:: Diary - January 2007 ::

:: Tuesday, January 2, 2007 ::

The weather doesn't look too bad so I decide to bring the car along from the garage and complete a couple of jobs - mainly cleaning then painting the cylinder heads, ckeaning the interior and sealing a slight oil leak from around the sump drain plug.

Again, the car doesn't even attempt to start because the battery's flat again. Much pushing to get the car out and jump-started. It starts first time with the jump leads on. I get the car back to the house and stop the engine, and immediately try to restart it. The battery is too flat to turn the engine over.

I think I have to admit now that the battery that I diagnosed as a bit duff when I bought the car 45 months ago, has now finally given up the ghost. I need a new one. A trip to the local Halfords for the recommended model (069) shows that it's a "special order only" item at an unspecified price. I notice that most of the batteries they have look to be much the same size but have a much higher cranking amperage and a higher amp-hour capacity than the one on my car had when it was new (according to the label). Back to the house to measure the old battery - 10 inches long, 7 inches wide and 8 inches high. Right I am going to buy the highest capacity I can find that fits into that space. Not from Halfords though - theirs are £80 or so, I'll try the motor factors tomorrow (they are closed today for New Year).

Right back to the other jobs. Clean the cylinder heads. Well I have a look and they are pretty damn clean as it is, so I'll just paint them then. Right where's the high temperature paint I bought? Ahhh. It's along at the garage.

OK next job on the list. Steering column bearing. I need a hand to do that (or the arms of an india rubber octopus to reach both ends of the bolts at the same time) and there's nobody available to help.

Right next job. Sump plug seal. I need to get the car up on ramps. I need to start it to do that. Naaah if I start it once more, it'll be to take it back along to the garage.

Next job on the list is scraping and wire brushing any loose Hammerite and repainting the chassis. Naaah can't be bothered starting that today - it won't be dry enough by the time I take the car back to the garage so it'll end up with a nice sandblast finish. No...

So I decide to take the car back to the garage, until I get another battery. Another jump start and I am about to set off when I realise that I will have to stop for fuel... but what if the car doesn't start again? Another pause while I empty 5 litres from the spare "emergency supply because the fuel gauge doesn't work" can.

When I get the car into the garage I realise that it's looking really sorry at the moment - it's covered in water and dust marks from the leaking garage roof, the wheels have lost their shine and the cloth roof is manky. Then I remember how bad it looked at this time last year, before I had the garage at all... and at least the interior is dry! This is the penalty for using it in the winter and not locking it away till April or something.

Another (easier) pre-summer mini-restoration will be required!

:: Wednesday, January 3, 2007 ::

Up to the motor factors to buy a battery. £44 with 2 year warranty - just the job.

Straight along to the garage and fit the battery - absolute skoosh. The car starts as soon as it smells the key, never mind when you turn it. Brilliant.

Then I decide to try painting the cylinder heads. I bought some POR15 Manifold Gray ages ago (to disguise the various cracks and repairs in the old manifolds - unfortunately they were falling to bits faster than I could repair them so I never got around to repainting them). The engine is mostly hidden from above by the exhausts, but while the rocker covers are nice and blue, and the manifolds are nice and shiny, the heads are manky and rusty. After a wee bit of painting with a ickle brush, they look much better. They do need another coat after at least 24 hours though.

:: Saturday, January 6, 2007 ::

There is an hour's run planned before the TVR club meeting today, so I need to leave even earlier than usual. First though, I have to give the car a wash - it's absolutely manky, just sitting in the garage, just with dust falling from the roof (made worse by the fact that the car was wet when I put it away last so the dust has settled in pools and runs).

I also meant to give the cylinder heads another coat of paint but I didn't have time to wait for it to dry.

On the way to the start, I hear the exhaust blowing a tiny bit. A few miles later, I can hear it a bit more. By the time I reach the start of the run it's obviously blowing quite badly. A quick look underneath confirms that it's the downpipe joint in front of the sump. It's the garage door - I can hear the exhaust rub against the bottom door frame every time I take the car out. I either need longer ramps or another block inside the garage to lift the back wheels to give me clearance.

Anyway, I forgot to count the number of cars at the start but I think there were about 10. Only one mad enough to arrive with the roof down though... but that was soon sorted as it started to rain before we set off.

By the time we reached the meeting, the sun had come out again, and there were a few other members there. It was one of the best- attended meetimngs for a long time, and the best thing was that there were 3 or 4 new members, two of whom don't even own TVRs yet, and one who has just discovered the joys (and none of the trials yet) of owning one!

A few more photos from the meeting:

Andy's new Tuscan was very nice and Nick's new Chimaera was very yellow.

Noel showed his commitment to customer care, even for those who might not neccessarily own a TVR for some time yet. At least Hayley enjoyed meeting the funny man.

:: Sunday, January 7, 2007 ::

Insider dealing advice - buy shares in Halfords exhaust repair kits. I have used so many of the damn things now that I don't even have to read the instructions. First stop is to buy another one, to fix the exhaust blow. Back to the garage, jack the car up, remove the old exhaust sealer and pack the new repair on. Let's hope it lasts longer this time.

Right, next job is to paint the front hub carriers - I had them painted in black Hammerite but I noticed when I was changing the balljoint the other week that most of the Hammerite has gone, to be replaced by a less attractive rust finish. The paint I used on the cylinder heads give just the right finish - a metallic grey that looks just like the original forged finish.

I remove the brake calipers and brackets, and the brake disks, then wire brush the hub castings to remove the loose paint and rust. I then prime the castings with an etching primer which I have to leave to dry, which won't be today. Also - I need to paint both hubs and the cylinder heads in a oner - the paint isn't soluble in thinners, petrol, white spirit or water - and I don't have the right solvent to clean the brushes or anything - so I don't want to use up too many brushes doing this job. So once I start painting I'll do everything in sight and throw the brush away.

What do you mean I could buy some solvent to clean the brush? I've reached the conclusion that cleaning brushes is a waste of time - if the paint doesn't dissolve in water, the brush is usually knackered by the time you've cleaned it, so it's easier to just chuck the brush away.

What else? Oh yes, I loosen the sump drain plug and wrap it in ptfe tape and tighten it up again to stop that tiny oil leak. I'll replace the copper sealing washer at the next service.

The car is a real bugger to get into reverse - the bottom of the gearknob catches on the console so the lever doesn't move quite far enough into position. Must fix that because it's a pain in the arse, so I loosen the gear knob and move it slightly up the gear lever so that there's a wee bit more clearance when I select reverse. I can't try it though because the car is still up on stands and I don't want to topple it off, do I (see I'm learning!)

:: Sunday, January 14, 2007 ::

First chance to get back to the car - yesterday I was busy doing something else and I can't go in the evenings at this time of year because it's dark and the farm man doesn't like people turning up in the dark. Given that I don't want to get my nether regions implanted with 12-bore shot, or mauled by one of his god-knows-how-many dogs, I don't go when it's dark.

Anyway, taking up from where we were last week, the first job is to paint the front hub carriers. The etching primer has done a lovely job on the bare metal, but has made a bit of a mess of the bare (rusty) bits of the suspension wishbones. A couple of hours and the hub carriers look fine - in fact they put the rest of the suspension to shame.

So I have an additional incentive to get on with cleaning and repainting the suspension and chassis. Not today though, it's bleeding freezing, even in the garage. I'll wire brush all the loose paint and plastic coating and repaint in red Hammerite. The suspension has all been Hammerited before, so it's not too bad - just a bit grubby and chipped in places, especially around the bottom wishbone joint where water drips down and gathers in wet weather.

The front of the chassis and the outriggers has also been Hammerited before, but they also need to be tidied up, with the most careful inspection being to the top of the outriggers, where rust can really get a hold because of the shape of the bottom of the car. Mine seems ok but you have to be extremely careful with the outriggers - rust is not always immediately obvious.

The middle section of the main chassis rails needs to be stripped and painted. The rest is mainly ok, being preserved by a film of engine oil, gearbox oil and diff oil. Best rust preventer in the world that stuff!

Once I get the wheels back on and get the car down off the axle stands, I give the engine a bit of a spin (mainly to get the brake servo working and then carefully press the brakes to work the front pads back onto the disks - you don't want to find that the brakes need 2 or 3 pumps when you're manouevring inches from the garage walls (see I'm definitely learning!)

A few gentle manouevres forwads and backwards confirm that reverse gear slots in no problem now (in fact I only realised after I was home that I hadn't had any problems with reverse).

The garage roof is still leaking slightly though - I do need to think about an indoor waterproof cover.

I also notice that the wheels are starting to corrode, so they will need to be repolished before next summer. I think I'll do them anyway before they get too bad.

Just as I'm leaving, the motor bike man who shares the opther half of the garage turns up, and we have a wee chat. Again he reminds me that he can get me parts if I want. I think I need to give him some business so that I don't just go to him for the tough stuff.