Skizzer’s Vauxhall 2300S: cool again

[tooSavvy]

A salutory lesson: just because the temp gauge says the engine’s cold, doesn’t mean you aren’t overheating.

Ah, the joy of driving old snotters.

I never get worry lights or wonky needles in ToMM....

 

.... similarly I never worry a bulb has blown or sender konked

 

Ah, the joy ..........

[Dippy]

I had no end of trouble getting the temp sender to register on mine when I changed the coolant.

 

Beautiful cars, still miss mine but its nice to keep seeing pics of this one.

[wuvvum]

Did you buy the CF in the end?  I noticed it'd been removed from eBay.

[red5]

Fixage has occurred.

 

After a final top up with water it’s now running about 90/10 concentration. Well, at least it’s not going to freeze.

Drain some off, back to 50/50 mix. Antifreeze is only effective down to -7c when 'pure'. It works when mixed with h20.

[Guest Hooli]

Drain some off, back to 50/50 mix. Antifreeze is only effective down to -7c when 'pure'. It works when mixed with h20.

That and I believe antifreeze isn't as good at cooling compared to water.

[Skizzer]

Drain some off, back to 50/50 mix. Antifreeze is only effective down to -7c when 'pure'. It works when mixed with h20.

  

That and I believe antifreeze isn't as good at cooling compared to water.

Ta. Will do. Just need to figure out where to empty the old stuff out of my bucket safely first.

[Skizzer]

Did you buy the CF in the end? I noticed it'd been removed from eBay.

Not me I’m afraid. I did seriously think about it but I couldn’t make the logistics work due to a lot of pre-Christmas travel and work stuff - plus I really don’t need another project.

[RobT]

Ta. Will do. Just need to figure out where to empty the old stuff out of my bucket safely first.

When I'm down the tip I empty it into the massive used oil container. Bit naughty but better than lobbing it down the drain at home, which I'm sure some people do.

[Skizzer]

Now that this is running a treat, I’ve been happily hooning around in it.

 

 

I imagine an 1800 Victor is a deeply mediocre conveyance, but the 2300 slant four means this car is not only lively but actually quite a lot of fun to chuck around. It’s all about torque. It’s noisy at higher engine speeds, which is why it’s a bit rubbish as a motorway cruiser without overdrive, but around the Gower it’s great. There’s scads of shove for overtaking dawdling tourists and pulling out of bends.

 

Handling is fine in a giant plastic steering wheel sort of way, while roadholding and grip are really quite good on the Kumho tyres.

 

I must admit to driving it like a backup Detective Constable in the Sweeney. How much fun would it be to get the SD1 out as well and chase myself round the ungentrified parts of Swansea docks?

 

 

(This is actually George Bulman from The XYY Man / Strangers / Bulman, but he wasn’t a car chase sort of copper. The uniform with him definitely joined CI5 later in his career though.)

[mercrocker]

Glad to see this paying you back some pleasure now....

[Junkman]

That car is so cool.

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

The condition of that is incredible! Is it in as good a shape as it looks?

[skoda_fan]

I agree that looks totally joyous. Years ago I inherited an 1800 version and can confirm its mediocrity as a conveyance. It had a certain lazy charm about it though and I liked it. Being a fool I sold it on a whim and it was written off shortly afterwards.