Project Project Capri. Back on the road! Running like a scouse watch!

[N19]

2 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

I think you’re probably right tbh.  
I’ve said it before, but I can do many things myself (so I get pissed off when I can’t!) but getting old cars tuned up properly is a skill and I don’t have it. I can get them good enough to idle and drive normally but getting them running right and efficiently is another matter entirely. 
Trying to do it by ear is a lost cause here as my hearing is absolutely fucked anyway. One ear is significantly better than the other (damage from an accident!) but I’ve always had trouble with my ears even as a kid. Listening to load music probably hasn’t helped either!

It was funny actually today, as the guys in the garage weren’t Carburetor guys. By their own admission they said nobody here is old enough really to have worked on them. Everything since the late 80’s more or less has some form of fuel injection and you just never see them anymore. In this case I’ve actually got more experience than they did with carbs! On the other hand if you sat me in front of a modern fuel injection system with a fault I wouldn’t know wtf to do with it. I doubt I could even turn on the diagnostic machine!😁

But, I’ve got a few suggestions from you lot to try and the parts I’ve ordered so if that fails and the parts cannon method fails, I’ll have to look for old Burt. There’s a few places I can think of in this general area so hopefully it’ll get sorted one way or the other.

You're right, it's a complex topic. Like you, I can get a car running and functioning, but you need to know what you're doing to get it 100% spot on.

If you haven't already, give Martin at CapriGear a ring. He's decent and has spent many many years working on the cars, and will usually be quite happy to chat and give advice on the phone. A long way away from you, albeit, but he can give ideas...

[danthecapriman]

9 minutes ago, mat_the_cat said:

I don't think it's the issue in your case, but it's quite interesting (to me at least) how the filters work. It's not as simple as the filter stopping all particles larger than say 5 microns; rather the filter medium will have a range of hole sizes, some bigger, some smaller. Most of the holes will be in the order of (say) 5 microns, so the chances of any larger particles getting through a new filter is low, as the probability of them hitting a large enough hole is negligible. But what happens as the filter clogs up is that more and more of the smaller holes get blocked, and a greater proportion of the (now restricted) fuel flow now goes through the larger holes. So when people leave a filter for too long, thinking that all that could happen is it starts to starve the engine of fuel, the're actually increasing the risk of doing harm.

Like others have said though, you seem to get deposits forming from old fuel - I wonder if it's stuff that has previously been dissolved in it which crystallises as it dries out?

I didn’t know that tbh, about the filter holes! Learn something new every day! 
Tbh, I’ve also got my doubts about the quality of some filters. Some look good, some look cheap and nasty. But I’m convinced I once fitted an inline filter and the paper filter stuff inside it started to dissolve and get sucked into the carb. I think it was on my old Granada. The crap in the carb looked suspiciously like very very wet torn up filter paper.

[derskine]

6 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

Good shout. I’ll try that, since it’s easy to do I might try it on the inlet manifold - head join too, just need a replacement gasket.

At least I’m not alone!😁 

What carb is on yours?

I’ll give that a go too before I start pulling anything apart. 

I’ve just driven it home and it’s definitely better that it was, but still playing up. 
It’s a particular nightmare on hills! Just came up a short steep one and it really did not like trying to go up it. Of course you need to apply more gas which is exactly what causes the stumbling and farting problems!

Mine is a 32/36, it seems to be on mine that when the second choke opens, it happens?

[danthecapriman]

It’s been a week or so since I’ve done anything on this. Mainly because of other thing’s going on and, of course, it’s the height of summer so it’s naturally been pissing with rain non stop!

However, I took the liberty of ordering some new ignition parts and firing the parts cannon at the car in the hope of curing that irritating stumbling issue!

So, when I did a quick ‘refresh’ of the engine when it was out of the car I put new HT leads, plugs, rotor arm and dizzy cap on. All the old ones were well used and needed replacing, but I just bought cheap bits to replace them. They did the job, and let the engine start & run but with the stumbling issues could they be a bit suspect?? This time I bought more expensive better quality parts so hopefully they’ll help!

Fitting them all is easy, as long as you remember which lead goes where…      
I got a set of Champion plugs this time (made in GB!) as the last few sets of NGK plugs I’ve had looked a bit crappy compared to how they were. Maybe it’s just me!? I’ve also made absolutely sure they’re all gapped properly. 
The old NGK plug’s actually look to be a far better colour now too, the cars been driven a bit now and it’s still got that second, newer carb on too so it’s definitely running significantly better than it was. All are the same with a light brownish grey colour.

Nothing seemed particularly obviously wrong with the old parts until I got to the dizzy cap. The cheap old one could be fitted and clamped into the correct place but if you grab the cap you could twist it slightly in both directions! It wasn’t a huge amount but that surely could alter the timing slightly. The new cap is a very tight and definite fit and will not move at all when it’s on. 
 

Anyway, with everything fitted it starts and idles as well as ever. I’ve run it up to temperature so the choke is off and so far I’ve been blipping the throttle, revving the engine and haven’t noticed the stumbling or cutting out issue at all. It seems very responsive now which it didn’t before. 
I’ll have to try it on the road at some point but fingers crossed!

[Wibble]

47 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

It’s been a week or so since I’ve done anything on this. Mainly because of other thing’s going on and, of course, it’s the height of summer so it’s naturally been pissing with rain non stop!

However, I took the liberty of ordering some new ignition parts and firing the parts cannon at the car in the hope of curing that irritating stumbling issue!

So, when I did a quick ‘refresh’ of the engine when it was out of the car I put new HT leads, plugs, rotor arm and dizzy cap on. All the old ones were well used and needed replacing, but I just bought cheap bits to replace them. They did the job, and let the engine start & run but with the stumbling issues could they be a bit suspect?? This time I bought more expensive better quality parts so hopefully they’ll help!

Fitting them all is easy, as long as you remember which lead goes where…      
I got a set of Champion plugs this time (made in GB!) as the last few sets of NGK plugs I’ve had looked a bit crappy compared to how they were. Maybe it’s just me!? I’ve also made absolutely sure they’re all gapped properly. 
The old NGK plug’s actually look to be a far better colour now too, the cars been driven a bit now and it’s still got that second, newer carb on too so it’s definitely running significantly better than it was. All are the same with a light brownish grey colour.

Nothing seemed particularly obviously wrong with the old parts until I got to the dizzy cap. The cheap old one could be fitted and clamped into the correct place but if you grab the cap you could twist it slightly in both directions! It wasn’t a huge amount but that surely could alter the timing slightly. The new cap is a very tight and definite fit and will not move at all when it’s on. 
 

Anyway, with everything fitted it starts and idles as well as ever. I’ve run it up to temperature so the choke is off and so far I’ve been blipping the throttle, revving the engine and haven’t noticed the stumbling or cutting out issue at all. It seems very responsive now which it didn’t before. 
I’ll have to try it on the road at some point but fingers crossed!

Sounds really promising Dan! I wouldn’t be able to resist going for a quick spin now to be sure. Engine bay looks mint!

[danthecapriman]

13 minutes ago, Wibble said:

Sounds really promising Dan! I wouldn’t be able to resist going for a quick spin now to be sure. Engine bay looks mint!

Hopefully I’ll have a bit of time this weekend or possibly next week to give it a spin round the block. It certainly seems happy enough at the moment though so fingers crossed.🤞

I think the new king lead for the coil - dizzy cap might possibly be a bit too long!😁 I’ll have to try and loop it around somewhere and lose the excess length.

The silver hot paint I put on the exhaust and manifold is already starting to fail though. There’s tiny bits of rust coming through the silver. Not the end of the world really. Same on the exhaust system, little bits of rust coming through the paint. 

[Wibble]

Funnily enough the king lead on the Cortina is also too long and routed accordingly! 

[danthecapriman]

Did a bit on this today. Which isn’t easy at the moment as most of my tools etc are packed away!

All I’ve done is added a couple of extra earth leads. 
The original one just bolts to a flat part of the lower engine block casting with a little spur off to the inner wing. It seems ok but it’s old now and it occurred to me that more can’t hurt and putting them in different places might make a better return path than trying to go through gaskets, bolt threads etc etc to get to the single factory one!

Firstly I’ve separated the original body inner wing connection, ground that down more to bare steel then cleaned the cable end and bolted it back tight. 
The next extra earth is a big thick copper braid, which I’ve slipped on under one of the starter motor mount bolts then cleaned the paint off a patch of the inner wing next to the chassis leg where there was a convenient unused hole for a bolt already, then bolted them up tight. 
The final extra is a short length of copper cable with insulation (actually intended for a Mini!) but it’s a nice thick piece of cable. I wanted this as close to the plugs as I could so it’s fitted between the lifting eye on the head and an unused hole one the bulkhead where some cars seem to have what looks like an earth attached anyway. Everything is cleaned to bare shiny metal and tightened down with a washer and spring washer.

You can just see them in the pic. I’ve also tied the comedy long king lead back for fear of it ending up in the fan blades if I don’t! I’ll make a tidier more permanent job of it later.

 

Fires up and runs well, and no signs of the hesitation and splutter either.

 

It could do with a bit more petrol in soon, but I think a longer road test might be called for. Which I might just about be able to get in before the road salt wankers start spreading that shit all over the place! Once that’s down I’ll be shut down for winter. As far as driving it goes anyway.

While it was sat running today I had the heater on. The new mk3 matrix is miles better than the tiny old mk1 type this used to have from new! While it’s not exactly the best heater, and nothing compared to the raging inferno the Volvo can put out, it’s noticeably a big improvement. And, it now works on all three position settings which it didn’t before because of a broken control cable. Absolute luxury!!

[danthecapriman]

Thought I’d update this, even if it is a ridiculously tiny update!

Basically I’ve actually done very little on this car (or indeed any car!) this year. We’re attempting to move house, have been since last year, but so far in two years the house has sold three times and fallen through three times! Once is unlucky but three times is absolutely spectacular! Somehow it just keeps on happening - the reason being other people. They’re just cunts and behave accordingly. The other reason is the property rules and regulations in England are absolutely shit and in dire need of an overhaul and regulation but that’s a whole other issue!

So, because of said house move, I’ve deliberately tried not to start anything that’s going to make A: mess and B: immobilise cars. 
Things have got to the stage where almost everything is packed waiting for a moving date before it falls through so things like tools are now mostly inaccessible other than odd basics!

But, after the latest bad news and sale/chain collapse caused by a cuntish selfish HMO wanker further down the chain I’ve decided to at least do something that does really need doing on this car.

Problem being the specific tool I need is… packed!! I’ve had a look and can’t find my timing light anywhere and I’m loath to start opening up and unpacking boxes en masse so I just bought a new one. (So you can guarantee the other one will turn up any minute now!). 
Since last update where I fitted new better quality ignition parts driving and running has improved but it’s still got a bit of a splutter when revving the engine or crucially, when trying to accelerate from junctions etc etc.

What I should have done was fitted the electronic ignition then reset the timing straight away afterwards (like your apparently meant to!) but I didn’t!
I had a good idea it would be out tbh, but since it was working I left it alone then the house move stuff started so I left alone again then the timing light disappeared. 
So with a new one here I set it up in the usual way and the car run up to temperature, vac advance disconnected and plugged, idle speed raised slightly, I checked what I already had it set at…

err. Hmm. Oops! That’d be the reason for the spluttering and lack of acceleration then!!😆 

Waaaaaaaay too retarded! (Can you still call it that nowadays!??). I don’t know how or why it was set like that though. When it was taken off the road for the resto it ran and drove just fine so unless the dizzy has been moved somewhen in the years since I have no idea why it was like that. Or can upgrading to electronic ignition upset things that much???

Anyway, I eventually got it set back to what the manual said. 
Capri 1.6 = 6 - 8 degrees.  
Doing that turned into a nightmare on its own as the dizzy was utterly stuck solid and wouldn’t rotate! In the end I had to use a pair of vice grips clamped to the shaft and smack them with my palm to try to shock it free, sprayed on some plus gas penetrating spray for good measure. It went eventually but it was not easy. 
Currently it’s set at just below 8 degrees so within the manual’s settings and it has improved hugely! It runs much much smoother now and doesn’t have the annoying splutter or hesitation. It starts far easier now too. 
Tbh, how it was set before, I don’t know how it was even running let alone running as well as it was!

One odd thing I did notice though was when I left the strobe light on the pulley timing marks longer than I normally would do occasionally the timing would jump to around 4 degrees for a few seconds then revert back to just below 8 degrees. No idea why? 
I did move the HT lead clamp on number 1 lead to somewhere else where there were no nearby other HT leads and it stopped doing it so maybe it was a bit of interference from one of the other leads?? 
Once the dizzy was clamped tight I tested it again with the light and everything seemed fine still so I’m calling it sorted. 
I’ll have to get the car out for a drive around at some stage though and just see if it’s ok once it’s running around and at different speeds etc, but how it was before certainly couldn’t have been doing it much good.

Its so nice to be able to do a job like this though and the car be so clean you can open the bonnet and immediately see the timing marks and see they’ve been cleaned and painted in advance of the job! It makes things so much easier! 
I don’t actually remember painting the timing marks but I did paint the engine so I must have!

Last time I was messing around with the carburettor on this I managed to burn myself by adjusting the carb screws by hand. My arm was resting against the heater hose while doing it… it burnt badly enough to create a revolting burn mark and accompanying scar back then, so naturally this time while altering the idle speed I did not use a screwdriver, nor did I use gloves. I did it the exact same way and, strangely enough the exact same thing happened in exactly the same place! 
It looks disgusting and it’s bound to scar even worse this time! Bloody idiot!

[FakeConcern]

Liked for getting the timing sorted not burning yourself!

 

So has the house sale fallen through yet again?

[mercedade]

1 hour ago, danthecapriman said:

Last time I was messing around with the carburettor on this I managed to burn myself by adjusting the carb screws by hand. My arm was resting against the heater hose while doing it… it burnt badly enough to create a revolting burn mark and accompanying scar back then, so naturally this time while altering the idle speed I did not use a screwdriver, nor did I use gloves. I did it the exact same way and, strangely enough the exact same thing happened in exactly the same place! 
It looks disgusting and it’s bound to scar even worse this time! Bloody idiot!

When I was 17, I drove from Hampshire to Lancaster in my 1983 1.1 Fiesta, accompanied by my mum, to go and look around universities. We were about 3 miles from destination when it spluttered and died at a set of lights. By this time, I'd be working in a garage as the MOT-assistant/wheel wobbler, and done some generic light servicing, so I figured "yeah, I know LOADS about cars, I'll take a look myself". Popped the bonnet, saw a cable/wire of some kind (no idea what) and couldn't see what it was attached to, so reached into the engine bay and attempted to move it. 

As I did so, I rested my wrist on a cast iron manifold that had been chucking out combustion gasses for about four hours continuously. The skin actually sizzled , but luckily it also smelt like delicious flame-grilled steak. Still got the scar (obviously)

[danthecapriman]

19 minutes ago, mercedade said:

When I was 17, I drove from Hampshire to Lancaster in my 1983 1.1 Fiesta, accompanied by my mum, to go and look around universities. We were about 3 miles from destination when it spluttered and died at a set of lights. By this time, I'd be working in a garage as the MOT-assistant/wheel wobbler, and done some generic light servicing, so I figured "yeah, I know LOADS about cars, I'll take a look myself". Popped the bonnet, saw a cable/wire of some kind (no idea what) and couldn't see what it was attached to, so reached into the engine bay and attempted to move it. 

As I did so, I rested my wrist on a cast iron manifold that had been chucking out combustion gasses for about four hours continuously. The skin actually sizzled , but luckily it also smelt like delicious flame-grilled steak. Still got the scar (obviously)

😬 yowzer!! 
I did something similar on a mk3 Fiesta when I was in the garage. It came in for a replacement fan belt, so I drove it in and tried getting the old one off. It was tight as hell and I somehow managed to reach down to pull it free and rested my arm on the down pipe. That left a sizeable blister!! 
The customer wasn’t impressed by my language when it happened either!

[danthecapriman]

1 hour ago, FakeConcern said:

Liked for getting the timing sorted not burning yourself!

 

So has the house sale fallen through yet again?

Cheers!

Yep! The chain has collapsed now for the third time in 2 years. 
The bottom of this chain was a ‘first time buyer’ then the people buying our house and I think there were three or four more above us. 
Things really started dragging on, and in the end the top of the chain were ready to go so they started asking questions and asking for possible dates. 
We then started pushing the lower chain and the solicitors told us there were further questions from the first time buyers mortgage brokers and their broker was notoriously slow… 

Something didn’t add up but we waited. Then after a few more weeks we started pushing again when eventually it slipped out that the first time buyer wasn’t a first time buyer at all but was in fact some property tosser wanting to buy our buyers house to convert into a house of multiple occupancy (HMO) which of course needs planning permission!

So that’s what the hold up turned out to be! He’d put his offer in, had it accepted and told our buyers he was a first time buyer. Then he’d submitted planning permission to carry out the HMO and been neigh on impossible to get hold of in the mean time. Obviously things like that should be conditions of sale but it wasn’t ever mentioned in this case! 
The last we heard was that his HMO was accepted and he was just waiting on the paperwork to come through then we can proceed.

Again, weeks go by… 

Then out of the blue the estate agent we’re buying through rang us and said they were so sorry for what had happened and are we ok!? 
Errr, eh!? 
She then realised we didn’t know and she then had to tell us the chain had collapsed and it was because HMO cunt at the bottom had walked away! 
We didn’t know, our solicitor didn’t know, our buyer didn’t know!! So we ended up having to pass it down. 
Nobody seems to know why he pulled the plug but the selfish fuck put everyone in the chain through all that waiting and he was not honest about his position at all through it either.

My theory is that HMO cunt was in dodgy dealings with our buyers estate agent over their property and that’s why it got covered up and no real information was given about him or what his position was. 
Obviously if he said he needed planning permission at the start then our buyers would have said you can apply for permission first but the property stays on the market in the meantime or it becomes a condition of sale like it should.( I know this because we have talked to our buyers since!) they said if they knew this at the start they’d have not accepted his offer. Of course proving this would be impossible! 
Basically HMO fuck face caused six months of wasted time, money and effort for several families then changes his twat mind and walks into the sunset without a care!

So the chain has collapsed, the house we were buying is back on the market again. Our buyers house is back on the market again, but since talking to them about all this (they’re really nice people!) they absolutely love our house and desperately want it still. So we are going to sit tight and see what happens with their house sale. If it sells again (it’s going for auction soon so probably will!) then we will continue with them as our buyer (also avoids more viewings, surveys etc) then just see what’s available for us after that. 
If they can’t sell for whatever reason we’ll put this house back on the market.

Whats absolutely galling about it all is this is the third time we’ve had to start over in two years. All because of other people and their shitty behaviour and because the property market in this country is so poorly regulated and watched. Once is unlucky but three times takes the piss!

For now we’re stuck here waiting (again) to see what happens below us. But if HMO dick head is ever unlucky enough that I find out who he is he’s going to spend the remainder of his pitiful existence having to eat every meal through a straw! Time wasting little shit stain. 

[Wibble]

Sorry to hear of the moving woes again Dan and the burn! Glad the Capri’s running better, if you need anything else like the timing light, give me a shout. Happy to lend what I’ve got rather than you unpacking or buying duplicates. Hope you get better news on the moving front soon.

[danthecapriman]

19 minutes ago, Wibble said:

Sorry to hear of the moving woes again Dan and the burn! Glad the Capri’s running better, if you need anything else like the timing light, give me a shout. Happy to lend what I’ve got rather than you unpacking or buying duplicates. Hope you get better news on the moving front soon.

Cheers👍

Its even got to the point where I needed a steel ruler for a few things a while back and of course mine is packed so I had to go buy another one! Bloody annoying having to try living out of boxes for so long.

Still, I suppose it could be worse. 
 

[Wibble]

Sounds bloody frustrating when it’s all down to some other prick. Still, happy to help out if I can, you’re not a million miles away, yet.

[artdjones]

20 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

Cheers!

Yep! The chain has collapsed now for the third time in 2 years. 
The bottom of this chain was a ‘first time buyer’ then the people buying our house and I think there were three or four more above us. 
Things really started dragging on, and in the end the top of the chain were ready to go so they started asking questions and asking for possible dates. 
We then started pushing the lower chain and the solicitors told us there were further questions from the first time buyers mortgage brokers and their broker was notoriously slow… 

Something didn’t add up but we waited. Then after a few more weeks we started pushing again when eventually it slipped out that the first time buyer wasn’t a first time buyer at all but was in fact some property tosser wanting to buy our buyers house to convert into a house of multiple occupancy (HMO) which of course needs planning permission!

So that’s what the hold up turned out to be! He’d put his offer in, had it accepted and told our buyers he was a first time buyer. Then he’d submitted planning permission to carry out the HMO and been neigh on impossible to get hold of in the mean time. Obviously things like that should be conditions of sale but it wasn’t ever mentioned in this case! 
The last we heard was that his HMO was accepted and he was just waiting on the paperwork to come through then we can proceed.

Again, weeks go by… 

Then out of the blue the estate agent we’re buying through rang us and said they were so sorry for what had happened and are we ok!? 
Errr, eh!? 
She then realised we didn’t know and she then had to tell us the chain had collapsed and it was because HMO cunt at the bottom had walked away! 
We didn’t know, our solicitor didn’t know, our buyer didn’t know!! So we ended up having to pass it down. 
Nobody seems to know why he pulled the plug but the selfish fuck put everyone in the chain through all that waiting and he was not honest about his position at all through it either.

My theory is that HMO cunt was in dodgy dealings with our buyers estate agent over their property and that’s why it got covered up and no real information was given about him or what his position was. 
Obviously if he said he needed planning permission at the start then our buyers would have said you can apply for permission first but the property stays on the market in the meantime or it becomes a condition of sale like it should.( I know this because we have talked to our buyers since!) they said if they knew this at the start they’d have not accepted his offer. Of course proving this would be impossible! 
Basically HMO fuck face caused six months of wasted time, money and effort for several families then changes his twat mind and walks into the sunset without a care!

So the chain has collapsed, the house we were buying is back on the market again. Our buyers house is back on the market again, but since talking to them about all this (they’re really nice people!) they absolutely love our house and desperately want it still. So we are going to sit tight and see what happens with their house sale. If it sells again (it’s going for auction soon so probably will!) then we will continue with them as our buyer (also avoids more viewings, surveys etc) then just see what’s available for us after that. 
If they can’t sell for whatever reason we’ll put this house back on the market.

Whats absolutely galling about it all is this is the third time we’ve had to start over in two years. All because of other people and their shitty behaviour and because the property market in this country is so poorly regulated and watched. Once is unlucky but three times takes the piss!

For now we’re stuck here waiting (again) to see what happens below us. But if HMO dick head is ever unlucky enough that I find out who he is he’s going to spend the remainder of his pitiful existence having to eat every meal through a straw! Time wasting little shit stain. 

My brother and wife have had three different moves fall through for various reasons to do with it being a chain. In the end, to keep their buyers they've rented a tiny flat and put the rest of their stuff in storage. As it happens, they have another house to buy in prospect , so hopefully it'll be just 2 months flat rental to pay. But at least it ensures that one side of the deal won't bring the other down.

[Datsuncog]

+1 for getting the timing sorted! Sounds like the sort of methodical work I should have carried out on my last Cortina, but never quite got around to it... then I noticed there were holes in the inner wings I could put my hand through, so sold it quick.

-1 for Team Sizzle... I've still some scarring on my left wrist from a close encounter with a hot Viva manifold about 25 years ago; it's not so very noticeable to the casual observer these days, but it's still there...

Fingers crossed you'll get there in the end with the house move - my brother just moved two weeks ago (London -> Oxfordshire) after nearly two years in the purgatory of buyers dropping out/ sellers pulling out, so it can have a happy ending, eventually! Just hang on in there.

[danthecapriman]

Cheers fella’s!

I don’t think renting a flat and storing stuff is something I can do tbh. It’s been suggested before but I think I’d go crazy stuck in a flat for any length of time!😄      
Plus, there’s the small matter of all the cars! I could store them too but it’s getting expensive to do that.

‘Hanging on in there’ is pretty much the only real choice. It’s either that or don’t move and stay here. 
‘Here’ isn’t the worst place in all honesty. It’s a not bad area, house is pretty good, garden is big so plenty of nice outside space which is important, off road parking for lots of cars, garage etc etc. 

It’s more the fact we’re fed up with the area now. I’ve been here almost my entire life and, like most places in the country I suppose, I’ve watched the area change - and never for the better! It’s grown and grown and still growing. What used to be a string of small villages and towns separated by fields and countryside is now one big urban or suburban shit hole with no separation between so you can’t tell where one place starts and ends anymore. There’s way too many people here now, none of the infrastructure has been improved to compensate so it’s packed and congested now, and the quality of people here now is on a rapid decline! There’s some right cunts about here now that you never got before. 
We don’t know anyone here anymore either, everyone’s left now. I probably know the post lady better than anyone now! 
The woodland that used to be next door has all been destroyed now and the greedy fuck developer responsible for that is still pushing for unrealistic planning so fighting that cunt has become tiresome and left a very bitter taste. Plus the simple fact of the woodland being taken away has been a huge change for the worse from a perspective of living in the area. That was always one of the big positives about living here. 
There’s plans afoot for 80 odd new homes on a big Manor House and its gardens at the end of the road too. Ever more people and all the rest of the shit they bring shoehorned into the area! 
Really I think it’s just time to go now. Go somewhere else and try something else while the opportunity is there. 
I know most of the country is going down hill in many of the ways mentioned above, but if you didn’t know how the place was then you’ve not lost anything, if that makes sense!?

I genuinely think there’s better places to be now and if it’s going to happen now’s the time. Of course the best thing to do would be emigrate away from this shitty little island and never come back but it’s not that easy.

Despite what’s happened over the last few years though, I’m quite sure it will happen. The people wanting our current house are great people and dead keen so I think if they can get their place sold it shouldn’t be a big deal. Strangely, I’d quite like to see them in this house as I think it’d suit them and things would be looked after here by them. I know you can’t be like that once you sell but when you’ve lived here as long as we have and done as much to the place as we have it’s nice to know it’s going to be in good hands with someone who deserves it afterwards in a weird way. Considering what & where they’re coming from it’ll be a massive improvement for them, and their kids will benefit from being here enormously too.

Anyway, ramblings of a sentimental twat over with, I’ll just have to keep going forward with it and try my hardest not to kill any irritating property developers!😆    
I can keep occupied by doing a bit on the cars, and buying more diecast toys scale models!

[danthecapriman]

What a fabulous morning! Nice weather today and I’ve been a bit miserable lately so I decided to get the Crapi out for a quick run around.

First time I’ve really used it since doing the timing (I know I know, use it more you idiot!), but my god what a difference! It’s driving absolutely beautiful now! Silk smooth (for a Capri!) and absolutely no hesitation or bogging when pulling away or accelerating. 
Only slight niggles are the tracking definitely needs doing, and the clutch cable is quite stiff, but it is brand new so I think with use it’ll free off. Other than its spot on. Everything works as it should.

Definitely picked my mood up anyway. 
I didn’t go far, just a few laps of the estate at the end of road then a few runs up and down the main road a bit further and faster. Probably about 25 miles or so. 
Certainly has given me my confidence in it back though! Before restoring it I’d gladly have relied on it and trusted it, but having been that heavily stripped and rebuilt your never really totally sure afterwards. Especially considering it was me that put it all together again!😆

Next time I’ll take it further. Try to find some nicer roads to stretch its legs on.

Anyway, amazing what a classic car does to brighten your mood!