FatHarris

8,451 · June 27

No real update today, just noticed when getting the BX out of the garage and doing a driveway shuffle that I've never had a photo of all the cars together.

One day, I'll get them all washed and take them all to a scenic location for a mass photo. It'll be a massive logistical and financial ballache, but it'd be nice to be done just the one time.

8,451 · June 30

Had a quiet couple of days, just enjoying the fleet.
The BX ticked over 91k and appears to be running well. Choke is still taking some figuring out.

This week I had a delivery in the letter box:

[mention=31938]inspec71[/mention] had done a very comprehensive report of our group trip to the Netherlands for the EMWalhalla show, which made it to print, typically with a photo of the Rover and an opened bonnet (it was a levels check, I swear!) (Blurred out the text because pls buy physical magazines and keep them going!)

This weekend was a local classic show in Wendron - as we now had a couple of cars worth showing, MrsH and the boy took the Honda, and I took the BX with our daughter.

Highlights below:

This was for sale for £6k and was resplendent in retro graphics for a local company.

BOOMER PLATE BOOMER PLATE

This came in on the back of a lorry.

Hopefully it doesn't see the road like this as the A pillar simply ceased to exist.

This was one of two silver N14 1.4 Sunny's - this one was identical to my first car.

As the show started winding down, I seized an opportunity that had been there a while, and relocated the Beat. The owner was kind enough to close the bonnet for some comparison photos and we had a lovely chat afterwards.

For perspective, the engine capacity in the Viper is over 12 times larger than the Honda
It was a good show, and the cars received a lot more attention than I expected, particularly the BX - everyone and their dad had one back in the day!
Cheers

6,972 · June 30

2 hours ago, fatharris said:

This weekend was a local classic show in Wendron - as we now had a couple of cars worth showing, MrsH and the boy took the Honda, and I took the Beat with our daughter.

make your mind up! :common007:

8,451 · June 30

make your mind up!

Oops!

Edited

1,270 · June 30

Never played with a BX carb, but I have played with some other solexs over the years.

Having a slightly high idle that doesn’t want to come down reliably I have found seems to be either a small air leak (worn spindles were a personal nemesis) or just that the engines a little bit tired, the carb isn’t perfect and it likes an extra 50rpm.

If it sounds nice and even I’d be inclined to call it a win and move on!

8,451 · July 1

Well, today has been a sequence of shite.

First off, I noticed a new knock in the rear of the BX, so I popped under for a look.

The back box pipe had started to dislodge itself, so that was re-secured.

The LHM belt started squeaking on the way home too, so that was nipped up.

Noticed there's a bit of a squint in the run - can any BX experts confirm if this is assembled correctly?

With that done, it was onto the Rover. I'd not driven it since discovering a pretty crusty brake pipe on the OSR side. I got it onto the axle stands to get access.

Not driving it proved to be the correct move, as the pipe sheared when the union was loosened.

Thankfully, the pipe came out without too much fuss - this has been dropped off to @twosmoke300 who will make a replacement.

With that done, I still wasn't happy with the BX's idle. Did some more carb fiddling and eventually found the culprit:

This lever isn't returning to the fully relaxed position when the choke is off. I've lubricated everything throughly and will keep an eye out for a strong return spring to help things along!

And then - disaster. The battery light wasn't coming on with the ignition, and the alternator wasn't charging the battery. Thank fuck I was home!

To be honest, I was floundering a bit on this one - the initial thought was the alternator was still charging the battery but at a reduced output - pulling the negative lead off whilst the engine was running confirmed no output at all as the engine died immediately.

Next was checking the battery light bulb in the dashboard - this was serviceable, and nothing suddenly worked when I swapped it with another bulb and holder within the instrument panel.

Some multimeter probing revealed there was battery voltage present on both sides of the light holder with the ignition on, when it should have only been on one side.

The small alternator lead was checked with a test light, which was rather dim.

This test was repeated on the rear of the instrument cluster, and it was even dimmer still - it was a very dim orange.

I've leant on Phill very heavily for advice in this fault (thanks mate) and think this has been narrowed down to a connector block above the gearbox that was minging. A quick clean with some IPA and a nail brush brought back some results.

The light was back, and cleared when the engine ran, but it was flickering dimly when applying electrical loads and the battery still wasn't being charged. Think it would benefit from being stripped and cleaned, or even reterminated.

I'm away from it until Wednesday, but sadly this means I'm unlikely to fix it before Silverstone on the Thursday.

To top it off, I'm not back from Silverstone until Monday evening, so it's a little bit unlikely that it'll even make Shitefest. As I'll only have a couple of days to work on it.

So, this means I currently only have the Beat immediately to hand. Not helpful when I've got all the camping kit and two mates to ferry up.

Gutted it has happened, but grateful it didn't happen whilst on a long trip.

Cheers .

3,639 · July 1

Sometimes it feels like they’re just fighting you all the way! Keep it up you’re doing a great job.

22,628 · July 2

7 hours ago, fatharris said:

Well, today has been a sequence of shite.

First off, I noticed a new knock in the rear of the BX, so I popped under for a look.

The back box pipe had started to dislodge itself, so that was re-secured.

The LHM belt started squeaking on the way home too, so that was nipped up.

Noticed there's a bit of a squint in the run - can any BX experts confirm if this is assembled correctly?

With that done, it was onto the Rover. I'd not driven it since discovering a pretty crusty brake pipe on the OSR side. I got it onto the axle stands to get access.

Not driving it proved to be the correct move, as the pipe sheared when the union was loosened.

Thankfully, the pipe came out without too much fuss - this has been dropped off to @twosmoke300 who will make a replacement.

With that done, I still wasn't happy with the BX's idle. Did some more carb fiddling and eventually found the culprit:

This lever isn't returning to the fully relaxed position when the choke is off. I've lubricated everything throughly and will keep an eye out for a strong return spring to help things along!

And then - disaster. The battery light wasn't coming on with the ignition, and the alternator wasn't charging the battery. Thank fuck I was home!

To be honest, I was floundering a bit on this one - the initial thought was the alternator was still charging the battery but at a reduced output - pulling the negative lead off whilst the engine was running confirmed no output at all as the engine died immediately.

Next was checking the battery light bulb in the dashboard - this was serviceable, and nothing suddenly worked when I swapped it with another bulb and holder within the instrument panel.

Some multimeter probing revealed there was battery voltage present on both sides of the light holder with the ignition on, when it should have only been on one side.

The small alternator lead was checked with a test light, which was rather dim.

This test was repeated on the rear of the instrument cluster, and it was even dimmer still - it was a very dim orange.

I've leant on Phill very heavily for advice in this fault (thanks mate) and think this has been narrowed down to a connector block above the gearbox that was minging. A quick clean with some IPA and a nail brush brought back some results.

The light was back, and cleared when the engine ran, but it was flickering dimly when applying electrical loads and the battery still wasn't being charged. Think it would benefit from being stripped and cleaned, or even reterminated.

I'm away from it until Wednesday, but sadly this means I'm unlikely to fix it before Silverstone on the Thursday.

To top it off, I'm not back from Silverstone until Monday evening, so it's a little bit unlikely that it'll even make Shitefest. As I'll only have a couple of days to work on it.

So, this means I currently only have the Beat immediately to hand. Not helpful when I've got all the camping kit and two mates to ferry up.

Gutted it has happened, but grateful it didn't happen whilst on a long trip.

Cheers .

It’s ok - your silverstone “fweends” are used to your vehicles breaking down en route

8,451 · July 2

It’s ok - your silverstone “fweends” are used to your vehicles breaking down en route

It's not even just Silverstone, the Laguna's tyre went egg-shaped during a trip to London with the same friend, and the year prior to that, the Omega started running like absolute shite about two miles from our destination in London.

I've asked if his Accord is free this year

22,628 · July 2

1 minute ago, fatharris said:

It's not even just Silverstone, the Laguna's tyre went egg-shaped during a trip to London with the same friend, and the year prior to that, the Omega started running like absolute shite about two miles from our destination in London.

I've asked if his Accord is free this year

Sometimes it’s quality not quantity you know

8,451 · July 2

Sometimes it’s quality not quantity you know

I was hoping with enough time/money/parts/sanity, I could achieve both.

Apparently not.

22,628 · July 2

Never mind - think of how much change you will see in your kids when you get out of the garage.

8,451 · July 2

1 minute ago, twosmoke300 said:

Never mind - think of how much change you will see in your kids when you get out of the garage.

Apparently I've got a second kid?

News to me.

6,816 · July 2

5 minutes ago, fatharris said:

Apparently I've got a second kid?

News to me.

One of my nightmares:
<knock, knock>
Opens door to find thirty something, hirsute geezer on doorstep.

"Daddy".

22,628 · July 2

1 minute ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

One of my nightmares:
<knock, knock>
Opens door to find thirty something, hirsute geezer on doorstep.

"Daddy".

I have similar nightmares about owning a bx and trying to use it as actual transport

8,451 · July 3

We're back.

Cleaned up this grotty connector and that seems to have resolved the issue.

Think I'll just take it to Plymouth tomorrow and let my mates Accord estate take the long trip.

As a bonus, drowning the choke mechanism in lubricant seems to have helped, and the idle has settled down - hopefully that's the end of that niggle too.

Cheers!

21,407 · July 3

On 30/06/2024 at 17:38, fatharris said:

This came in on the back of a lorry.

Hopefully it doesn't see the road like this

That one sold on ebay in October for £3700. I seem to remember it was for sale a couple of months prior for around £2k, with a local owner. Here's the same lad's old ad for his NSU Prinz.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226158774501?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338817149&toolid=10050&customid=TOP5&ul_ref=https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1kpXwhkgDmM56ROcRntXyns4q_yBD1su9mdE2X9KAPx6dtcRbAE3e7rNk_aem_7G1NFqOIY3PKdB1f59XO3Q

22,628 · July 3

Glad to hear its fixed and reliable again

8,451 · July 3

Well, that lasted for all of two miles.

The fault is back, and it appears to be changing in nature - it now varies by revs, even when I bypass the exciter line and connect the small alternator terminal directly to the positive terminal with my test lamp. It will sometimes put out 13.7v but only when the engine is screaming at 4000rpm.

I think the alternator is fucked.

8,256 · July 3

I think alternator is where I'd be looking too.

22,628 · July 3

15 minutes ago, 83C said:

I think alternator is where I'd be looking too.

I’d be looking at bus tickets

17,480 · July 3

Why not just buy a bulletproof German vehicle? 🙄😉

22,628 · July 4

7 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Why not just buy a bulletproof German vehicle? 🙄😉

He has one - also broken 😂

6,816 · July 4

7 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Why not just buy a bulletproof German vehicle? 🙄😉

Crap fuel consumption

8,451 · July 8

I'll keep this brief because I'm bloody knackered, and I took minimal pictures.

This weekend was the British GP at Silverstone. I volunteered for Track Safety Team again so we had a pitch at the campsite waiting for us.

Unfortunately, the plan was for us to go up there in the BX, which obviously fell flat on its arse. The plan was easy, on Thursday I'd meet my friends in Plymouth for the onward journey. My mate Joe has an Accord diesel estate so we agreed to take that up. My issue now was all the camping kit was at home with me, and I didn't have a car that could fit it all - the Rover and BX were unserviceable and going nowhere.

Sadly there was no way around this, so I had to take the Laguna up to Plymouth on Wednesday evening, drop everything off, turn around and come back, and go back up on Thursday in the Beat.

This was expensive, tiring and an annoying waste of time, but it did work so that's something. Made sure I voted first - was the first one in the polling station at 0700!

Arrived at Silverstone, set up camp and got stuck into a few beers that my friend brought over from his time in Japan.

Some random photos of the weekend - I wasn't strictly allowed to take photos but snuck a few, you can see how torrential the rain was at times!

My spot on Vale on the Friday practise sessions.

Found the sticker that I zapped onto the post last year - an attempt made to remove it, but it stands strong! Forgot my AS stickers to add to it, gutted!

My view on race day of Vale Bank.

Then just two hours later:

They restricted the number of people for the podium ceremony to 'only' 13,000.

We had a lot of tent moisture ingress issues - it was from 2012 and my parents used it once so I thought it would be watertight - I was very, very wrong.

Luckily, my friends overcame adversity and triumphed with this seamless repair.

My neighbour was here as well - poor sod had his van nicked whilst he was loading it - thankfully, he has now got it back, minus the stereo and some other bits.

We had a BBQ, roasted marshmallows, span stories and generally had a lovely time in the evenings!

And I left Silverstone around 0830 with another badge on my cap.

I had yet more plans to get in motion and it was all a bit frantic, so the pictures are sparse.

1400 - arrive in Plymouth, load up the Beat with everything I'll need for work.

1530 - swing by @twosmoke300 to pick up the brake pipe he made for the Rover - cheers mate!

1600 - in the garage to fit the brake pipe to the Rover which was relatively straightforward fit, and the brakes were bled on all four corners.

1715 - jumped in the Rover to get back to Plymouth to bring home all the remaining camping kit.

2000 - back in through the door to unload, then straight back out onto the driveway to remove the alternator. Luckily it was dry - oh no, wait a second-

Thankfully, it's an easy job on a BX and was out in minutes.

2015 - FINALLY, I sit down and have some tea 😅

Oh, and remember my mate getting me cheap bits for the Beat?

Yeah, they're less of a bargain now. Shite.

~£100 of charges on a parcel worth £340 is a piss take, but it's still cheaper than any solution I had over here.

So tomorrow I should have an answer to the BX woes, fingers crossed!

Cheers!

8,451 · July 10

Well, yesterday started poorly.

Looking for my beret for work and I realised it was in the Beat. Gave it a bit too much juice when opening the door and slammed it straight into the fucking engine crane.

That's a very prominent pinhole dent and the paint has chipped so I've given it a little touch up on the paint.

MrsH dropped the alternator off for fault diagnosis and told me a package had arrived at home:

Yep, that's pretty much everything needed for the next work package which will be happening soon - the Laguna is coming off the road for some TLC.

The alternator bloke then call me, told me the regulator was fried, he had one in stock and it'll be ready the following day for only £45. Result!

Feeling confident, I finally took the kids seats out of the BX to look for the socket causing the rattle in the back round bends. Found it!

With Shitefest in my mind, and a glaring reminder that last week's deluge of rain proved my tent wasn't watertight in the slightest, I planned ahead and folded the back seats to see how the BX would fare as a sleeping option with the blow up mattress in the back (kudos to MrsH for being my test model!)

It /would/ be workable, but the thought of moving everything from the boot to the front seats was a bit unpalatable, so I've set the tent up in the garden for the evening to waterproof it and let it dry naturally. Fingers crossed!

A mate then came round with a pile of surplus BX bits he's had for years. Some of it is scrap, some isn't applicable to me, such as the turbo and manifold - check out this retro wrapper I found wedged in the turbo - expired 2002!

This morning, I got the call to say the alternator was ready for collection, so I rushed over to pick it up.

Luckily it's a very quick install, and less than fifteen minutes later, we were ready to find out if it worked.

Success! (Kind of). The battery light is sometimes a bit slow to illuminate during the ignition before engine start, but it does charge when running and then light up when the engine is shut down.

I've just received my cigarette USB charger with built in voltmeter so I'm going to commute in it tomorrow and keep a beady eye on everything so fingers crossed!

Cheers

1,201 · July 10

3 minutes ago, fatharris said:

Is that a passenger side BX power mirror in the background of the chips baggie?

12,509 · July 10

11 minutes ago, fatharris said:

(kudos to MrsH for being my test model!)

Come to BX eyes, there

8,451 · July 11

Is that a passenger side BX power mirror in the background of the chips baggie?

Yep, part of the spares pile I got for a crate of beer

1,201 · July 11

18 minutes ago, fatharris said:

Yep, part of the spares pile I got for a crate of beer

Do you want it / need it? I have a crate of beer money ready for it if you don’t 😄

FatHarris - tales of a motoring moron ***Full house 1/10***

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FatHarris - tales of a motoring moron Full house 1/10