Mat777's motoring magnificence and malaise - a mingled meander

[mat777]

I thought it was about time to start a unified thread for my many items of shite! As I come to mention various vehicles I'll link their existing thread here

So to kick things off, one hot off the press featuring the Discovery....

Since purchase in the summer it's been used pretty sparingly, which was kind of the point to be the fair. Even in last week's snow I persevered with the Prius, but when I need to tow then it's the time to shine for Solihull's finest*

The action kicked off on Wednesday with a trip to my local Land Rover club meeting, the first start in over 3 weeks which was a cause for nervousness having not left it that long before... But it fired straight up albeit requiring a few cycles up and down the selector gate to prevent the old gearbox error lights.... Pretty sure the XYZ switch is on it's way out but cycling the selector cleans the contacts enough after sitting for a bit. 

At the club I bumped into an old LR friend of mine who currently has a 1971 Range Rover camper, sporting a 7.1 litre Perkins turbodiesel from a JCB.... 

The main event though - it's been a busy old weekend for the Disco.... A long trip moving some hydraulic systems training and test rigs for British Phantom Aviation Group. Ironically I collected these 4 and a half years, 1 trailer and 4 cars ago, from the now sadly closed Cornwall Avaition Heritage Centre... 

...and delivered to the home of BPAG near Melton Mowbray - which they shortly moved out of.

With nearly everything now relocated, the last piece of the puzzle was to move these rigs down to the new home at Cirencester's Cotswold Airport. Enter the Disco and my current big rig trailer:

I am, however, still getting used to towing with the Disco. For the past few years I've been relatively spoiled with modern trucks sporting 200hp and either a 6 speed manual or 8 speed auto. You could therefore say it's been a bit of a culture shock pulling 2 tons with 120hp and a 4 speed ZF... especially on the steep  vertical bits of the Fosse Way..... Perhaps it's time for a remap and a bigger intercooler, or would that be foolhardy on a 165k mile engine? 

Today, I've evidently gone soft in my old age.... Because after dropping my trailer back off I found myself with a torch and a hose washing the chassis clean! This year there seems to have been a particularly disgusting amount of salt on the roads, and after 700 miles most of it seemed to be over and under the car. Now, having paid a relatively large sum for this D2 on account of having an absolutely pristine chassis I'd quite like to keep it that way... And because of course I'd been too disorganised and too tight to get it professionally undersealed before winter, it was time to break out the hosepipe in a frantic attempt to keep those tinworms at bay....

 

[warninglight]

It's hard to beat a late D2 as an all rounder!

Aren't they nearer 140bhp? 136? Not a lot when you're up around 6 tonnes somewhere hilly though! 

[mat777]

I'm baaaack!

Due to my new job, my Autoshite time is severely limited which means I get a few mins to browse over lunch but can't spend all day posting any more.. but I shall try to make more of an effort! 

As much as it pains me from an OCD perspective to post updates out of order, I'm going to start with the most recent adventures because I'll otherwise never get around to it...

It's been busy weekend of shite, Saturday morning saw me firstly trekking from Cheshire to Kemble, visiting a public open day of one of many projects I help with. A very laborious but steady work in progress! 

By the afternoon I'd hot-footed it up to Chesterfield to complete the handover of the Insight to @Bear. With the Prius now doing daily duty, I'd originally delivered the Insight to him over Christmas for some paid rejuvenating, but like finding a forlorn puppy, this quickly turned into "awhhh, can I keep it? 🥺"  🤣 

With the financials settled, Richard is now officially the proud owner of an already much smarter looking and better-driving car than the one I dropped off. One final trip out for a Celebratory Dominos almost came to grief when someone pulled out right in front of us on the way, before proceeding to the same destination. Much glaring ensued .....

A fun*trip back to Cheshire also ensued, with roadworks on the M1 and a night closure of the A50 adding an hour to my already late arrival. Much more glaring ensued, at me this time....

Sunday saw me up at my workshop, undoing and redoing the time-limited slapdash job I'd done of painting the Sea King's exhibition trailer. 

The sensible option during last year's unexpectedly comprehensive rebuild (lesson - a builder's definition of a "good condition" plant trailer differs significantly from anyone that might want to actually tow it on a public road) would have been to turn it over and jetwash before painting the underside as the first bit. Sadly, a show deadline forced me to reassemble it with just a lick of paint on the topside. 

Thus beckoned a day of removing broken mudguards, and thoroughly wire brushing mud and rust from the insides of the wings and behind wheels ..... 

 

"Are you my mummy?"

[Bear]

Now, if I can have a go at rejuvenating some of those bigger machines...

[mat777]

On 20/01/2025 at 21:57, warninglight said:

It's hard to beat a late D2 as an all rounder!

Aren't they nearer 140bhp? 136? Not a lot when you're up around 6 tonnes somewhere hilly though! 

You're right, turns out it's 135.... But it really doesn't feel like it! Maybe it's me but mine would struggle to get out of its own way with that autobox attached.... I can't start on my workshop truck build soon enough (which reminds me, I need to ask someone me more questions on that thread!)

 

9 hours ago, Bear said:

Now, if I can have a go at rejuvenating some of those bigger machines...

As fun as it can be, if the Sedici is trying your patience then planes are a whole other level! 

Firstly, everything is in a stupid location that's usually uncomfortably high up or low down. Or inside a jet duct/on a cockpit floor. 

Then there's the fasteners, which are usually BA or Whitworth or something you don't have the right size for. That's if you're lucky and it's a nut and bolt.... Because it may be a HighTorque screw. These little bastards are all over warplanes, the idea being it's harder for some squaddie fitter to round them off because the torque is concentrated in the centre. This now means you need to press the bit in twice as hard and twist twice as hard to get the bastard thing to grip because all it wants to do is jump out all the time

 

Still, it's comprehensively beaten on the masochism stakes by the Barrel Nut. For reasons only known to the insane twat that specified them, a lot of the larger and less commonly accessed panels on these aircraft have what looks like an Allen headed bolt, but is actually internally threaded and located onto a stud behind the panel.

Not so much of a problem in service, but now try removing one after 30 years parked outside by the coast. Oh, it's seized and/or rounded off? I'll just drill.... No I won't BECAUSE ITS FEMALE 

 

[Zelandeth]

I have come across those barrel nuts on something before, and I remember them causing a LOT of cursing.

I'm guessing aircraft also commit the heinous crime of putting fasteners through a panel in a way that made sense for initial assembly but makes it an absolute nightmare if you ever need to disassemble anything again as there's now an everything in the way.

Closest I've come was helping work on an Alvis Stalwart which was without exception the most annoying vehicle I have ever had to work on.  If anyone ever asks you to change the brake master cylinder on one, just run.  Don't stop, don't think about it, just run.

[Bear]

I found those nuts holding the side airbags in on the Suzuki/Fiat seats...