Two more contrasts

Civilised E-type to shops - then Caterham out in the late sun. 

Still not sure if the cover is the wrong way round. 

Oh and polished the Alpine for Saturday. 

Aston Miles

Just shy of 500 miles over the weekend in the Aston. 

I think it was happy to get a long run out. 

Just a lift

In the Vauxhall people carrier.  

Compare and contrast

Two V12's

Vauxhall and Vantage. 

Run in the Aston up to Yorkshire in the morning. 

Vauxhall 12 - drive in the sun in North Yorkshire in the afternoon. 

Practical four seater. 

Shopping cars

Firstly MK2 - new paint blended in well - old paint leaves a lot to be desired. 

Then 308 for supermarket run. 

Red - then Green and Yellow

Alpine to bottle bank - then Caterham to boat. 

Late evening tasks

Popped back to boat in the 308 to pick up so forgotten bits. Few looks and points. 

Then put new car cover on Caterham when Oli came back. 

Tuesday G2R

Off for a sail overnight in the biggest of the fleet. 

Dull Tuesday

Run in E-type to keep it fresh - then Golf Mk7 to boat. 

Monday n'out

Er ... Ordered a cover for Caterham. Wandered past a few cars. 

Sunday I get to watch first

Oli and James take out the Caterham with James' new Go-Pro attached. 

Then I got a late evenimg drive. Still learning. 

Saturday Storms in

MK7 to small event - then pm finishing putting the Golf door back together.

Then washed it - in a rainstorm - drives well time to look at other bits of paintwork. 

Packing it in - Friday

Aero pressed into service to clear out James' house. Long dull run back from London too.

Wash and go Thursday

Go back into the garage for the Aston.

Plus Golf door "finished" looks like welds have rejected paint ? Run round the block to blue some dust off. 

Aero cleaned as well and then back to parking space. 

Alpine rear break locked on after three days with hand break on. Short run cleared that. 

E-type for final loop after sitting patiently all day. 

Run out to Tea

308 to late lunch as the sun went in. 

Aero evening run. 

More Golf work

Filling and sanding and spraying and sanding.

Showed off the cars but too late to take anything for a run. 

Monday metalwork

Golf day - cut out rust, make up new bit, try to weld it then fill. 

Probably not the most beautiful job, but then it's better than it was. 

Late run in E-type in the evening as reward. 

Sunday planning

Just working out how to squeeze one more garage in ...

No car action at all. Then late Aero dash for food. 

Aero only

Dreary weather so just pottering in SAAB. 

Three different cars

Early morning Alpine run to marina - fitting and now worked - with a bit of brute force. 

Then back to changing the switches on the Caterham to make them all the same. Dipped/Main Beam one more tricky than I thought though ... So re-used the existing one for now. 

Then pottered about in it round the block. 

Final run in Aston to shops as the rain came back. 

Three variations

 Aero run to dump - need a big load lugger. 

Then MK2 to the boat to try fender fittings - failed. So back to re-make and return. 

In the Caterham as the sun went down. 

Fitting still not right so back in the morning. 

Odd jobs

Working on Caterham: re-positioned battery charger which is now working and got blower working oh high setting at least. 

Run to chandlers etc. in 308 in the sun for poppers for the new floor mats - rubber recycled from the old SAAB 9000 mat. 

Noticed Caterham offside wing indicator not working - 30 mins of ineffective looking then jiggled the wires - working again....

Then run out in the car sun to check everything ok. 

Various

Aero to town first thing, and spotted the DS lurking. 

Then a lunchtime blast in Ant's Westfield. Quite civilised. 

Then new GTI tyre. Need to sort the remaining rust. 

Then finished off with late Caterham run to recharge the battery as I realised I'd connected the battery charger incorrectly. 

Monday makeover

Spent most of the day cleaning and fixing bits on the Caterham. 

Another wing off and another fitting drops off. Cleaned and polished most bits - including the nose which got rid of 90% of the marks. Engine bay needs cleaning next. 

Early Aero run to collect Golf - repaired at last but still looking a bit rough with rusty door. 

Lunchtime run in the Alpine for more battery cut of switches. Then fitted battery charger. 

Finally two Caterham runs - one with Oli to pick up Aero then one later on for photos - sun still a bit strong for good sunset pics though. So did a tilt shift. 

Sunday sorted - Fleet out

Golf - Rasy - 308 - Aston - Caterham

4 4d 8 12 4

Totally spoilt - sun shone on each one.

Caterham out with Oli for several trips too.

Solo Saturday

Gave Oli first solo run in the seven. 

Then we took a wing off 😁

Then he drove me to town. 

Then alone again to home and out with Lucy. So as hoped he's getting lots if fun out of it. 

I got the sunset drive tonight in the Alpine. 

Long run in the sun

Caterham evening run - about 30 miles. Side screens up and heat seeping into the cockpit. 

Nice comments and waves on the trip - plus passed previous owner on the way back - gave him a grin. 

Better weather brings them out

Alpine into town first thing. 

Then Caterham in the evening sun. 

Monster returns

Picked up the Aston with newly mended wheel. Process was fine. 

So Golf down there and then countryside and A12 back - I'd forgotten just how fast it is. 

Oli at the wheel

Golf in the afternoon, then blast in the Seven early evening for photos. No side screens again and windy as hell. 

Then Oli took her out - with side screens fitted - and it's almost civilised. 

C Day

Well, Caterham collected, driven 60 miles and in the garage.

First impressions are that it's a handful and without the side screens a bit blustery - to say the least. 

Weather turning bad for a few days so more testing will have to wait. 

Now to clean her up. 

Looking at the team

Aero to buy steel then a quick milage check before bed. 

Caterham pick up tomorrow. 

Jag jitters

Another two hours looking for the rattle. 

Seemed better on the test run but not really gone. 

Then nice Alpine run in the sunshine - lots of appreciation for it at the open gardens. 

Another aero utility run

But also paid for the 7 so pick up Monday.  

Golf crushing and rattles

More Mk7 action followed by cruise in the E-type - rattle getting worse by the day. 

Hopefully it will drop off soon !

Golf to Rassy

Short runs in Golf to boat. Sail in the sun. 

Then run back fiwn to the marina for a utility trip in the Alpine in the dying sun. 

Golfing

Trundled around in the Mk7 for a couple of hours - still hate the jerky stop/start. 

Then 308 treat in the gloomy evening. 

E-type close up

Run to shops - for nibbler. 

Need ideas for metal bashing....

Alpine in the rain

Day started ok but it rained eventually - long run to Cambridge and poorly attended show - with showers. 

Aston Saturday

Dropped Aston off for the wheel repair. 

Lots of nice cars in today - as usual. 

Then slog into central London and back on A13 in Mk7. 

From 12 cylinders to two - Golf on Eco mode - seems to make little difference in heavy traffic.

Lost the bet on Friday

Met up with my old team - they were having a bet on which car I would bring - they all lost as I got dropped off in the Mk7. 

Cleaning up and filling up

Alpine got a good clean in prep for show on Sunday. After obligatory cold morning run to DIY shop. Nice comments from chap there. 

Finished off sunny afternoon with a run in the 308 for fuel - feeling like summer. 

Aero again

Run to dump - utility stuff in the rain. 

More rain in the Aero

Another utility trip - but said yes to Caterham - hopefully get it early June. 

The fleet gets bigger - where will it go !

Just utility run

Dump run in the SAAB. Weather more like November than May.

Report on the Caterham fine more to come though.

Golf and Rassy

Then loaded the Aero with odd bits of wood. 

Not sure where to park the Caterham if it arrives ... New car port ?

Aero again

Just moving around today, another B&Q visit to exploit the load space. 

Did see a Bond and Riley Elf, plus a few vintage cars tearing along in the morning sunshine. 

Cleaning before the rain

Aston, Golf Mk7 and jet washed the bird crap off the SAAB - looked surprisingly good after that !

Then rain stopped any play. 

Until the sky's cleared and Aston got an airing. 

Seven viewing

Went to look at the Caterham 7

Cobwebs in the engine bay - not quite a barn find but not far off. 

Also new garage doors fitted. 

Sun again

2 Alpine runs in the sunshine. 

Also struck me how many silver/black cars there are - the fleet no exception. 

Aston Taxi

Airport run tonight - after a sail and Golf trips. 

Aston needs cleaning though. 

Three out of four

Golf to boat first thing - drilling in parts - then back in the e-type - is the clutch slipping ?

Then more looking for the rattle on the e-type to no avail. 

So blast in the 308 and shuffle the Alpine ready for the new garage doors next week. 

Stealing sunny times

Aero as utility to fill with garden waste and dump run - drizzle again.

As the skies cleared, Alpine on recycling run and then E-type to DIY heartland.

All running well. New member of the team on the horizon...