TVRs and Stuff

:: Diary - February 2025 ::
:: Saturday, 1 February 2025 ::

I went back along to the Vixen at the farm yesterday, to try and start it up after the battery has been on charge since Tuesday. It turns over, but there's not a flicker of life - it doesn't even try to catch.
I push it to the front of the garage, near the doors, so that I can get jump leads on to it. It turns over better, but still no catch, except after it has a couple of squirts of easy start into the air cleaner - there's a couple of coughs...
I don't have any tools with me, except for a plug spanner, so I take out the plugs - they're all dry... there's no smell of fuel from the exhaust either.
I pull off the fuel hose to the carburettor - it's bone dry. There's also a glass filter half-way along that hose, it's empty too.
The fuel gauge says there's fuel in the tank, and it drove here without running out, at the end of October, 3 months ago. I know that modern fuels can go "off", but that affects their octane level - it doesn't make them disappear half-way along a fuel hose, does it?
I didn't have tools, or even a light, to diagnose any further, so I had to leave it.
So today, it's back along to the garage with a box of various tools that I might need, along with a couple of gallons of fuel, just in case there's less in the tank than I think (story of my life these days!). It's almost guaranteed though that I'll need someting that I don't have with me...
First step - chuck in some fuel and try it. Nothing. I take off the air filter and there's no fuel in the carb...
Remove the hose at the carb and turn the engine over. Still nothing.
Remove the hose from the tank to the pump, at the pump end - there's plenty fuel spilling out here! Note that it has a non-return valve in the end of the hose, so I need to take that out before I blow through it. I hear bubbles in the tank. This confirms that (a) there's fuel above the level of the supply hose, and (b) the supply hose isn't blocked.
Right so... the fuel is reaching the pump, but it's not reaching the end of the hose from the pump to the carb... I remove that hose completely and blow through it, it seems to be clear. I do note though that there's a glass in-line filter in this hose, and there seems to be a lot of crap inside there - not enough to block it, but still... I take the filter apart and clean it out.
I take the pump off the side of the engine block - two bolts and it's free. It seems to be full of fuel though... I pump it a few times by hand and it seems to work, it sprays fuel everywhere... I remove 5 screws holding it together, so that I can check the diaphragm - that seems to be clean and no splits. The whole pump seems pretty new, so I put it back together and mount it back on the engine.
I've only brought long-reach sockets with me, and I can't get the pump bolts in because the bolt keeps sliding up inside the socket instead of engaging with the threads in the block. I pack the socket out with a bit of paper towel...

By this time the car battery is pretty flat, so I hook up jump leads and turn it over again. Still nothing...

Ok let's try priming the system. Step 1 - remove hose to car at pump end. Try engine - fuel comes out of pump.
Connect the first bit of hose, to the in-line filter - try engine, fuel comes through.
Connect second bit of hose, but not to carb yet. Try engine, fuel comes through, glass filter fills up...
Connect to carb, try engine... and it coughs and farts (which is an improvement!) and it eventually springs into life!
I'm not sure exactly what I fixed, but it's fixed!
With the engine running, the glass filter is almost full, just a tiny air bubble at the top end. It also has a bit of sediment in the bottom - now that was spotless when I fitted it 10 minutes ago!

I let it warm up to recharge the battery and circulate the oil, then I switch off and put the trickle charger back on.
Back to tidying up the S!

Update
You know how I said that the Vixen fuel pump looked pretty new? Well, that might be the problem... I read later that these mechanical fuel pumps are nearly all now made by the same manufacturer (in Korea I think), who has taken over well-known names like Quinton Hazell etc, and they are all pretty unreliable, some lasting for only around 500 miles or so. What happens is that the diaphragm stretches and goes all floppy, then it stops pumping, with no other visible signs of damage.
I didn't specifically look for that symptom when I had it apart earlier, and I didn't note the part number either. I didn't take a pic because I was just too "in the moment" along at the farm.
I was surprised, though, that I had to prime the system one hose at a time, as if the pump couldn't fill it on its own. Maybe it's working, but only just?
These mechanical fuel pumps aren't expensive, so maybe it's worth changing it anyway, and try to get one of the more reliable makes, not a cheapo.
If that doesn't last long maybe I should think about an electric pump with a pressure regulator? More expensive but maybe more reliable and longer-lasting?

:: Monday, 3 February 2025 ::

Yesterday was TVR Car Club day. It's still winter and freezing cold and rainy, so no TVRs turned up!
This was the first meeting for Bobby, so I volunteered to pick him up. He only lives maybe 5 miles from me, but it took nearly 20 minutes to get there - mainly because "they" are improving a set of traffic lights on the A71, and have put in temporary lights with only one arm going at a time, and very long delays between green lights, so the queues have built up in each direction.
That's ok, sometimes these things have to be done - but it's extremely irrtating when you've been held up for the work to take place, but there's nobody actually on the site working.
Anyway, we then went on to Eric's and went through in Eric's car to the meeting.
Usual chat. Well, when I day "usual" you don't know what you're going to get, it ranges this time between cars, holidays, and an increasing tendency towards health ailments. All good fun though, and at least this time the fish and chips didn't have strawberries and pomegranate among the accompanying vegetables.
One of the topics is the Vixen's fuel pump, and while I'm telling the story, I reach the conclusion that the pump isn't developing enough pressure, so I decide to change it.
So today, Monday, I go back along to the farm to check the existing pump part number and to do another we check on fuel delivery. The in-line glass filter is empty, but the car starts fine, and the filter is full with the engine running. After it has warmed up a bit, though, I run it for a bit at higher revs, and the glass filter nearly empties. If I shake the filter, you can hear the engine "miss" slightly through fuel starvation.
Yep, as I thought. This pump is fecked.
It doesn't have a part number or any maker mark on it at all either.
I go home and order a new pump, this one with a glass bowl and filter so that I can see easily when there's a fuel issue.

Major Lifestyle Change Alert!
You know how I sold the Porsche in December?
I've been thinking about replacing it, but I don't think I will. I'm enjoying working on the two TVRs and getting them sorted out. The Porsche never had the same social benefits as TVRs do - but maybe that was just me.
Anyway, I'm now paying for a shed at the farm to store 2 cars, but I only have 1 car in it. I've kinda let that stick to the wall, but the annual contract is due later in February, and I've been wondering about keeping it on.
I have a double garage at the house, but half of it is taken up by a workbench, a cupboard unit and a table along one wall, so I can't get 2 cars in. But what if I built a big shed beside the garage, in the back garden, and moved all that stuff in there?
I went off on Saturday and found an ideal shed / workshop that fits nicely into the available space, and would hold all the stuff I need from the garden shed, plus the stuff I need to move from the garage. It wouldn't hold all the stuff I HAVE, but more on that in a minute.
So I've been thinking about that, and then today when I got back from the Vixen, the postman delivered the renewal letter from the farm. Rent has increased by around 40%. Then they have now registered for VAT, so there's another 20% on top of that... Erm, naw.., that confirms the decision to get my stuff moved and get both cars in my own garage.
So... I have ordered the new shed, and I've given notice to the farm. I have a plan that involves putting both cars along at the farm for a few weeks while I spread the contents of the garage over the "sorting floor", on their way to either "keep in garage" or "move to shed" or "into the skip".
I have far too much "keep that just in case it might come in handy" shit that I have accumulated over donkey's years. For example, I have brand new brake pads for a Sunbeam Alpine that I sold in 1981... I've got various random bits of wood that never seem to fit any new project I do, but are good for propping up gearboxes when you change them once or twice in a lifetime... I've got 5 or 6 pallets round the back of the garage that I might make into planters that I don't need... It's costing me more to keep all this shite than it would to buy a new bit, in the unlikely event that I ever did actually need it...
It's not ideal as it will probably reduce working space, but keeping the farm shed for just one car is now just an extravagance. On the bright side, I won't have the "forgetting to bring enough tools" issue any more!

:: Tuesday, 4 February 2025 ::

I need to make space in the garage for shite-sorting, in preparation for "Operation Farm Exit (Frexit for short)". To make space, I need to take the S to the farm for a while. I'm hoping that Frexit will be completed and fully functional by the time of the TVR Car Club season opener in the first week of April, so that I can get the car back here and ready (and so that I don't have to pay an extra month's garage rental). Just in case it's not, though (are you listening Adrian?) I'm going to give it its annual oil change before I take it along, so that all it should need is a bit of a clean up. It's too wet today to move it.
So today, that's what I do - start the car and warm it up slightly, then drain the oil, replace the plug with a nice new washer, then change the filter. Easy as pie!
The weather is supposed to be dry for the rest of the week, so hopefully I'll get it along to the farm by the weekend.
I also realised that the new fuel pump that I ordered last night for the Vixen, doesn't come with hose fittings, so today, I order the right fittings. The pump and connectors should be here by the weekend. They're not critical to Frexit though, so it doesn't really matter.
What I do have to do, is work out how to get rid of the stuff that I intend to chuck out. What's that? "Take it to the tip" you say? If only it was that easy... Our local council say that they are cash-strapped, so the tips / recycling centres are only open on 2 or 3 weekdays, and only for half-days at weekends (Saturday afternoon anmd Sunday morning I think).
You have to book a half-hour time slot about a week in advance, so you need to have your shit sorted early.
Turn up early, you're not getting in.
Turn up late, you're not getting in.
You have to book in a particular registration number. It has to be a car. If it's a van, you're not getting in. If your shit's on a trailer, you're not getting in.
Turn up in a different vehicle, you're not getting in.
You have to tell them in advance what you're dumping / recycling or whatever. Turn up with anything else, you're not getting in.
Turn up too often (don't ask me what "too often" means) and they think you're commercial, not a resident, and guess what? Yep, you're not getting in.
At the same time, the same Council are moaning about the increase in fly-tipping that's going on along all the wee roads in the county. Even a blind amoeba with learrning difficulties could see the correlation there, eh?
Anyway, back to Frexit.
I'm going to order a skip that I can chuck random stuff in, and not worry too much about scheduling visits to the wombles with lists of boot contents. I just need to work out when I need it, and for how long. And where to put it so that I don't reverse into it...

:: Thursday, 6 February 2025 ::

The Vixen fuel pump arrived yesterday, but I don't have the fuel line connectors yet so we'll leave that for now..
Project Frexit continues apace. I took some stuff along to the farm yesterday to dump it out of the way while I re-model the left-hand side of the garage. There is now more of my stuff at the farm than there has ever been...
Three major tasks today. First I move the TVR out into the drive top give myself working space.
Task 1 - I kept an old garden table as a "working surface" over the top of the air compressor. It has since turned into a "storage of random layers of shite" surface. I won't be able to get a car through the door on that side, with that table in the way, so I dismantle it.
Next, I have a kitchen unit rescued from my son's house when they got a new kitchen in around 2010. It's also too wide, so that gets emptied and dismantled too.
Third, the workbench I built in 2009. It's a bit wide too, and the back half of it is also covered in random crap. I decide to cut 200mm off it lengthways. This means removing the top, the shelf and the rear frame, then shortening the side rails and screwing it back together, then reducing the size of the shelf and the top to suit.
Not a bad job, though I say so myself! The red toolbox is only there temporarily until...

I'll get rid of all of this stuff (and more!) in a run to the tip booked for Saturday. Then I can bring another low shelf unit along from the farm and reorganise the storage a bit.

Then I put the TVR back in the other side of the garage.
It's all going to plan. If there was a plan.

:: Friday, 7 February 2025 ::

Project Frexit continues...
I take the S along to the farm to make space for shit-sorting and temporary storage. That takes twice as long as it should, mainly because of blethering time.
Back home, and I sort the stuff for the tip tomorrow, so that the big stuff can go in the car first. I also add to the pile with stuff from the garden shed. Will I be able to do all this in one run? Or will I have to book another for next week sometime? I might be able to avoid getting a skip though...
I receive a text from an avid reader, who points out that the photo of the shitpile yesterday appeared to include two containers of oil, and then berated this waste of the earth's scarce resources. This is coming from a man whose TVR goes through oil like a chip van at a Hells Angels rally. In any case, I reply politely, the containers in question, that once contained screenwash, are both now empty.
I don't add that I have a separate container full of manky oil, after changing the oil in the S on Tuesday, or that I'm grateful for his reminder that I need to take that tomorrow as well - they have a large manky oil disposal tank, surounded by discarded containers and caps that you have to wade through.
The wee garden shed is now empty, thankls mainly to my wife, so I remove the shelves from that. She has found a chrity to donate it to, and they are coming on an unspecified date next week to dismantle it and take it away. Perfick.
This may all seem a bit random, if you're into project planning etc. That's cos it is. But it'll all work out...

:: Sunday, 9 February 2025 ::

Project Frexit update...
First task yesterday was to go to the farm and bring back the wee storage unit that I've had there for 15 years, which fits exactly between the workbench and the air comcompressor.
Then it's time for the trip to the tip! I manage to get the whole pile (plus some more that wasn't in the photo the other day) into the car. No skip required so far!

The rest of the day is spent moving stuff around the garage, so that I have a working space (albeit much narrower) along one side.

Also - I started to fit the pipe unions to the new pump, but just couldn't get the outlet to tighten... Then I discovered that hanging off the spanner wasn't a good idea, because I broke the pump casing... feckin scrap!
Today, I'm back along at the farm first, to put a charger back on the Vixen. While I'm at it, I check the glass filter in the fuel line - it's nearly empty. I wonder if I would be better to fit a wee electric pump instead, so that it could prime the system before trying to start the engine? If I go that route, I would prefer to wait until the car is back at the house.
I've also decided to sell the go-jaks, because I got them mainly to line the Chevy up with the barn door, and I won't really need them for wee TVRs in a double garage, and because I might not have space to store them.

They are awfully handy though!

Then there's more stuff-moving, and another pile of rubbish growing on the garage floor... my stock of "hoarded shite in case I need it" is seriously depleted - it's cheaper to buy something if I need it, than it is to pay to store all this stuff I might never use.
Frexit has its benefits!

:: Friday, 14 February 2025 ::

Bearing in mind the date:
One TVR's red
The other one's blue,
They're feckin expensive,
So no flowers for you.
Project Frexit is occupying a lot of time!
The new workshop is due for delivery in a couple of weeks.
Before that, we need to set down a new slab base - that's organised for the first week of March.
Before that, we had to lift about 2 tonnes of decorative cobble stones that covered half of the new workshop area - we did that yesterday so we're sore today.
That base will use old concrete slabs that are currently a scabby path from the house to the garage (and the bin store). so those slabs have to be lifted first.
Then a new path has to be laid with nicer slabs (although that's not necessarily critical to Project Frexit, lifting the old slabs is).
Meanwhile, there's another pile of stuff to go to the tip...
and a smaller pile of garden stuff and stored stuff that will go in the new workshop.
I can't take stuff to the tip because my car has a seized brake caliper that can't be fixed until Monday.
The go-jaks are up for sale on ebay for half what I paid for them 2 years ago. To be fair, though, at the current rate of chucking-out, i might have space to keep them.
When the new workshop is built, I need to make some shelves to fit, then bring back the stuff I have stored temporarily at the farm and see how it all fits into there, and into the spare space that I have made in the garage.
Then, hopefully, I'll still be able to fit both cars into the space that's left!

:: Friday, 21 February 2025 ::

Frexit update: Not a lot!
The Range Rover is mobile again with a nice shiny new brake caliper made of gold and diamonds, value approximately the same as a Faberge egg.
Another pile of crap has been shifted to the tip, with another pile of old pallets due to go tomorrow.
The engine stand has been donated to Dave for rebuilding the engine for his Griffith.
On Wednesday we shifted about a tonne and half of slabs from the delivery point at the kerb, into the back garden. My wife suggested that we leave them out front until we need them. I suggested that if we did that, we might not still have them when we do need them.
Work started yesterday to take up the old path and level the ground for the new one.
Today it's pishing down so no garden work!
We found a local charity weeks ago that said they wanted our old shed, and they would come and take it away. Now we are getting no response, so we might have to take that away ourselves too - the base for the new shed needs to be laid soon. I mean, either say you want it, or you don't - don't ask for it then fart about in secret while you decide if you meant it...
No sale of the go-jaks yet but I think I have figured out how I could store them, so if they don't sell, that's fine.
Today we went into Edinburgh on a wee errand (that needed car transport), and found getting about to be very frustrating - lots of roads closed (with minimal advance signing) to prevent through traffic (closed a couple of years ago "under the guise of Covid" - not my words but those of the Convener of their Transport Committee in a recorded meeting). Alternative routes with diabolical road works, with traffic management designed by people that shouldn't be trusted to fit a nut into a monkey's mouth. Other routes all choked with traffic avoiding either road works or road closures. Some have "diversion routes" that are longer than the distance that I go for my holidays. Most of the roads have a surface like the Somme after a month of heavy shelling.
It makes you weep, it really does, that such a lovely city is falling to bits in the interests of anti-car policy.

:: Monday, 24 February 2025 ::

TVR update: Absolutely nothing!
Frexit update: a bit more progress!
The old path has been lifted, and the slabs stacked ready to make the new workshop base.

Laying the new path is in progress.

The next step is to remove that old shed. We had found a charity weeks ago, who said they wanted it. They would come and dismantle it, and take it away. Lovely. Now they have gone all incommunicado, won't event tell us if they want it or not, and it has to be out of the way this week if the new base is to be ready in time for delivery of the new workshop. So it has to go, pronto Tonto.
See if I had a pound for every time that somebody promised to do something as a favour, and then disappeared / forgot / couldn't be arsed, I would be able to afford to pay someone to disappear / forget / not be arsed professionally. As it is, yet again, it falls upon me to do it my feckin' self (with the help of my glamorous assistant).
Some sheds are screwed together, so you just have to unwind the screws. Some are bolted with coach bolts. Not this one - this one has been nailed. Now normally, you leave the head of the nail sticking out 1/4 inch or so, so that you can get a claw under them to pull them out when necessary. Not this one - all the nails have been battered below the surface of the wood frame, so you have to dig them out one at a time with a variety of chisels and pinch bars. Since they have been there for 15 years, they are all rusted in place. (I didn't build the shed by the way, it was "supplied and erected".)
There are 32 nails in total. I spent 2 hours yesterday pulling 9 out, by about 5mm each, so that I can get a lever on them and yank the bloody thing apart when it's ready.
I've also found a buyer for the GoJaks - Eric is going to take them for his garage. Thats one problem solved - no need to devise a wall storage system - I almost bought some hooks on Saturday!
Which brings us back to today. The guys are back laying the rest of the slabs, so my activities in tearing the shed apart may be somewhat curtailed. Instead, I load the car up with a pile of rotting old pallets for the local recycling centre.

Then, with my now well-developed technique of "battering a jemmy in until the bastards move", I extract the rest of the shed nails today. Just a few holding it up until I dismantle it. Or until it gets windy and it dismantles itself...

:: Friday, 28 February 2025 ::

Another update, just to close the month off. Not that much to report on the TVR front, although the work on the garage / workshop / garden has been in full flight!
By Wednesday, we still hadn't heard from the folk who had wanted to take our old shed, se we decided to fully dismantle it ourselves. It took us one hour, with the help of a stanley knife, a big jemmy bar and a pair of steel-toe-capped boots. Not bad for a couple of old pensioners!
So here's where it was.

And here's where it ended up! That lot was picked up later the same day and taken away for recycling.

Then I made another trip along to the farm to bring back some more of the stuff stored there temporarily.
Other than that. it's really been just tidying up the rest of the garden as best we can until the new base is laid next week, and the new workshop built the week after. That should still leave me a couple of weeks to get the S along here and tidied up before the first TVR event of the season in April.
I've also had a wee bit of work going on, which will help to pay for all this, in around 30 days or so!

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