talk about it any more.

For a minute there, I thought that was a ridiculously narrow door.

It's alive! The Sherpa mechanical pump was just the ticket and it doesn't appear to be weeping any oil from the mating surfaces. Now I can finish the other rear brake, bleed the whole system, and probably give the car a really thorough clean which it's well overdue for.

I am delighted to report that due to a change of circumstances, the Lanchester is no longer for sale and the project can continue (allbeit at a slower pace). Pat and I are relieved that we no longer have to part with it and a solution could be found to the problem that caused us to have to sell it. I know I'm being a little cryptic about the reasons behind all this. It's really not that exciting, it's just not something we want to make public since it's our own business, but when everything is all fully resolved (which it's well on the way to being now, touch wood) I'll fill in the gaps. For now, we're just excited to be able to carry on with this much loved project.

Good news! A solution to the cause of the sale has presented itself and this car is no longer for sale. What a relief. Apologies if you wanted to buy it.

Depending on the quality of the repair, you might find yourself having to redo those arches completely. Looks a functional repair in the photos, just depends on how they dealt with the inners really. You might just need to whizz a flap wheel over the outside and splash a little filler and paint on.

I have put the mechanical fuel pump Somewhere Safe and as a result, cannot find it. Decided to order a new one and the required spacer block which was only £21 delivered. Problem solved, no need to do any wiring, and I know it's a reliable set up. I also know it takes a bit longer to crank on first start since there's no electric prime, and it's prone to weeping a little oil, but I'm okay with that if it means getting the car mobile again. I might get someone to fit an electric external pump in the future.

@Remspoor all the cardboard (or whatever they actually are, I'm not sure) boards salvaged happily so it turned out okay in the end. @lesapandre it's a double filament bulb dim/dip in both headlights rather than anything exciting like a single-dip or mechanical dip on a single filament bulb.

Good to see you enjoying the SVX again and taking some cracking photos of it. Someone find the current Calendar thread and stick some of the above in it.

Depressing, basic, non-descript. Some styling, a bit of sportiness, more colours than varicose vein blue and appliance white. Even more styling, bright colours, trim options, excitement for the everyman. Oh.

Time for another Lanchester video.

The Lotus wheels are waiting their turn, just like everything else really. I always intended to run them considerably more full time than the steels I just never got around to lining it up. They take an odd tyre size too which complicates matters, especially since there's not a massive choice out there for 14" tyres nowadays. Solved the fuelling issue: dying fuel pump. Took off the carburettor and it's absolutely spotless inside, everything free moving, all gaskets in great shape. Car runs fine if I feed fuel directly to the carburettor and ignore the fuel pump. The one thing that has changed is that I can't feather the throttle to encourage it to run when connected to the fuel pump and this coincides with the pump getting very, very quiet. I think I fitted that pump about four years ago, maybe five, and I shan't be fitting another in-tank one. Instead I'll fit either the mechanical pump when I can find it, or a decent electric one either down by the tank under the car, or up at the front in the engine bay. I know I can draw fuel through the in-tank pump no problem having had to do it before. It's not that removing the pump/sender is difficult on the Princess, it really isn't, it's just impossible to seal the fuel tank up afterwards due to the sealing ring not being very good. Custom fuel tank is a bit of a false economy too since the tank doesn't have any other issues at present.

Finally, a use for all the hoarded ghastly car modification knowledge I intend to inflict on unsuspecting vehicles I've acquired over the years!

Wait, I know that face! 1970s Cadillac Eldorado accessory Super Fly lights.

The only other thing that's similar I can think of off the top of my head would be a '77 Chrysler Cordoba.

Also very possible, most likely where the carb mounts to the manifold in fact. Now you mention it I'm remembering having a similar issue when it ingested/blew out part of the paper gasket a few years ago.

AMC Matador, maybe? These more commonly had vinyl tops. I love the slightly goofy look of them.