:: Diary - November 2008 ::

:: Saturday, November 1, 2008 ::

First job is to give the car a quick wash and clean the wheels. It's bleeding freezing though so I don't spend too long trying to do it properly. Unfortunately when it dries it looks like it's been licked clean by a blind cat with butter on its tongue.

I need to make new plastic covers for the seat recliner mechanism - one is missing altogether and the other has been bent out of shape. In the meantime, I've snagged 2 pairs of trousers on it in the last two or three weeks, so I cover it temporarily in black gaffa tape.

Then I check the oil level, just to make sure that the leaky rocker cover isn't losing too much.

Finally it's time to leave to meet up with the other three for a drive through to the monthly club meeting. They make me lead, again, although I would prefer to follow for a change. Since Jim and Mike don't know the way from anyplace to anywhere else, though, options are limited. We arrive first, apart from Stewart with his wedge, and park up. As other people arrive, we find that the 3 wedges end up together, the 3 S Series are together and the modern stuff is equally segregated - completely unintentionally but it looks quite good. Again, there are two new members who are surprised by this, until we point out that we're not normally so separatist!.

There are no Cerberas this month though, which is good. I still want one.

Jes turns up with his race Tamora, which he is transporting to a garage for something I can't remember.

After a good lunchtime chat about thrust bearings, car maintenance courses, Mercedes interior lights, gearbox oil seals, propshafts, springs, exhaust bits, roof seals, wheels, fuel tanks, Bedford CFs, Triumph Stags, TR6s, and painful things that hospitals have done to Mike's dad, we go back outside to find that, like Mike's dad, Jim's water pump has decided to have a pee in public. I go to get some spanners out of the boot (not to fix the water pump, just to get Jim's bonnet open) but find that it won't open. This is a disaster, because it's electrically operated and mine has no manual emergency system - if the electrical system don't work, it ain't opening! I do have an alternative boot access strategy but it's (a) a secret obviously and (b) a bit destructive.

After 5 minutes dismantling with a Swiss army knife, I manage to diagnose a faulty switch, so I short it out with the bottle opener bit or the bit you use to prise boy scouts out of horses' hooves or something, and the boot pops open. I repair the switch by hitting it hard, put it all back together and it works perfectly.

Then we set off for the drive back, with Dave leading this time. We get split up a bit at the junction out of the hotel, so by the time I get out I can only see 1 TVR about 10 cars ahead. A mile or so later I see Dave and Jim in a petrol station so I go in too - but there's no Mike. Since I know that Mike has the geographical homing instincts of a dandelion seed in a hurricane, I decide to go and catch him up. After a couple of miles, I am close enough to see him driving on happily, so I give up and turn back for the other two... who then come past in the opposite direction, passing with a friendly wave.

Another U-turn in a farm access, and I follow again - this time about half a mile back. I catch up to within 5 cars or so by the time I reach the point where I last saw Mike, and we stop at the side of the road. Mike has phoned Dave - he's lost and is outside a hospital. Who knows where the hospital is? Yep you guessed it - so I end up leading again. Great.

:: Sunday, November 2, 2008 ::

I have lots to do today, between work and other things. So naturally I get up and decide to go for a drive to get my breakfast. After about 40 miles, I have a fry-up and then drive home. Fantastic.

I decide that it/s time to put the car back in the garage, seeing as it's now dark after work so I won't be using the car for the odd evening runs etc. Although I've only been there once since May, I still find my way! I put the car away, although I seem to have forgotten how to line it up so it takes ages.

I also forget that the builder made the doors out of half inch planks screwed to 1 inch battens. Unfortunately he used 2 inch screws so they all stick out on the inside of the door. and I manage to rip the arse out of my trousers as I walk past. My trousers look like they've been swiped by Freddy Kruger. I have to walk 4 miles home home with a jumper tied around my waist like a bleeding ned.

You have to laugh...

:: Friday, November 14, 2008 ::

Here is the News at Ten.

BOIIIING!!!! TVRgit falls over in the street and nearly breaks his ankle.

BOIIIING!!!! The Cerbera that TVRgit had his eye on, has been sold.

BOIIIING!!!! There is a lovely V8S for sale now though.

BOIIIING!!!! After a week of dealing with a wide assortment of people with various personality disorders, TVRgit has just about had enough.

BOIIIING!!!! TVRgit is expected to run away to his garage tomorrow to tinker with the car - at least that doesn't answer back.

And I thought that tearing the arse out of my trousers was bad enough. Last Wednesday (a week ago) I managed to go over on my ankle on the edge of a hole in the pavement, where they are building the new tram system in Edinburgh (I'm not involved in it, I was just walking past). It was a cracker - I shot off at right angles to the direction I was walking in, and would have crashed straight into a stone wall if it hadn't been for the poor woman that I shoulkder-charged first. Between bouncing on one foot trying to regain my balance, holding onto this woman so that she didn't fall too, and trying to twist around so that I hit the wall and not her, it must have looked like John Sergeant rehearsing for a Jive.

Eventually I managed to limp off to my meeting, and back to the bus stop, but when I got off the bus, it took me bleeding ages to hobble 20 yards back to the car. I made the mistake of deciding to get it X-rayed, so that was the rest of that day used up. Turns out it's not broken but I've torn the ligament up the outside.

It was still swollen by the weekend so I didn't go along to the car.

The Cerbera. Aye... There was one for sale and I was sorely tempted. I even got around to reading up about that particular model. Half of the stuff I read said that they were absolutely fantastic and if you bought one you would never regret it. Fast, fun and beautiful. The other half warned of how difficult they could be to maintain yourself, and how you needed to have a massive contingency fund tucked away for when (not if) it went wrong. Hmmm... while I hummed and hawed, it was sold. There are another couple for sale, so I still don't know.

The other thing iss that if I had one of them, I still wouldn't want to sell the S - it's a different (albeit tamer) beast, and I'd want to keep that as well - and to be honest, I don't have space for two "spare" cars.

Unfortunately, I fall in love with a V8S on the rebound. It's lovely... but if I got that, I couldn't have two S series cars so mine would have to go - and I really don't want to do that. Apart from anything else, I might be buying more problems than I have already - at least I know what state my car is in! So I think I'll give that idea a miss as well... It's still tempting though...

I'm planning to have some car-fixing therapy this weekend though. The ankle's still sore but sod it, I need a dose of TVR. Don't know what I'll do yet - the two main jobs are sealing the leak past the steering column bearing, and fixing the oil leak from the left hand rocker covers, plus various wee tidying jobs.

:: Sunday, November 16, 2008 ::

Didn't go along to the car yesterday, I just got involved in other things plus my leg was hurting too much. I did however load all the stuff I need into the boot of the other car, for an early getaway tomorrow.

I also discovered last night that my car is in the 2009 club calendar! OK it's only one of the smaller photos, not the full "calendar girl" but it's a start! Dave, of course, has managed to blag a main photo again. So I ordered one!

Anyway up bright and early this morning, and without further delay, beyond two episodes of "Mythbusters" (well they were blowing things up then burning things down and you've got to watch that eh?) I'm on my way by the crack of 10:30am.

After a mass removal exercise to shift half the stuff in my shed back into the garage, I'm finally ready to start. No wait hang on where's my radio? Ah right here it is, still working. Right ready to start. No wait a minute put overalls on first. Right ready to start. No wait one of the light tubes in the garage isn't working. I'll go and get another one. Oh no he hasn't got any. Right ready to start. No hang on I've got a mains-powered lead light. Ah that's better. Right ready to start. No really this time. I can't think of anything else to procrastinate on so I might as well.

First I jack up the front of the car, for no other reason at the moment, than that it means that I don't have to bend over so far.

A quick inspection shows that both rocker cover gaskets are leaking, the offside more than the nearside. I change both of them, being careful to scrape several layers of old glue and tape off the covers before sticking the new gasket on. Te new ones are cheapos, without the little metal spacer pins, so you have to be careful that you don't just squash them out when you tighten the bolts.

The nearside one is a dawdle, but the offside gasket just refuses to stick to the cover. I finally manage to get the gasket on place on the cylinder head, and the cover in place on the gasket, and all the bolts through the right holes, without sticking anything to anything. I use a screwdriver with a flexi-drive to tighten the bolts, again to save me bending too much, but also because you can't overtighten the bolts then!

Replace the alternator, reconnect the battery, then start the engine and check for oil leaks - it seems to be ok, but I can't get all the old oil off so it's hard to tell.

Right next job - I'm into this now!

I decide to put a gasket on the steering column bearing - I'm sure that water is leaking in, between the body and the bearing housing. First I disconnect the steering at the top UJ, and remove the UJ altogether (you'll see why in a minute!)

Then inside the car, remove the upper and lower steering column cowls, then get a 17mm socket up there and remove the two large bolts that hold the column onto the top bracket. That allows the column to drop down so that I can disconnect the ignition switch, and the lights / wipers / indicator switches. I also disconnect the boot release and the little over-ride switch for the fan, that I have mounted on the cowl.

That allows me to pull the steering column back out of the bearing.

Then I lift the drivers side carpets, so that I can get to the bearing. It's held on with 4 little nuts and bolts (which I changed for cap nuts, ie allen bolts, the last time). The top nut doesn't actually hold the bearing housing in place. I put an 8mm socket on the nuts in the engine bay and they all come out without spinning on the inside. Bearing out!

I can see that the plastic is slightly distorted, so that although it'll be tight against the body where the nuts hold it, there is a wider gap in between. Rather than just fill the gaps with silicone, I decide to make a little gasket from that stick-on foam I used as spacers under the bonnet. First I press the bearing down on the foam so that the bolts mark it, then use a little bradawl thing to make 4 holes the right size. Once I have slipped that over the bolts, I trim around the outside with a stanley knife, and then cut out the hole in the middle.

I stick the foam to the housing, then put a little drop of silicone on the foam, before fixing the bearing back in place. Then I use a spray adhesive to stick the toeboard carpet back down.

Then I refit the steering column, being careful to re-route the wiring so that it's not all hanging down like it was before. Wire it up, bolt it in place, then adjust it so that I can get the key in the ignition, and it's done.

Then before I refit the upper UJ, I lubricate a universal steering rack gaiter, and push it over the steering connector before fixing the UJ in place. After a lot more spray-on grease and a struggle akin to fitting a sumo wrestler into Woody Allen's wetsuit, I manage to get the other end stretched over the joint and fixed in place.

At this point I remember that I brought my camera, but I forgot to take photos so far. So here's a gratuitous photo of a steering UJ with a protective gaiter on, to keep away all the rubbish that's thrown onto it by the front wheel. If I was doing this again (and what's the betting I will be?) I'd make or find a tool with a handle and a right-angle smooth hook on the other end, to help to stretch the gaiter into place. It's bloody hard with just oily fingers!

I've been reading on Pistonheads about a number of people who have adjusted their ingition timing to the specified 15 degrees BTDC - they all seem to be too far advanced (probably as a result of wear in the cam gear and distributor drive I suspect) so I decide to check mine. Checking it is easy - connect up timing light, disconnect the throttle pot (which disconnects the ECU mapping and gives a "base" reading) and check. Unfortunately when I disconnect the throttle pot, the engine is running too fast (probably as a result of me disconnecting the battery while the alternator was off - I'll tell you more about that in a minute).

When I disconnect the Idle Speed Control Valve as well, the engine settles down to a nice steady idle. The timing light shows that it's too far advanced though - at first I can't even see the timing mark, but realise that it's so far advanced that it's in the shadow of the fanbelt - it must be well over 20 degrees.

That was easy - now to adjust it. The distributor clamp bolt is right at the back of the engine, and you can't get to it for wiring, hoses and the car's bulkhead. Eventually I manage to waggle my hand in far enough to get a 13 mm ring spanner on it, and loosen it half a turn. Restart the engine, turn the distributor till the timing is set at 15 degrees, and stop again. Waggle hand back in, tighten pinch bolt then check timing again. Bang on!

I reconnect the ISCV and the throttle pot and then leave the engine to idle through a complete cold-hot (till the fan cuts in and then out again) cycle. I've worked out in the past that the engine idle is all over the place until you do that - as if it's resetting something.

Interestingly, I bought a Haynes manual on engine managament systems a while ago (for another reason) but I was reading it the other day, and it says that
"most adaptive systems will lose their settings if the battery is disconnected. Once the battery is reconnected and the engine is restarted, the engine will need to go through a relearning curve. Thus usually occurs fairly quickly, although the idle quality may be poor until the adaptive process is completed." My hunch was right!

By this time I notice that it's getting dark - I've been here for 5 hours! I decide to call it a day. I'm happy with that for a day's work though!