Not much to report on the TVR front - the weather is crap, the roads are salty, the TVR is in the garage, it's staying in the garage.
But I thought I might give a little update on something else...
My late son bought this orbital polisher and sandermany years ago, before he moved out. He ordered it from the US but it arrived with a
broken switch so he never used it. He didn't take it with him when he moved out either, he said it didn't work so he didn't want it, so
it has been languishing in my garage ever since. The other day, I decided that I need an orbital polisher, mainly to take out a wee scuff
on the corner of the "day car".
Here's the broken slide switch. There should be a plastic sliding button that clips into that wee hole there - but it's long gone.
I tried to make a switch out of a wee bit of wood - cut to shape and drilled for a short screw that fitted that little hole. I then put a
little bit of plastic milk bottle over the wood, and taped it all together.
It worked! It's not pretty though, and it won't last long, but it might do the job.
Then today, I had a brainwave. No wait, correction - my wife told me about a new (to me) material called Fimo, places like Hobbycraft sell it,
it comes in a range of colours, and it's like plasticine, but when you bake it in an oven for half an hour, it turns into a hard plastic...
The first step is to shape the putty - you have to warm it first by rolling it in your hands - I used a hairdryer to speed up the process, cos
it's effing freezing in my garage!
Then I moulded it to the right thickness and shape (as close as I could get it) before popping it in the oven at 110 degrees for 30 minutes.
It comes out floppy, but soon goes stiff (oooh er missus!), then you can cut it, sand it or drill it. I drilled it for a short pin to go
into that hole in the inner switch, then used a very large jubilee clip (Halfords is almost next door to Hobbycraft in my town) to hold it
all in place, but allowing the switch to slide.
It's crude but it works!
I know that I could have gone and bought a new DA polisher for a lot less grief. But that's not the point, is it?
:: Thursday, 26 January, 2023 ::
Now, I've driven a fair few miles in my life - most of them at "Gentleman's Touring Club" speeds but many of them a bit quicker, especially
when I was younger and stupider. I've driven Ferraris, Astons, E-type Jags, a Mitsubishi Evo, lorries, buses, I've done track days in my own
TVR and the Porsche, and in other cars including single seat racers. I've been hurtled around tracks by drivers much faster than I, and I've
been amazed at videos like a lap of Monaco with Ayrton Senna (although that's not nearly as scary as a lap of Ayr Town Centre). But nothing
- nothing - prepares you for the ultimate arse-clenching sweaty-palms driving experience that is... picking up a 6-year-old from Primary
School at finishing time.
We've been picking up my 6-year-old grandson from school one a week or so, just to spend some time with him, while his mum and dad are at work.
Let me set the scene. The school is at the far end of a cul-de sac. Along the cul-de-sac there's two entrances to the school on the right, and
one to a residential area on the left. There's "Keep Clear" markings. There's zig-zags at a pedestrian crossing. There's double yellow lines
at the junctions. The road is only just wide enough for two cars to pass. People are parked right along one side - zigzags, yellow lines,
everywhere...
So, you pick up the wee guy and then try to drive out past a solid line of parked cars. There's people coming in who can't be organised enough
to get here on time. You can't get out while they're coming in. They can't come in because people are driving out regardless of the fact that
they can't get past. Bedlam ensues...
Anyway, in one of these recurring nightmare episodes just after New Year, I went to dodge into a space between parked cars to let someone come
in, just as the person in the last space that I was dodging in front of, decided to move...
Result: slight scrape on rear door on the Range Rover...
Hence the reason that I was trying to fix up the DA polisher!
The weather has been manky since then, and the car is even mankier, so finally, today, I managed to wash the car and then have a go at this
paint repair.
I used a compounding foam pad at a middle speed, and used some Meguiars Ultimate Compound that I had lying around. Gently, a bit at a time -
you can always rub down some more, but you can't put it back if you rub right through, especially on the edges and swage lines.
After about 30 minutes, it looks like this - scritchy-scratchy paint be gone!
I need to polish the whole car next - but another day!
I'm glad I got the polisher to work - it's a good one, it doesn't slow down when you press harder (like my big Halfords polisher does) and it's
not too noisy either. I did have to modify my new switch slightly by cutting grooves into it to make it a bit easier to move when your hands
are cold and wet. But overall, success!
Here's the broken slide switch. There should be a plastic sliding button that clips into that wee hole there - but it's long gone.
I tried to make a switch out of a wee bit of wood - cut to shape and drilled for a short screw that fitted that little hole. I then put a
little bit of plastic milk bottle over the wood, and taped it all together.
Then I moulded it to the right thickness and shape (as close as I could get it) before popping it in the oven at 110 degrees for 30 minutes.
It comes out floppy, but soon goes stiff (oooh er missus!), then you can cut it, sand it or drill it. I drilled it for a short pin to go
into that hole in the inner switch, then used a very large jubilee clip (Halfords is almost next door to Hobbycraft in my town) to hold it
all in place, but allowing the switch to slide.
