Zel's Motoring Adventures...Peugeot, Renault, Rover, Trabant, Invacar & A Sinclair C5 - 16/04 - Routine Consumables...

[Zelandeth]

You do still need to manually tax it, though even the reminder letter they send out is different (V11Z rather than V11, so the system knows it's different).  When they actually send it anyway - rather than the nasty "Warning! Untaxed vehicle!" letter I got for the Xantia a while ago because I never got the reminder.

 

The Lada was unceremoniously dragged out of hibernation this morning and thrown at my local garage for an MOT without so much as a lighting check.  Was expecting a list of minor stuff just due to having sat around for a month or two plus a year's use (albeit covering only a couple of thousand miles, mostly in fair weather).

Unexpected, but not going to complain!

The advisory for some underbody corrosion has been there as long as I've had the car, there's quite a bit of surface rust that could do with a scrub down and attacking with some Vactan and Dinitrol.  She's never done any winter service in my ownership and I've generally tried to avoid wet weather driving where possible, so it's never got any worse.  Has always been on the to do list, sadly has just never got to the top.

The steering idler mentioned has a nylon bush in it, and they're prone to wear - replacement inserts are less than a tenner...and I've got one in stock already.  Though it's nowhere near bad enough to worry us just now.

Having this car roadworthy again is going to make the logistics of this weekend where we need to get to a charity event with the dogs this weekend immeasurably easier.

Last year when she was in for the test I was still trying to get to the bottom of a small vacuum leak which meant the fuelling wasn't quite spot on so the emissions test was a rather mediocre pass.  Having finally sorted that leak, I was curious to see what she would show today.

Much better!

Ignore the fail on the first test.  The cat on this car is miles from the front of the car and takes an age to get up to temperature when you're standing still.

Lambda is still showing slightly high, though both me and the tester agree that that's probably entirely down to there being a couple of small leaks in the exhaust.

Last test we did with the carb in place we eventually managed to squeak through at 0.297% CO (limit is 0.300%)...so fair to say she's running quite a bit cleaner now I think.  I reckon 0.093% is a decent figure for any engine...much less one from behind the Iron Curtain fro. The early 70s essentially with what many consider to be a very crude injection system grafted onto it.  The cat is the original one from 1993 too.

Seeing those numbers makes it seem a lot more worthwhile having done the work (plus the car being way nicer to drive!).

[spartacus]

Nice one, hopefully that will offset the disappointment of the job list on the Citroen.

[Zelandeth]

Hmm...what's that hiding in the van...?

Yet more ex-garage diagnostic equipment.  This time in the form of a diesel smoke opacity meter.

This control panel has a very late 80s/early 90s look to it under the grime I reckon...

These things are pretty simple, so no reason it shouldn't work.  Pulled one apart a few years ago and it was basically just a high intensity light source (halogen MR16 lamp in that case) in one side of the case and a detector at the other side plus some hardware to draw the air through.

Can't see it getting a huge amount of use - especially given the van basically doesn't smoke at all once started - but could be handy checking stuff for others and it's nice to know I've got the bases covered... slowly but surely getting my garage kitted out.

[LightBulbFun]

Yay happy to see the lada managed to get through the MOT with no bother  

wont lie, im hopeful I may get a chance to have a shot of it (or any lada really!) on the open road now that iv had a few lessons under my belt!

50 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

it was basically just a high intensity light source (halogen MR16 lamp in that case)

im curious if it really is a boggo standard 50W MR16, or actually a specialist projection lamp?

speaking of lamps I was stalking your thread on the other forums you frequent and I noticed you got your F30T8/F30T12 tube description a bit back to fron where you said the F30T12 came first, the F30T8 is what came first and is of older design spec with 9V switch start/preheat cathodes and specs of 110V/350Ma, I know its a bit counter intuitive, as indeed most T8s indeed came after their T12 counterparts, but not in this case, as the first popular fluorescent tube to market was the F15T8 by GE put to market in 1938, and the F30T8 was literally a length doubled version of the F15T8, designed to run off 240V choke circuits where as the F15T8 was designed to run off 120V choke circuits,

and then the F30T12 was introduced in the late 1950s or early 1960s can be thought of as a Rapid start F40T12 with 1 foot lopped off the end, with 3.6V cathodes and specs of 85V/450Ma just something to be aware of for next time

[Zelandeth]

I *knew* that control panel looked familiar...

 

[Zelandeth]

Brake caliper overhaul kit for the Lada has arrived.

Didn't realise it came with new pistons as well, a nice surprise.

I also had a chat with my local exhaust fitter.  The system does actually show the correct middle section for the cat equipped Riva, which is a bit of a surprise.  Unfortunately their wholesaler's computer system was down this afternoon so they were unable to confirm if it was actually available or not.  Will try again tomorrow.

New car excitement has thoroughly set in now, and I just want to tick off as many things off the to do list on the Lada as possible befor it's handed over.

[Zelandeth]

So the exhaust I need is no longer available.  Balls.  Given it's unique to the cat equipped Riva and that they're virtually extinct I'm not hugely surprised.

Have been around to speak to a stainless fabricator who comes highly recommended.  They can make me up a replacement section for around £150, but want me to pick up a new tailpipe first as it's a bit rusty and they don't want to mess with it.  Fair enough, and they're all of £30.

Will give the new owner the option to weigh in to see if they're interested in looking at a full system in stainless in the future as it would probably make more sense to do it in one shot.  If they want it done now though it will be done.

[Zelandeth]

Haven't heard back yet, so just going to go ahead with getting the exhaust sorted on the Lada... It's only been bugging me since 2016.  New tailpipe has been ordered, so that will be ready to go on either way.  Think I've managed to find the correct estate tailpipe (the tip is cranked to the right to clear the towing eye) which will be a definite bonus.  Should stop it knocking when the engine stops.

Had also planned to reinstate the glovebox, however the tray isn't where I thought it was.  Pretty sure I know where it is, but there's an Invacar in the way of getting to it.  I'll see about standing on my head to get around it tomorrow and hopefully get it out of the box it's (hopefully!) in and back together.

The heater in the van had finally finished the five litre can I'd been feeding it from.  I'll look at plumbing it in to the main vehicle fuel feed, but that's going to be awkward.  The lines go up above the fuel tank.  I will want to drop it at some point anyway for two reasons: rust proofing for one, and secondly to try to clear the vent so it takes less than a week and a half to fill it.

For now though the ten litre one the heater was supplied with will do just fine.  It's going to live in the gas locker for now.

The pipe has been clipped to the wall now.

Obviously having installed a new feed line I needed to prime the fuel system again.  This took a while, and then resulted in truly comical clouds of smoke when the burner fires up for the first time.

This successfully blanketed half the driveway before it cleared its throat...sorted itself out then.

Had a quick play around with the Lucas Smoke Meter.

...What is it with me recording videos in bloody portrait?!?  Excuse me while I go and beat my head against the nearest wall.  Will do my best to fix that next time.

Astonishingly the printer works and the ribbon has just about enough ink left to produce a readable output.  Just about.

I really need to work out how to properly drive this thing...there are only two buttons and a dial aside from the computer itself (which doesn't *appear* to actually require any user input, I think it's mainly being an interface between the base unit and the printer)...and the display on the remote control has a four digit seven segment LCD display...which seems to do about seven different things.  A manual would be useful in deciphering the gobbledygook.

Aside from desperately needing a good clean (it is truly gross) it looks to be in good order though.  Have two spare filter assemblies in the cabinet which is nice to see.

Hopefully will get it properly unloaded this weekend and give it a test with actual exhaust gas to analyse and see what we get.

[Zelandeth]

Quick update on the smoke tester.  Only had half an hour so it is a really quick update.

Step one was to see what we could do about this.

That's the ribbon for the printer in case you wondered.

Which helpfully is marked.

A quick poke around on Google shows this to be used by a plethora of calculators and receipt printers, so they're readily available for less than £2.  I'll get a new one ordered in soon.  However I wanted to try an old trick.  Back when dot matrix printers were the norm it was normal to get a bit more mileage out of a ribbon by giving it a scoosh of WD40 into the casing.  I still have the Panasonic KX-P2624 I used to use that trick on!  Wonder if that would work on this.

That will be a yes then!  Looks like the new ribbon can wait a bit.  They're so cheap though I'll get one ordered in anyway as the existing one is a bit frayed in a few places.

I know one of our regulars is dying for a look at the light source...

Does have a metal rim which is a bit unusual for a modern lamp, and definitely is a pretty narrow beam example...

Otherwise doesn't look too special... can't see any obvious markings on it.  Hopefully the manual will tell me more when I eventually find one.  Those of you with better search skills than me, feel free to go digging.  I'm sure there is an electronic version out there somewhere.

This is one of the reasons I could do with a manual.

The user interface isn't exactly... intuitive.  Here are a few examples of what it throws at you.

Those "floating" segments move up and down too, so definitely indicate something!

Pressing the button cycles through each of the functions.

Forgot to get a photo of them but I think I've  figured out two of them - one suffixed with L I think shows the air flow rate through the machine (presumably in litres/minute) and the other suffixed with the letter C, which shows the airflow temperature.  The rest however I need some help with!

This message at least makes some sense!

I'm assuming this is showing "line voltage low" as it was shown when I had it hooked up without the van engine running.  As soon as the engine was started it went back to showing the usual nonsense...which I'm sure isn't nonsense, I just don't know how to interpret it yet.

Would also be nice to know the intended use for these connections.  They sprout out of another box on a massively long lead which hooks up to the unit itself with those lovely horrifically expensive twist lock connectors.

Guessing battery ground and alternator W terminal so the machine can estimate the engine speed?

No idea whether the computer is used for anything yet either...though given it's specifically user accessible I'm guessing it's meant to be used for something.  Possibly just entering the reg number and tester name or something like that I reckon...but it's not immediately apparent how.

Yeah...a manual would be useful. 

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

I know one of our regulars is dying for a look at the light source...

Does have a metal rim which is a bit unusual for a modern lamp, and definitely is a pretty narrow beam example...

does the lamp really have a metal rim or is that just the retention mechanism for the lamp? (love the "socket" LOL)

I agree tho it looks like a fairly bog standard narrow spot MR16 50W halogen lamp

 

had a quick look for a PDF could not find anything but it looks like the peeps who made it are still around, perhaps it may be worth contacting them about it?  

http://www.hartridge.com/

[Noel Tidybeard]

wow alternator connection as well- does this actually tell you how much smoke needs feedeing back into the loom at a fast idle? ?

[Zelandeth]

Finally got a proper keyring for the van at Christmas.  Hadn't been able to find a proper one with the old school logo with the text locally which is why I'd not got one yet.

Much better.

Edit:

Just stumbled across a video I recorded a few months ago of the ridiculous exhaust while actually driving.  Ignore the actual video - it's several minutes of staring at the ceiling as I just stuck my phone on the door step.

 It is indeed somewhat ridiculous and turns the heads of anyone vaguely interested in old stuff from a good distance...you just don't hear a diesel with a straight pipe on these days...

Astonishingly it's not obtrusive once you're out of town.  On the motorway the engine itself, aerodynamic noise and general racket from the drivetrain totally drowns it out.

[Zelandeth]

Tasks for this weekend if time permits.

[] Re-seal the tail lights on the Lada to hopefully put a proper stop to water getting into the boot (they all do that).

[] Oil & filter change on both Lada and van.

[] Wash both of the above and the Citroen.  It's not going to be moving till spring, but I'd still rather get the salt it's already caked in off.

[] Empty the Lada's boot of all the bits of Citroen and goodness only knows how many bottles of LHM are in there.  If anyone needs any I have way more than I'll ever need...

[] Dig out and reinstate the Lada's glove box.

Let's see how many of those things I get through.

[Zelandeth]

As usual other things have got in the way of me touching the cars.

Our boiler has been kettling like an absolute git the last few days.  It's always done it to some extent, but has been a lot more noticeable in the last few days.  My intention (having recently managed to actually find the very well hidden drain down valve) was to drain, flush and freshly treat the system in the spring.  Not really wanting to knock heating and hot water out for a full day in December.

Said detective work was made easier by having things like this to hand.

(This one just shows the supply side, I've got another one showing the feeds from the various tanks - yes there are four)

I'd been trying to get a professional in to do it since we moved in.  In 2014.  However suffered a critical lack of interest from tradesmen usually getting the "it's not worth my getting out the van for..." Or "you need a new boiler, mate" without them having been given any information from me beyond that I want the system flushed, treated and the boiler checked and serviced.

I really don't get the "it must be replaced because it's old" mentality.

Yes it's been here since 1981.  However it has barely any moving parts, zero electronics and has a record of perfect combustion test results on every documented service.  I agree, once something on it beyond the pilot light thermocouple fails it will not be worth repairing...but until that point I intend to keep it going.  Our gas bill is hardly anything so I can't see a replacement paying for itself quickly...

Anyhow...back on topic.  Having given up getting the system serviced, I figured I'd do it in the spring.  However as it had been sounding distinctly unhappy in the last couple of days I figured there was little to lose by sticking a dose of silencer in there.  If it calmed things down for a month or two, excellent.  If not I'll just have to do it properly anyhow.  I'd had the bottle of silencer solution floating around for years, may as well use it!

Before I could add it though I needed to drain a bit of water from the system so it wouldn't just pool uselessly in the expansion tank.  Sounds simple enough.

Whereabouts does the drain down valve live?  Oh...yeah...here.

Which looks like this if you're not wedged against the underneath of the utility room sink.

The valve is roughly where the arrow points.

Not great forward planning.  Cue ten minutes of work with the jigsaw.

Mmm...crusty.  Get the feeling this hasn't seen use in a few years.

Sure enough it required a not insignificant amount of persuasion to open...but we got there in the end.

Barfed a huge lump of crud when we first opened it, and then proceeded to leak like a sieve like every one of these things things I've seen.

Stopped when we'd drained ten litres or so off (and the water was stone cold so obviously being drawn from the tank rather than the circuit) and went and dumped the additive in the expansion tank.

This has definitely helped, restoring the kettling issue to a distant "grumble" which I'll call progress.  Radiators are very noticeably warmer too so it's definitely improved something.

Unfortunately as is traditional with this house, in sorting (albeit temporarily bodging in this case) one problem always has to generate at least one additional piece of work.  The sodding drain down valve now won't seal fully.  Dripping persistently once every few seconds.  Not trying tightening it any further than I already have for fear of totally shredding the sealing disc.

So tomorrow I will instead have to drain the entire damned system down and replace the fluffing drain cock. 

Obviously I may as well get the appropriate treatments dumped into and flushed through the system if I've got to do this anyway. 

The drain cock will not be replaced like for like.  For a start compression fittings will be the order of the day, secondly I'll be fitting a good quality lever operated ball valve and terminate it in a hose barb...will make future drains of the system far less hassle.

Simple enough...just a bit awkward standing on my head under the sink (I can see that whole wall in the cupboard being removed to improve access) and annoying as I can think of a load of things I'd rather be doing.

Of course once I fix that something else will no doubt go wrong...that's how repair work in this house works!

Maybe I'll get to servicing the cars on Monday?

[Noel Tidybeard]

9 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Maybe I'll get to servicing the cars on Monday?

[paulplom]

Just change the washer on the drain off. Just cut a tap washer down. It'll save loads of hassle.

[Zelandeth]

3 hours ago, paulplom said:

Just change the washer on the drain off. Just cut a tap washer down. It'll save loads of hassle.

Worth a shot I guess.  Still means I need to drain the system though which is probably the biggest hassle and still will have to go out as I don't think I've got any fibre washers in stock. Assuming it's a flat fibre washer in there the same as the last one I took to bits anyhow.  Guess the sensible thing to do is get it out before going shopping.

The most likely way to ensure success there is of course to pick up a selection of washers along with what I need to change the while thing at the same time.

What are the odds of buying a new drain valve and just nicking the whole screw in insert as a whole unit working?  No idea how much they vary from unit to unit.

There are a few seized gate valves in the loft I want to swap out at some point so the hardware will be used eventually anyhow.

Edit: On the plus side, now the additive has had the opportunity to work overnight the kettling issue seems to have been almost completely eliminated, so that's something at least!

[Zelandeth]

I attacked things today with a couple of options open to me.  One was as suggested above to just change the washer in the valve.  This would be by far the least work so was the preferred option.  I made sure to pick up a replacement valve and the necessary fittings though in case I wasn't successful.

First contact with the enemy.

Drain hose hooked back up.  Conveniently we have ground level drains in our conservatory below the drain down valves for the solar panels.

So I was able to just dump the water into there rather than having to leave a door open letting all the heat out.

Before starting to drain stuff off the boiler was switched off and then the whole system shut off at the main switch on the control panel.

...Which is a bit of a relic from a bygone era itself.

There were a few chunks of crud spat out, but what came out wasn't as disgusting as I'd honestly expected given it has been in there since 2006 as best I can tell.

The new drain valve had a smaller threaded core than the one currently fitted, but the washer looked to be the same size...so I nicked that from it and swapped it onto the existing valve core.

The original washer was indeed stuffed.

I suspect it had probably been weeping for a while and eventually stopped when sediment clogged up the cracks in the rubber.

After dosing the system with fresh corrosion inhibitor and waiting for the expansion tank to fill back up, we appear to have a watertight valve again.

So now I'm just playing the "get all the air out" game and hopefully I can get back to doing something else, having had most of my weekend eaten by this problem.

Stuck the treatment label on the boiler too.  Last one was dated 2006.

The question of "how many times can I lose a radiator key in one day?" so far stands at about 23.

[Zelandeth]

The new tailpipe for the Lada arrived today.

Annoyingly it's not the same style as ordered - correct numbers stamped on it compared to the catalogue...so the manufacturer (Euroflo) are just being lazy and only producing one type of silencer now it appears rather than separate ones for the saloon and estate.  Not as though it won't fit...I will just know it's not correct!

Diagram...this is the correct shape for the Estate.

This is what actually arrived.

The issue is that the towing eye sits very close to the straight tailpipe fitted to the saloon.  My keyring below shows where it should be - the one on the car is a standard saloon system.

The kink in the end isn't there on the OEM system, looks like it will help clear the towing eye enough and straighten the tip up a bit (which sticks out slightly at an angle just now).

Numbers do match the diagram though, so it's not as though they've sent the wrong thing. 

Weighs a tonne too so hopefully there's a decent amount of metal in it and it will last a few years.

If I'd known that it was going to be anything other than the correct part I'd have just ordered it from Lada directly as I know they have the saloon type ones in stock...if it wouldn't cost me £20 to send it back I'd return this one and just buy one from Lada...however paying £20 to return something that cost me £30 seems daft.

Even more annoying is that the box was devoid of mounting hardware...so I need a set of hangers (only one of the three originals is serviceable).  Cue nearly three hours of driving round in circles trying to find a set of hangers.  Completely without success.  So I now need to order a set online and wait for their arrival. 

Annoying.

Exhaust place is closed until new year mind you...so not losing a massive amount of time.

[LightBulbFun]

4 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Numbers do match the diagram though, so it's not as though they've sent the wrong thing. 

I wonder if someone/somewhere something's got confused

and saloon bits are being labeled as estate bits and vice versa and no ones noticed yet/until now?

[spartacus]

I feel your pain on the draincock issue. Whenever I'm asked to do any work that involves one I always assume it's going to leak. You can buy specific washers for them, although as you've pointed out, in order to replace that you've got drain the system down, or have a willing helper with a quick thumb!

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, LightBulbFun said:

I wonder if someone/somewhere something's got confused

and saloon bits are being labeled as estate bits and vice versa and no ones noticed yet/until now?

I very much doubt it.  The estate ones have always been hard to find as nobody ever really bothered which was which when they replaced them.  Only difference is the estate has the tailpipe exiting slightly to the right.

Like so...

...Result being that virtually every parts catalogue just lists the saloon one for everything - irrespective of if there are two different actual part numbers listed and often different images in the catalogue.

I've not personally seen one of the proper estate ones in a couple of decades.  Realistically the only people who will have the slightest clue are folks who know the car inside out.

If I had £350 burning a hole in my pocket I'd just have the tailpipe made up as well as the mid section so it could be correct...but I really don't so it will just have to do.

[PhilA]

Rover SD1 tailpipe end grafted on?

[MorrisItalSLX]

What about a Jaguar XJ Series 1/2/3 tailpipe tip?

Bonus chrome too.

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, MorrisItalSLX said:

What about a Jaguar XJ Series 1/2/3 tailpipe tip?

Bonus chrome too.

That's actually not a bad shout if the dimensions are at least close...might look into that once the new system is set up.

Not exactly cheap though...not that that's not a running theme with Jag parts.

[Eyersey1234]

I don't understand the mentality just because something is old it should be thrown away either. 

[Zelandeth]

Didn't quite get as much done as I'd hoped today, mainly because I wasted about two hours trying to sort an air leak on the pick up tube on the Pela - without success.  Eventually gave in and dropped the oil from the Lada the old fashioned way.

This did involve me dragging myself across the driveway at the end of a six foot breaker bar.  This was seriously tight.

Thankfully being on the Lada the head is large enough that there was little danger of it stripping.

Oil dropped, new filter was spun on - that at least came off without a fight because I put it there (hadn't had the sump plug out myself before as I generally just use the vacuum draining method these days).

Photo was actually taken about half an hour later when I was doing a running leak check, but you get the idea...

While the oil was draining I also changed the fuel filter - this had been on the to do list for a while because I managed to lose the new filter for about a year.

The old one came from the donor vehicle I pulled the injection system from - and I have a horrible suspicion that it may have been the original.

The air filter was checked but left alone as it still looks exactly the same as when it was fitted (the paper has always been a slightly more greyish colour than most I've seen).

I did rotate it through 180 degrees at least.

While I was in the engine bay I also gave the bonnet stay and hinges a bit of treatment with the spray grease.

Then did the same for the bonnet catch.  This gets pretty well drowned regularly as if it sticks and the release cable snaps (or the sheath slips out of the catch)  you are in for a world of pain trying to get in.  Been there, done that.  Thankfully not on this car or there would be scars from it!

Not quite sure how it took me until this week to actually buy a proper oil pouring jug.

It makes things SO much easier.  Especially on a car like this where the oil filler is a bit awkwardly placed where you've got to stretch and/or reach around other things to get at it.

Oil was re-checked and topped up once the engine had been run for a few minutes (looking for slightly over the maximum reading due to the slope of our drive).

Then just did a general check over.  Tightened up a couple of hose clips which had worked slightly loose and tucked a couple of wires back into their clips.  Added a tiny splash of coolant to just bring that back up to the max mark (level with the top of the strap holding the expansion bottle in place).

It's never really going to be a tidy engine bay, but at least it's a reasonably clean one.

Hopefully will get the steering box, gearbox and rear axle oil done tomorrow.

One additional thing I did was finally change the second number plate light on the van.  One got smashed a while ago when someone drove into the back of it.  The other one however had already got a cracked housing and they didn't match.

This really is only fit for the bin.

Ten minutes later, symmetry was restored.

 

[somewhatfoolish]

On 12/30/2019 at 10:37 PM, Zelandeth said:

That's actually not a bad shout if the dimensions are at least close...might look into that once the new system is set up.

Not exactly cheap though...not that that's not a running theme with Jag parts.

Get a used one from a breaker? It's not like they rust out.

[Zelandeth]

Today made a quick run over to the Vintage Stoney New Year's Day show.  Didn't take a huge number of photos, nor did I stay a huge amount of time as the cold was cutting straight through me today and I could feel my back seizing up while I was walking around.

Yes, as a camper owner I was immediately drawn to this.  I like the old Renault Traffic...though from memory the Merc T1 is vastly superior to drive (I'm quite willing to retract that statement after another shot of one as it was 2001 when I last drove one).

Of course then a Citroen was next up.  Shame the UK spec GS didn't get the proper dash.

Lovely little Triumph.

Very attractively coloured little MGB.

Always think of these as far more modern invention...Seeing one on an E plate makes me feel bloody old.

Now *that* is a bodykit...

Gorgeous.  For all folks seem to like to hate on the front engined ones...it's a Ferrari...

This thing gets the car of the day award for me...have a huge soft spot for Bugattis from this era...never mind when they're as honest as this.

Actually remembered to take a few snaps of my own car.  Have a history of forgetting to do that!

Given she's shortly going off to a new home I was glad to have the opportunity to take the Lada out to one last show as I didn't get her out to any last year as I was feeling a bit disgruntled with the car, so nice to end on a high note so to speak.

I couldn't help but find myself mentally playing the Miami Vice theme in my head seeing this thing...

Lovely pair of Cavaliers.

Two countries approach to what's essentially the same car... I'd happily own either.  These colours would do just fine too.

This sounded lovely as you'd expect.

Possibly the most downright unexpected thing to find there.  Friend of mine back up north had a silver one of these for a while and I remember two things.  Ridiculously comfy seats and that it went like a bloody rocket.  Weird switchgear too.

The Road Runner is probably the American car I've got the biggest want for...even if this one is the wrong colour.  Got to be the metallic blue with the black striped bonnet for me.

First car I ever drifted.  Entirely unintentionally.  Especially on Haudagin Roundabout in rush hour.

Finally know where that little warning light strip came from!  Found an identical one on the ground in a scrap yard decades ago...now I know it came from a Mk II Transit.

[Zelandeth]

Exhaust hangers have arrived from Lada (ridiculously quick as always).

Next step is to A: see if the garage is open today and B: to get it booked in.  Let's see how that goes.

Edit: Booked in to have the new exhaust section made up...on the 13th.

Slightly disgruntled that given the leadtime that they didn't just have me book it in when I went to order the exhaust given I knew I could have one in my hands in less than 48 hours if needed.  I took the slightly longer route which wound up biting me in the backside in the end anyhow...but I'd have gone with ordering from Lada directly if there had been a specific date to work towards.  As it was I'd still have had time to play with even with how long this lot took to arrive.

Meh.  At least once it's done it's out the way.