:: Diary - October 2010 ::

:: Saturday, October 2, 2010 ::

It's finished!

Can't use it though... needs something else sorted...

More of that in a minute, but the good news is that I finished putting the car back together.

First I replaced the handbrake lever - I rubbed down the splined shaft with very fine wet and dry paper, then greased it with copper grease. Put it through the chassis, and replace the small retaining bolt and spacer. Then I get the splined clip on the inside of the shaft, up inside the transmission tunnel - it's very fiddly because the back end of the gearbox is in the way. Once I got it located, I put a bar on the end of the splined clip, through the gear lever hole, and whacked it on with a hammer and tightened it up.

Then I try the rubber gear lever gaiters in place, and decide that the Renault one fits best. It's almost and interference fit in the hole in the body, so I don't screw it or rivet it in place, until I see how it goes.

Then I replace the outer leather gaiter, and fix the centre console down.

Then it's on to the exhaust - I take the whole exhaust from where it's propped against the wall, and manouevre it into place under the car. Then I prop up the back on lots of bits of wood, before moving to lift the front onto a jack, and line it up with the manifolds. Lift the vack so thsat it's all in position, and put in the rear bolt under the rear valance to hold it. Then I insert and tighten the 6 bolts holding it on to the manifold, the 2 bolts each side of the silencer, and tighten the one at the back.

One last check of my notes, make sure all the wiring is connected, and I reconnect the battery.

Then I replace the two rear wheelarch sections - which cover up all my new bits of chassis!

Replace the wheels in the right order, replace the bonnet strut, and it's time to lower it!

I lift it back off the axle stands using a combination of prayer, levitation, luck, a trolley jack and loads of wood blocks.

A quick check of ride height shows that the front is too low, so I raise it slightly, the rear seems ok at the height I started with. I'll have to check it again once it's settled a bit.

The moment of truth: I turn the key, and it starts instantly. It doesn't even turn over once - it just starts. That's my baby!

I move it forward slightly to where the light is better, and install the handbrake gaiter and the alloy handle. Then I install the radio, but only one speaker is working - I've pulled a wire out of one connector, and I don't have any with me to fix it - so I leave the radio on the seat for now.

So that's it! Job over!

Unfortunately, I have a new problem... another problem I've had since I got the car. The driver's door has always sagged, and has a noticeable "play" up-and-down at its rear edge. I've had a couple of goes over the years at adjusting it, but it's never worked. I think the hinge bushes are knacked.

Now I've had the door open and shut several times while it's been jacked up, and it's been the same as always - tight but working. I have been careful not to get into the bodyshell while it was off the chassis, in case it folded in the middle. It's not very strong and I am excessively fat.

But now that the car's on the ground, the door gap seems to have closed up very very slightly, but enough to make sure that the door lock won't engage. It's fine if I hold the outside handle while I shut the door - but I can't lift the door to shut it when I'm in the car...

So I'm going to fix this as well - but not at the farm, I'll do it in the garage at the house, which is warmer, has all my tools in it, and where I can work away in my spare time without making all-day expeditions. I'll swap the Cerbera over to the farm - but not today, because (a) it's raining and (b) the TVR Car Club meeting is tomorrow, and I'm taking the Cerb - so I'll swap them over later in the week.

I'm also going to try loosening all the body bolts while the car's on its wheels, and see if that helps the body to settle.

So I also have to finish installing the radio, then seal around the fuel filler hose through the boot floor, and re-glue the carpet trim to the fuel filler neck.

:: Sunday, October 3, 2010 ::

It's Car Club meeting day! So naturally, it's raining...

Never mind though - we're made of sterner (and waterproof) stuff - so we meet up at Dave's, that's me, Jim, and also George who has brought along his Cerbera. We then meet up with Mike and after exchanging the usual friendly unpleasantries, we set off for the meeting.

"I have a plan" says Dave - so naturally the rest of us stop planning, and agree to follow him and Jim. We have a nice wee run to the meeting, fortunately the rain has stopped so it's not too bad!

The meeting is fairly quiet this month - I think a combination of winter months and rotten weather puts people off. We are visited by a nice couple from England who are up here for a meeting of the Gilbern Owners Club - in a TVR. Excellent!

The journey home is also undertaken in convoy, but by a different route (as you do).

It's brilliant, this!

I was planning to swap the cars over, and take the Cerb along to the garage and bring the S back to the house, but I don't have time, because I'm going out again for another meal! You don't get to be my size by being shy around a buffet table, you know.

:: Monday, October 4, 2010 ::

I've managed to almost accidentally sell the pair of front springs I put on the S earlier this year, after I broke one. I had to buy a brand new pair, but now that I've replaced all of the shocks and springs, I don't need them ones no more. Somebody else on PH was looking to replace a broken spring, and made me an offer I couldn't refuse!

So tonight I've been out with the spring compressors, taking the new springs off the old shock absorbers, and boxing them up for posting. All I need now is his money and his address!

:: Thursday, October 7, 2010 ::

Springs paid for, so I package them up and get them collected by courier.

:: Saturday, October 9, 2010 ::

I want to get the S back to the house so that I can tidy up a few things, without carting a boot load of stuff backwards and forwards to the farm. I take the Cerbera along, and then move the S out of the garage, before remembering that I meant to bring a sweeping brush to tidy the floor. Forgot it - the curse of trying to remember everything you need!

My son's come along with me, so we load up the stuff that's still in the garage (welder, jacks, wheels stands etc). Then I put the Cerb in the barn, and set off for home. First problem: I can't shut the driver's door from the inside, so I have to shut it, then climb in over the door. Second problem: the exhaust scrapes the speed hunp on the farm access road - only just, but definitely lower than it was!

The drive back is good though - it drives well, and sounds really good. You forget, even after driving the Cerb, how much smaller and more direct the S is - it really is like a go-kart, and changes direction instantly. It's nowhere near as fast as the Cerb, but jees, it's a lot of fun.

It's also absolutely filthy, blue with a thick coating of brown rust dust, and red granulated Hammerite. Not exactly the normal "classic car" image people expect. Don't give a stuff though - I'll wash it before I use it again. Probably.

:: Sunday, October 10, 2010 ::

First job: the driver's door!. First I remove the door trim. There's a screw at the rear edge, then 4 screws holding the speaker in. With the speaker disconnected and out of the way, you have to put your hand through the hole and disconnect a tiny nut that holds the armrest on to the door. I thought I had replaced mine with a wing nut, to save on intricate spanner-wielding on an inaccessible nut, but apparently not! With that done, the door trim pulls off then lift off over the top edge of the door. Disconnect the door lock operating rod (formerly part of a wire coathanger!) and the trim comes free.

It's pretty obvious now that the bottom hinge is loose in the door. By moving the door and feeling with my fingers, I can't feel any play in the hinge bushes themselves, which is good. I tighten up the hinge bolts, and open and shut the door - and drops back into the wrong position, and the door is catching again... Further inspection shows thet the washer has gouged a little bit out of the aluminium window channel (the bolts goes through the bottom edge of the channel) - what is happening is that you position it, tighten it, then the washer drops into that little gouge and it's all loose again. Remedy seems simple - remove the bolt and put on a bigger washer - and also a spring washer to prevent it all loosening.

This photo shows the view of the bottom hinge, looking down from above. The two smaller bolts hold the hinge into the door, while the bigger bolt goes through the hinge bush into the body of the car. You can also see the bottom edge of the window channel held down by the rear bolt (the right hand one).

Anyway, after lifting the door again and tightening it all up, the door shuts ok. It's not right, but it's better than it was before I started the body lift (bearing in mind that door has always had a bit of a drop in it).

Then I go round and loosen all the body mounting bolts, to allow the body to settle better into position with the car on its wheels. I also loosen the seat belt mountings because they all go through the body as well.

When I refitted the body, I couldn't get the two bolts in, on top of the transmission tunnel. I was at it for bleeding ages, but they just wouldn't catch on the threads. I don't want to leave them off, because I'll end up with horrendous scuttle shake. With the other bolts loose, and the car on its wheels, I get one of the bolts in. They are really fiddly, under the centre console, and I still can't get the second one to catch.

This is where it's easier working in my own garage! I but the bolt in a vice, measure the threads, and then run a die up the thread to make sure they are clear. Then with the die still in place, I file the end of the bolt down, removing the thread to create an unthreaded "lead in" 3 or 4 mm long, to help the bolt line up. Then run the die back upp and down to make sure the thread is still ok. Another bit of filing to clean the end, another thread-clean, and I try it on the car - and it works! It gives just enough purchase to let the thread catch without crossing.

Next job - adjust the ride height. I measure under the chassis and it's about 15mm too low - now that might not seem like a lot, but it's about a fifth of the clearance to the underside of the exhaust (if you're lucky!). I jack up each corner of the car in turn, remove the wheel, stick a tiny bit of masking tape on to the spring cup so that I can count the turns, and turn the front cups up by 2 turns, and the rear ones by 3 turns, and then retighten the lock rings. I also stiffen the damper settings by 2 clicks on each corner.

Just a couple of photos of the car in the garage, no particular reason. Again, you can see that I've been a messy sod. Hopefully, jacking the car up with the body bolts loose will have helped the body to settle a bit. I also have a bit of a bounce on the rear wings just to help the process! The fride height will still settle a bit more, now that the car's been jacked up again, so I'll check that again.

Finally for today, I fix the radio connection that came apart when refitting the centre console, and refit the radio and the console. Then I make sure that all the electrics in the centre console work: the front and rear fog lights, the panel lights, and the heater fan, just to make sure that no other wires have been knocked off.

:: Tuesday, October 12, 2010 ::

I decide to spend the evening in the garage - it's dark outside but there's no farmer to kick me out! It almost seems immoral to be working on a car after dark!

I start by refitting the driver's door trim. First I give it a clean with the "Magic Eraser from JML!" as advertised on all good teleshopping channels. It's pretty good too! It's at this stage that I realise that the interior of the car isn't dirty - it is, in fact, to use the popular local idiom, boggin'. I'll have to do all the reat now! Not before time, right enough...

Then I refit the trim - first you hook the door handle wire thropugh the hole in the lock, then hook the trim over the top of the door. Wiggle the interior lock button through the top of the trim, put the armrest screws through the holes in the door, then refit the trim, thumping the clipss on round the bottom edge. There's a single screw in the rear of the door, then fit the nut and washer onto the reaar of the armrest bolt, with your hand through the speaker hole. Reconnect the speaker wires and refit the speaker, and it's done!

While I've got the screwdriver out, I fit two screws to hold down the rear of the centre console.

Then I check that the radio works, through both speakers this time!

That door trim looks a different colour from the rest of the interior now though! I clean the other door trim, the dash and the centre console. A wee spray with cleaner, a rub with the magic eraser, and a wipe with a clean cloth, and it comes up right lovely like.

Then it's a casual stroll back indoors to the delights of the TV.

:: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 ::

Afternoon off work, so another garage-a-thon beckons!

First job is to clean the seats, which now look like a mid-tan compared to the magnolia of the rest of the interior. By the time I've finished, the seats are clean, the magic eraser is worn away to nothing, I've gone through two drying cloths, which are now filthy, and I also have a bucket of manky rinse water. They were really really bad! The water in the bucket is also full of coloured leather cream I used before, so is almost white. Then the radio plays "A Whiter Shade of Pail" (yes I know I've spelt it wrong, it's a pun see?) on the "Golden OLdies" which seems quite appropriate.

Then I seal around the fuel filler pipe where it fits through the boot floor. It's a right bugger of a job and I'm about to give up when the radio bursts into "Search for the Hero Inside Yourself" which is just the inspiration I needed. A squirt of filler, spread it into the gap, leave to dry.

I'm on a roll now, so I decide to clean the roof panels. I give them a brush off, then spray them with Autoglym Cabriolet Cleaner, and rub it in with the sponge supplied in the kit, Then rinse off with a hose on a gentle spray setting, and leave to dry. I need to clean the rear section of the roof as well, but I need to get the car outside first so that I can use the hose. I've got 2 cars to move (mine plus Git Junior's car he's trying to sell) and it looks like it's going to rain anyway, so I leave it for today.

:: Thursday, October 14, 2010 ::

Finished cleaning the roof by moving the car out of the carage, and cleaning the rear section, same as the panels yesterday. I remove the rubber trim over the top of the roof hoop, so that I can make sure the roof channel is clean too.

While the car's outside, and while I have the hose out, I give it a wash. By the time I've finished, the car is clean and the drive is covered in reddish-brown water. A wee dry off and it's looking good!

I noticed a couple of days ago that the drivers door mirror I had made up out of an old mirrored wardrobe, is falling off. It's not very good anyway because it's flat glass, so you can't see very much in it. Well you can, you can count the number of eyebrow hairs on the driver following you, but you can't tell where he's going or what he's doing. So I bought another mirror today in Halfords - it's the glass for a 2000 Fiesta, apparently. It's not a perfect fit but it'll do for now. I wish I could find out what car my mirrors were from in the first place! Incidentally, Halfords do a service where they'll get a mirror made up to a template you supply, but it costs £24.

Anyroadup, I stick the mirror glass in place and adjust it, and the view's a bit better.

Then I take the car up and down my street, just to help the body settle on the chassis. Next job is to re-tighten the body bolts (when I have the services of a spanner-holding helper!).

When I get home, I pull the handle to open the door, and it doesn't work. The handle moves but the door doesn't. So it's another climb over the top job and open from the outside. I remove the door trim, and find that the cable that operates the door lock has broken. I remove the armrest from the door trim (4 wee nuts, and a screw under the door handle) and remove the broken wire. I don't have any wire of the right gauge to replace the broken bit, so I'll have to leave it for now. I do clean up all the bits of door trim and arm rest while they are in bits and I can get into all the tricky bits.

I also cut a little bit of vinyl off the back of the door trim so that I can send it away to get the right shade of magnolia when I order a leather restoration kit for the seats.

:: Friday, October 15, 2010 ::

I'm in a bit of a dilemma. I am doing a cheque presentation tomorrow, and planned to take the Cerbera, but it's along at the farm. I need to leave early, because I'm going to Northumberland, so I won't have time to go for it in the morning. That means I'd have to go and pick it up before it gets dark today, and leave it in my drive. So far my drive has my Lexus, my son's car he's selling, the one he's driving, my daughter's car, and at the back of all that, the garage. I don't need another one out there!

In any case, I'd prefer to take the S - if the weather's nice, I'll get some roof-off motoring. If it's not, the S is better to drive in the rain than the Cerbera is. So the plan is to get it finished today!

First, the door handle - I don't want to do the "climbing over the door" thing when the car's on show! I've bought some galvanised garden wire which is quite stiff, so I fit it to the handle, then re-assemble the armrest onto the trim, then refit the lot. Fortunately I decide to try it before fitting it completely, to find that the wire isn't stiff enough, and won't work the door lock.

Dismantle the whole bloody thing again, then look for thicker wire. I find that a wire coathanger just fits through the outer cable, so I cut a bit the right length, grease it up, slide it through then bend the ends to fit. Reassemble the armrest / door trim again and refit to door - and it works! I finish refitting the door trim, speaker etc before it changes its mind.

Next job, in case it's raining tomorrow, is to re-waterproof the roof and panels. A simple job of spraying it on and waiting for it to dry in.

I haven't forgotten that I still need to re-tighten all the body mounting bolts and seat belt mountings. I'm leaving that though, until my son can help by holding the bolt inside the car while I tightem the nuts from underneath. That'll have to wait until he gets home from work.

So in the meantime. I decide to stick the carpet back on to the fuel filler neck. I spray some carpet adhesive onto the neck and the carpet, and press the carpet into place.

Here's a nice photo of the interior, after it's been cleaned. I haven't put the carpets back in yet, until I've retightened those bolts...

and one of the new mirror glass.

When Git Jnr eventually gets home, he announces that he's going out again, and doesn't have time to help. Great.

Never mind though - I didn't get where I am today Reggie, by depending on people who are going out again and don't have time to help.

This is where I encounter a rather bizarre phenomenon. Either my arms have grown a foot longer, or the bolts are easier to reach when the car's on its wheels, rather than 3 feet up in the air. Given that I still can't reach my wallet when it's my round, I suspect it's the latter. Whatever the reason, I tighten the body bolts down - first the two behind each seat, then the 2 in each footwell, then the 2 in the boot. Then I tighten up all the seat belt mountings.

Finally, I refit the carpet mats, and put the roof hoop trim back on.

A quick check of water and oil levels, and I'm ready for tomorrow!

:: Saturday, October 16, 2010 ::

Today I am helping to present a cheque on behalf of the Sporting Bears, down in Northumberland - about 120 miles each way. A nice relaxing test drive for the car! I start the day at 7.30am with a 3-car shuffle to get the TVR out of the garage, then try to sneak out of the street making as little noise as possible. I get to the end of the street, change gear as I come up to the roundabout, and the gear knob comes off in my hand. Ah well, I'm not going back to fix it.

So it's onward and southwards. The roads are dead quiet so the driving is good. The roads are also damp in places, and it's foggy at the border, so it's not just "blatt on and hope for the best" either. I stop for fuel, and have a rake through the boot and find some double-sided trim tape. I wrap it round the top of the gear lever and wedge the knob back on. Perfect!

When I reach the college, there are 4 killer speed bumps, and the exhaust scrapes over each of them. I think the ride height is still a bit too low!

Never mind, the presentation goes well, and one of the guys there says "My dad's got one of these. It's silver. He's from Newcastle." It's KeTVRin! Then it's time to grate over the 4 humps again and head for home. I can hear the exhaust blowing now though... bet it's that damn downpipe join...

The first part of the drive back is also quite pleasant. It's still early afternoon and the roads are still not that busy. There are, however, a few white transit-sized vans doing the usual "invincible and faster than anybody else" thing they often do. I can still see them doing it in the distance in my mirror long after I've passed them.

I also notice a slight "clonk" as I move away from rest. It sounds like it's coming from the rear of the drivers door, but I can't think what it could be. I'll have to have a look.

The car is fine when it's moving though. No it's better than fine - it's absolutely brilliant! It's fast but not too fast, flies round corners like a cat on rails, it sounds great - and for me, you just feel it fits around you and almost senses what you want to do, before you do it. It's a superb wee machine.

When I get home I garage it, then tighten up the gear knob properly with an Allen key. I have a quick listen to the exhaust and it is that joint under the sump. Then I try to look for a "clonk" from the offsie rear, but there's nothing obvious.

So - a new checklist of wee jobs!

:: Sunday, October 17, 2010 ::

Running repairs day! I start by measuring the ride height to the bottom of the chassis outriggers - it's 165 mm front and rear, about 10mm too low.

Then I jack the car up on to axle stands and remove the front wheels, then start the engine and check for the exhaust leak - it's the offside downpipe joint under the sump. I unbolt the 3 bolts at the front clamp, and then the clamp around the joint. The joint is still tight, so I have to hammer the pipe off.

Then I clean up the ends and spread on some exhaust assembly paste, slip a new clamp on, and then refit the pipe to the exhaust. Bolting up the front clamp is the usual fiddly palaver of upside down nuts and washers while holding the joint together, but I get there! Then fit and tighten up the clip round the joint that was leaking, start the engine to check the joint, and also slightly heat up the assembly paste, then switch it off while it sets.

While the front wheels are off, I wind the spring cups up by two turns to raise the ride height. I also think the ride was a bit too firm yesterday, especially at the rear - you could feel the car jump and drop over every undulation in the road. I soften the front suspension by three clicks (ie one click softer than half-way through their adjustment).

Then I replace the front wheels, lower the car and jack up each rear wheel. I raise the rear ride height by 2 turns and soften the ride by 5 clicks (ie 3 clicks softer than half-adjustment).

While it's jacked up, I check for anything that could be causing that "clonk" but there's nothing loose.

Then I remove the drivers door trim again, and tighten up the window frame, which is slightly loos and causing the glass to rock slightly - could that be the wee clonk? Dunno - but it's fixed now! I also remember this time to fit the little nut on the back of the armrest (through the speaker hole) before fixing the trim back on.

I'll have to give it a drive to check the damper settings, and then check the ride height again - not just now though, I want to let that exhaust joint harden a bit so that I don't blow all the paste back out first time I use it!

:: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 ::

Do you remember that whole series of Dallas years ago, where Bobby got shot but it ended up just being a dream while Bobby was in the shower?

Well that's been my life for the last 2 months.

Remember I said that I took the Cerb to the TVR Club meetings in September and October? And to a Sporting Bears lunch, a cheque presentation and a car show? Well that was all a dream right? Complete fantasy.

You see, I couldn't possibly have been using the Cerbera in September and October, because its MOT expired on the last day of August. I woke up from that particular dream tonight when I went to check something else. Fortunately, it's been along at the farm for... oh let me see... nearly 2 months now so I haven't used it on the road in all that time. No siree bob.

I certainly won't be using it again till I get that sorted out!

Good job I decided to finish the S and take that to Northumberland on Saturday, eh?

What a plonker...

:: Thursday, October 28, 2010 ::

Shifted the S out of the garage today to give it a wash. After that. I decided to have a wee run, just for a few miles, to help dry it off a bit. I noticed that there is still a wee clonk when I go over bumps - but if I drive with the door loose (don't try this at home kiddies!) it doesn't clonk. The door is still hanging too low at the back and I'm convinced it's that - but I just can't get the bloody thing to adjust upwards at all! I'll have to give it another go though - I've noticed that the top corner of the window glass is rubbing against the front of the hood fabric and it will wear through that in no time!

On a lighter note, the ride height is a lot better!

:: Friday, October 29, 2010 ::

I've got the Cerbera booked in for an MOT this morning, so it's up early to get along to the farm to extract it from the barn, and then drive it round to the MOT Centre.

It passed. Never doubted it. Honest. Just an advisory that the rear tyres will need replacing soon, otherwise all fine.

All legal again (not that it was ever illegal before - it would only be a problem if I had used it on the road after the MOT expired, and I wouldn't have done that, would I?

I take it back to the farm and park it up.

I have to go to another cheque presentation by the Sporting Bears tomorrow, I'll need to decide which car to take! A Cerbera with dodgy tyres, or an S with a dodgy door.

:: Sunday, October 31, 2010 ::

Well, as it turned out, I didn't take either TVR to the Sporting Bears presentation - I went in the Lexus. I couldn't be bothered going to the farm to get the Cerbera. The door on the S is just too tight a fit, so I need to fix it first. And that's my job fpr today!

First, I have to remove the door trim. I can do this in my sleep now: remove the speaker, hand up inside and undo the tiny nut on the back of the armrest, unscrew the screw at the rear edge of the door, and then unclip the trim from the door, unhook the wire for the internal door handle, and the trim's off!

Then I loosen the 4 13mm bolts holding the hinges on to the insides of the door. I was looking at a very old forum thread last night (it was written before I even bought this car!) and it showed photos upwards and downwards inside the doors. Those showed the middle hinge bolt screwed right in and flush with the hinge. Mine aren't like that - my bolts through the hinge seem to be about an inch too long and aren't tightened down anywhere near the surface of the hinge. I don't want to tighten them in case I put something out of adjustment though!

With the foor bolts loose, I can lift the rear edge of the door and try it - and it's a lot better - still a wee bit low. I notice that the door is sliding through the bottom hinge but there isn't a lot of movement in the top one - I need the top edge of the door to go forward a fraction while the bottom comes back, but it's not for budging. I align it as best I can and then tighten up the bolts - at the second attempt, it seems to fit a bot better, so I reassemble the door and door trim etc.

Then I vacuum clean all the carpets etc just to tidy it up a bit.

I was going to have a wee test drive but the clocks went back last night and it's getting dark already!