Zel's Motoring Adventures...Volvo, Renault, Rover, Trabant, Invacar & A Sinclair C5 - Updated 13/11.

[SiC]

I hope you are wearing a PP3 rated respirator that's fitted properly to the face! I dread to think what is in that paint and how harmful the dust off is.

[Zelandeth]

50 minutes ago, SiC said:

I hope you are wearing a PP3 rated respirator that's fitted properly to the face! I dread to think what is in that paint and how harmful the dust off is.

Using [URL=https://www.toolstation.com/gvs-p3r-half-mask-respirator/p42614]this[/URL] but generally working outside when I can and with the paint wet.  Scraping it at least doesn't raise dust.

 

It's one reason I'd rather remove it chemically than take the sander to it though!

[Zelandeth]

Okay.  I have officially given up trying to get sodding links to work any more.

This fscking editor is seriously making me consider ditching this as one of my regular sites...which is a shame as it's about the only one which hasn't turned to a ghost town courtesy of Facebook etc these days.

[Fumbler]

I'll be honest, I've not had a single problem with just poasting the link and having done with it. Even if it doesn't look right, the links will still guide people to where the page is.

https://www.toolstation.com/gvs-p3r-half-mask-respirator/p42614

 

[Zelandeth]

Seems a stupidly backwards step though...I've been able to neatly integrate links for the last 20 years, why do I now need to leave a messy block of text in the middle of my post?

Sorry, just the way my brain works (yay for autism) means I find things like that disproportionately annoying and can result in my wanting to hurl my phone at the wall in a hurry.

[Fumbler]

I have the same problem but since I've spent years on a forum that had the same software, but that software was 4 years out-of date, I've had no problem sticking a link into my posts. Now that this new forum is able to auto-embed YouTube links and Twitter videos, it shouldn't be too hard to auto-embed other URLs.

[Noel Tidybeard]

when you use the link function paste the url in top box the use lower box for your own link title

so- https://www.toolstation.com/gvs-p3r-half-mask-respirator/p42614

 

becomes this- link to respirator @ toolstation as used by Zelandeth for invacar shenangans but prolly shorter lol

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

when you use the link function paste the url in top box the use lower box for your own link title

so- https://www.toolstation.com/gvs-p3r-half-mask-respirator/p42614

 

becomes this- link to respirator @ toolstation as used by Zelandeth for invacar shenangans but prolly shorter lol

Not meaning to sound utterly dense...but what upper/lower box?  I only see one box...the one I'm typing in.

Not sure if this is just an issue when using a mobile device (as with the utterly maddening insistence of the cursor jumping back to the start of your post every time you return to editing).  Much as I'd love to never pick up a mobile device ever again, if I were to only post here when I actually have the luxury of sitting down at my desk and typing stuff up on an actual computer you'd probably see one or two posts a month from me at the most.  Yes, some of you may consider that an improvement... probably rightly so.

As it is, I'm mostly stuck posting from my phone...and I seem to keep finding ways that this new software version just isn't mobile friendly.  Which seems odd given how much the world as a whole seems to be moving away from desktop PCs..yes the old site was horrible on mobile, but at least you could force desktop mode there, the new version renders exactly the same irrespective of if I tick that box or not.

[LightBulbFun]

Yeah the desktop site has this thingy 

perhaps on your Phone you could try force a different user agent to try trick the site into giving you the desktop version?

(honestly sounds like a website bug if it wont give you the desktop site when you request it, cc @Slartibartfast )

[Zelandeth]

I think it's the website software being "too clever" to be honest.  I've been finding more sites lately which irrespective of whether you request the desktop site, if the site detects that the recipient is a mobile device it will force the mobile version... irrespective of if you've told your browser to load the desktop version.

Cineworld, I'm also looking in your direction.

To be fair, I never even thought about using the "insert this via this helper button" as I've never used that in my life so it just isn't part of the workflow my brain is used to.  I'll consider trying that next time, though it feels like a truly massively backwards step forcing people to use a dumbed down approach if they'd rather have control over their content as has been the norm for the last twenty years...BBCode has essentially been "standard" since the late 90s at least...if it ain't broke...

Obviously not the fault of the forum operators, just an utterly fluffing stupid design choice by the software developers in my opinion.

[Zelandeth]

This paint removal process I think is just going to be a long slog. 

Got a few better scrapers today and they're precisely zero help.  With the sharper blades they're just going straight through the paint and the gel coat, it's just too soft.  On a few of the larger flatter panels where there's a nice clean edge to the paint as it's been removed, using the blunt edge it's possible to work away at it...but I was successfully doing that with my old blunt scraper already.

Heat lifts the gel coat before the paint too, as I did poke it with the heat gun just to eliminate it as a potentially helpful tool.

I did bust the sander out again today just to see if I could flat back the area below the rear window where the surface was damaged by the paint stripper.  Looks like there's plenty of thickness to the gel coat to sort that out at least.

There's quite a bit of pitting on the one panel...you can clearly see where the paint stripper was sitting the longest...

No huge issue, it's nothing a really tiny amount of filler can't hide...just annoying to have made more work.

Next stop will be investigating soda blasting.  Either getting the kit to do it myself or getting someone in to do it.

[plasticvandan]

I would have thought 80 grit on a da sander would have made short work of this?

[Zelandeth]

30 minutes ago, plasticvandan said:

I would have thought 80 grit on a da sander would have made short work of this?

The trick is trying to make light work of the paint but without sanding a hole in the panel under it...

[jumpingjehovahs]

I think it's the website software being "too clever" to be honest.  I've been finding more sites lately which irrespective of whether you request the desktop site, if the site detects that the recipient is a mobile device it will force the mobile version... irrespective of if you've told your browser to load the desktop version.
Cineworld, I'm also looking in your direction.
To be fair, I never even thought about using the "insert this via this helper button" as I've never used that in my life so it just isn't part of the workflow my brain is used to.  I'll consider trying that next time, though it feels like a truly massively backwards step forcing people to use a dumbed down approach if they'd rather have control over their content as has been the norm for the last twenty years...BBCode has essentially been "standard" since the late 90s at least...if it ain't broke...
Obviously not the fault of the forum operators, just an utterly fluffing stupid design choice by the software developers in my opinion.

Zel, if the mobile version of the forum is irritating (and I agree, that’s how I found it - much improved over before but still not as good as desktop) then give Tapatalk a go. I use it and it makes life much simpler for me


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Zelandeth]

8 hours ago, jumpingjehovahs said:

 

Zel, if the mobile version of the forum is irritating (and I agree, that’s how I found it - much improved over before but still not as good as desktop) then give Tapatalk a go. I use it and it makes life much simpler for me


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have tried that, but just cannot seem to figure out how it's arranged...kinda like the modern versions of MS Office, despite giving myself a decent acclimatisation period I found I still felt like a five year old who's been asked to wire up the control system for the International Space Station.

As with so much technology these days I kind of feel like I'm just being left floundering cluelessly as "progress" marches forwards.

 

Back on topic...lost most of today as we were making our first trip over to the foster home currently caring for a rescue dog we're looking to adopt.  We really feel that this will do a lot to enrich the life of the one we already have, especially given the issues we've had with the communal dog club meaning that he doesn't get to socialise any where near as much as we'd like.

It's quite a long drawn out process, especially for a dog who is as timid as the one we've currently got our heart set on, but today was the first time we got to meet her.  Despite apparently usually being petrified of new people for ages, she was happily seeking affection and wanting to play with us in about twenty minutes.

Our hearts were immediately melted as she's absolutely bloody adorable.

 

More importantly than her taking to us, she seemed to get along well with Tesla, and wasn't afraid to tell him off when he was being a butt.  He doesn't really know how to play with other dogs as he's just never really had the chance...so we're hoping she can help there.  She's also very, very affectionate, whereas he really isn't interested in fuss.  He wants to be *near* to people, but has little interest in actually touching them...whereas if you stand still for five seconds around her she starts nosing at your hand for pets.  So the two hopefully can teach each other different aspects of how to be a dog.

While she looks far more pure husky, she's actually a husky/German Shepherd cross just the same as Tesla.

How could anyone not love this face?

Likely to be several months before she joins us (obviously assuming future visits and everything go well too), but it felt like the initial introduction to both us and of the two dogs to each other went about as well as it could.  It seems that she's a really good fit for what we're looking for in this household.  I think the rescue charity have been struggling to find a home for her (she's been with them for nearly a year now) purely because she's not a pure husky and they deal primarily with rescued sled dogs, so pure huskies & malamutes are easier for them to find homes for.

 

Hasn't left me much day to play with cars though...but I did have a dig through the box of random "air tool stuff" I picked up a few weeks back.  Found three things which may well each be useful for different stages of the paint stripping process. 

Not honestly sure how to tell if the gun is a spray gun or soda/sand blaster.  Answers on a post card?

[dozeydustman]

It's a paraffin/oil/solvent gun for rustproofing or degreasing and cleaning, can also be used as an air lance if no liquid in the container. No idea if it's any use for applying paint stripper though, but I dare say some one on here has used one for that.

[Zelandeth]

Yeah, someone elsewhere has identified it for me.  Though we've a load of wooden fences so a rapid way of applying preservative to them will be very welcome!

...Oh...not to mention several cars which need to be rust proofed too.  Forgot those!

[Zelandeth]

Had a bit of an experiment with the paraffin gun this afternoon.  I still had some old underbody wax floating around, so I let it down a bit to a more spray friendly consistency then had a mess around with it.

Can't see me ever messing around with aerosol cans for this sort of job again.  The spray is far finer and just generally well behaved.

Didn't do a huge amount, just gave the front wheel arches and engine bay a blow over.  It's a bit hard to see as it's clear wax that's gone on over the black stuff already there.

The top dust cover on the shock absorber has fallen off again.  I'll need to get inventive with a cable tie to make it stay in place I think as it's obviously not going to behave.

Hopefully this should keep the rust in the bulkhead under the windscreen from getting worse too quickly until it can be cut out and replaced.

Worked into all the little gaps under the struts and the cavities thoroughly misted.  Bonnet really needs replacing in the long term, but hopefully this should help it remain stable for a bit longer.

 

The Invacar has had a little more sanding work.  Have been going very gently with the P120 discs on the sander at low speed over the front of the car.  Unlike the rear this has no coloured gel coat... it's been painted from the factory.  It's also far thinner, so I'm aiming to just remove the loose areas here then I'll see how things look with some high build primer on there.

While it looks horrible, this is actually smooth to the touch.

Bonnet is still a mess, but is far closer to flat than it was!

Then forgot to dust myself off before sitting in the driver's seat.

Just a bit of dust about...

Going to give one of those cheap soda blasters a shot for the rear body and roof...if it works it works...if not it's no huge loss and I'll just need to persevere...

 

[LightBulbFun]

6 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

The Invacar has had a little more sanding work.  Have been going very gently with the P120 discs on the sander at low speed over the front of the car.  Unlike the rear this has no coloured gel coat...

interesting, one of half of TPA is from an Invacar the other half of TPA is from an AC? or are the 2 body sections original but just moulded differently for some reason?

(speaking of I wonder if the engine in TWC matches the engine number on TPAs Chassis plate )

I never quite got to the bottom of if it was AC or Invacar on what was painted and what was moulded blue etc

[Zelandeth]

It's a bit hard to tell... entirely possible one or both of the body mouldings have been replaced during the life of the vehicle.  The front may well have a gel coat, if so it's an almost microscopically thin one and is flaking off the substrate like loose paint in places.

[Zelandeth]

Here's a question for you lot.

Heater and windscreen demister switch will be getting fitted in the not too distant future.  It's of a type which is visually identical to those already on the dash so should look like it's meant to be there.

The question is where to put it.

There are three options as I see it:

[] Immediately to the right of the speedometer.

[] To the far right over by the no passengers sign.

[] To the far left, between the handbrake and door.

I'm currently leaning towards the first option...seems most in keeping with the original switchgear.  Should still leave me room to add the brake fluid warning lamp when the hardware for it is fitted.

 

Any votes for other locations? 

May well fit this to my spare dash as I want to take the dash out to sort a couple of wiring bodges I've seen under there.  Will make it a lot easier though as being off the car will vastly improve access.

[LightBulbFun]

defo first option by the speedo for me, as you say, thats how they would of done things originally  

[Zelandeth]

Zip by way of stuff actually done today as I've spent the whole day running around in circles getting the house back in order (and wasting two hours stuck in traffic on the M25).  As the van has a busy few days coming up it made sense to top up the fuel...

(24.0mpg for that tank, so average is staying pretty solidly in the mid 20s mpg, tending toward high 20s if out on a decent run - I managed 32mpg once which was frankly staggered by for such a huge brick of a van with an engine from the 1970s).

I always feel better when heading out of my local area if I'm starting out with a full tank, even if I know that I'd have comfortably made it with well over a hundred miles to spare on what was already in there (this is a 75 litre tank)...force of habit I guess.

In the interests of saving some weight I figured it was time to start actually shifting some of the crap which has been rattling around in the boxes of stuff I picked up out of the van.  Box of tools no 1 contained:

[] Herma Combination Whitworth/AF/Metric socket set.

[] Nice little Wanner grease gun.  This will no doubt still be going decades after the cheap one already in the garage has turned to dust.

[] Proper set of De-Walt branded impact sockets.  Useful given I bought an impact wrench a few weeks ago.

Also dragged in the second Core2 Duo based HP Server (complete with new, never opened monitor and keyboard), and what must be another couple of gallons of LHM.  If anyone on here needs any LHM please just ask...I've about four lifetimes worth here now!

Was just about to close the garage up when this arrived in the most comically oversized box I've seen in a while.  I should have taken a photo of it, the thing was nearly the size of the wheelie bin.

Hopefully will have some soda blasting media arriving in the next day or two so will be able to give it a test run then.  Just didn't seem worth not giving this kit a shot at less than £40 delivered.  If it works, aside from saving me a lot of grief on the Invacar it will be an all round useful thing to have.  Bit like having a compressor...I doubt it's a tool I'll really appreciate until I've got used to having it around.

Certainly can't see me voluntarily switching back to a garage without air on tap...and I've not even got an air powered rattle gun or anything yet!  Do need a proper tyre inflator though.  The one I've got works just fine...but the sort of thing you used to see in garage forecourts just seems more "correct" somehow.

[Zelandeth]

Second visit to the foster home of (hopefully) our second dog this morning.

Time to shamelessly spam my thread with fluffy things...

Nice to see that she was pretty happy in less than five minutes today.  Definitely remembered us it seemed like.

This is probably the silliest photo of the day.

We're heading back over on Tuesday to see how things go when out on a walk with her, basically so that the foster keeper can be sure we're able to deal with her if/when she gets panicked while out and about.  They've said based on what they've seen of us and how she's taken to us though that so long as that goes well that there should be no reason we couldn't adopt her.

I took a few dozen photos as usual, but won't spam this thread with any more for now!

Currently sitting sitting in the waiting room at the hospital for a routine appointment... they're running roughly 90 minutes late.  I was due to be seen at 1500.  Blarg... let's see how long this takes!

[Redfred]

17 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Second visit to the foster home of (hopefully) our second dog this morning.

Time to shamelessly spam my thread with fluffy things...

Nice to see that she was pretty happy in less than five minutes today.  Definitely remembered us it seemed like.

This is probably the silliest photo of the day.

We're heading back over on Tuesday to see how things go when out on a walk with her, basically so that the foster keeper can be sure we're able to deal with her if/when she gets panicked while out and about.  They've said based on what they've seen of us and how she's taken to us though that so long as that goes well that there should be no reason we couldn't adopt her.

I took a few dozen photos as usual, but won't spam this thread with any more for now!

Currently sitting sitting in the waiting room at the hospital for a routine appointment... they're running roughly 90 minutes late.  I was due to be seen at 1500.  Blarg... let's see how long this takes!

What a lovely dog, hope all goes well with her, she seems to have taken well to you guys. 

[Zelandeth]

Never got around to putting an update up yesterday as by the time I was able to actually sit down for long enough it was just too late.

Felt that I had to *make* some time in the late afternoon to have a look into an issue which had become painfully obvious in the van on the way back home yesterday - an absoltely maddeningly intrusive boomy resonance from the engine.  This is an issue which it had when I originally picked it up and had been bodged a couple of times so I knew the likely cause was the fact that there's a stinking great hole in the air cleaner resonator chamber.

Being a normally aspirated diesel, Mercedes have done quite a lot of work to ensure that as much air as possible is forced into the engine, hence there being a not insubstantially sized box in the air cleaner assembly.  The effectiveness of this is immediately apparent when you try to patch up a hole in the wall of said box.  Initially I went for duct tape (as you do), which lasted all of about ten seconds before being blown off.  Putting your hand over the hole honestly feels like you're blocking off the exhaust rather than the intake.  The aluminium foil tape I tried next last lasted longer but the racket I was hearing suggested that it too had failed.  Let's take a look.

Yep, that would do it.

Actually getting the airbox out of the van was a little more involved than I expected as Merceds seemed to think that bolting it to the bulkhead by no less than four M6 bolts.  Three of these are accessible once the fuse box is removed (four screws), the final one however is low enough down that you also  need to remove the kick plate in the passenger footwell, which means another two nuts being removed, peeling the carpet back and disconnecting the electronic box which lives under there which is something to do with the brake lights.

Then I just had to disconnect the air intake hose (which came off at the engine end first...apparently whoever had that off last didn't tighten up the hose clip) and wrestle the thing out of the engine bay, which was actually  harder than expected as it's a far bigger assembly than it looks when in place.  It just fits into the gap between the slam panel and bulkhead when rotated in exactly the right way.

The big difference between me now and when I originally bodged this up is that I've got more materials to hand now.  My intention this time was to go with the fibreglass loaded resin I've been using to do a lot of the repairs to the Invacar bodywork.  If that doesn't work I'll just have to take the whole thing apart and either bolt a panel onto it or mess around plastic welding a patch over the hole.

Step one (fine, step two...One was to remove all the foil and clean the area in question up) was to apply a small duct tape patch.  This isn't actually going to play any part in the final repair, it's just to stop the resin from falling straight through the hole I'm trying to cover.

I then roughened the area around it up with the wire wheel to give me the best chance of getting the repair to stick - though I'd done a test before with this and the resin seemed to adhere to the surface just fine.

Then slathered the area with a liberal helping of resin.

While this was setting I took the opportunity to give the area behind the air cleaner a clean and to thoroughly blast the areas it's normally in the way of with rustproofing wax.  Also tidied up the wiring a bit as whoever did the repairs to the cab floor in that corner obviously never put anything back in the clips so the wiring was all flapping around everywhere.

The photo there is obviously the "before" image for the work mentioned above.

Once the resin had set I gave it a very quick and dirty blast of matt black paint just so it doesn't stick out so obviously - if it proves durable I'll sand it back smoother at a later date.  Not going to worry about that just now though.

It's really interesting to see how much effort they went to to optimise gas flow here.  Looking into the inlet manifold you can clearly see how things taper as you pass the branch for each cylinder, meaning that while the volume of air being carried drops by 25% for each cylinder they've clearly tried to ensure that the velocity remains constant.

Given I wasn't 100% sure of whether the intake pipe had actually been properly attached I was glad to see this wasn't full of dust and gunk like the rest of the engine bay too.

Then was just a relatively simple matter of putting everything back together again.

Definitely want to think about using some modern sound proofing under the carpets here.  The stuff attached to the kick plate under the carpets here must weigh the best part of 5kg - it honestly feels like the plate is made of cast iron it's that heavy.  Pretty sure there are alternatives available now which will do as good (or better) a job for a fraction of the weight.  There's also absolutely zip by way of soundproofing on the actual bulkhead itself.

Airbox back in place and reconnected.

I came to the conclusion that the hose between the airbox and the intake manifold had been fitted backwards before.  The logic behind this was that it was always pressed up against the top radiator hose.  I didn't like this as I've had issues with hoses failing due to rubbing against stuff in the engine bay before.  Rotating it 180 degrees left a good inch or so clearance under it.  Much better.

You can see the witness mark on the radiator hose where it's been rubbing for goodness only knows how many years. 

Finally, air cleaner reattached as well and we can call it a day.

A quick test run revealed that this has indeed got rid of the horrible boominess.  Hard to tell if there's any improvement in power delivery, though I wouldn't really expect it to be that obvious given the power to weight ratio delivered here at the best of times.  It can't hurt though!

Yes I did of course snap a quick idle video for those of you who like a bit of old school diesel clatter.  Even if I did get momentarily distracted by discovering where one of the worst buzzes in the van at idle was coming from - the awning.  I'll need to get another couple of straps to secure it when not in use.

The camera seems to pick up a lot more belt noise from the front of the engine noise than there really is in person.  First time I think I've managed to actually get the camera's mic to pick up the nice deep burble at idle from the exhaust.  You'll probably need either headphones or decent speakers to really hear that though.

Just have to wait and see if the repair to the airbox holds or if I'm going to need to get more inventive.  There's no risk of anything getting sucked into the engine if it fails by the way, the hole is on the atomospheric side of the air filter.  Prior experience has shown that it's more likely to blow it off too rather than actually suck it into the engine anyway.  If this were downstream of the filter I'd have been being a LOT more careful.

[Zelandeth]

Look what I got hold of today...

Hopefully this will resolve the issues I've been having with drivetrain vibration at speed.

Was also lucky enough to be given the opportunity to have a proper look at and a quick spin in this today.

Massively impressed.  Haven't ever had a chance to properly look at a Maxi up close before.  Massively roomy and comfortable motor for the time...and it's definitely a car that's far, far more on my radar now than it was 24 hours ago...

Definitely need a proper drive of one someday...though I'm hesitant to do that as I'll wind up being after one then.

This example is a lovely example I reckon... obviously well loved by its owner but it's not an overly pampered concourse car.  It's in what to me is pretty much the perfect state.

[Zelandeth]

Pretty quiet day today, which was a nice change as the last couple of weeks have been almost non stop.

Despite having a day off I tend to feel that it's necessary to achieve something in a day, even if it's something small.  Having a new set of Invacar pulleys sitting in front of me it was obvious what this afternoon was going to involve.

 

While the secondary pulley was ready "out of the box" so to speak, the primary one needed a quick clean up first to deal with some aluminium oxide on the running surface.

Five minutes with the wire brush later it was much better.

For those playing along at home, here's a clear photo of the markings on the new primary pulley.

Getting the primary pulley off was precisely as much of a pain as I'd expected it to be.  Simple reason: there is no easy way to lock the thing in place while you try to crack the retaining nut off.  After snapping one large screwdriver and bending another, I finally managed to get it to cooperate.

Yes, that is a crowbar.  It later came into its own again while I battered it with a hammer to get the pulley off the shaft.  The secondary one slid off pretty easily once unbolted, the primary was really quite a snug fit.

With it off it immediately became apparent that something wasn't right.  The reason it rattled was because it appears to be completely devoid of any springs.

It never ceases to amaze me how knackered this sort of setup can be while still working to at least some degree...this felt absolutely fine anywhere below about 40mph!

The new secondary pulley looks to be a different type...but given the source I'm going to give it a shot.

Reassembly was relatively painless, only slightly awkward discovery was that the keyway cutout in the new primary was shallower than on the old one, requiring a rectangular rather than square key.  Luckily I've quite a few random shaft keys in the "drawer of random fasteners and similar stuff" and was able to find one that was a perfect fit in a couple of minutes.

Belt tension was checked after I'd rolled the car up and down the driveway a couple of times (yay...it no longer goes *click-squeak...click-squeak...click-squeak...* while moving at low speed.  Seems reasonable.

Was only able to get out for a ten minute test drive this evening before dinner, but immediate impressions:

[] At low speeds the noise levels are hugely reduced.  The actual noise you can mostly hear now is nice subdued tuneful transmission whine rather than howling belt.

[] Low speed responsiveness is slightly better.  Though I think the tension is a little loose as it's a bit snatchy moving off.

[] Only did one higher speed run, but at 40mph plus things seem massively improved.  I'm used to being able to just about hit 40mph between the one roundabout and our turnoff.  Today an indicated 62mph (which I imagine is somewhat optimistic) was achieved with less than full throttle and leaving me plenty of time to brake.

Hopefully I'll have the chance to do a better test tomorrow.  Initial impressions though are that it's improved things.

Oh, and while halfway round a roundabout the brake fluid warning light which I'd lost was spotted skittering across the floor.  It has now been safely stuck in the box of random Invacar bits.

Looking forward to a proper test drive tomorrow...after I've cleaned the windows!  I did wipe them down briefly...but obviously not very well, and I totally forgot about the wing mirror.

Will 70mph be doable?  Let's find out.  Not worrying too much about breaking the belt in.  Just isn't practical to drive gently for more than a couple of miles here...it's 20-30mph in housing estates or busy distributor roads where you need really to be able to get up to 50mph or so pretty rapidly if you don't want to be flattened.

Do have to wonder what anyone who saw me on the test run thought given the current cosmetic state of the car!

[LightBulbFun]

very happy to hear the preliminary results with the new pulleys is good  (I do wonder what happened to the spring in the old pulley! did it just disintegrate over time and fall out or what? LOL)

it will be very interesting to see how the speedo compares to GPS, I know @dollywobbler said the speedo on TWC was surprisingly accurate, so id like to believe the 62Mph reading was true

[Zelandeth]

Initial experimentation with the soda blaster has yielded an absolutely godawful mess but little progress in terms of shifting the original paint.  Hard to tell if that's just my air supply not being up to spec or if it's just further evidence of the paint on there being able to withstand a tactical nuclear strike.

My entire garage is now about 1/2" deep in finely powdered sodium bicarbonate...oh well, at least it will smell fresh for the foreseeable future!