:: Diary - December 2007 ::

:: Saturday, December 1, 2007 ::

After my busy day off yesterday (most of which I spent chair-testing with the occasional bit of sleeping thrown in, when sitting on your arse just gets too exhausting), today is the day to get the car finished. Well, that is, unless I go to the TVR club meeting.

An hour later, I'm at the meeting... my own car will have to wait. And anyway, here's hoping the exhaust mounting rubbers will arrive today. Good selection of cars again, only the one S though (Jim's) - he shows me where both his trailing arms have holes in, at exactly the point that mine first went in July 2004. Dave is going to help him change them - I might give a hand myself if work doesn't get in the way. Jim wants to plan another excursion to one of the national meeting next summer. I'll have some of that!

Don't get back home until after dark. And the exhaust mountings weren't even delivered either...

:: Sunday, December 2, 2007 ::

Right no messing about - the car is going to be finished and running today. I need a drive to restore the faith!

First task - connect up my ancient battery charger to the car, and remove the cell filler caps (doan want no batteries exploding in this here garage, boy!) and leave it to cgarge up a bit while I do other stuff.

First other stuff is to remove the front brake calipers, remove the pads, clean and free everything up, re-grease with copper grease and reassemble. I hope this cures the brake wobble I had, I think because the calipers were sticking. If that doesn't work, I might be needing new brake disks - not a major disaster, the ones on the car have been there since just after I got it so they might be a bit tired now.

Next - put the alloy strip across the back of the chassis. The battery has absorbed enough charge to open the boot! Yay! A couple of bolts through the boot floor and the chassis, put the strip on and then the nuts, a spanner on the inside and a ratchet socket on the outside and Robert's your avulncular relative!

Then the exhaust. Inspecion shows that the old rubber mountings are still in good nick, and I have already bought new stainless steel mounting bolts and nuts. I prop the back end up on various lumps of wood, and the front on a jack with a block of wood on top. I get the middle mountings and nuts on after a bit of fiddling - the bolt just fits between the chassis and the body, put the second rubber mounting on, then the exhaust itself then a washer and nut, while it's all determined to fall apart again. Don't tighten up at this stage until I connect the front up. Jack the front up tightly into position and connect up to the cat pipes, then finally tighten the middle. I don't have a rear mounting, or even a new bolt the right length (the old one was far too long!) so I'll leave that for now - it's secure enough for now, the rear mounting just lifts it an inch or so.

Put the wheels back on, and lower the car to the floor. I refit the bonnet strut then pump the brake a few times to take up the play in the front calipers and to make sure it's all bled properly, then turn the key and start her up - and instantly, all is well - I'll never get tired of hearing this thing starting up! I let it warm up, with a quick poke of the pedal just to get the system charging. While it's doing that, I put my tools and other stuff away and set out the door ramps...

A quick 5-minute drive down the road and back confirms that everything seems to work - the brakes are fine, the fan cuts in, nothing seems to be leaking. I don't want to go further because it's starting to get dark and I don't want to put the lights on until the battery has had a chance to recover a bit better.

I check the ride height, which has settled a bit as a result of my wee run. 175mm to the chassis outriggers front and rear, exactly the height recommended on Pistonheads. The car certainly seems to sit better at the rear. I have plent adjustment to lower the rear if I want to, but the front is as low as it can go, unless I put on shorter springs. It will probably all settle a bit after a few more miles.

So I'm a happier pixie as I put my stuff away this time - that wee 5 minute drive has indeed restored the faith - it's a brilliant wee machine!

It's manky though - it needs a good clean.

:: Saturday, December 22, 2007 ::

Not a lot of news, so no updates recently. I've just been too busy, between the demands of work-related clients who see Christmas as an absolute deadline, whether it's critical or not - and you have to attempt to keep them happy (I suppose).

I've also spent a lot of my time driving miles after work to go hospital-visiting, nearly every day this month.

Anyway, at last I'm on holiday till January. I don't think I've ever needed a holiday this much.

Still various other things to do but I'm going to get the car finished and running - there isn't a long list left, mainly to finish securing the exhaust and finish adjusting the suspension (and tightening it up). The weather has been freezing, frosty and foggy, and there's so much salt and grit on the roads that your car is manky as soon as you move it, so I'm not desperate.

I still don't have the Lexus back, it's taken a bit longer to get some parts, so I've still got the Audi A6, which I'm getting a bit tired of, to be honest. Latest date for Lexus return is 28 December so here's hoping. As soon as I get it back, I'll have to get it serviced. In the meantime I have to wash the Audi myself, seeing as it's not eligible for the Lexus car wash club.

:: Thursday, December 27, 2007 ::

See what Santa brought me! It's a big beefy cordless impact wrench, and a fine selection of sockets. Now I'll be able to break all the bolts that I previously couldn't shift at all. I try it out on a couple of wheel nuts... rat-a-tat-whirrrr, and it's off - whirrrrr-rat-a-tat and it's back on again. The possibilities for mindless damage are always greatly enhanced when you give a man a power tool - any power tool.

I nip along to the garage to bring the car back to the house, so that I can have a wee drive out if the weather is nice. The battery is totally flat again though, so I have to jump start it. I bring it back to the house and let it warm up and recharge - although it really needs a good run, it's started raining, and I don't have time anyway.

:: Friday, December 28, 2007 ::

At last, word on the Lexus - it'll be ready for collection tomorrow, or on Monday if I want it serviced first (the service being overdue because I wanted to get it booked in for the body repair first). I agree to collect it on Monday.

It's still raining and I'm still busy doing other stuff so no TVR run today.

:: Saturday, December 29, 2007 ::

I decide to have a wee TVR run - except that when I get in, the engine won't start - it doesn't even turn over. In fact, the ignition light doesn't even come on - the battery is again as dead as a dodo's grandad.

I don't have time to charge it up today - I'll do it first thing tomorrow and then take it for a decent run.

:: Sunday, December 30, 2007 ::

I am up at 7:00 am to connect up my puny wee battery charger, after opening up the cell caps to prevent gas build-up. I leave it on emergency life support, and go back indoors.

After 3 hours, the charge rate has dropped off a wee bit so I disconnect the charger and try the starter - and it starts! Only just, mind, and it seems to be running on four and a half cylinders for a while. I give it a couple of blips to clear its tubes, and leave it running while I put my stuff away.

Then I set off for a wee drive, making sure that I have no lights, fans, or any other extraneous electrical stuff switched on. At first, it's still running as rough as hell, so it's really down on power. It's fine once it's warmed up though.

I notice (seeing as this is the first time I've driven it any distance since I replaced the suspension) that the ride feels a bit bouncy, I think mainly at the back. After a few corners and a couple of speed bumps, I think that the rear suspension is maybe over-damped, so I'll try softening it a bit. I need to jack the car up to adjust the back ones though, and my first priority is to rescusitate the battery, so I'll leave that for another day.

The car seems to corner well though, without too much roll, although the roads are damp and I'm a fully paid up member of the society of self-preservationist wimps, so I'm not testing the handling to extreme, or anywhere near it. I also realise that I've forgotten, over the years, how to set up adjustable suspension so a bit of trial and error might be the order of the day!

The steering is a lot better though, smoother and with more feel, since I replaced the bearing.

I stop after an hour or so to take the roof off, despite the damp and cold. I don't give a stuff - the car is brilliant!

When I get home, I check the battery voltage (with the engine and everything else switched off) - 12.68 volts. I'll test it again tomorrow morning to see if it's keeping its charge.

I also recheck the ride height - seems to be about 160mm to the bottom of the outrigger, front and rear - so a tiny fraction low, maybe.

:: Monday, December 31, 2007 ::

I was going to have another wee run today but first I have to go and collect the Lexus. By the time I've done that, it's half past one and it's started to get dark again (the weather is absolutely pish so the combination of overcast sky and winter lack of sun means that you're lucky if it gets light at all).

Anyway, the Lexus is fine - it looks fabby, even to the closest check. It's also been serviced, washed and valeted, so no complaints!

When I get home I check the battery voltage again - 12.48 volts, so a very slight drop, but obviously still holding its charge ok. At least that's reassuring!