:: Diary - June 2008 ::

:: Sunday, June 1, 2008 ::

Last night I checked the weather forecast for today, for the Sporting Bears Car Show. The ever-so-reliable BBC website said that it was going to be the same as yesterday. Now yesterday I managed to get sunburn on my head and a nice pink half-cooked look on my arms, so at least the weather looks like it will be ok.

I've arranged to meet Dave at 8:00, but when I get up at 7, the sun is shining and there isn't a cloud in the sky. I pack my suncream and sun hat and off we go, shirt sleeves and sunglasses. By the time I've gone for money and then gone home again to pick up the enormous teddy bear I forgot, I think I'm going to be late. And I am. Not as late as Dave though who had to go home again because he forgot his pass to get into the show.

After about 10 miles there's a shadow just on the horizon. Another 5 miles and the sky is gray and it's bloody freezing. By the time we reach the show, it's overcast and not nice at all. Ach well at least it's dry, eh?

Not for long though. What starts as a very slight drizzle, soon transforms into a persistent piddle, which not only makes life miserable for us, but also for the members of the paying public who don't have a tent to try to shelter in. And here's me without a coat.

I get one customer though before the rain starts, a young lad called William who starts off telling me that he's always liked TVRs but then spoils it just a wee bit by telling me that he picked mine because it was cheaper than the Ferraris. As we leave the showground, I boot it up the hill, and his cool youthful indifference is broken by the gasp and "Jees" that escapes his lips as the noise bounces back off the bridge walls and he's pushed back into the seat. At the next junction I ease out onto the main road and then ask him if he's ready - then I give it full beans and roar up the road, him sitting with a huge grin. He tells me it sounds better than a Ferrari, much deeper, and he loves it. I tell him that I feel exactly the same way every time I start it up. We have a good chat on the way round, and by the time we get back 20 minutes later, he's laughing all over his face.

I lend him my fleecy viking hat as we return, so that his parents think that he's grown horns. Much laughter, then he has his photo taken sitting in the car. Sometimes it's all just worth it.

There are a lot of very nice cars there, but there's a 1929 Bentley parked next to me, which looks absolutely fantastic. I pay some money and he takes me for a drive, sitting in the back with a "proper" customer in the front. From where I am, it sounds like he's driving with the engine on idle, because it's barely turning over. It's only when he slows for a speed camera that I realise how fast this thing can move. I've always admired these, and this one is simply bloody wonderful!

Then it's back to the soggy showground, where people are starting to leave because the weather's getting even worse. So much for the bleeding BBC. I could forecast the weather better with a bit of seaweed and a rheumatic thumb. When I get home, I check the bbc website again, and now it says that it's raining, and they always knew it would. More confirmation that they have plenty in common with the government.

:: Tuesday, June 3, 2008 ::

In April the TVR Car Club said that they were looking for an editor for the S Series for the club magazine and the web site. I said that I might be interested. Tonight, after a bit of discussion of what's involved, it's confirmed. I'm now the national car club's S-Series editor.

That means that I have to keep the web site up to date with S news and articles, and update the history etc. Mainly, though, I want to think about articles that might be of interest to other owners. I have a feeling that some of them are going to be lifted straight from this web site. Fortunately I've written it all myself so there's no copyright issue!

:: Friday, June 6, 2008 ::

TreVoR

I can't let today go by without mention of the sad passing this morning of Trevor Wilkinson, the man who, in 1947, started Trevcars which became TVR a couple of years later. He had been ill in hospital in his adopted retirement home in Menorca for a few weeks. He was 85.

He was an automotive genius who created an iconic brand, which survived various ups and downs over the years but which has given a unique pleasure to true sports car enthusiasts (whether they own one or not). They attract glances wherever you go. People recognise them as different. Special, even. They are a poke in the eye for the nanny state. When you actually own one, you know that there is nothing else - nothing - that could replace the TVR experience - the ups and downs, the trials and tribulations, the frustration and the sheer joy of these bloody fantastic cars.

And yet Trevor never seemed to "get" how people could be so passionate about them. He "only builds sports cars" he is quoted as saying.

TVR may yet revive as a sports car maker. Even if they do, I doubt that the cars will ever be the same again, stifled by regulations and nannyism and shiny-suited marketing executives who prefer volume to originality. Whatever happens, TVR will never again be fortunate enough to benefit from the unique vision and genius of the man who started it all - TreVoR.

:: Saturday, June 7, 2008 ::

I forgot to dry the car out. I open it today and it's honking. Remember I said that last Sunday the rain was pissing in as I drove back up the road, soaking my ankle? Well good for you because I forgot. The drivers side carpet is absolutely soaking. I take it out and hang it over the fence to dry. It dries so fast that water is actually running out of the bottom of it.

The wiring above the steering column is also wet, as is the bottom of the inside of the dash. The water is either coming in along the lower edge of the screen, or at the wiper spindle. I've tried to reseal the scree, I won't get it any better without taking it out, and if I try that, it's guaranteed to break. Next time I have to drive in the rain, I'll stick a bit of tape along the bottom edge of the screen and see what happens - for diagnostic purposes only, you know?

What else? Oh yes, I wash it again in preparation for the TVR Car Club meeting tomorrow. While I'm moving it, I notice a tiny exhaust blow, so a quick grope underneath confirms that it's one of those damned connections at the downpipes again. I should be able to seal it easily with a repair kit and a big jubilee clip though.

I also need to remember to service it, and also fix the vibrating front brakes - I think new disks are required this time, but I'll check first that the calipers aren't sticking again.

:: Sunday, June 8, 2008 ::

A bit of research. Halfords opens at 10:00 today - that gives me one hour to get a jubilee clip or an exhaust repair kit, get back up the road (5 minutes), fix it, and go to meet Dave and Jim (about 15 minutes away). By my reckoning that leaves me 40 minutes to fix the exhaust. It all sounds too simple.

10:00 arrive at Halfords. Wait for 5 minutes until the lazy bastards actually get around to opening the shop.

10:05 Enter shop, make beeline for the back wall where I know they sell jubilee clips. And they do - the biggest being about half an inch in diameter. I'd have to fix about 10 together to get round the exhaust pipe. No good. I have a quick root around to see what else might do, but the choice is limited. To nothing.

10:10 Assistant explains that's all the bits they have. What about the exhaust repair kits I ask. Nope he says, that's all we have. I go to the other end of the shop (god alone knows why they're at the other end of the shop) to get one then take it all the way back to the counter to show him that I know what he stocks better than he does. He disguises his apology as a shrug as he walks away.

10:15 I'm at the checkout watching the slowest transaction known to man between a till operator who can't count and some doddery bint whose pin number for her credit card is on a tiny scrap of paper somewhere in a handbag that's bigger than the pack Edmund Hilary carried to the top of Everest.

10:20 Arrive home, slightly behind schedule but still time to repair exhaust. Get trolley jack under outrigger and start to jack chassis up to provide adequate clearance for fat carcass. Wonder casually why there's a wee but expanding puddle of antifreeze appearing under the engine. Lift bonnet and investigate - it's coming from the thermostat end of a thin bypass hose to the swirl tank. I touch the hose and it erupts boiling water. The hose is split behind the clip. New priority then - no coolant equals no run to the Club meeting today.

10:25 Cut end off hose, and push the bit that's left onto the stub. As I do so, the hose snaps in the middle because it's so brittle.

10:30 Arrive back in Halfords to buy 1 metre of small gauge hose.

10:35 Return home, cut old hose off, cut new hose to length and refit, and refill with antifreeze.

10:58 Finished! Set off to meet the other two.

11:10 Arrive at meeting location. Nobody there. They are even later than I am.

Dave brings his new 20-year-old 350 wedge. It's nice! And it sounds fantastic.

So we set off for the meeting. The weather is nice, and there are 21 cars there of various ages.

When I get home, I decide to leave the exhaust repair for another day - ie a day after I get a clip the right size. I also want to raise the back suspension just a bit before S Club, seeing as my son is going with me and between us we probably double the weight of the car. I should also really fix the front brake wobble.

:: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 ::

Found myself in the shopping centre in Winsford today, and found a shop that sold jubilee clips the right size to go round the exhaust. So I bought 2.

:: Saturday, June 14, 2008 ::

First job for the weekend is to repair the exhaust. Remove the clamp, then the tape and sealer in the old joint, Clean it up, apply new sealer and tape, then refit the old exhaust clamp, before fitting the jubilee clip round the edge of the joint to hold the sealer and tape in place. It seems to have worked. Well for now, anyway.

Don't have time to do a lot more today, because I've got other stuff to do. Busy day tomorrow then!

:: Sunday, June 15, 2008 ::

S Club is only a week away so I decide to tidy the car up a bit. I did intend to do give it another proper clean and polish, but the last 3 times I've done that for a show, it's bucketed down rain and it's been a waste of time.

I decide to give it a wash though, and clean the wheels up a bit. Then I use some speed detailer to remove some wee marks in the paint. It really needs polished though. Yes it does. It needs it. I'm fighting hard to resist though...

I clean the engine bay up a bit too, although it really just needs a dust down, it's reasonably clean as it is. To do that though, it takes me about 5 minutes to get the bonnet open - it's been getting more and more difficult to open for weeks now, and the last couple of times, I think I've been lucky to get it open at all. After some lever-pulling, shoving, pulling, etc it finally opens. While I am cleaning the engine I notice that the hinge bolt is dry - what happened to all the grease I put on it?

Then suspicion dawns... I close the bonnet while watching the hinge bolt, and notice that it turns with the bonnet (it should be fixed in the chassis...) Closer examination shows that each time I close the bonnet, it winds the bolt out just a tiny fraction. I stick a spanner on it and tighten it up till the locknut just catches, then tighten the locknut. I check the other side and it's only slightly loose. Spray both hinges with grease and shut the bonnet. Pull the lever and boing!!! it opens properly! Job's a good un!

Then I jack the rear up and take the wheels off, so that I can adjust the suspension up a bit for the long journey, two-fat-bastards loaded, to S Club. While I'm at it. I spray some WD40 onto the bushes on the top and bottom of the damper. I notice that where it drips onto the swing arm, it dissolves the waxoyl. I'll remember that for future reference!

Then I decide to clean the seats, which to me, don't look too bad. When I spray the cleaner on the back, I get some drips on the bit you sit on. When I wipe them off, it comes up like it was a different colour! After half an hour the interior is cream again instead of light tan! It was mingin'.

I need new carpets though - these oneas are almost worn through (and well beyond "almost" in a couple of places).

:: Friday, June 20, 2008 ::

Time to get the car ready for the national S-Series meeting - S Club Heaven at Newark. The event is being held along with the national kit car show, and I'm really looking forward to it.

When I go to move the car out, the steering is frozen almost solid, and I can hardly turn it. That steering joint seems to be siezing up again eh? I remove the offside wheel and inner wheelarch, then remove the joint - first you remove the clamp bolt on the column itself, then the pinch bolt through the top of the steering shaft, then tap it off the shaft splines. Once it's off, it's obviously knacked - it turns fine one way, but is locked solid the other way. I clamp it in a vice then use a socket bar to move the joint and free it up, then spray with grease and WD40 and work it in. It's not a permanent repair but it only has to last 3 days... Then it takes another 5 minutes to refit the joint and 10 minutes to go for a wee drive to make sure that everything's fine.

Then it's just a simple matter of checking and topping up the oil & water before packing the umbrella, cleaning stuff and other wee things I might need over the weekend.

:: Saturday, June 21, 2008 ::

Despite the usual BBC weather forecast prophesying doom and despondency, and a bit of rain, Saturday dawns bright and sunny, so first thing is to take the roof off. Then I pack my stuff (a tiny wee bag of spare clothes just in case I get wet), a fleecy, a waterproof coat and a wide-brimmed hat I bought on Thursday because I'm fed up coming back from these events with a head like a sunburnt beetroot. My son takes even less stuff than me.

We meet the other 4 cars at 8:00 and after a bit of banter we set off, with me being the only one who actually has a clue where we're going. The others think I have carefully planned food and fuel stops, but the truth is that I have only two facts in mind - we are leaving at 8:00 and we have to check in to our Travel Lodge no earlier than 3 pm and no later than 10. The bit in between has been left - ahem - "flexible".

After an hour and a bit we stop for some breakfast in one of the Borders towns, park up and get fired into the bacon and sausage and egg rolls. Marvellous. When we come out again we are accosted by an American family who are admiring the cars.

On our way again, with a stop for fuel and then the rain comes on somewhere in the vicinity of Darlington. We get off the motorway to put the roofs on, then can't turn around to go back, so follow a tortuous route to rejoin the motorway at the next junction down - except that the motorway bridge is being repaired so we are diverted north again, to the junction where we turned off, and then back down again. Putting the roof on has cost us about half an hour by this time.

Onwards and downwards to a stop for lunch, which is memorable only for the fact that I can't remember anything about it except that it was rubbish food at extortionate prices, so I was half-unconscious for most of the time I was there after being stunned at the till. At least Dick Turpin wore a mask (and didn't poison you after taking all your money).

We reach the Travel Lodge at 3:30 and take over the car park.

After a pleasant evening socialising over our dinner, and meeting up with Hugh who has driven down separately, we return to the hotel and "agree" that we won't clean the cars until we reach the showground. We'll meet in the adjacent Little Chef for breakfast at 7:30 and set off after that. Yes, that's what we'll do. Yes indeedy.

Apart from the drunken antics of a group arriving back in the early hours of the morning, that's been another fine dy.

:: Sunday, June 22, 2008 ::

I get up at 6:00 because the sun is shining and it's looking good. Ignoring the agreement of last night, I decide that I might as well clean the car after all. When I go out, Dave, Jim and John are already polishing furiously. I dry the car off with a microfibre cloth, then clean it up with some Quick Detailer. Meanwhile my son goes around cleaning up the wheels. At 6:20 we decide that Mike has been lazy enough, so I phone him.

"Are you not cleaning your car then?"

Mike is left in his room knowing he's been had, but not very sure how. He spends 5 minutes wondering if we are all out there waiting for him after telling him we wouldn't be, or if we are all in our rooms waiting for him to go out alone. He finally emerges to general applause and gets on with cleaning his car too.

Then we distribute and put on our Scottish TVR T-shirts, modelled here by the lovely Mike and Dave, before heading over to the Little Chef.

Then we start the cars up, outside the windows of last night late revellers. 6 TVRs on full reheat. Bet they're not feeling so bleeding happy now about making a racket outside, eh?

The showground is only 5 minutes away so we are among the first to arrive, apart from those who have camped overnight.

By 11:00 or so, there are over 100 TVRs there, of which about 80 are S-types. There are some beautiful cars there, some very original, and some which have had lots of work. All lovely though.

I spent most of that time chatting to people who recognised the car from this web site, and came over to say hello, and other people whose cars or forum names I recognised. It was great to meet so many people face to face at last, and I enjoyed talking to each one of you. I was also surprised, I have to admit, at how many people do read the web site either for assistance or just for entertainment. Sometimes I wonder why I bother, because the web site takes up as much time as actually working on the car, but a day like today makes it worthwhile. Thanks to each and every one of you for your support and kind words.

Later I have a bit of a walk around, particularly to find an autojumble stall that other owners tell me is selling electric window switches to fit my car. And so they are, at only £2.50 each. The same stall also has exactly the right round lamps to fit under the bumper. And side repeaters, but I don't buy them because mine are ok. Further on, many of the kit cars look really good, far removed from my recollection of boxy rough fibreglass things that could never in a million years look anything other than hand built. In a kitchen. By a blind man. One with no sense of touch even.

Back to the TVR stand, just in time for the presentation of the award for "best stand at show" by Miss Kit Car 2008. She is not as well built as many of the cars, but never mind.

Time for more chatting, then it's time for the afternoon run out - described in the programme as a "leisurely scenic drive". Scenic it is. Leisurely it ain't. It's not too bad though - I am able to keep up without being silly. Not too silly anyway. I am about 20th in line, out of a total of about 50 who went on the drive, and by the time I pass through villages, people are stopping to watch this procession of sports cars. Probably memorising the registration numbers to report to the police later, mind. I notice that the steering is starting to get sticky again.

I am followed for the second half of the drive by a car with a video camera, so I'm hoping to get a hold of a copy of that to post here later.

When we get back, prizes are awarded to the cars voted best in each category - best S1 is Dave and best S3/4 is Mike, who can't believe it. He's worked hard on his car over the winter, though, so I'm glad he won. Again, 2 trophies out of 4 to the Scots! Again, I win sod all...

Then we take some photos of the Scottish S's on tour team.

We return to the hotel after an excellent day, and I decide to fit my shiny new window switches. Prise them out of the dash, and change over 5 wires, first the drivers side. I check that it works ok. Then the passenger side, and this time when I check, none of the windows work. Why is nothing ever simple? I pull out and check each of the fuses, and they all seem to be ok, although one does look a little bit "funny" but still unbroken. Can't figure it out, so we head off for dinner and then back to the hotel to bed.

:: Monday, June 23, 2008 ::

I remember that I have the original handbook in the boot, and it has a fuse and relay diagram. When I check that, I find that the "funny" fuse I found last night is the one for the windows. Too much of a coincidence methinks. I wander over to the adjacent garage and they sell fuses for every car going, except for the most popular "blade" type that I need. I'm not too bothered if the weather stays nice, because I'll have the roof off and don't need windows, but if it rains, I need to open the window or the car will steam up like a voyeur's spectacles in a mixed sauna.

Then I remember that I keep some spare fuses in the boot. Clever eh? I dig them out and fit one. The windows still don't work. The fuse has been in the boot for 5 years and isn't very clean, so I clean up the terminals with wet and dry paper and try again. It works!

Back to the Little Chef for breakfast and then I spray the steering joint with grease again before we leave.

We set off for Boroughbridge to SSC to collect photos of the refurb of Hugh's chassis. They have some very nice cars including a supercharged wedge that I like a lot, a black T350 with black wheels that looks like a miniature batmobile, and a very nice S4 with only 14,500 miles on the clock. After a pee-stop we're off up the A1.

After a stop for fuel in Hexham, we are split up when the 5th car takes a wrong turn and the 6th car follows to bring him back. I'm at the front and don't notice for about 10 miles, largely because a Morgan has tagged on to the rear, but the convoy is so spread out that I can't tell what it is. After a couple of phone calls, we regroup further up the road for a late lunch, before heading off on the final leg home.

By the time I get home, the steering joint is sticking again, so I won't be driving the car until I've fitted a new one. I wish I could fit a new head, because mine is burnt to hell.

Overall, an absolutely brilliant weekend, well organised and well attended. I enjoyed the drives, the company and my wee car.

Now I have to write an article for the club magazine Sprint. Bugger. I can't think of a single thing to say.

:: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 ::

I order a new steeering joint. Oh and that missing petrol tank seal that I've been waiting for since October.

:: Sunday, June 29, 2008 ::

A couple of jobs to finish today. First the steering universal joint. First jack the car up and take off the offside wheel and the inner wheel arch. Remove the pinch bolt that holds the joint onto the splines on the lower steering link, then the bolt that holds the joint onto the bottom of the steering column, I'd marked mine with paint before, because it's important that you get all the bits back in the same alignment (otherwise your steering wheel is out of line when you're going straight).

Then use a small hammer to knock the joint off the splines, Note the wee bit of cloth protecting the suspension wishbone!

Then it's a fairly simple matter of lining up the new joint onto the same place on the splines, then bolting it all back together, before replacing the inner arch and wheel.

While I had the car up on axle stands I also changed the oil and filter. Not a lot to report about that, except that I put as new sump plug and washer in, because the old one was hardly sealing.

:: Monday, June 30, 2008 ::

After changing the oil yesterday, I decide to change the spark plugs tonight. 5 of them are easy. The sixth one (or No 1 cylinder) is obscured by the alternator bracket. Normal advice is that you have to take the alternator off to get to the plug, which is what I have done before. Tonight, I'm just too lazy... so I engage my brain to think of a way to change the plug.

Read to the end before you start!

Here's the plug, and the red alternator bracket. You can't get an ordinary plug spanner on there.

You can, however, just wangle a slim 3/8 drive plug socket onto the plug UNDERNEATH the bracket - it doesn't fit from the top but does from under. Use a plug socket with a hex head on it.

Then use an ordinary open ended or ring spanner on the hex end of the plug socket, to loosen the plug.

This is the bit you have be careful about. The other end of your spanner is only millimetres from the positive connector on the back of the alternator. It's live even when the engine is stopped, it's connected straight to the business end of the battery. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT allow the spanner to touch that terminal even for a fraction of a second, because it will earth through the spark plug body and weld itself in place. If you're lucky you'll be able to run far enough away before the battery explodes and/or the car catches fire.

I covered it with my other hand, especially when tightening (ie turning towards the nut). If you want to be sure, cover it with something else to insulate it - a bit of rubber or a small sheet of plastic for example. Also - don't wear rings when you're working near battery positives. I had a friend once who was disconnecting his battery while wearing a gold ring. The spanner was in his palm, the back of the ring touched the battery positive, gold has a lower melting point than spanners so he spent a night in casualty getting globs of melted gold dug out of what was left of his finger. It wasn't nice. Be careful.