:: Diary - November 2007 ::

:: Saturday, November 3, 2007 ::

I spent a disproportionate chunk of my working day yesterday, organising the repair to the Lexus, and a replacement car while it's in. I also have to take it on Monday to another approved bodyshop for a second estimate (in case they think the first one is ripping them off). So that's another 2 hours of working time lost. Great.

Anyway, TVR car club meeting today, again with a good turnout (considering that it's winter). Best of all is that there were 6 "S" owners there today (although only 3 cars!) so it's good (well from my point of view at least) that the older cars are better represented. We chat about intersting things like heater hoses, gear knobs. Hammerite, springs, roof panels, and various other topics of international interest. Oh and stuffed-arse Lexuses (Lexi or whatever the plural is).

:: Sunday, November 4, 2007 ::

Remember last weekend when I reinstalled the steering column? Remember me mentioning the bit about reinstalling the footwell carpet (which has a hole in it for the steering column to go through) before installing the column? No of course you don't because not only did I forget to mention it, I forgot to do it.

So the first job is to disconnect the steering UJ clamp bolt and remove the linkage, and then withdraw the triangular shaft from the bottom of the column (It's supposed to be able to slide in and out so that the steering column can telescope in a crash rather than kebab you through the ribcage). Then spray some sticky glue stuff on the carpet and the floor and, er, stick it in place. Then refit the column and the UJ clamp.

Then I refit the top and bottom steering column cowls. I have to loosen the two 17mm bolts at the top of the column so that I can adjust and straighten it properly.

Then I refit the radiator expansion tank, which is a right royal footer to be honest. Mine is held on by two nuts that go onto 2 bolts that come through from the footwell. The 2 bolts are mounted on a plate that I can't see from inside, so I am determined to make sure that it doesn't fall out from behind. The nuts (especially the back one) are a bugger to fit - it's inaccessible under the brake master cylinder and behind all the hoses and wiring. I get there though!

Yes I know that the brake fluid level is low in that photo - that's because I knocked off one of the hose clips when taking the bottle off. I need to bleed them (except let's call it "bi-annual changing of brake fluid as per service shedule" so that we can pretend that we meant to do it.

Then I refill the cooling system (and splash as much again all over the place, as you do), bleed the radiator, squeeze the air out of the hoses, a wee bit of water in the expansion tank and that's that.

Right, what next? I remove the front shock absorbers so that I can take them home just in case I need them for fitting new springs to the new shockers I bought. That doesn't take long and is fairly uneventful (thank goodness something is!)

Fnal job for today before I pack up - scrape the petrol tank cradle. Armed with trusty gloves, goggles and wire brush angle grinder, I set to, being VERY careful that I don't send showers of sparks into areas that I can't see that might have petrol hoses etc. Once I get it clean I realise that I haven't brought any paint pads so I stop for the day. NOt with any great sadness I have to say - I'm knackered again!

Everything is covered in red dust again...

:: Monday, November 5, 2007 ::

Wasted 3 hours of my life today taking the Lexus to another bodyshop for another estimate. The guy has a look in the boot and at the rear bumper and then notes a list of parts he thinks he needs. He's talking about changing the rear boot floor and the bumper, but doesn't point out the different panel gaps in the rear doors, the bent boot lid or the slight crease in the wing. Nor does he point out the cracked indicator lens which will leak water. I'm not exactly filled with confidence.

Then he seems to think that I'm taking the car there for repair. I explain patiently that no, I'm taking it to the main dealer's Lexus-approved bodyshop, that I only brought it in because the insurance company told me to. Turns out that the people at the insurance company aren't even very good at using the large print on my claim form, far less the small print in their own contracts.

Then I ask the insurance company about progress on the claim. They are apparently trying to find out who the other party's insurance company is. I tell them that I've found out that it's Esure, and that's without access to the motor insurance database that they use.

I don't think they're pushing this very hard...

:: Saturday, November 10, 2007 ::

Discovered from Mike that the local ship's chandler sells a wide variety of stainless steel nuts, bolts and fasteners, so I nip along and right enough, there's a fair selection. Not an enormous choice of bolt lengths though, so I have to buy long ones and cut them down.

:: Sunday, November 11, 2007 ::

Been busy on various things so it's a week since I worked on the car. I was thinking on my way home on Friday that it's ages since I drove it (6 weeks I think) and I need a fix! Won't be today though, too much stuff to finish first.

I swap over the front springs to the new shock absorbers. This takes longer than it should because the adjustables have a thicker body and the spring compressors jam on them, so you have to compress the spring, take off the end cap, release the spring, move it to the new shocker, compress it again and fit the new end cap.

Dave has given me a pair of shorter rear springs, which should let me lower the back of the car a wee bit - it's been sitting a wee bit higher since I changed the broken springs when I fixed the swing arm in April. These springs have much bigger coils so the compressors fit easier - except that I find that I don't need them - I can just pop the spring on, fit the end cap and then wind the adjuster up 9 turns to hold the spring in place on full drop. I'll probaby have to wind them up a bit further when the weight of the car is on them but it should be better.

Then I fit the rear ones to the car. Pretty straightforward really. They defintely look a lot better than the old ones I took off - I just hope that they work!

The front ones are a bit more of a pain. I fit the top bolt and then find that, somehow, they are longer than the ones I took off, even although they are adjusted right down. Not by much, only a few millimetres, but enough to ensure that I can't get the bottom mounting bolts through. First I contemplate going back to the house for the spring compressors but I can't be bothered, and even then, there's not a lot of room to fit them on the car. Instead, I use a wee bit of wood on top of the trolley jack, and a lot of booting, levering and cajoling to compress the spring slightly and get the mounting hole lined up so that I can get the bolt through.

On to the non-mechanical stuff next. I paint the petrol tank cradle with a couple of coats of the old red Hammerite, using a combination of ordinary paint brush and the secret weapon of the cut-down paint pads. Then I paint the underside of the boot which has previously been undersealed but subsequently worn and scratched.

By this time it's dark o'clock so I decide to stop for the day.

:: Monday, November 12, 2007 ::

News on the Lexus - the repair and replacement car is finally authorised yay!

Except that the insurance company hasn't told the garage so they can't book it in yet. Various phone calls later and we're a wee bit further forward - the garage should know by Wednesday that the repairs are authorisied so we can get it booked in then.

In the meantime, I contemplate what wee tasks I still want to do on the TVR before I take it back down off the stands - it's not off the road for the winter, just until I get all these bits tidied up at the same time. We're not going to let a wee bit of rain and cold put us off driving, are we kiddies? Nooo.... Besides, while I enjoy working on the car, I get a bit fed up if it's off the road for ages - I need a regular blatt to keep my enthusiasm up.

Anyway - list of tasks for the next 2 or 3 visits:

clean the chassis and transmission, just because bits of it are manky
clean the sump, ditto
paint steering linkage between the top and bottom UJs - everything else is painted and the steering column looks minging.
paint driveshafts, ditto
replace front wheel arch, after painting the steering linkage
check diff oil level, much easier with the exhaust off the car
Paint sump, ditto
paint petrol tank, ditto
finish undersealing back valance - I forgot masking tape so I need to paint a straight edge on
check front brakes for binding - they've been "wobbly" under braking for a month or so, so I just want to make sure everything's moving properly
waxoyl petrol tank and cradle, and inside the swing arms
fit new rear alloy strip (the one that goes across the rear of the chassis)
bleed all brakes (after accidentally pulling a hose off between the reservoir and the master cylinder - ach well the fluid should be changed regularly anyway!
replace exhaust (remember to buy a new rear mounting!)

So that should let us get the car back off the stands and onto the road. At that stage I'll need to check and adjust the ride height all round, with the new shock absorbers on. I have to decide whether to polish or powder coat the wheels - I prefer the bare polish look but it takes a lot of work! Maybe "black chrome"?

I also have to reseal the windscreen, because my tape repair keeps coming off. I have tried silicone but it didn't stick well. Somebody recommended a squirtable black adhesive with high shit-to-blanket sticking power, so I'll maybe try that.

:: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 ::

Garage called today to explain that the repair is now authorised so I can book the car in, allowing them time to order in parts. I book it in for Monday 26th. Now I need to organise a replacement car for 4 weeks.

:: Saturday, November 17, 2007 ::

Off to Halfords early to buy diff oil, and then to B&Q for some wee paint brushes and masking tape. Then it's along to the garage to continue my list of jobs.

First I clean the chassis with paraffin and rags. Brushing the paraffin from underneath on is a messy job - the bloody stuff runs down the brush and straight uo my arm to the elbow. I only do the main rails from the gearbox back to the petrol tank, the bits that are covered by the exhaust. The outside edges of these rails have already been waxoyled so I leave them alone.

I start to clean the diff but it's just too damn messy - I decide to do it later with a paraffin sprayer, a stiffer brush with a longer handle, and a jetwash. Same for the gearbox.

I do manage to clean the engine sump, though which only shows up how much off the original paint is coming off.

I was also intended to check the diff oil level, which is much easier with the exhaust off the car. Although I have a couple of Allen keys the right size, and one of those socket fitting things, I can't get the sump plug out - the chassis rail means that you need an Allen key of just the right length, to fit between the back of the rail and the front of the petrol tank, and I don't have the full tool kit with me, to be able to cobble up some arrangement to fit. I will though!

Then I paint the sump with engine paint, using the paint pad to get up the sides. I still have to clean the front of the chassis as you can see!

While the paint brush is wet, I also paint the steering linkage between the top and bottom UJs, just to tidy it up a bit.

Then the petrol tank, again with combination of brush and paint pad. Right, that's all the grey paint done.

Then I mask off the driveshaft CV joints, mask off the chassis with cardboard and rags, then wire brush and spray the driveshafts with Hammerite black satin.

Then I mask off the edge of the rear valance and apply a straight edge to the underseal.

That little lot has taken me the best part of 4 hours. I'm honking of paraffin and white spirit, I'm manky and knackered, and the car still isn't finished. I'm getting there though!

:: Monday, November 19, 2007 ::

The ongoing saga of a replacement car while the Lexus is in for repair... My own insurance company phoned today and we agreed it all - "first thing Monday morning, don't know what car you're getting but it'll be something equivalent". So far so good...

:: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 ::

The saga goes on... The third party's insurance company phoned today to say that the car hire company that my company uses, is too expensive, so they want to offer to hire me one directly. Hmm... I point out that I am the one who is being inconvenienced as a result of their client's complete doziness, so I'm not overly worried about how much it costs them. They offer me a nearly-new BMW 5 series though, which is tempting (specially since I don't know what my own lot have in mind) so I say OK, and book it for 4 weeks (as advised by the repairer) starting from first thing on Monday.

:: Friday, November 23, 2007 ::

The car hire company phones again "Just to confirm the hire of an Audi A6 for 14 days from lunchtime on Monday." Em... no... It turns out that they have had to give the BMW to somebody else. I doubt it, seeing as they have made such a bollocks of noting the details of the rest of the booking, but what else can I do now? I agree to try the Audi but if I don't like it, I'll be back...

I also nip into Machine Mart and buy a metal shelf unit, because my stuff is in the garage is all in cardboard boxes and I can't find anything when I need it.

Also, later at night, I order exhaust mounting rubbers for the TVR (which I've been meaning to do all week) so they won't be delivered in time for the weekend - not that I expect to be ready to need them yet anyway.

:: Sunday, November 25, 2007 ::

Load a ton of stuff into the car, amd along to the garage.

I get a bucket of hot water from thefarm house and put the tin of waxoyl in, to thin it a bit. I also add a tiny wee drop of white spirit, just to help.

Then while I am waiting for the wax to warm up and melt a bit, I decide to top up the diff oil - except that despite getting a huge eff-off spanner on, it won't budge - instead the allen socket rounds off inside the plug. That's not coming out till I take the diff off, then... ok that's a deal...

Back to the waxoyl - nice and thin by this time so I set up the sprayer (which isn't working too well but reasonable). I think those things are one-shot, you throw them away because they're bleeding impossible to clean out and will clog up when you try to use them again. I wish I had thrown this one out because by the time I get under the car, the wax in the tube seems to have cooled so much that it's hardly moving. I spray the tank and cradle but it's as lumpy as Dawn French's bedclothes. I end up brushing it out and only spraying the insides of the tubes. I do need to spray these tubes and the insides of the swing arms properly, though. I domanage to get a tonne of waxoyl between the body and that rear chassis plate though.

Next I decide to build the shelves - they are designed to just knock together with a hammer, and so they do! A couple of bolts to hold them together, and they're really quite sturdy. I sort out some of my stuff and it looks a lot tidier.

What next - ah yes, bleed the brakes, after pulling that tube off the master cylinder. I have a handy vacuum pump, that didn't work very well when I tried it before, but I think I know where I went wrong, so we'll give it another go. I start with the wheel nearest the master cylinder, ie the offside front. Loosen the wee bleed nipple then put a length of clear tube on. That tube goes to a reservoir tank, which is connected in turn to the vacuum pump - that means that the pump doesn't get filled with fluid see?

Pump up a bit of vacuum, then loosen the nipple slightly. If you loosen it too much is sucks in air through the threads so you never get fluid, only bubbles - that was the problem I had before. This time I am careful not to loosen the nipple too much, or build up too much vacuum. When the reservoir tank is full of about 100ml of fluid, and the fluid in the pipe is running clear, I close the nipple and pull off the pipe - the vacuum sucks the remaining fluid through so it doesn't all piddle out.

And that's it - a piece of piss and no piddle.

Same procedure for the other 3 wheels, filling up the master cylinder reservoir between each wheel, and that's the brake fluid changed.

Right. Next job is to put the alloy strip across the back of the chassis. A couple of bolts through the floor of the boot, a couple of nuts and that's it - an absolute dawdle.

When am I going to learn not to use words like "dawdle"? I switch on the car to open the boot, and find that the battery is so flat that it can't work the solenoid. Great. I decide to bring the Lexus up and connect up the jump leads - now where did I put them? Oh yes - in the boot of the TVR - the one that won't open because the battery is flat. That's the end of that idea then. I'll have to charge up the battery to get the boot open to get the jump leads to start the car to charge the battery.

By the time I tidy up my stuff, it's getting on a bit anyway so I pack up for the day.

All that's left now is to replace the alloy strip, then the exhaust, put the wheels back on, take the car off the stands and adjust the ride height - that's after I get the boot open of course... Mine doesn't have any sort of emergency release so I have to open it electrically. I have a cunning plan...

:: Friday, November 30, 2007 ::

I took the day off work today to get the TVR finished. I wake up at 8am (oh yes, I know how to enjoy a long lie!) and decide that I'll wait until the postman delivers the exhaust mounting rubbers that I ordered last week, so I park myself in front of the TV and decide to watch... well I can't remember what I watched, it was all just daytime TV drivel. I do remember 2 or 3 episodes of "Yes Prime Minister" from the 1970's, which was considered to be a comedy then. This episode was about the PM making a telly appearance and promising to cut government sleaze and scandal and to have an open system of government where everything would be clear and transparent and there would be no secrets... Sir Humphrey then says "Apart from the stuff that the press can't find out about anyway". "Well yes of course, apart from that..." Coming a few weeks after the "cash for honours" investigation, and in the middle of the "illegal donations" scandal, I realise that 70s comedies are today's news. I remeber, for example, the Monster Raving Loony Part including a proposal to ban smoking in public places, in their manifesto 30 years ago - how everybody laughed...

Anyway, in the middle of all this, the postman arrives with a letter from the government apologising for losing a CD disk with all my personal and banking details on it, another letter with an appointment for an eyetest, another with an appointment for a flu jab, a depressing bank statement and an appointment for a sense of humour bypass. But no exhaust mountings.

I phone up the supplier. They never received my order (on-line). A quick shows that it never actually went through. So I order the bloody things again, for delivery tomorrow (Saturday) for fitting on Sunday.

Then I go back to my dedicated efforts at arse-flattening, watching the TV. I'm too knackered to go along to the garage...